The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11)

Author - J.R.R. Tolkien ... [Goo?] [Posters]
Christopher Tolkien ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Houghton Mifflin was reviewed on 18-Oct-2008.

Search ISBN:0395710413 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) Reference Book. Classifications : General AAS British World Literature Literature & Fiction Subjects Books General Tolkien, J.R.R. ( T ) Authors, A-Z Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books Hardcover Tolkien, J.R.R. ( T ) Authors, A- . Click the following link to view the cover of The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11).

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1) Hardcover Book The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) by Houghton Mifflin. The discription did not say that this was completely made up of paragraph revisions. Very dissapointed¤

2) Hardcover Book The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) by Houghton Mifflin. ´Morgoth´s Ring´ and ´The War of the Jewels´ are both collections of draft material which would become the postumously published ´The Silmarillion´. In that sense, they stand in the same relation to ´The Silmarillion´ as Volumes VI through IX of ´The History of Middle Earth´ stand to ´The Lord of the Rings´. The difference is that while Tolkien senior himself published LotR, ´The Silmarillion´ was incomplete at the time of Tolkien´s death, so these are commentaries on an imcomplete work. If, like me, you compulsively buy everything with Tolkien´s name on it, this will make no differnce. But, if, like me, you find the story of the Valar and the origins of the elves in general to be the most interesting part of ´The Silmarillion, then you will find ´Morgoth´s Ring´ the more interesting of the two volumes. In the end, both volumes add more pieces to that great, but slightly ephemeral quality of deep historicity which makes LoTR and ´The Hobbit´ stand head, shoulders, and chest above virtually every other fantasy fiction ever written.¤

3) Hardcover Book The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) by Houghton Mifflin. Volume XI of the History of Middle-Earth contains JRR Tolkien´s writings of the First Age after the Lord of the Rings was published. Most texts date from the 1950s, but some were written as late as 1970, in the last years of his life. This volume contains the history of Beleriand.

Unlike most other volumes of the History of Middle-Earth, much of Volume XI is *NEW* material that is published nowhere else. It also includes some of the actual texts that Christopher Tolkien used to construct the "published" Silmarillion.

Not everyone who has read the Silmarillion will enjoy this scholarly work, but if you are a "Tolkien scholar," or if you read the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and still hunger for more stories and information about the First Age, this book is wonderful. If you don´t care for the commentaries, there are still the stories themselves.

"The Wanderings of Húrin" can be considered the greatest gem of Volume XI, continuing the tragic tale of the Children of Húrin in the tradition of the Narn i Chîn Húrin, and further developing Húrin´s character. It is a completely new narrative, describing in almost novelistic prose the story of Húrin after he was released from Angband: his travel to Hithlum, and the disastrous fallout of his visit to Brethil. This is a nearly complete story, similar to the narratives in Unfinished Tales.

"Quendi and Eldar" is a long linguistic work, a completed text focusing on the names for the Elves and their Clans, and the other Speaking Peoples, and many other words, in different Elvish languages. Besides the linguistic material, it also discusses the various Elven clans, as well as telepathy, sign language, the Great March, some information about the Avari and the Petty-Dwarves, and other subjects. Included is Pengolodh´s description of the Valar´s unique language, plus a detailed account of the Elves´ awakening at Cuiviénen. This section will be essential to any student of the Elvish languages, but is quite valuable for non-linguists as well.

"The Grey Annals" and "The Tale of Years" are separate (incomplete) texts from the Quenta Silmarillion, containing different accounts of the history of Beleriand and the stories of the Noldor and Edain. More importantly, the Annals and Tale of Years together give the dates when the events of Beleriand´s history happened.
The Tale of Years also tells for the first time the *real* story of the Nauglamír and the Ruin of Doriath. Silmarillion readers will be surprised!

"Of Maeglin" traces the development of that chapter in the Silmarillion, and includes several notes and additional writings that shed much new light on the story and character of Maeglin. This material was mostly written in 1970-1.

"The Later Quenta Silmarillion" is mostly a rough draft in the vein of earlier History of Middle-Earth volumes, but there is also new information about the Edain and Dwarves, including extensive family trees of the Three Houses of the Elf-Friends.

"Ælfwine and Dírhavel" is the prologue to the Narn i Chîn Húrin, which is not in the Unfinished Tales.

"Ents and Eagles" contains some notes on chapter 2 of The Silmarillion.¤

4) Hardcover Book The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) by Houghton Mifflin. Well, he came pretty damn close to doing this. But even though not complete, still my favorite type of mythology.

This book goes more into the silmarillion and some writings like what hurin did when he was released from hell.(though that story didn´t interest me that much.)

Since I don´t have the books in front of me, I can´t remember if "The shibolleth of feanor" is in here, but I think that it is.

THIS I would have to say is my favorite short writing from tolkien. You see he was constantly writing things like the debate of finrod and amreth?, and the shibboleth to try to explain the world better for HIMSELF. So he would use these as references when he would rewrite or completely redo his silmarillion writings.

The shibboleth of feanor is so interesting in so may ways, and since I don´t want to give any of this away, I do have to tell you a wittle bit about it. I love this because it shows how much strife that a little thing like this would cause. Let´s just sy that feanor certainly had many problems, but this is one of his biggest. I don´t want to tell you what the problem is, because you have to read it for yourselves.

So pretty much only for silmarillion diehards, but still mother freaking awesome for those of us who are.¤

5) Hardcover Book The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) by Houghton Mifflin. The variety of material available in ´The War of the Jewels´ is what makes this volume of the History of Middle-earth series one of the best.

Two things stand out. First is the extensive writings on Hurin after his release from Angband. In an extension and more fully recounted version of his tale, Hurin´s character and the consequences of his release are more fully explored, giving greater depth to the account given in ´The Silmarillion´.

The other is the essay ´Quendi and Eldar´. This is a treasure-trove not only for the Tolkien linguist but anyone interested in the history of the Elves. Through an examination of the different words used by the Elves to refer to themselves and their different divisions, the look at their history as they themselves saw it is priceless. Other parts of the essay and accompanying material fill out references found in ´Unfinished Tales´, etc.

´The War of the Jewels´ has many stories worth reading on their own that are great examples of the depth and the layers of the legendarium.¤

6) Hardcover Book The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11) by Houghton Mifflin. In volumes ten and eleven of The History of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien recounts from the original texts the evolution of his father´s work on The Silmarillion, the legendary history of the Elder Days or First Age, from the completion of the Lord of the Rings in 1949 until J.R.R. Tolkien´s death. In volume ten, Morgoth´s Ring, the narrative was taken only as far as the natural dividing point in the work, when Morgoth destroyed the Trees of Light and fled from Valinor bearing the stolen Silmarils. In The War of the Jewels, the story returns to Middle-earth and the ruinous conflict of the High Elves and the Men who were their allies with the power of the Dark Lord. With the publication in this book of all of J.R.R. Tolkien´s later narrative writing concerned with the last centuries of the First Age, the long history of The Silmarillion, from its beginnings in The Book of Lost Tales, is completed; the enigmatic state of the work at his death can now be understood. A chief element in The War of the Jewels is a major story of Middle-earth, now published for the first time - a continuation of the great "saga" of Turin Turambar and his sister Nienor, the children of Hurin the Steadfast. This is the tale of the disaster that overtook the forest people of Brethil when Hurin came among them after his release from long years of captivity in Angband, the fortress of Morgoth. The uncompleted text of the Grey Annals, the primary record of the War of the Jewels, is given in full; the geography of Beleriand is studied in detail, with redrawings of the final state of the map; and a long essay on the names and relations of all the peoples of Middle-earth shows more clearly than any writing yet published the close connection between the language and history in Tolkien´s world. The text also provides new information, including some knowledge of the divine powers, the Valar.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 15-Nov-2008, 0395710413046442710411, 970-210-130-040-880-960-8

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