Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Perhaps we have different ideas of what constitutes "fast and loose". CT took some great liberties in the '77 Silmarillion. I am wondering whether he will be taking similar liberties with this new publication.

What I wonder is, if the "new parts" that have been added to the new "Children of Hurin" are genuine texts by JRRT, why didn't CT publish them in UT or HoMe?

I'm not trying to condemn CT - on the contrary, I hold him in very high esteem and am very thankful for all the work he's done with his father's papers. I'd just like to know what these "new parts" are and where they came from.

Add this quote "So in conclusion : Many parts of the text are essentially the same as those that appear in other works (and particularly "Unfinished Tales"), other parts will be new except for those readers who have read in detail the History of Middle Earth.
The text as a whole can be said to be "new" as it is a recomposition of published texts and other "pieces" that weren't published previously. A completed puzzle, in a sense."


So the answer is that they will be new to many but probably not to you. The crucial element of my comment was at this stage. CT has expressed his regret about some of his decisions regarding the Silmarillion and has spent a couple of decades "putting it right" one might say, by editing HoME as a scholarly work. I doubt he will now "regress" rather than use the insight and increased knowledge even he must have gained, to publish the version he probably wishes went in the Silmarillion proper. The comment that it was unlikely that other stories would be given the same treatment is another indicator.

The decisions CT made over thirty years ago, to ensure that the work dearest to his father's heart was published in some form are unlikely to be repeated now - I don't suspect that it was then anticipated that there would be such a wide public for so many fragments....

Personally I would regard this version of The children of Hurin as more canonical than the Silmarillion for these reasons.

Since Adam translated the Books of Lost Tales into French, I think we can hope that there will be a Tolkien with a scholarly rather than mercenary attitude to the works involved with the literary Estate for some time - and one who is perhaps more "media friendly" to use a horrible expression.