Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by davem

Its clear that CT is aware that the postumous works he has so far given to the public have a reputation for being 'strange & innaccessible'. Can we take this to imply that CT feels he has not achieved what he set out to do - make his father's great work (The Sil) accessible to the general reader - & especially to many of those who Love LotR & TH? Is this, perhaps, the real reason that he has prepared CoH for the public - he wanted the general reader to have a glimpse of his father's work outside of LotR & TH that is 'accessible'?

Or am I reading too much into CT's statement?

No, that's exactly the case. Christopher views this book as a bridge for the ordinary reader from the Lord of the Rings to The Silmarillion, and felt that the general public could use at least part of his father's prized First Age legendarium in a form less 'rebarbative' (his word) than The Silmarillion. He was also partly motivated by the perception that, in the wake of the films, 'Tolkien' and 'Lord of the Rings' had become nearly synonymous, although his desire to publish a complete Narn dates back many years. (This is straight from the horse's mouth, BTW).