Beren and Lùthien to be published as stand alone volume

[Mithadan]

From the description, it sounds like "History of the Tale of Beren and Luthien." It almost sounds as if there will be no material that has not been published previously.

{Edit} From the AFP report:

"For the book the tale of lovers Beren and Lúthien was extracted from "The History of Middle-earth", a 12-volume series of works that collected and analyzed material relating to Tolkien's work, compiled and edited by his son Christopher Tolkien."



"Christopher Tolkien has edited the new work and presented together for the first time Tolkien's original text as well as passages from later texts that rework the tale."

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

"Christopher Tolkien has edited the new work and presented together for the first time Tolkien's original text as well as passages from later texts that rework the tale."

Sounds like what CT did for The Children of Húrin, melding different versions of the story together. I'm still likely to buy it, just as I did CoH.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Sounds like what CT did for The Children of Húrin, melding different versions of the story together. I'm still likely to buy it, just as I did CoH.

I'm sure I will too.

They know their market.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Sounds like what CT did for The Children of Húrin, melding different versions of the story together. I'm still likely to buy it, just as I did CoH.

From what I underrstand, it's rather the reverse of TCOH. Whereas that one took varying texts and knitted together a single narrative- rather like the '77 Silmarillion itself - B&L, AIUI, will for the first time give the unedited texts which went into the Silmarillion, and which (in the case of the 1937 versions) CT skipped over in Vol V of HME except for a few notes.

It is, I suppose, in a way a small version of an idea I suggested to him but which he didn't like, to put out a sort of Unfinished Tales II or HME Reader which covers just the more significant narratives- the A-text of B&L, the Wanderings of Hurin and so on.

[Mithalwen]

I think what I would most like is an expanded or second volume of letters. There must be a lot of stuff omitted originally because it pertained to then unpublished material....that and whatever Tolkien fils knows about because Tolkien pere told him but hasn't been revealed because he doesn't have it on paper...

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

*whimpers*

Ahem, I'll back down. I don't mean to start a fight, now.


As for what Mith said, I don't have the first volume of letters, but I'd love to get it. Maybe since the Beren and Luthien story that's coming out is going to have notes in it, we could get some letters too in that volume?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

I mean, really. Don't the PR people even read the books they're shilling?

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal Elf.

In the 1916-17 BOLT version, of course, Beren is an Elf.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

I mean, really. Don't the PR people even read the books they're shilling?

Possibly the writer thought she was an earlier version of Arwen? If that's the case though I wonder if we'll see her on the cover in armor with a battle-axe.