Quenta Silmarillion (Lost Road)

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The name Quenta Silmarillion refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Quenta Silmarillion (disambiguation).
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The Lost Road and Other Writings chapters
Part One
  1. The Early History of the Legend
  2. The Fall of Númenor
  3. The Lost Road
Part Two
  1. The Texts and Their Relations
  2. The Later Annals of Valinor
  3. The Later Annals of Beleriand
  4. Ainulindalë
  5. The Lhammas
  6. Quenta Silmarillion
Part Three
The Etymologies

Quenta Silmarillion is the sixth chapter of the second section, 'Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings', of The Lost Road and Other Writings.

It appears to have been the final major Silmarillion work (used in a broad sense) that Tolkien undertook immediately prior to and at the beginning stages of the writing of The Lord of the Rings in 1937 and early 1938, after which he laid it aside. It was originally a clearly and carefully made manuscript with revisions in typescript for the first few chapters. When he turned to Silmarillion material again in the early 1950s, the manuscript and typescript became "covered with corrections and expansions" much of the result being the material used in the published Silmarillion.[1][2]

This is part of the material that that was sent to Allen and Unwin in 1937 as potential other material to publish after the success of The Hobbit. Edward Crankshaw read some pages and liked certain parts but criticized its "eye-splitting Celtic names".[3] In confusion about what the material was and how it was all related Tolkien came to believe that the material had been read fully and rejected, and began on the sequel to The Hobbit that became The Lord of the Rings instead.[4]

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, VI. Quenta Silmarillion", pp. 199-200
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (I) The First Phase", p. 141
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 19, (dated 16 December 1937)
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lays of Beleriand, "Note on the original submission of the Lay of Leithian", pp. 364-7