Do you place any stock at all in The Fall of Numenor? From what I understand, the new editor’s role was really just curation in order to present a cohesive narrative. But, I’ve also not read it yet.
I haven’t read any of the stuff that was published after The Silmarillion, to be honest; I’ve wondered howmuch of those publications were a money grab by his estate. It seems unseemly to read work that Tolkien didn’t think was ready for publication.
That’s certainly happened in the case of Michael Crichton, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, etc., but so far I’ve not gotten that feeling from the books Tolkien’s son has published—personally I get the sense that he and the Tolkien Estate are very serious about maintaining the quality and accuracy of his work and adhering to standards. Much of what’s been published was heavily edited by Tolkien himself; his career just prevented him from committing sufficient time to final publishing.
I could be quite wrong about that, but I’ve read (well, attempted to read) the disasters previously mentioned from Crichton and Lee and this feels very different on the whole. To each their own, however, and I fully understand drawing a line in the sand. I’ve done that quite a bit with other stories.
I agree on the stuff edited by his son, who was a philologist like his father. But I thought the more recent stuff was done by others and was in conjunction with the release of other media.
The Akallabeth in the Silmarillion summarizes the events of the 2nd Age but is very brief. I wish there had been more.
I haven't read Tolkien in ages (other than reading The Hobbit to my kids 15 years ago) but I remember a lot. I'm one of those rare people who hated the LoTR films; I'm very much content with what Tolkien published plus The Silmarillion. But I don't begrudge anyone else liking more as long as it sticks to "the canon" so to speak!
Apart from having read The Hobbit as a kid, I haven't read any of the Tolkien books. This was still epic though.
I read "Ossian" (James Macpherson) this summer, and that is the closest thing I can link this to. Cool names, mystical encounters, a sense of an interconnected lived-in world, and the fates of human beings. It really draws you in!
I'm glad you take your time with your series and do what calls to you.
Thanks, Hasse, still very much working on it; there’s just a kind of process I’ve gotten into with the series and I don’t want to shortchange it, you or myself by crankin’ out something half-baked.
Ossian has been on my list for awhile, thank you for reminding me! A whole lot of Scottish writers at that time really brought it in terms of stories of the imagination. Those poems are incredible.
A beautiful thing about Substack, I think, is that it is "by the people, for the people." There's not a network, or a publisher, or whatever, in between. It is cool that creators get to explore and take their time, etc. I think. The main reason my stuff is structured and scheduled like it is, is because I view "consistency" is an important underlying theme of the series itself, and I want to try to stay true to that.
Ossian is a super interesting rabbit hole. For a few decades, "he" was regarded as a newly discovered Homer of Scotland. It turned out that Macpherson had seemingly made most of it up though, and these weren't very historical texts after all. And yet, I still found it to be beautiful -- especially, to read aloud. Ossian is quoted heavily in Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther."
James, I love the poem and don't worry about your story. I think everyone on substack is living a life beyond it. My wife and I had our whole family to our house for Thanksgiving which was wonderful and time consuming. The next day when I went to my favorite Barnes and Noble cafe to work on "Patty Cake," a former student found me and goodbye "Patty Cake."
I'm so glad you're a Tolkien fan. I still have the ace paperbacks that were, I believe the first editions of "Lord of the Rings" in America. I also have the first hardbacks. Yep! I love Tolkien.
That's awesome, Sandy, and thanks so much for relating. In my youth, I had all the time in the world to work on my writing, but I was so impatient. Now, time is a very hard commodity to come by and I have to keep reminding myself that a little bit from a steady habit can go a long way.
I'm a long-time Tolkien fan, but I'm actually more enthusiastic now than I likely ever was! Not just for the rewarding stories and incredible writing—he also reminds me that we all have permission to pursue whatever cockamamie ideas come to mind, and that it's good to share them. Helping spread some of his from time to time seems only fair.
Coincidentally, I was reading part of the appendices of LOTR yesterday, thinking I really need to go back and read the Silmarillion again, and all the other 'history' books. This is lovely, and just makes me want to make the time to do that.
Thanks, I'm glad! I've wanted to read more of the history for a very long time, but I just couldn't do it. I learned that for me, what I need more than anything else is a story to guide me through.
I didn't read them at the time, but I've been having a blast catching up on the Christopher Tolkien edited books. He's done a great job adhering to his father's narratives above all else.
The Fall of Gondolin is especially fun for me because he wrote a handful of prose versions, but also a verse epic that sadly he never finished. What he did complete, however, is absolutely fantastic.
Awesome! I'm a Tolkien nerd (I don't advertise it) and I love this!
Hey, glad you liked it! The more I read about the First and Second Age, the more I wish Tolkien had the time to flesh them out for us.
The Silmarillion does a pretty great job on the First Age; it’s the Second Age that lacks detail. It’s too bad.
Do you place any stock at all in The Fall of Numenor? From what I understand, the new editor’s role was really just curation in order to present a cohesive narrative. But, I’ve also not read it yet.
I haven’t read any of the stuff that was published after The Silmarillion, to be honest; I’ve wondered howmuch of those publications were a money grab by his estate. It seems unseemly to read work that Tolkien didn’t think was ready for publication.
That’s certainly happened in the case of Michael Crichton, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, etc., but so far I’ve not gotten that feeling from the books Tolkien’s son has published—personally I get the sense that he and the Tolkien Estate are very serious about maintaining the quality and accuracy of his work and adhering to standards. Much of what’s been published was heavily edited by Tolkien himself; his career just prevented him from committing sufficient time to final publishing.
I could be quite wrong about that, but I’ve read (well, attempted to read) the disasters previously mentioned from Crichton and Lee and this feels very different on the whole. To each their own, however, and I fully understand drawing a line in the sand. I’ve done that quite a bit with other stories.
I agree on the stuff edited by his son, who was a philologist like his father. But I thought the more recent stuff was done by others and was in conjunction with the release of other media.
The Akallabeth in the Silmarillion summarizes the events of the 2nd Age but is very brief. I wish there had been more.
I haven't read Tolkien in ages (other than reading The Hobbit to my kids 15 years ago) but I remember a lot. I'm one of those rare people who hated the LoTR films; I'm very much content with what Tolkien published plus The Silmarillion. But I don't begrudge anyone else liking more as long as it sticks to "the canon" so to speak!
Right on target!
Thanks, Richard!
Apart from having read The Hobbit as a kid, I haven't read any of the Tolkien books. This was still epic though.
I read "Ossian" (James Macpherson) this summer, and that is the closest thing I can link this to. Cool names, mystical encounters, a sense of an interconnected lived-in world, and the fates of human beings. It really draws you in!
I'm glad you take your time with your series and do what calls to you.
Thanks, Hasse, still very much working on it; there’s just a kind of process I’ve gotten into with the series and I don’t want to shortchange it, you or myself by crankin’ out something half-baked.
Ossian has been on my list for awhile, thank you for reminding me! A whole lot of Scottish writers at that time really brought it in terms of stories of the imagination. Those poems are incredible.
A beautiful thing about Substack, I think, is that it is "by the people, for the people." There's not a network, or a publisher, or whatever, in between. It is cool that creators get to explore and take their time, etc. I think. The main reason my stuff is structured and scheduled like it is, is because I view "consistency" is an important underlying theme of the series itself, and I want to try to stay true to that.
Ossian is a super interesting rabbit hole. For a few decades, "he" was regarded as a newly discovered Homer of Scotland. It turned out that Macpherson had seemingly made most of it up though, and these weren't very historical texts after all. And yet, I still found it to be beautiful -- especially, to read aloud. Ossian is quoted heavily in Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther."
James, I love the poem and don't worry about your story. I think everyone on substack is living a life beyond it. My wife and I had our whole family to our house for Thanksgiving which was wonderful and time consuming. The next day when I went to my favorite Barnes and Noble cafe to work on "Patty Cake," a former student found me and goodbye "Patty Cake."
I'm so glad you're a Tolkien fan. I still have the ace paperbacks that were, I believe the first editions of "Lord of the Rings" in America. I also have the first hardbacks. Yep! I love Tolkien.
That's awesome, Sandy, and thanks so much for relating. In my youth, I had all the time in the world to work on my writing, but I was so impatient. Now, time is a very hard commodity to come by and I have to keep reminding myself that a little bit from a steady habit can go a long way.
I'm a long-time Tolkien fan, but I'm actually more enthusiastic now than I likely ever was! Not just for the rewarding stories and incredible writing—he also reminds me that we all have permission to pursue whatever cockamamie ideas come to mind, and that it's good to share them. Helping spread some of his from time to time seems only fair.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing this, James!
Thank you for reading it, Peter! And thank you so much for sharing it. :)
Coincidentally, I was reading part of the appendices of LOTR yesterday, thinking I really need to go back and read the Silmarillion again, and all the other 'history' books. This is lovely, and just makes me want to make the time to do that.
Thanks, I'm glad! I've wanted to read more of the history for a very long time, but I just couldn't do it. I learned that for me, what I need more than anything else is a story to guide me through.
I didn't read them at the time, but I've been having a blast catching up on the Christopher Tolkien edited books. He's done a great job adhering to his father's narratives above all else.
The Fall of Gondolin is especially fun for me because he wrote a handful of prose versions, but also a verse epic that sadly he never finished. What he did complete, however, is absolutely fantastic.