Finally it has arrived - 14 weeks by boat (or I suspect Albatross) from the UK and I finally have the second to last book for my collection of Unwin Unicorn paperbacks of Tolkien's works. I continue my search for "The Hobbit" but I suspect they may not have actually published it in that series...but hope springs eternal.
Here are the chapters:
1. "The Tale of Tinúviel" — first version of the tale of Beren and Lúthien
2. "Turambar and the Foalókë" — first version of the Túrin saga
3. "The Fall of Gondolin" — the only full narrative of the Fall of Gondolin
4. "The Nauglafring" — a story which was "lost", in that it never was rewritten in full, and was mostly left out of the later Silmarillion.
5. "The Tale of Eärendel" — the only full narrative of Eärendil's travels
6. "The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales" — an essay about the changes in the framework, and the "unwritten" tales.
It takes work to read these books. They are not your usual fantasy mind candy requiring little thought. These books need you to be almost academic in your digestion of them. As they are pieced together from various Tolkien scribbles there are often changes in certain names including actual usage or application of those names. I thoroughly enjoy them for the depth and meatiness they provide however and Christopher Tolkien deserves a hearty slap on the back and a mug of ale for bringing them to an eager world.
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