The Book of Lost Tales

{{short description|Collection of stories by J. R. R. Tolkien}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Use British English|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox book |name = The Book of Lost Tales |image = LostTales1.jpg |alt = Cover has a drawing of a winged dragon looking toward a castle in the background |caption = Volume 1, illustrated by [[John Howe (illustrator)|John Howe]] |editor = [[Christopher Tolkien]] |author = [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] |country = United Kingdom |language = English |genre = {{unbulleted list|[[High fantasy]]|[[Literary studies]]}} |subject = [[Tolkien's legendarium]] |series = ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'' |publisher = {{ubli|[[George Allen & Unwin]] (UK)|[[Houghton Mifflin]] (US)}} |release_date = {{unbulleted list|1983 (Vol. 1)|1984 (Vol. 2)}} |media_type = Print |pages = {{ubli|297 (Vol. 1, first edition)|400 (Vol. 2, first edition)}} |isbn = 0-395-35439-0 |isbn_note = {{ubl|(Vol. 1)|{{ISBNT|0-395-36614-3}} (Vol. 2)}} |followed_by = [[The Lays of Beleriand]] }}

'''''The Book of Lost Tales''''' is a collection of early stories by the English writer [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], published as the first two volumes of [[Christopher Tolkien]]'s 12-volume series ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'', in which he presents and analyses the manuscripts of those stories, which were the earliest form (begun in 1917) of the [[Tolkien's legendarium|complex fictional myths]] that would eventually form ''[[The Silmarillion]]''. Each of the Tales is followed by notes and a detailed commentary by Christopher Tolkien.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whittingham |first=Elizabeth A. |author-link=Elizabeth Whittingham |title=The Evolution of Tolkien's Mythology: A Study of the History of Middle-earth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22EqDwAAQBAJ |year=2017 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-1-4766-1174-7}}</ref>

For publication the book was split into two volumes: ''The Book of Lost Tales 1'' (1983) and ''The Book of Lost Tales 2'' (1984), but this is simply an editorial division. Each volume contains several "Lost Tales".

== Content ==

{{Tolkien's legendarium|upright=1.7|caption=Navigable diagram of [[Tolkien's legendarium]]. ''The Book of Lost Tales'' is among his earliest Middle-earth writings.}}

=== Outline, with later equivalents in ''The Silmarillion'' ===

{| class="wikitable" ! width="43%" | The Book of Lost Tales (1917) !! ''Storyteller'' !! width="43%" | ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' (1977) |- | || || |- ! colspan="4" align="center" | Book I |- | 1. "The Cottage of Lost Play" || [[Vairë]] || ([[Tolkien's frame stories|Frame story]] omitted by [[Christopher Tolkien]], to his later regret{{sfn|Tolkien|1984|pp=5–7 "Foreword"}}) |- | 2. "The Music of the [[Ainur in Middle-earth|Ainur]]" || Rúmil || "[[Ainulindalë]]" |- | 3. "The Coming of the [[Valar]] and the Building of [[Valinor]]" || Rúmil || "[[Valaquenta]]" 1. "Of the Beginning of Days" |- | colspan="2" | - || 2. Of Aulë and Yavanna |- | 4. "The Chaining of [[Melkor|Melko]]" 5. "The Coming of the [[Elves in Middle-earth|Elves]] and the Making of Kôr" || Meril-i-Turinqi || 3. "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor" 4. "Of [[Thingol]] and [[Melian (Middle-earth)|Melian]]" 5. "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië" |- | 6. "The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor" 7. "The Flight of the [[Noldor|Noldoli]]" || Lindo || 6. "Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor" 7. "Of the [[Silmarils]] and the Unrest of the Noldor" 8. "Of the Darkening of Valinor" 9. "Of the Flight of the Noldor" |- | 8. "The Tale of the Sun and Moon" 9. "The Hiding of Valinor" || Lindo Vairë || 11. "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor" |- | 10. "Gilfanon's Tale: The Travail of the Noldoli and the Coming of Mankind" – ''unwritten; 2 fragments and 2 outlines only'' || Gilfanon || 10. "Of the [[Sindar]]" 12. "Of [[Men in Middle-earth|Men]]" 13. "Of the Return of the [[Noldor]]" 14. "Of [[Beleriand]] and its Realms" 15. "Of the Noldor in Beleriand" 16. "Of [[Maeglin]]" 17. "Of the Coming of Men into the West" 18. "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of [[Fingolfin]]" |- ! colspan="4" align="center" | Book II |- | 1. "The Tale of Tinúviel" || Vëannë || 19. "[[Of Beren and Lúthien]]" |- | colspan="2" | - || 20. "Of the Fifth Battle: [[Nirnaeth Arnoediad]]" |- | 2. "Turambar and the Foalókë" || Eltas || 21. "Of [[Túrin Turambar]]" |- | 3. "[[The Fall of Gondolin]]" || Ilfinion || 23. "[[Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin]]" |- | 4. "The Nauglafring" || Ailios || 22. "Of the Ruin of [[Doriath (Middle-earth)|Doriath]]" |- | 5. "The Tale of Eärendel" — ''unwritten; 3 outlines and 4 poems only'' || - || 24. "Of the Voyage of [[Eärendil and Elwing|Eärendil]] and the [[War of Wrath]]" |- | 6a. "The End of the Tales" — ''unwritten; 1 outline, 4 notes, epilogue only'' 6b. "[[Ælfwine of England|The History of Eriol or Ælfwine]]" — ''unwritten; 2 outlines (based on 19 notes), 2 poems, 1 fragment only'' || - || (Frame story; see note to 'The Cottage of Lost Play' in Book I) |}

=== Inscriptions ===

There is an inscription in the [[Fëanor]]ian characters ([[Tengwar]], an alphabet Tolkien devised for High-Elves) in the first pages of every ''History of Middle-earth'' volume, written by Christopher Tolkien and describing the contents of the book. The inscription in Book I reads "This is the first part of the Book of the Lost Tales of Elfinesse which Eriol the Mariner learned from the Elves of [[Tol Eressëa]], the Lonely Isle in the [[Belegaer|western ocean]], and afterwards wrote in the Golden Book of Tavrobel. Herein are told the Tales of [[Valinor]], from the [[Music of the Ainur]] to the Exile of the [[Noldor|Noldoli]] and the [[Valinor#The Hiding of Valinor|Hiding of Valinor]]."

The inscription in Book II reads "This is the second part of the Book of the Lost Tales of Elfinesse which Eriol the Mariner learned from the Elves of Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle in the western ocean, and afterwards wrote in the Golden Book of Tavrobel. Herein are told the Tales of Beren and Tinúviel, of Turambar, of the Fall of Gondolin and of the Necklace of the Dwarves."

== Reception ==

=== General ===

The science fiction author [[Colin Greenland]] reviewed ''The Book of Lost Tales I'' for ''[[Imagine (game magazine)|Imagine]]'' magazine, and stated that "Those who prefer their fairy-tales sophisticated, in weighty prose with scholarly footnotes and appendices, will plunge joyously into J R R Tolkien's first ''Book of Lost Tales''."<ref name="Imagine26">{{cite journal |last=Greenland |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Greenland |title =Fantasy Media |type=review |journal=[[Imagine (AD&D magazine)|Imagine]] |issue=26 |pages=47 |publisher=TSR Hobbies |date=May 1985 |issn=}}</ref>

The [[science fiction]] critic [[David Langford|Dave Langford]] reviewed ''The Book of Lost Tales II'' for ''[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]'' #59, stating that he had mixed feelings about it, since while it provided some added depth, he was not sure that every detail was worth "annotating with such ghastly solemnity."<ref name="WD59">{{cite journal |last=Langford |first=Dave |author-link=David Langford |title=Critical Mass |journal=[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]] |issue=59 |pages=12 |publisher=[[Games Workshop]] |date=November 1984}}</ref>

=== Scholarly ===

The Tolkien scholar [[Charles Noad]], reviewing Part 1 in ''[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]]'' in 1984, notes the mismatches between the names in the book and those in ''The Silmarillion'', the many alternative names, and the varying attributes of the characters when the name remains unchanged. He likens the book's relationship to ''The Silmarillion'' to that of a charcoal sketch and the oil painting that it precedes: much work is evidently needed. Further, [[Tolkien's prose style]] is at this point still "immature and unsophisticated". Noad quotes Christopher Tolkien's remark that development was usually "by subtle transformation". He finds "very extraordinary" the revelation that the island that the wanderer Eriol sets foot on is [[England in Middle-earth|what would become England]]. He notes, too, what he calls a major problem facing Tolkien: how "to present his mythology in the proper perspective", commenting that it was meant to be "[[Tolkien's frame stories|a survival from the remotest antiquity]]". That, Noad writes, requires an indirect approach, which ''[[The Hobbit]]'' eventually provided: the [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]] became the distant past to the story in the foreground. He concludes that the book will be mainly of [literary] 'archaeological' interest "and cannot be recommended to the casual reader".<ref name="Noad 1984a">{{cite journal |last=Noad |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Noad |title=Untitled [Review: The Book of Lost Tales - Part One] |journal=[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]] |issue=21 |year=1984 |pages=11–13 |jstor=45321535}}</ref>

Noad, in his review of Part 2, comments that the reviewer's task faces the problem that the sort of comparisons a review would normally make have already all been made, in "abundant detail", by Christopher Tolkien in his commentary and notes. But it was still striking, he wrote, how [[Lúthien and Beren|Beren]] is here an Elf, not a Man; and Lúthien rescues him not from Sauron but from Tevildo, Prince of Cats. Noad finds it remarkable how much the story had changed, given that the tale of Lúthien and Beren was so important to Tolkien. Of the volume as a whole, Noad comments that it is less "cosmographic" than Part 1, but has a stronger narrative thread. All the same, he feels it is "more of use to the curious" or the researcher than a stand-alone work; he finds the writing "stilted", failing to achieve its intended effects. Evidently, he concludes, Tolkien did not acquire his finished prose style quickly or easily. Noad praises Christopher Tolkien's editing, setting out the complicated materials "astonishingly well".<ref name="Noad 1984b">{{cite journal |last=Noad |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Noad |title=Untitled [Review: The Book of Lost Tales - Part Two] |journal=[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]] |issue=22 |year=1984 |pages=17–20 |jstor=45320106}}</ref>

The [[Tolkien scholar]] Vladimir Brljak, writing in ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'' in 2010, notes that Tolkien's comment in ''[[Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics#A singular effect|Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics]]'', that ''[[Beowulf]]'' was already antiquarian when written, and is now "an echo of an echo",<ref name="Brljak 2010"/><ref name="Tolkien 1997">{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=The Monsters and the Critics |date=1997 |orig-year=1983 |place=London |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-261-10263-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/monsterscriticso00tolk |page=33}}</ref> bringing poignant vistas of sad times long gone by, was also a defence of his own writings, where [[Beowulf and Middle-earth|he followed the ''Beowulf'' poet]] in deliberately seeking to create an [[Impression of depth in The Lord of the Rings|impression of depth]]. He did this in the two ''Books of Lost Tales'' by creating "an [[Tolkien and antiquarianism|intricate metafictional structure]]", embedding his works in a framework of "translations of redactions of ancient works, telling of things even more ancient." Brljak argues that this framework is "both the cornerstone and crowning achievement of Tolkien's mature literary work."<ref name="Brljak 2010">{{cite journal |last=Brljak |first=Vladimir |title=The Books of Lost Tales: Tolkien as Metafictionist |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |year=2010 |issn=1547-3163 |doi=10.1353/tks.0.0079 |pages=1–34 |s2cid=170676579 }}</ref>

== See also ==

* ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' (1980) * ''[[The Children of Húrin]]'' (2007)

== References ==

== Sources ==

* {{ME-ref|BoLT}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Book of Lost Tales}} [[Category:Middle-earth books]] [[Category:The History of Middle-earth|*01]] [[Category:1983 short story collections]] [[Category:1984 short story collections]] [[Category:Unfinished books]] [[Category:Fantasy book series]] [[Category:Books by J. R. R. Tolkien]] [[Category:Allen & Unwin books]] [[Category:Books published posthumously]]