I felt like writing a post on this man, his vision, and what his mind and imagination have produced. I dont have any questions to ask, I dont even care if this gets no posts. Im just writing this because he, and his work interest me like no other thing. Primarily, this will consist of me talking about his work on Middle Earth. As a matter of fact, this entire post will be about that single concept. I would like to hope this gets some views, and I can spread his work to people who have never read or even heard of him and his work, but mainly I feel like writing this because there is barely anybody that I have met that has delved as deep into Tolkien Mythology as I have. I feel like fucking talking about it, and conversing about it so Im putting my thoughts into this single post just so I can review his work and tell what I find so fascinating about each book and movie I have read or watched. I will include the books published by his son, Christopher Tolkien but not any fan made movies. I debated including those, but decided against them considering they may contradict what Tolkiens vision was for those events.
Ill start in chronological order from the first book, all the way to the Lord of the Rings trilogy instead of starting on the books and movies I have seen first. The first book which recalls the early history of Middle Earth is called The Silmarillion. Many people arent even aware of this book as it isnt exactly as popular as the Lord of the Rings and it hasnt had a Hollywood film adaptation for good reason. The book is more of a time line explaining events that started at the shaping of the world called Arda. It progresses and gives us looks at all of the major figures in the History of Middle Earth and how it came to be. It gives us insight on the gods and the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Delving any deeper and going into great detail will make this post much longer than it needs to be and it would ruin the book for any potential readers. What I want to do is give a simple overlook of each book. That is difficult to do with The Silmarillion as it consists of many parts and stories of multiple personalities. There is so much information to take in that you must read it multiple times to truly obtain most of the information present in the book. Just know it gives us insight on how the Elves, Men, and Dwarves come into Middle Earth, tells us about the making of the land and how Morgoth became the most feared entity in the history of Middle Earth. Other than that, we are given tales of the most prominent figures in Middle Earths history and the war they waged on Morgoth and his minions which included Sauron, the eventual second Dark Lord. Its a fantastic prelude to what happens in the later years of Middle Earth and goes into great depth that no other book I have ever read has done. Tolkiens imagination is astounding and it really shows in this book. He essentially created an entire history of a whole new land complete with life stories of specific characters, and lineages that go on for ages. I actually enjoy reading this book more than any of his others because of the sheer depth and detail he presents. It really makes you use your brain to remember the characters and the part they play in history. All in all, this isnt your typical book. It doesnt have a plot or a rising point it just has information Tolkien spent years perfecting. It really reminds me of a much more in depth and imaginative history book which is exactly what Tolkien was going for. A great look that delves you right into the beginning of the world.
The next book takes one of the many stories of The Silmarillion and delves into even greater detail. This book is called The Children of Hurin. When Tolkien finished The Silmarillion, he felt that this particular entry needed its own book because he couldnt fit all the necessary details of it into the short part that was written into The Silmarillion. This story was one he considered the most important event in the history of Middle Earth and it is one that has an effect on Middle Earth all the way until the end of time. Its about a man named Turin who has been cursed by Morgoth to have bad fortune for his entire life. There is much more to it than that, but I wont ruin it. This book is an actual story unlike The Silmarillion and damn is it an addicting one. What makes this book so special is that Turin is the single most important character in the history of Middle Earth. I wont tell you the deed he commits in the book, but I will tell you of his importance because it isnt mentioned in this book. At the end of times, Morgoth will return from the void which he was cast down into and wage war against all men, elves, and dwarves. His minions will return with him including Sauron, The Witch King, Glaurung, and every other minion. Not only will the enemy return, but so will each man, elf, and dwarf that has lived. This includes Turin. This being the end of time, the war that commences will determine how Arda is reborn. Either Morgoth will win and reign over Arda covering it in darkness, or Turin will win and Arda will be reborn into light. The catch is, Turin must be the one to kill Morgoth. That is where his importance lies. Tolkien has only mentioned this war once, and has never made a story of it, nor has he said the outcome. That is why Turin is considered to be the most important man in Middle Earth history. Again, this is just a brief backstory on his importance and why he has his own story, but none of this is mentioned in the story itself. I wont say anything about that. Just know, this is a very gripping, and sad tale that Tolkien holds in the highest regard.
I guess now would be a good time to mention The History of Middle Earth volumes. Christopher Tolkien took his fathers notes and put them into a book format and published them. In the two previous books I have mentioned and The Lord of the Rings, the stories are refined and made perfect. These twelve volumes are his notes just how he left them. Did I mention there are twelve of them each 200+ pages? They are incredibly difficult to read and understand because Tolkien has been known to change names of places and characters many times before the books were published. These being his notes, the names and the places are all different and very sketchy. I have read the first two volumes, the third and fourth are song books, than the last eight are tough to find in stores so I will have to order them online. They are more in depth versions of each story ranging from the making of Middle Earth to the war of the ring. Each book has a commentary by Christopher Tolkien at the end of each chapter explaining everything because like I said, they are so tough to read. There are also two books of Unfinished Tales which I havent bought yet and dont know what they contain. I plan on getting those this summer possibly after I finish the six main books once again.
After these comes The Hobbit which serves as a prelude of sorts to the Lord of the Rings. It covers the history of the ring and how it came into possession of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit. It leads into the trilogy that has become a phenomenon. Surprisingly, this is the book I have read the least out of the six main books. Its an incredibly gripping tail but it slips my mind when I re-read the others. Its an incredibly well written book and one that everybody knows about. Funny story, Tolkien wrote this and didnt plan to write The Lord of the Rings. The publishers asked for a sequel to The Hobbit and when Tolkien presented writing of The Silmarillion, they rejected it asking for more hobbits. Tolkien then wrote The Lord of the Rings, and the rest is history. Now The Hobbit is being adapted into a feature film scheduled to be released in two parts. The first part will be released on December 12th 2012, and the second part on December 13th 2013 holding true to the tradition of waiting an entire year between movies.
Now that I have mentioned each story leading up to the events taking place during the war of the ring, I will move onto the most well known Tolkien story, The Lord of the Rings. Im sure everybody reading this has seen or heard of these books or the movie adaptations(which were incredibly accurate and a fantastic portrayal of Tolkiens books.) What can I say about these books/movies that you dont already know? Its a masterpiece of literature and film. Of course the film couldnt hold 100% true to the books and that Is understandable, but it did a damn good job, and is considered to be one of the best film adaptations of a book ever. I cant go into any detail of the books because every part is important, but anybody who has read them knows just how good they are, and they are worth reading whenever you get the chance.
Tolkien had plans to write a new trilogy called The New Shadow which would take place in the Fourth Age during Aragorns sons reign as King of Gondor. Originally, Tolkien wasnt planning on writing anything about the Fourth Age considering both Dark Lords were destroyed, but he attempted it. Unfortunately, he quit the project and died a short time after leaving us all wondering what he had in store for the new trilogy. It has been said that Christopher Tolkien and his family will not attempt to write this new trilogy for respect of Tolkiens ideas and fear of straying from them. I find this to be a good idea because something this monumental wouldnt be right with somebody else making it. It was Tolkiens to finish, and the ideas die with him.
I went over each book in brief detail just to give you all an idea of Tolkiens vision of each book. If nothing else, I hope to get somebody to pick up one of these fantastic pieces of literature and hope they find it as interesting and fun as I do. I can sing the praises of Tolkien all I can and it still wouldnt justify how good these books are. I havent used any sources to write this, just my memory. Its all imbedded in my head at this point. Like I said at the beginning, I dont have any questions, I just felt like writing an extremely long overlook of these books and giving my thoughts on them. I didnt spoil anything for you all, and hope you enjoyed it. Been wanting to write something on this subject for a while and finally decided to do it. I don't even know if I put this in the right section. I mainly talk about the books, but mention the movies a few times. Move it to Potluck if you wish.
Ill start in chronological order from the first book, all the way to the Lord of the Rings trilogy instead of starting on the books and movies I have seen first. The first book which recalls the early history of Middle Earth is called The Silmarillion. Many people arent even aware of this book as it isnt exactly as popular as the Lord of the Rings and it hasnt had a Hollywood film adaptation for good reason. The book is more of a time line explaining events that started at the shaping of the world called Arda. It progresses and gives us looks at all of the major figures in the History of Middle Earth and how it came to be. It gives us insight on the gods and the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Delving any deeper and going into great detail will make this post much longer than it needs to be and it would ruin the book for any potential readers. What I want to do is give a simple overlook of each book. That is difficult to do with The Silmarillion as it consists of many parts and stories of multiple personalities. There is so much information to take in that you must read it multiple times to truly obtain most of the information present in the book. Just know it gives us insight on how the Elves, Men, and Dwarves come into Middle Earth, tells us about the making of the land and how Morgoth became the most feared entity in the history of Middle Earth. Other than that, we are given tales of the most prominent figures in Middle Earths history and the war they waged on Morgoth and his minions which included Sauron, the eventual second Dark Lord. Its a fantastic prelude to what happens in the later years of Middle Earth and goes into great depth that no other book I have ever read has done. Tolkiens imagination is astounding and it really shows in this book. He essentially created an entire history of a whole new land complete with life stories of specific characters, and lineages that go on for ages. I actually enjoy reading this book more than any of his others because of the sheer depth and detail he presents. It really makes you use your brain to remember the characters and the part they play in history. All in all, this isnt your typical book. It doesnt have a plot or a rising point it just has information Tolkien spent years perfecting. It really reminds me of a much more in depth and imaginative history book which is exactly what Tolkien was going for. A great look that delves you right into the beginning of the world.
The next book takes one of the many stories of The Silmarillion and delves into even greater detail. This book is called The Children of Hurin. When Tolkien finished The Silmarillion, he felt that this particular entry needed its own book because he couldnt fit all the necessary details of it into the short part that was written into The Silmarillion. This story was one he considered the most important event in the history of Middle Earth and it is one that has an effect on Middle Earth all the way until the end of time. Its about a man named Turin who has been cursed by Morgoth to have bad fortune for his entire life. There is much more to it than that, but I wont ruin it. This book is an actual story unlike The Silmarillion and damn is it an addicting one. What makes this book so special is that Turin is the single most important character in the history of Middle Earth. I wont tell you the deed he commits in the book, but I will tell you of his importance because it isnt mentioned in this book. At the end of times, Morgoth will return from the void which he was cast down into and wage war against all men, elves, and dwarves. His minions will return with him including Sauron, The Witch King, Glaurung, and every other minion. Not only will the enemy return, but so will each man, elf, and dwarf that has lived. This includes Turin. This being the end of time, the war that commences will determine how Arda is reborn. Either Morgoth will win and reign over Arda covering it in darkness, or Turin will win and Arda will be reborn into light. The catch is, Turin must be the one to kill Morgoth. That is where his importance lies. Tolkien has only mentioned this war once, and has never made a story of it, nor has he said the outcome. That is why Turin is considered to be the most important man in Middle Earth history. Again, this is just a brief backstory on his importance and why he has his own story, but none of this is mentioned in the story itself. I wont say anything about that. Just know, this is a very gripping, and sad tale that Tolkien holds in the highest regard.
I guess now would be a good time to mention The History of Middle Earth volumes. Christopher Tolkien took his fathers notes and put them into a book format and published them. In the two previous books I have mentioned and The Lord of the Rings, the stories are refined and made perfect. These twelve volumes are his notes just how he left them. Did I mention there are twelve of them each 200+ pages? They are incredibly difficult to read and understand because Tolkien has been known to change names of places and characters many times before the books were published. These being his notes, the names and the places are all different and very sketchy. I have read the first two volumes, the third and fourth are song books, than the last eight are tough to find in stores so I will have to order them online. They are more in depth versions of each story ranging from the making of Middle Earth to the war of the ring. Each book has a commentary by Christopher Tolkien at the end of each chapter explaining everything because like I said, they are so tough to read. There are also two books of Unfinished Tales which I havent bought yet and dont know what they contain. I plan on getting those this summer possibly after I finish the six main books once again.
After these comes The Hobbit which serves as a prelude of sorts to the Lord of the Rings. It covers the history of the ring and how it came into possession of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit. It leads into the trilogy that has become a phenomenon. Surprisingly, this is the book I have read the least out of the six main books. Its an incredibly gripping tail but it slips my mind when I re-read the others. Its an incredibly well written book and one that everybody knows about. Funny story, Tolkien wrote this and didnt plan to write The Lord of the Rings. The publishers asked for a sequel to The Hobbit and when Tolkien presented writing of The Silmarillion, they rejected it asking for more hobbits. Tolkien then wrote The Lord of the Rings, and the rest is history. Now The Hobbit is being adapted into a feature film scheduled to be released in two parts. The first part will be released on December 12th 2012, and the second part on December 13th 2013 holding true to the tradition of waiting an entire year between movies.
Now that I have mentioned each story leading up to the events taking place during the war of the ring, I will move onto the most well known Tolkien story, The Lord of the Rings. Im sure everybody reading this has seen or heard of these books or the movie adaptations(which were incredibly accurate and a fantastic portrayal of Tolkiens books.) What can I say about these books/movies that you dont already know? Its a masterpiece of literature and film. Of course the film couldnt hold 100% true to the books and that Is understandable, but it did a damn good job, and is considered to be one of the best film adaptations of a book ever. I cant go into any detail of the books because every part is important, but anybody who has read them knows just how good they are, and they are worth reading whenever you get the chance.
Tolkien had plans to write a new trilogy called The New Shadow which would take place in the Fourth Age during Aragorns sons reign as King of Gondor. Originally, Tolkien wasnt planning on writing anything about the Fourth Age considering both Dark Lords were destroyed, but he attempted it. Unfortunately, he quit the project and died a short time after leaving us all wondering what he had in store for the new trilogy. It has been said that Christopher Tolkien and his family will not attempt to write this new trilogy for respect of Tolkiens ideas and fear of straying from them. I find this to be a good idea because something this monumental wouldnt be right with somebody else making it. It was Tolkiens to finish, and the ideas die with him.
I went over each book in brief detail just to give you all an idea of Tolkiens vision of each book. If nothing else, I hope to get somebody to pick up one of these fantastic pieces of literature and hope they find it as interesting and fun as I do. I can sing the praises of Tolkien all I can and it still wouldnt justify how good these books are. I havent used any sources to write this, just my memory. Its all imbedded in my head at this point. Like I said at the beginning, I dont have any questions, I just felt like writing an extremely long overlook of these books and giving my thoughts on them. I didnt spoil anything for you all, and hope you enjoyed it. Been wanting to write something on this subject for a while and finally decided to do it. I don't even know if I put this in the right section. I mainly talk about the books, but mention the movies a few times. Move it to Potluck if you wish.
