Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel

[Formendacil]

I... hardly know what to think here.

First of all, there is a certain incredulity. I mean, this almost feels as if it goes against the grain of everything Christopher Tolkien has done or said in the entire HoME. But, on the other hand, it seems to harken back to the earlier days of publishing the Silmarillion, when he took a bit more artistic license, and filled out some scrappy texts.

But still... after all these years?

As near as I can tell, assuming the story is true, we're basically just looking at a published version of the Narn I Chín Húrin- with the middle chunk that was missing in Unfinished Tales filled in.

Personally, I'm inclined to think this a good thing, if it's true, but hardly a necessary one. And I'm really, really confused as to... Why?

[A_Brandybuck]

I also do not really, what I should think about it.

I could imagine, that this work is a stand-alone work of Narn I Hín Húrin, which
1. should be readable without the context of the Silmarillion
2. should contain a with the information published in HoME updated version of the Silmarillion

Anyway, it seems to be too short for a new big novel like "Lord of the Rings". He said, that he will publish the long version, but I fear, that he will add some more details to make it more exciting, but on the other Hand, like Formendacil said, it would be against his intention publishing HoME.

Anyway, it seems to me a good way to present the World of the First Age to all Tolkien Fans, who read LoTR, but haven't read the complex Silmarillion.

[Mithalwen]

This is interesting. I expect it will be a assembled rather than embellished version, however, with HoME I felt Christopher limited himself to presenting the documents his father left, it is possible that he will use his privileged knowledge from conversations etc to make decisions about conflicting versions.

I do wonder if CRT has written either his own stuff or ME tales of his own?

[Eonwe]

I'm not necessarily up on my 'writeing of Middle Earth mythology' lore. Does this mean we're getting a whole new tale, or just a revition/recompilation of an older tale?

My heart leapt when I checked my mail today, but Form's comments would lead me to believe otherwise...

[Aiwendil]

I'm not necessarily up on my 'writeing of Middle Earth mythology' lore. Does this mean we're getting a whole new tale, or just a revition/recompilation of an older tale?

Most likely it'll be exactly the same text as is found in Unfinished Tales, except with a few passages added in from the '77 Silmarillion. So, nothing new if you've read UT/HoMe.

Still, I think anything that makes this wonderful story more widely accessible is worth something.

[Alchisiel]

At first I suspected that CRT had taken the story in the Silm and story in UT and combined them together but not having read HoME due to no monies in my pocketses and having read the comments here I'm not so sure now. Is there much more to the story than what is in the Silm and UT?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Most likely it'll be exactly the same text as is found in Unfinished Tales, except with a few passages added in from the '77 Silmarillion. So, nothing new if you've read UT/HoMe.

Still, I think anything that makes this wonderful story more widely accessible is worth something.

Of course, but many readers of Tolkien will not have read UT (The Narn) & HoM-e 11. CT has scattered the fragments across 3 books. This was not Tolkien's intention, & the narrative is coherent enough to work as a single story. Neither can we assume that there is no unpublished material left - CT did not include all the M-e writings in HoM-e & it is still appearing in Vinyar Tengwar. If a major text such as Osanwe Kenta could be excluded from HoM-e I wouldn't be surprised if other bits & pieces are around. Even if this isn't the case, the Narn should be made available to the general reader (as opposed to the Tolkien scholar).

I see a very beautiful edition forthcoming, the culmination (as the press release has it, of CT's work on his father's work. It is a fitting culmination too. We will have Tolkien's final great novel.

I'm sure that many of the critics who have dismissed Tolkien's work as 'trivial' will be shocked by the themes he deals with & amazed by the way he handles them.

[Lalwendë]

What I want to know is if we'll get a Potter style experience of bookshops opening at midnight and queues of salivating Tolkienistas being interviewed for News at Ten.