New Releases by Christopher Tolkien

Fourth in a series of hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dust jackets--one side featuring artwork by John Howe, and the original graphic treatment on the other. Set 4 contains Morgoth's Ring, The War of the Jewels, The Peoples of Middle-earth (Books 10-12 of The History of Middle-earth) and The History of Middle-earth Index. Morgoth's Ring is the first of two companion volumes documenting the later writing of The Silmarillion. The text of the Annals of Aman, the "Blessed Land" in the far West, is given in full; while further writings reveal the nature of the problems that Tolkien explored in his later years, as new and radical ideas, portending upheaval in the old narratives, emerged at the heart of the mythology. The War of the Jewels continues the account of the later history of The Silmarillion, as the story returns to Middle-earth, and the ruinous conflict of the High Elves and the Men who were their allies with the power of the Dark Lord. The Peoples of Middle-earth is this capstone to Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, presenting a chronology of the later Ages, the Hobbit genealogies, and the Western language or Common Speech. Here too are valuable writings from Tolkien's last years: "The New Shadow," in Gondor of the Fourth Age, and "Tal-elmar," the tale of the coming of the Numenorean ships. The History of Middle-earth Index presents the comprehensive indices of all twelve History of Middle-earth volumes in a single, easily referenced edition, serving as an essential complement to this extraordinary work. Published together for the first time, these four books collect a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien's forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.

Third in a series of hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dust jackets--one side featuring artwork by John Howe, and the original graphic treatment on the other. Set 3 contains The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated (Books 6-9 of The History of Middle-earth). The Return of the Shadow is the story of the first part of the history of the creation of The Lord of the Rings, a fascinating study of Tolkien's great masterpiece, from its inception to the end of the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring. The Treason of Isengard continues the account of the creation of The Lord of the Rings started in the earlier volume, tracing the great expansion of the tale into new lands and peoples south and east of the Misty Mountains: the emergence of Lothlorien, of Ents, of the Riders of Rohan, and of Saruman the White in the fortress of Isengard. The War of the Ring takes up the story with the Battle of Helm's Deep and the drowning of Isengard by the Ents; continues with the journey of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum to the Pass of Cirith Ungol; describes the war in Gondor; and ends with the parley between Gandalf and the ambassador of the Dark Lord before the Black Gate of Mordor. Sauron Defeated completes Christopher Tolkien's fascinating study of The Lord of the Rings, beginning with Sam's rescue of Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and giving a very different account of the Scouring of the Shire, with many additional scenes and the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety. Published together for the first time, these four books collect a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien's forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.

Second in a series of hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dust jackets. Set 2 contains The Lays of Beleriand, The Shaping of Middle-earth, and The Lost Road (Books 3-5 of The History of Middle-earth). The Lays of Beleriand gives us a privileged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth, through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien's world--those of Turin and Luthien. Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days. Also included is the notable criticism of The Lay of Leithian by C.S. Lewis, who read the poem in 1929. In The Shaping of Middle-earth, the chronological and geographical structure of the legends of Middle-earth and Valinor is spread before us. We are introduced to the hitherto unknown Ambarkanta or "Shape of the World," the only account ever given of the nature of the imagined Universe, accompanied by maps and diagrams of the world before and after the cataclysms of The War of the Gods and the Downfall of Numenor. The Lost Road completes the examination of Tolkien's writing before he began The Lord of the Rings, presenting later forms of the annals of Valinor and Beleriand, the legend of the downfall of Numenor, and the abandoned "time-travel" story "The Lost Road," linking the world of Numenor and Middle-earth with the legends of many other times and peoples. Published together for the first time, these three books collect a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien's forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.

Painstakingly restored from Tolkien''s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, this paperback of the epic tale of The Children of Húrin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves, dragons, Dwarves and Orcs, and the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien. It is a legendary time long before The Lord of the Rings, and Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Túrin and his sister Niënor will be tragically entwined. Their brief and passionate lives are dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Húrin, the man who dared to defy him to his face. Against them Morgoth sends his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire, in an attempt to fulfil the curse of Morgoth, and destroy the children of Húrin. Begun by J.R.R. Tolkien at the end of the First World War, The Children of Húrin became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to a final and finished form. In this book Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention.

First in a series of hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dustjackets. Set 1 contains special editions of THE SILMARILLION and UNFINISHED TALES reproducing the first edition text, together with the two volumes of THE BOOK OF LOST TALES. The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien's World. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth and the rise of Númenor in the Second Age to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories from the twentieth century's most acclaimed popular author. The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the lonely Isle where the Elves dwe In the two volumes of the Tales are found the earliest accounts of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of the geography and cosmology of Tolkien's invented world. Published together for the first time, these four books collect the beginning of Christopher Tolkien's forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.

In volumes ten and eleven of The History of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien recounts from the original texts the evolution of his father''s work on The Silmarillion, the legendary history of the Elder Days or First Age, from the completion of the Lord of the Rings in 1949 until J.R.R. Tolkien''s death. In volume ten, Morgoth''s Ring, the narrative was taken only as far as the natural dividing point in the work, when Morgoth destroyed the Trees of Light and fled from Valinor bearing the stolen Silmarils. In The War of the Jewels, the story returns to Middle-earth and the ruinous conflict of the High Elves and the Men who were their allies with the power of the Dark Lord. With the publication in this book of all of J.R.R. Tolkien''s later narrative writing concerned with the last centuries of the First Age, the long history of The Silmarillion, from its beginnings in The Book of Lost Tales, is completed; the enigmatic state of the work at his death can now be understood. A chief element in The War of the Jewels is a major story of Middle-earth, now published for the first time - a continuation of the great "saga" of Turin Turambar and his sister Nienor, the children of Hurin the Steadfast. This is the tale of the disaster that overtook the forest people of Brethil when Hurin came among them after his release from long years of captivity in Angband, the fortress of Morgoth. The uncompleted text of the Grey Annals, the primary record of the War of the Jewels, is given in full; the geography of Beleriand is studied in detail, with redrawings of the final state of the map; and a long essay on the names and relations of all the peoples of Middle-earth shows more clearly than any writing yet published the close connection between the language and history in Tolkien''s world. The text also provides new information, including some knowledge of the divine powers, the Valar.

With Christopher Tolkien as your guide, take a tour through this colourful gallery of enchanting art produced by J.R.R. Tolkien and presented in an elegant new slipcased edition. This collection of pictures, with text by Christopher Tolkien, now reissued after almost 30 years confirms J.R.R. Tolkien''s considerable talent as an artist. It provides fascinating insight into his visual conception of many of the places and events familiar to readers of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Examples of his art range from delicate watercolours depicting Rivendell, the Forest of Lothlorien, Smaug, and Old Man Willow, to drawings and sketches of Moria Gate and Minas Tirith. Together they form a comprehensive collection of Tolkien''s own illustrations for his most popular books. Also included are many of his beautiful designs showing patterns of flowers and trees, friezes, tapestries and heraldic devices associated with the world of Middle-earth. In their variety and scope they provide abundant visual evidence of the richness of his imagination. This enchanting gallery was personally selected by Christopher Tolkien who, through detailed notes on the sources for each picture, provides unique insight into the artistic vision of his father, J.R.R. Tolkien.

The first of two companion volumes which documents the later writing of The Silmarillion, Tolkien’s epic tale of war.

SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, PEARL, AND SIR ORFEO THREE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH POEMS, WITH TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN It’s Christmas at Camelot and King Arthur won’t begin to feast until he has witnessed a marvel of chivalry. A mysterious knight, green from head to toe, rides in and brings the court’s wait to an end with an implausible challenge to the Round Table: he will allow any of the knights to strike him once, with a battle-axe no less, on the condition that he is allowed to return the blow a year hence. Arthur’s brave favorite for the challenge is Sir Gawain… Accompanying Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in this book are Sir Orfeo, a medieval version of the story of Orpheus and Euridice, a love so strong that it overcame death, and Pearl, the moving tale of a man in a graveyard mourning his baby daughter, lost like a pearl that slipped through his fingers. Worn out by grief, he falls asleep and dreams of meeting her in a bejewelled fantasy world. Interpreted in a form designed to appeal to the general reader, J.R.R. Tolkien’s vivid translations of these classic poems represent the complete rhyme and alliterative schemes of the originals. This beautifully decorated text includes as a bonus the complete text of Tolkien’s acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain.

This new hardcover edition brings together the final three volumes of The History of Middle-earth--Morgoth''s Ring, The War of the Jewels, and The Peoples 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.

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.

The Great Tales of Middle-earth is a beautiful boxed set of the three final novels of Middle-earth: Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin, packaged together for the first time. Completing Christopher Tolkien's lifelong achievement as the editor and curator of his father J.R.R. Tolkien's manuscripts, The Great Tales features handsome color plates and maps by famed illustrator Alan Lee. The Children of Húrin was the first complete book by J.R.R.Tolkien since the 1977 publication of The Silmarillion. Six thousand years before the One Ring is destroyed, Middle-earth lies under the shadow of the Dark Lord Morgoth. The greatest warriors among elves and men have perished, and all is in darkness and despair. But a deadly new leader rises, Túrin, son of Húrin, and with his grim band of outlaws begins to turn the tide in the war for Middle-earth--awaiting the day he confronts his destiny and the deadly curse laid upon him. Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril. The Fall of Gondolin completes the set and tells the story of the destruction of the legendary city of Gondolin at the hands of evil Morgoth in retaliation against Ulmo, the Lord of the Waters, who favors man. At core is the tale of Tuor, cousin of Túrin, his wife, Idril, daughter of Turgon, king of Gondolin, and their child, Eärendel, who became great in Gondolin, but had to flee the blazing wreckage of his home when Morgoth attacked. Each hardcover volume includes color plates and black and white maps by award-winning illustrator Alan Lee.

This special collector's edition features all 12 parts of the series bound in three volumes. Each book includes a silk ribbon marker and is quarter-bound in black, with grey boards stamped in gold foil, and the set is presented in a matching black slipcase. 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 his Tolkien's youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to produce the monumental and endlessly fascinating series of twelve books, The History of Middle-earth. This very special collector's edition brings together all twelve books into three hardback volumes - over 5,000 pages of fascinating Tolkien material - and places them in one matching box.

New York Times bestseller “A thrill . . . Beowulf was Tolkien’s lodestar. Everything he did led up to or away from it.” —New Yorker J.R.R. Tolkien completed his translation of Beowulf in 1926: he returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication. This edition includes an illuminating written commentary on the poem by the translator himself, drawn from a series of lectures he gave at Oxford in the 1930s. His creative attention to detail in these lectures gives rise to a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if Tolkien entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beach their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to Beowulf’s rising anger at Unferth’s taunting, or looking up in amazement at Grendel’s terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot. “Essential for students of the Old English poem—and the ideal gift for devotees of the One Ring.” —Kirkus

Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien composed his own version of the great legend of Northern antiquity, recounted here in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún. In the Lay of the Völsungs is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fáfnir, most celebrated of dragons; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild, who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs (or Nibelungs), with whom he entered into blood-brotherhood. In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy, and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung and Gudrún his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrún. The Lay of Gudrún recounts her fate after the death of Sigurd, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns (the Attila of history), his murder of her brothers, and her hideous revenge.

The second of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien’s epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.

The first of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien’s epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.

''The Peoples of Middle-earth'' traces the evolution of the Appendices to The Lord of The Rings, which provide a comprehensive historical structure of the Second and Third Ages, including Calendars, Hobbit genealogies and the Westron language.

This is the fourth volume in ''The History of Middle-Earth'' series that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien''s epic tale of war.

This is the first of two volumes which documents later writing of ''The Silmarillion'', Tolkien''s epic tale of war. Christopher Tolkien documents the history of ''The Silmarillion'', from the time when his father turned again to ''the Matter of the Elder Days''.

''The Return of the Shadow'' is the story of the first part of ''The History of The Lord of the Rings'', from its inception to the end of the first volume, ''The Fellowship of the Ring''.

This is the third volume in ''The History of Middle-Earth'' series that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien''s epic tale of war, ''The Silmarillion''.

Complete integrated indices of History of Middle-earth volumes. For the first time every index from each of the twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth has been published together in a single volume - to create a supreme index charting the writing of Tolkien''s masterpieces The Lord of The Rings and The Silmarillion.

The Treason of Isengard is the seventh volume in Christopher Tolkien''s History of Middle-earth and the second in his account of the evolution of The Lord of the Rings. In this book, following the long halt in the darkness of the Mines of Moria with which The Return of the Shadow ended, is traced the great expansion of the tale into new lands and new peoples south and east of the Misty Mountains; the emergence of Lothlorien, of Ents, of the Riders of Rohan, and of Saruman the White in the fortress of Isengard. In brief outlines and pencilled drafts dashed down on scraps of paper are seen the first entry of Galadriel, the earliest ideas of the history of Gondor, the original meeting of Aragorn and Eowyn, its significance destined to be wholly transformed. Conceptions of what lay ahead are seen dissolving as the story took its own paths, as in the account of the capture of Frodo and his rescue by Sam Gmgee from Minas Morgul, written long before J.R.R. Tolkien actually came to that point in the writing of The Lord of the Rings. A chief feature of the book is a full account of the original Map, with re-drawings of successive phases, which was long the basis and accompaniment of the emerging geography of Middle-earth. An appendix to the book describes the Runic alphabets as they were at that time, with illustrations of the forms and an analysis of the Runes used in the Book of Mazarbul found beside Balin''s Tomb in Moria.

"Includes comprehension questions, vocabulary, and questions for class discussion, essays, and projects." Also includes chronology of Tolkien''s life and quotations from The letters of J.R.R Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien.

A collection of fantasy short stories from the author of LORD OF THE RINGS, which are set in Middle Earth, from the time of the Elder Days to the end of the War of the Ring. Includes stories which feature Gandalf, the Riders of Rohan, the Five Wizards, the Palantiri, the legend of Amroth, and the halycon days of Numenor.