The Book of Lost Tales

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The Book of Lost Tales is the title of the first two volumes of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth in which he analyses the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Book of Lost Tales contains the first versions of the stories which would later become The Silmarillion, and is notable because, while very primitive in style and content, it is very close to the later work in many ways. Each of the Tales is followed by notes and a detailed commentary by Christopher Tolkien.

While many of the names in the book are identical or close to those in the later versions, some of them bear almost no resemblance to their final forms. J. R. R. Tolkien changed names rather frequently, sometimes with several new variants (rejected in turn) written in a single manuscript. Confusingly, a few times the name applied to one thing is later used to refer to a completely different thing, the original use being abandoned. As an example, the house of Elves called "Teleri" in The Book of Lost Tales is not the same as that in "The Silmarillion" (see Teleri). The original usage of "Teleri" would eventually change until the name became "Vanyar". Meanwhile, the house of Elves called the Solosimpi would replace the name "Teleri".

The framework for the book is that a mortal Man visits the Isle of Tol EressÃÂÃÂ«a where the Elves live. In the earlier versions of the "Lost Tales" this man is named Eriol, of some vague north European origin, but in later versions he becomes ÃÂÃÂlfwine, an Englishman of the Middle-ages.

There are more changes visible within the book, and it is not internally consistent, partially because even while still writing it Tolkien began rewriting earlier parts as his ideas about the world changed. The Tales were eventually abandoned, but they were resurrected in part as the "Sketch of the Mythology" which would become the Silmarillion.

For publication the book was split into two volumes: The Book of Lost Tales 1 and The Book of Lost Tales 2, but this is simply an editorial division. Both volumes are separated into several "Lost Tales".

The book of lost tales is not compatible with the silmarillion or lord of the rings, as it is several decades older, and in many cases represents the most primitive form of the legends. Nevertheless the stories are in cases so close to the final versions they are worth reading on their own right.

Sadly several tales are very unfinished, and others are unwritten where we only have notes. The representation with notes does not help much to clarify either, as the book suffers from what some may call over-editing by christopher tolkien.

Contents of Book 1:

"The Cottage of Lost Play" — the "framework" story
"The Music of the Ainur" — the first version of what would become the AinulindalÃÂÃÂ«
"The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor" — later Valaquenta and first chapters of Quenta Silmarillion
"The Chaining of Melko" — Melko is an earlier name of Melkor
"The Coming of the Elves and the Making of KÃÂÃÂ´r" — KÃÂÃÂ´r is the later Tirion and its hill TÃÂÃÂºna
"The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor"
"The Flight of the Noldoli" — "Noldoli" or "Gnomes" are the Elves later called Noldor
"The Tale of the Sun and Moon"
"The Hiding of Valinor"
"Gilfanon's Tale: The Travail of the Noldoli and the Coming of Mankind"

Contents of Book 2:

"The Tale of TinÃÂÃÂºviel" — first version of the tale of Beren and LÃÂÃÂºthien
"Turambar and the FoalÃÂÃÂ³kÃÂÃÂ«" — first version of the TÃÂÃÂºrin saga
"The Fall of Gondolin" — the only full narrative of the Fall of Gondolin
"The Nauglafring" — a story which was "lost", in that it never was rewritten in full, and was mostly left out of the later Silmarillion.
"The Tale of EÃÂÃÂ¤rendel" — the only full narrative of EÃÂÃÂ¤rendil's travels
"The History of Eriol or ÃÂÃÂlfwine and the End of the Tales" — an essay about the changes in the framework, and the "unwritten" tales.