Unfinished Tales

by J.R.R. Tolkien and J.R.R. 

Book Overview

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the first ever illustrated edition of this collection of tales which takes readers further into the stories told in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, The Lord of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395299179
• ISBN13: 9780395299173
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 1.78 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Like new book.

I have had a copy of Unfinished Tales for years, but the dust jacket was falling apart. So I’d decided to get a better. And a better book I got! I am very happy with this like new book.

J.R.R. Tolkien unfinished tales of Numenor and Middle-earth.

I love every book that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote. I’m a big fan of his work. His books are so magical I think everyone who loves fantasy books will definitely love this book and anything to do with lord of the rings and middle earth.

Exactly as advertised

Exactly as advertised

lovely book

Though Unfinished Tales cannot be read as a book in its own right, any one who comes to it after reading The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion will indubitably find it interesting, as the book gives various nuggets of information about characters, events and places that are only hinted at in the other two books; e.g. the chapter on the Istari. 'Old' legends or myths of Middle-Earth, like the actual story of Isildur's fall in the Gladden Fields, are given in their 'authoritative' versions. A number of other tales, like the history of Galadriel and Celeborn or the Black Riders' hunt for Frodo and the Ring, are told in different versions or from differing perspectives. A particular gem is the story of Aldarion and Erendis, the only story of Numenor before its fall. Through it, Numenor becomes a living place, not just a name from legends. A map of Numenor is also included in the book. A lovely book - no other words for it.

Lore to feed your mind

As with all of Tolkiens books, this is one book that any devoted fan must read! Not only will it answer many quetions (although they are relatively simple ones for us lore masters) but it contains, many stories that are in a relatively coplete narrative form. The first of these, is the tale of Tuor's coming to Gondolin. This is a much longer account of the six page one given in the Silmarillion, and unfortunately stops quite suddenly (however, the rest of the story can be found in the second book of Lost Tales and The Silmarillion).The second story, in my opinion, should be a book it's self. It is in complete narrative form, from beginning to end (except for one part which, disapointingly, is found only in a more condensed form in the Silmarillion). This is the Narn i hin Hurin, or the Tale of the Children of Hurin (Of Turin Turambar in the Silmarillion). This major portion of the book includes, as do most of the tales, an informative appendix. This is one of my favorite, if not my very favorite tale by Tolkien (Yes, even before Lord of the Rings).After this, much information considering the Second-Age of Middle-earth is given, including a beautiful tale (Whi about a Numenorean King and his wife, Aldarion and Erendis. Following this, is the history of Galadriel and Celeborn, which includes the trajic yet beautiful tale of Amroth and Nimrodel (Legolas sings a part of this tale in The Fellowship of the Ring). This section also includes the tale of the Disaster on the Gladden Fields and Isildur's death. Following thit are the tales from the third age which were not included in the Lord of the Rings (or perhaps in less detail). These are mostly just very short stories and notes, yet still they feed your knowledge, and leave it begging for more (and yes, more is available). They include The Oath of Cirion and Eorl (Steward of Gondor and first king of Rohan), Gandalf's account of how he sent the dwarves to Bag End, The Hunt for the Ring (telling of the journey of the Nazgul while they hunted Frodo) and The Battles of the Fords of Isen, telling of the battles of Rohan with the forces of Saruman during the War of the Ring.The fourth part includes three essays, The Druedain, giving much information on the "Wild men of the Woods", such as the people of Haleth and the men of Ghan-buri-ghan. The Istari, giving very interesting information on the backround of the five wizards, and how it came to be that they were sent to Middle-earth. The third is several notes and short writings about The Palantiri, the seeing-stones.Having given this book so much praise, I know would say that it should only be read by the serious Tolkien fan, because this is not your ordinary fantasy book, it's a history. Not only that, but it's written in such a way that anyone who has not read The Silmarillion, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, would be quite confused.I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to feed their knowledge of Middle-earth.

Got questions? Here are many of the answers.

This collection of stories is just what the name implies--unfinished tales from both the continent of Middle-Earth and the island of Numenor. These tales are great and rich in detail, but one should be warned that they are not your everyday fantasy story. Both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion are complicated and not casually understood, but this book tops both of them in terms of complexity. The story of the compilation of the book is this: Tolkien's son Christopher collected a mass of writings of his father--notes scrawled on scraps of paper, unpublished essays, even letters dealing with Middle-Earth. He edited and organized them, and prepared them for publication, and the result is this book. Because of this, many of the stories are missing detail and have some speculation, and all of them relate to other events related in Tolkien's other works. Because of the relation to Tolkien's other work, this book should be read AFTER The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion, and should only be approached by those who want to seriously study and learn all there is to know of the world Tolkien created. For the casual reader this compilation may be somewhat tedious, for there is much detail lacking and it is assumed that you already have a knowledge of the history of Middle-Earth as outlined in Tolkien's other books. For those who are serious about study, though, this book is a great addition to the already extensive world of JRR Tolkien. Ever wonder where Gandalf and the other wizards came from? Why Bilbo was chosen to accompany the Dwarves in The Hobbit? What the palantiri stones do, and where they came from? If so, then this is the book for you. You will find a collection of stories that will greatly enrich the lore of Middle-Earth (and Numenor). For serious readers of Tolkien, this book is highly recommended. No one does fantasy like he does, and even these scattered fragments of narrative are enough to leave you begging for more.

Unfinished, but not unremarkable.

When JRR Tolkien died, he left a massive amount of material that, for various reasons, had not been published. Some of this material was sufficiently comprehensive and consistant with published materials that Tolkien's son, Christopher, was able to compile it into 'The Silmarillion'.But there were also several stories, polished, but not quite complete, which pertained to the events in 'The Lord of the Rings' -- things like the story of how Isildur lost the One Ring; like what, exactly, were the Wizards: who sent them and why? Questions like 'How did Galadriel and Celeborn come to rule Lorien?' and 'Just what happened at the Fords of Isen when Saruman attacked Rohan and Theoden's son, Theodred, was slain?'All these questions and many more are addressed in the many unfinished tales that are to be found in this book: tales from all three of the ages of Middle-earth; from heroes such as Tuor and Turin in the First Age, to Bilbo and Gandalf in the Third. Almost every tale is told in a different style, but each is satisfying, up to the point where it breaks off: then frustration and speculation set in, but also a deep appreciation for the scope and grandeur of Middle-earth and the man who created it.

A MUST HAVE FOR ANY TOLKIEN FAN

In this "follow-up" to The Silmarillion and LOTR you find a literal treasure chest of knowledge concerning tales of Middle Earth. The Tale of the Children of Hurin is one of the best stories I have ever read, the essays on the Istari and the Druidain reveal two of the mysteries in LOTR, and The Battle of the Fords of Isen and Cirion and Eorl will give you good insight on the troubles of Gondor and Rohan in the Third Age. It also contains two rarely mentioned parts of LOTR; one being Aldarion and Erendis, a tale concerning a King of Numenor, and the other tells of the entire hunt for the Ring as seen by the enemy. I recommend this book to any Tolkien fan. You will read this book time and time again and simply revel in the quantity of information it gives you.