March 25, 2005

J.R.R.T.'s other works
Bob Praz

I completely forgot to write about this in my last post, so I’ll do it here.
If you’re interested in the background of LOTR and the Silmarillion, then Unfinished Tales is definitely worth a read. For example, after reading it, I understood much better the military and strategic situation of Rohan in TTT.
There’s also the History of Middle-Earth, which might be for the more devoted fans, seeing as it’s simply delving into the evolution of Tolkien’s world. I have read only the first 3 books of this series (a while ago), and they are very interesting in that the earliest drafts of the Silmarillion are surprisingly familiar yet very different: they seem a lot more like folk-tales, and ultimately they are more archaic and mythological in style. You also get a better glimpse of Tolkien’s love for languages, partly by reading all the strange and various names that appear. Also, perhaps the best part of all; in Lost Tales 2, there is a supremely detailed account of the Fall of Gondolin! Some names might be different, if I remember, but essentially the account matches up with the narrative in the official Silmarillion.

As for the works unrelated to Middle-Earth, the only one I have read so far is Farmer Giles of Ham, which I surprisingly enjoyed.

Until our next meeting...