J.R.R. Tolkien

Language and Legend Before 'The Lord of the Rings'

The Lost Road and Other Writings

Nona G

"The Lost Road" - the 5th volume of Tolkien's "History of Middle-Earth" - is in fact a collection of writings and re-writings of previous works, so in reality it doesn't bring a lot of new material. It feels like you're reading the same stories over and over again, but in reality it's another step forward in the development of the mythology towards the final(-ish) version that is "The Silmarillion". It's also the last book of the 12-volume history that deals with Middle-Earth before the final defeat of Morgoth.

I feel like the book should have been structured differently. It starts with "The Fall of Numenor", but reverts back to the annals (a later version than the one in volume 4) and the Silmarillion, but I guess Christopher Tolkien wanted to present his father's writings in the order they were written and not in the actual chronological order of the events.

What this volume brings new is the aforementioned "Fall of Numenor" and "The Lost Road", which was Tolkien's attempt at writing a time travelling story with reincarnation elements (he has a bet with C.S. Lewis about each of them attempting a type of travelling, and while Lewis chose space travelling - and, subsequently, wrote "Alice in Wonderland", Tolkien started working on "The Lost Road", but unfortunately never finished it). Other new elements are "The Lhammas" (account of the tongues) and "The Etymologies", which is basically elvish vocabulary.

This volume, I believe, a lot more than the others, is intended only for the most hard-core Tolkien fans, those who really want to dive in and see how his mind worked and how his mythology evolved. Otherwise, it will feel repetitive and the reader might get bored of reading for the nth time about Hurin and Turin and the history of the silmarils.

Reveals how Tolkien's Middle-earth saga grew from an early idea of a new version of the Atlantis legend to the vivid world just beyond reality's border

The Lost Road and Other Writings Language and Legend Before 'The Lord of the Rings'

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