Beren And Lúthien

J.R.R. Tolkien

Jun 2017 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

Painstakingly restored from J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of Beren and Lúthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Dwarves and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.

In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost.

Ratings and reviews

It's not a story, at all. It's just Chris Tolkien's disjointed ramblings on about his father's notes. His sire, he is not. The Silmarillion was written similarly, but it was at least enjoyable, as it flowed well & made sense as a history. This hurts my brain to read, and it's like wading through nonsense. Despicable.

Try and find a First Edition copy of The Silmarillion, cause thats just what Chris put out with out from his dads notes and original manuscript, not ruining it much. Anything after that is pure chris tolkien money grab garbage. JRR = Master Chris = Imposter.

I own the hardback Edition and this digital Edition because it is just such a great story written by Tolkien with some editing by his son Christopher a must-read for all talking fans or anybody that enjoys fantasy

About the author

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.