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The History of Middle-Earth #1-5
The History Of Middle-Earth, Part One
This new hardcover edition brings together the first five volumes of The History of Middle-earth—The Book of Lost Tales, Parts 1 and 2, The Lays of Beleriand,The Shaping of Middle-earth, and The Lost Road—into one volume.
J.R.R. Tolkien is famous the world over for his unique literary creation, exemplified in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. What is less well known, however, is that he also produced a vast amount of further material that greatly expands upon the mythology and numerous stories of Middle-earth, and which gives added life to the thousand-year war between the Elves and the evil spirit Morgoth, and his terrifying lieutenant, Sauron.
It was to this enormous task of literary construction that Tolkien’s youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to produce the monumental and endlessly fascinating series of twelve volumes, The History of Middle-earth.
J.R.R. Tolkien is famous the world over for his unique literary creation, exemplified in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. What is less well known, however, is that he also produced a vast amount of further material that greatly expands upon the mythology and numerous stories of Middle-earth, and which gives added life to the thousand-year war between the Elves and the evil spirit Morgoth, and his terrifying lieutenant, Sauron.
It was to this enormous task of literary construction that Tolkien’s youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to produce the monumental and endlessly fascinating series of twelve volumes, The History of Middle-earth.
1920 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
66 people are currently reading
2340 people want to read
About the author
J.R.R. Tolkien
790 books76.3k followersJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 20, 2018
It was inevitable to afford a copy of this capitally edition, nevertheless I have all XII tomes as individual editions. These are my overall impressions about each of these five books, written one by one as I finished each of volumes:
I The Book of Lost Tales Part One
5/5 In one sentence - I'm fascinated. This book is real gem and beacon to all blurred and unclear parts in the final version of The Silmarillion. This book is missing link to onset of Tolkien's creation of his own mythology. It's all about Valar and their deeds in creation of Arda. Also, Valar and their traits are much more developed than in The Silmarillion (but many details from The Silmarillion are unmentioned or were unknown then). Special part is devoted to Sun and Moon creation, after darkening of the Valinor, and of its hiding. From those tales, I finally found the origin and learnt about creation of the Door of Night, and Gates of Morn. Also, I recognized many Tolkien's inspirations from Norse mythology that he wove into this tales (e.g. when Orome created rainbow-bridge, or when Vanna cut off her hair for Gods to weave sails and ropes for the boat of Sun etc.).
II The Book of Lost Tales Part Two
5/5 If part one of The Book of Lost Tales was dedicated to Valar and to the World creation concepts, second part is dedicated to 6 pivotal stories for The Silmarillion substance. I enjoyed in the first version of the story of Beren and Luthien, where Sauron is mentioned for the first time, but in form of demon Tevildo - prince of cats. Also, tale about Turin is slightly different than the one in final version. The story about the fall of Gondolin is narrated in all its majesty and details. Also, full version of the creation of the Nauglafring (i.e. Nauglamir) is present in this book, as well as slaying of king Tinwelint (Thingol), that is different than the one in final version, and more logical and consecutive.
III The Lays of Beleriand
5/5 Immense talent and genius of professor Tolkien emerged, once again, among this pages. This time in form of epic poems. Great, long and unfinished poem "Lay of Leithian", written in octosyllabic couplets, so many times mentioned both in official version of "The Silmarillion", as well as in "The Book of Lost Tales part 1&2" bursts of beautiful literary expressions and reveals how the story of Beren and Luthien was step-by-step developed and how the plot and characters were shifted in the long period of time in which it was written. Another great poem listed in this volume is "The Lay of the Children of Hurin" - an early Tolkien's work, written in his beloved alliterative stanzas. And the most biggest surprise for me is "Noldolante" i.e. "The Flight of the Noldoli" - a poem that is mentioned in official version of "The Silmarillion" in chapter 9., which is but lament for the doom of Noldoli because of Fëanor's dreadful oath. For all that enjoy in old English epic poems, this volume should be on high position on the reading list :)
IV The Shaping of Middle-Earth
5/5 The first part of the book describes, in the scrap-book fashion form, sketches of the phases of the birth of the mythology; i.e. explanations and annotations are organized as re-told text of previous versions of the stories that are published in official version of "The Silmarillion", along with some versions from "The Book of Lost Tales 1&2". The second part was real chocolate muffin for me. I literally devoured those pages. And in the passages that are part of "The Ambarkanta" much is told about the shaping and re-modeling of Arda (that, of course, official version of "The Silmarillion" is lacking of) along with explanations about the Circles of the World and with six by Tolkien's hand drawn draft maps. Also, first and emended versions about creation and purpose of the Walls of the World and The Door of the Night are presented, and now perplexity (due to lack of logical explanations and links in previous versions) about this structures that tormented me is finally solved. The third part are early annals of Valinor and Beleriand - useful and interesting data that explain the same events but from different Valar/Elves time counting manner.
V The Lost Road and Other Writings
5/5 Precisely - 4.5 stars, for great deal of this 455 pages long manuscript is about creation and derivation of Elvish languages (Lhammas), their etymologies and genealogies, that I do not fancy much. But, the early version of the Númenorian annals where Valar were much involved in the plot (contrariwise to both official version of "The Silmarillion" and "Unfinished Tales"), along with Sauron's impact on story-line as well as Aelfwinas's song written in the old English poem "Pearl" fashion I fancied much. The second part is dedicated to later annals of Valinor and Beleriand, and gives insight in step-by-step development of the stories from The Silmarillion, but I found it somewhat tedious and redundant.
I The Book of Lost Tales Part One
5/5 In one sentence - I'm fascinated. This book is real gem and beacon to all blurred and unclear parts in the final version of The Silmarillion. This book is missing link to onset of Tolkien's creation of his own mythology. It's all about Valar and their deeds in creation of Arda. Also, Valar and their traits are much more developed than in The Silmarillion (but many details from The Silmarillion are unmentioned or were unknown then). Special part is devoted to Sun and Moon creation, after darkening of the Valinor, and of its hiding. From those tales, I finally found the origin and learnt about creation of the Door of Night, and Gates of Morn. Also, I recognized many Tolkien's inspirations from Norse mythology that he wove into this tales (e.g. when Orome created rainbow-bridge, or when Vanna cut off her hair for Gods to weave sails and ropes for the boat of Sun etc.).
II The Book of Lost Tales Part Two
5/5 If part one of The Book of Lost Tales was dedicated to Valar and to the World creation concepts, second part is dedicated to 6 pivotal stories for The Silmarillion substance. I enjoyed in the first version of the story of Beren and Luthien, where Sauron is mentioned for the first time, but in form of demon Tevildo - prince of cats. Also, tale about Turin is slightly different than the one in final version. The story about the fall of Gondolin is narrated in all its majesty and details. Also, full version of the creation of the Nauglafring (i.e. Nauglamir) is present in this book, as well as slaying of king Tinwelint (Thingol), that is different than the one in final version, and more logical and consecutive.
III The Lays of Beleriand
5/5 Immense talent and genius of professor Tolkien emerged, once again, among this pages. This time in form of epic poems. Great, long and unfinished poem "Lay of Leithian", written in octosyllabic couplets, so many times mentioned both in official version of "The Silmarillion", as well as in "The Book of Lost Tales part 1&2" bursts of beautiful literary expressions and reveals how the story of Beren and Luthien was step-by-step developed and how the plot and characters were shifted in the long period of time in which it was written. Another great poem listed in this volume is "The Lay of the Children of Hurin" - an early Tolkien's work, written in his beloved alliterative stanzas. And the most biggest surprise for me is "Noldolante" i.e. "The Flight of the Noldoli" - a poem that is mentioned in official version of "The Silmarillion" in chapter 9., which is but lament for the doom of Noldoli because of Fëanor's dreadful oath. For all that enjoy in old English epic poems, this volume should be on high position on the reading list :)
IV The Shaping of Middle-Earth
5/5 The first part of the book describes, in the scrap-book fashion form, sketches of the phases of the birth of the mythology; i.e. explanations and annotations are organized as re-told text of previous versions of the stories that are published in official version of "The Silmarillion", along with some versions from "The Book of Lost Tales 1&2". The second part was real chocolate muffin for me. I literally devoured those pages. And in the passages that are part of "The Ambarkanta" much is told about the shaping and re-modeling of Arda (that, of course, official version of "The Silmarillion" is lacking of) along with explanations about the Circles of the World and with six by Tolkien's hand drawn draft maps. Also, first and emended versions about creation and purpose of the Walls of the World and The Door of the Night are presented, and now perplexity (due to lack of logical explanations and links in previous versions) about this structures that tormented me is finally solved. The third part are early annals of Valinor and Beleriand - useful and interesting data that explain the same events but from different Valar/Elves time counting manner.
V The Lost Road and Other Writings
5/5 Precisely - 4.5 stars, for great deal of this 455 pages long manuscript is about creation and derivation of Elvish languages (Lhammas), their etymologies and genealogies, that I do not fancy much. But, the early version of the Númenorian annals where Valar were much involved in the plot (contrariwise to both official version of "The Silmarillion" and "Unfinished Tales"), along with Sauron's impact on story-line as well as Aelfwinas's song written in the old English poem "Pearl" fashion I fancied much. The second part is dedicated to later annals of Valinor and Beleriand, and gives insight in step-by-step development of the stories from The Silmarillion, but I found it somewhat tedious and redundant.
September 20, 2019
I read and reviewed each of the five volumes collected here separately, so this is really just for my own records. The rating for the collection is the average of the individual ratings - everything got three stars, apart from The Lost Road (also the last read) which got two. It dropped down to two stars because I was, frankly, sick to fucking death of all the repetition. It's long been a reading goal of mine to work through the histories of Middle-earth, because The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are some of my favourite books of all time, but talk about sucking all the joy out of things...
I would like to credit Christopher Tolkien with all the work he's done on this series - and it's been a lot, credit where credit's due - but my goodness are his endless notes pendantic, dull, and deeply, deeply repetitive. By the time the reader has waded through these five volumes, plus The Silmarillion, they've had to read through same stories multiple times. With only very minor differences in each volume. (I never liked goddamn Turin but I fucking HATE him now. Frankly I'm siding with the dragon.)
The original material is genuinely interesting. But it becomes ever more apparent, as the histories go on, that they are as much a money-making exercise as anything else, because the sheer weight of repetition that readers are expected to both buy and swallow as these volumes go on is just plain exploitative. It's so bad I've actually taken a break from reading the histories because I'm so fed up with the same damn thing all over again.
I would like to credit Christopher Tolkien with all the work he's done on this series - and it's been a lot, credit where credit's due - but my goodness are his endless notes pendantic, dull, and deeply, deeply repetitive. By the time the reader has waded through these five volumes, plus The Silmarillion, they've had to read through same stories multiple times. With only very minor differences in each volume. (I never liked goddamn Turin but I fucking HATE him now. Frankly I'm siding with the dragon.)
The original material is genuinely interesting. But it becomes ever more apparent, as the histories go on, that they are as much a money-making exercise as anything else, because the sheer weight of repetition that readers are expected to both buy and swallow as these volumes go on is just plain exploitative. It's so bad I've actually taken a break from reading the histories because I'm so fed up with the same damn thing all over again.
September 13, 2021
Th History of Middle Earth is a series I have been meaning to read through. And having read this, which include the first five books, I can certainly say that it is an intriguing read. Each book has it's own story to tell going, diving into the early ages. The origins of characters and races are interesting and Christopher Tolkien's commentary section is a great place to get some insight into J.R.R. Tolkien's process when writing.
Volume One is a great read and I will be hopping into the second volume soon.
Volume One is a great read and I will be hopping into the second volume soon.
June 14, 2025
My view about Tolkien and his world-building epic endeavour is already explored in my review of The Lord of the Rings (in https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
So, what about The History of Middle Earth?
It’s not a narrative or even a historical account in the literal sense. It’s a compilation of additional information. It goes deeper than any of the books regarding detail and explanations. Aims to answer some obscure doubts and gives us precious unpublished material: Tolkien’s notes, alternative writing excerpts that didn’t end up in the books, and even some different narrative paths.
Christopher Tolkien collected all this material after his father’s death from his personal notes.
Obviously, the target audience is made up of the most dedicated fans.
It doesn’t make much sense to read the whole HoME from beginning to end, as we wouldn’t read an encyclopedia, but of course, it may feel right to some.
Besides all the information I found here, this work gave me a better notion of the scope and depth of Tolkien’s creation. We all perceive it, as I explained in my review of LOTR. But with the History of Middle Earth, we get a whole other level of proof.
This edition in 3 volumes includes the 12 books that form the body of HoME, each corresponding to a specific era or theme of his world:
- The Book of Lost Tales 1
- The Book of Lost Tales 2
- The Lays of Beleriand
- The Shaping of Middle-Earth
- The Lost Road and Other Writings
- The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
- The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
- The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
- Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
- Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1)
- The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2)
- The Peoples of Middle-Earth
So, what about The History of Middle Earth?
It’s not a narrative or even a historical account in the literal sense. It’s a compilation of additional information. It goes deeper than any of the books regarding detail and explanations. Aims to answer some obscure doubts and gives us precious unpublished material: Tolkien’s notes, alternative writing excerpts that didn’t end up in the books, and even some different narrative paths.
Christopher Tolkien collected all this material after his father’s death from his personal notes.
Obviously, the target audience is made up of the most dedicated fans.
It doesn’t make much sense to read the whole HoME from beginning to end, as we wouldn’t read an encyclopedia, but of course, it may feel right to some.
Besides all the information I found here, this work gave me a better notion of the scope and depth of Tolkien’s creation. We all perceive it, as I explained in my review of LOTR. But with the History of Middle Earth, we get a whole other level of proof.
This edition in 3 volumes includes the 12 books that form the body of HoME, each corresponding to a specific era or theme of his world:
- The Book of Lost Tales 1
- The Book of Lost Tales 2
- The Lays of Beleriand
- The Shaping of Middle-Earth
- The Lost Road and Other Writings
- The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
- The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
- The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
- Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
- Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1)
- The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2)
- The Peoples of Middle-Earth
September 30, 2014
I wholly understand that not everyone is even into The Lord of the Rings series, much less what amounts to the related ephemera. However, if you are, as I am, a deeply unashamed Tolkien dork, then these are a must-have. These are the first five, which deal with the creation and cosmology of Middle Earth itself, and not the actual writing of the books. Perfect for the sort of nutbar like myself who would really like to convince themselves that the world could exist. You know.
Standouts are The Fall of Gondolin in Lost Tales Vol. 2, the whole of the Lays of Beleriand, and the etymologies in The Lost Road, for students of that kind of thing.
Standouts are The Fall of Gondolin in Lost Tales Vol. 2, the whole of the Lays of Beleriand, and the etymologies in The Lost Road, for students of that kind of thing.
February 27, 2008
I'm not anywhere near finished reading this series (on book 2) but I'm really enjoying them. They provide a concise account of the events related in the Silmarillion and even before that time.
Cool stuff.
PMZ
Cool stuff.
PMZ
January 15, 2009
Not an easy reading. Basically for hardcore fans. But once one has completed the Silmarillion, enjoyed it and wants more, the history is a fabulous adventure inside the creation of the Tolkien universe.
Also a great act of love by a son for the work of his father.
Also a great act of love by a son for the work of his father.
March 27, 2020
If you're a die hard fan and want to know about the creation of Middle-earth then have a go.
If you're not and like myself wanting to know more about Tolkien don't bother reading the 3-5 most of those are just repetitive and somewhat dull to read.
If you're not and like myself wanting to know more about Tolkien don't bother reading the 3-5 most of those are just repetitive and somewhat dull to read.
Read
January 4, 2010The Lost Road and Other Writings (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 5) by J.R.R. Tolkien (1996)
Want to read
April 14, 2016□ read Tolkien's The Histories of Middle Earth before kicking the bucket.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews