The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two, published in 1984, is the second volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume book series, The History of Middle-earth, in which he analyzes the unpublished manuscripts of J.R.R. Tolkien.
The book is the continuation of The Book of Lost Tales: Part One. It includes the first forms of the tales of Beren and Lúthien, Túrin and the Dragon, the Necklace of the Dwarves, and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay, together with the texts of associated poems, and contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages.
- Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales - Part II
There is an inscription in the Tengwar characters in the first pages of every History of Middle-earth volume, written by Christopher Tolkien and describing the contents of the book. The inscription in Book II reads:
- "This is the second part of the Book of the Lost Tales of Elfinesse which Eriol the Mariner learned from the Elves of Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle in the western ocean, and afterwards wrote in the Golden Book of Tavrobel. Herein are told the Tales of Beren and Tinúviel, of Turambar, of the Fall of Gondolin, and of the Necklace of the Dwarves."
The second of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien’s epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.
This second part of The Book of Lost Tales includes the tale of Beren and Lúthien, Túrin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin, itself the finest and most exciting depiction of a battle that Tolkien ever wrote. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay, together with texts of associated poems, and contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages.
Publication history and gallery[edit | edit source]
- UK editions
| 1986 paperback 3rd impression
|
|
- George Allen & Unwin, hardcover (1984), pp. 385. ISBN 0048232653
- Unicorn / Unwin Paperbacks, paperback (1986), ISBN 0048233382 - (cover art by Roger Garland)
- 1986 paperback edition, 3rd impression (1988)
- HarperCollins hardcover (1991), ISBN 0261102133
- HarperCollins paperback (1995), ISBN 0261102141 - (cover art by John Howe)
- 1995 paperback edition, reset in 2002, then in 2015
- HarperCollins hardcover (2010), ISBN 0007365268
- HarperCollins hardcover with reversable dustjacket (2023), ISBN 978-0008663155 - (part of the 2023-24 box set #1)
- 2015 paperback edition, 38th impression (2024)
A content guide for this volume at Tolkienbooks.net