Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel

[Sardy]

Unfinished Tolkien work to be published

Mon Sep 18, 12:17 PM ET

NEW YORK - An unfinished tale by J.R.R. Tolkien has been edited by his son into a completed work and will be released next spring, the U.S. and British publishers announced Monday.

Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Hurin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of "The Children of Hurin," which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and other works, have been published before.

"It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for presenting my father's long version of the legend of the `Children of Hurin' as an independent work, between its own covers," Christopher Tolkien said in a statement.

The new book will be published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States and HarperCollins in England.

J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" has sold more than 50 million copies and was also adapted into a blockbuster, Academy Award-winning trio of films. A stage version is scheduled to open next year.

From: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/..._new_tolkien_1

[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.