Why do you read HoME?

[jallanite]

HoME was for me a must-read. I didn’t like The Silmarillion much when it first came out, but the Book of Lost Tales, the first two volumes of the HoME series, gave me much of what I then felt I was missing in The Silmarillion.

The writing was fuller and more detailed and more poetic, with even bits of real poetry, at least more than in the published Silmarillion. That it was more archaic in style did not bother me at all. I was used to reading archaic prose, such as Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, the fantasy novels of William Morris, the fantasy novels of William Hope Hodgson, and various other works, so that archaic English hardly registered with me as being archaic.

I felt that Christopher Tolkien ought to have merged the text of the Book of Lost Tales into the published Silmarillion.

Years later I realized why this was impossible, at least for someone so fixed on putting out the work of his father and only the work of his father with no additions or changes. The very names no longer fitted. The Gnomish language used for the seven names of the city of Gondolin no longer fitted with Sindarin as revised. True, readers would mostly not pick up on such apparent ephemera, but much of the charm of Tolkien’s work is the feeling that came through that Tolkien had cared deeply about such apparent ephemera. That it did matter.

So what we have is what is possible: the record of what Tolkien thought years before The Silmarillion was published, somethling that Christopher Tolkien himself did not think was possible, until he found himself forced to defend the position that the published Silmarillion was indeed mainly his father’s work and not mainly something quickly cobbled together by himself and an assistant, really their invention.

And HoME was an immense publishing success. Originally published only in hard-cover only for hoped-for specialists, it proved popular enough to unexpectedly jump into paperback and to reach twelve volumes, to stay in print and stay in print. In 2000–01, the twelve volumes were republished in three limited edition omnibus volumes. Non-deluxe editions of the three volumes were published in 2002.

The HoME series seems to me to have been possibly more of a publishing success than most fantasy books.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by jallanite

The HoME series seems to me to have been possibly more of a publishing success than most fantasy books.

This is either high praise for the quality of Tolkien's early work and ruminations or a stinging condemnation of the fantasy out there.

Or maybe it says more about us the fans...

[mark12_30]

In the early seventies I had the psychedelically-bordered map of Middle-Earth on my wall, and I used to gaze with great longing at the Ered Luin. There was an elvish air about them, sketched, hinted at, remote and unknown and wreathed in mystery.

I've collected most if not all of HoME, and have opened each book, and read a fair amount if not all of most of them. But the tale (and poem) I return to again and again is The Cottage of Lost Play. There is an innocence and mystery about it, and about Kortirion; a dreamy longing, sensucht, what could be, like the misty Ered Luin on the far western edge of the map. It is that that I love the most about Tolkien. And when LOTR feels too finished and packaged and done, and I want the mystery and the desire again, I can go to the cottage by the shore, or to Kortirion, for the hint of something ancient and filled with longing

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

In the early seventies I had the psychedelically-bordered map of Middle-Earth on my wall, and I used to gaze with great longing at the Ered Luin. There was an elvish air about them, sketched, hinted at, remote and unknown and wreathed in mystery.

I've collected most if not all of HoME, and have opened each book, and read a fair amount if not all of most of them. But the tale (and poem) I return to again and again is The Cottage of Lost Play. There is an innocence and mystery about it, and about Kortirion; a dreamy longing, sensucht, what could be, like the misty Ered Luin on the far western edge of the map. It is that that I love the most about Tolkien. And when LOTR feels too finished and packaged and done, and I want the mystery and the desire again, I can go to the cottage by the shore, or to Kortirion, for the hint of something ancient and filled with longing

Mark's comment here hits it right for me as well. BoLT 1 and 2 are fascinating reads for me. Although I've read the scholarly apparatus, I usually just skip it to enjoy Tolkien Sr's storytelling.

I've dipped in and out of the other volumes, some I haven't read yet, but largely the attraction of HoMe to me is either the enjoyment of Tolkien's early writing or the acquisition of context/information to help understand the other texts. It really is a privilege and a joy to be able to see how Tolkien's writing was created.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

I've dipped in and out of the other volumes, some I haven't read yet, but largely the attraction of HoMe to me is either the enjoyment of Tolkien's early writing or the acquisition of context/information to help understand the other texts. It really is a privilege and a joy to be able to see how Tolkien's writing was created.

I don't want to leave the impression that I'm totally opposed to reading HOME.

Like Bêth, what I have read (mostly regarding, as I said before, the writing of LOTR), has shed some light on that work, and allowed me to see some parts of the finished product in a new light.

Perhaps my fear of falling prey to Gandalf's warning about not "breaking a thing to find out what it is" is groundless, and one day I'll delve into the writing histories more deeply.

[jallanite]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

This is either high praise for the quality of Tolkien's early work and ruminations or a stinging condemnation of the fantasy out there.

Or maybe it says more about us the fans...

It was not intended to say any of those things. I don’t know how to find out exactly how much volumes of the HoME series have sold compared to other books. But indication of high sales alone would not impress me. I am not much impressed by such statistics.

I have read many best-sellers and many obscure items and have not found myself pushed to read more best-sellers because they were, to my taste, generally superior to the other works. I read what I think will please me, which is not necessarily what will please others.

I liked the HoME series, and that was sufficient reason to read them, regardless of what others might think. I do not particularly like, as examples, writing by Terry Pratchett and Robert Jordan. I do like, mostly, writing by Neil Gaiman and the new novel by Eowyn Ivey, to name some popular works. I loathed Star Trek. I loved Doctor Who and Babylon 5. I loved Planet Toilex, not mentioned now anywhere on the Web, save in this post. I also loved the non-mentioned television series “The River Margin” and the barely remembered series “It’s A Man’s World” (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_...28TV_series%29 ).

In short, I like what I like, and think it fortunate for me when a forum turns up devoted to one of my interests and when a series of books that I happen to like has proved as popular as the HoME series has. It does not surprise me that most of my individual other likes are not shared, or that most individual other likes and dislikes of others on this forums are likewise mostly not shared with others.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by jallanite

It was not intended to say any of those things. I don’t know how to find out exactly how much volumes of the HoME series have sold compared to other books. But indication of high sales alone would not impress me. I am not much impressed by such statistics.

I have read many best-sellers and many obscure items and have not found myself pushed to read more best-sellers because they were, to my taste, generally superior to the other works. I read what I think will please me, which is not necessarily what will please others.

I was being semi-facetious and hold to similar principles myself.

However, just to explore the idea, if something is valuable intrinsically but nobody knows about it...is it valuable? Tree in the forest type of question I suppose.

I am reminded of the part in Candide where during his stay in Paris Candide dined with The Man of Taste who had written a play that had never been outside of the bookseller's shop but Candide was quite taken with him.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

In my case it was simple, although I would have snapped up the BoLT anyway, being enamored of Sil and UT: I had had, for years, a burning desire to read the original Fall of Gondolin. The news that it would see print was a frubjous day.

[Orphalesion]

My favourite part is the Shibboleth of Feanor, with all it's little tidbits about the various members of house Finwe.

And I absolutely adore the "Round World" version of the mythology. I wish Tolkien would have been able to come up with some solution to the problems it would cause with the rest of the Mythology and properly implement it.

[Galin]

Originally Posted by Orphalesion

And I absolutely adore the "Round World" version of the mythology. I wish Tolkien would have been able to come up with some solution to the problems it would cause with the rest of the Mythology and properly implement it.

My thought is that JRRT solved this by recasting Quenta Silmarillion as a mostly Mannish tradition, and he was going to give the Round World point of view in other accounts (or notes), for comparison.

Oddly enough (or ingeniously enough, I think) in my opinion a main "other" source being the confused mannish tradition of the fall of Numenor (The Drowning of Anadune). In it Men confuse the Elves with the Valar for instance, or certain points of geography, or don't all believe what the Elves teach... but the tradition includes that the Western Elves teach the World was always round (believe it or not, Men of Numenor)...

... the King of Numenor even wants to test this teaching by sailing East to get around the ban! But it never happens, and other stuff happens. Or you have the Elvish account of the Awakening of the Quendi, where (despite being a fairy tale mixed with counting lore) the Sun already exists before the Elves awake. Possibly too, the account of the Death of Feanor's youngest son... if that was to stand as a variant Elvish telling of the matter of Losgar (outside of the main QS text), it at least implies the Sun already existed, if I recall correctly.

Thus no need for a completely Elvish Silmarillion, with its always round worldedness and early existing Sun. That's why I think Myths Transformed was abandoned, even though the Dome of Varda made it into a later "LQS" text.

My opinion anyway.