4.0
The Peoples of Middle-earth
ByPublisher Description
Throughout this vast and intricate mythology, says Publishers Weekly, "one marvels anew at the depth, breadth, and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien's labor. No one sympathetic to his aims, the invention of a secondary universe, will want to miss this chance to be present at the creation." In this capstone to that creation, we find the chronology of Middle-earth's later Ages, the Hobbit genealogies, and the Western language or Common Speech. These early essays show that Tolkien's fertile imagination was at work on Middle-earth's Second and Third Ages long before he explored them in the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings . 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 Nsmen-rean ships.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Peoples of Middle-earth Reviews
4.0
“History of Middle Earth is quite a journey. Across 12 volumes it is part expanded lore, part commentary, and part unconventional biography. It is a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s great authors. This final volume largely concerns the development of the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, alongside additional writings from the final years of Tolkien’s life. There are certainly insights to be gleaned here, especially concerning the nature of dwarves, which cannot be found elsewhere. I was personally fascinated by Tolkien’s extended commentary presenting himself (fictionally) as a translator of the Lord of the Rings and other works from their original language into our English. It’s a mad, wild notion that deepened my understanding and appreciation of how this remarkable author saw Middle Earth. There is also tantalizing new material on the history of the kingdom of Arnor, and the wars with the Witch-King of Angmar early in the Third Age. The snippet of the late story of Tar-Elmar is intriguing, and shows Tolkien exploring more deeply how these great histories impacted common folk on the ground.
I read these 12 volumes over the course of nearly 5 years, collecting physical copies as I went. I feel a strong sentimentality towards that journey, and a little sad that, as Christopher Tolkien writes on the last page of this last volume, “There is no more.””
About J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.
Other books by J.R.R. Tolkien
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