The Book of Lost Tales: Part One

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This article is about the first book in The History of Middle-earth series. For the second book, see The Book of Lost Tales Part Two.
The Book of Lost Tales, Part 1
File:The Book of Lost Tales Part 1.jpg
AuthorJ.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien
PublisherGeorge Allen and Unwin (UK)
Houghton Mifflin (US)
Released27 October 1983 (UK)
22 February 1984 (US)
FormatHardcover
Pages304
ISBN0395354390

The Book of Lost Tales Part One is the first volume of The History of Middle-earth. It describes the beginning of the conception of Middle-earth and Valinor. The Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and Old English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol (or Ælfwine) to Tol Eressëa, the "Lonely Isle", where Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts and original ideas of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of Nargothrond and Gondolin; and of the geography and cosmology of the invented world.

Contents

  1. "The Cottage of Lost Play" – the "framework" story
  2. "The Music of the Ainur" – the first version of what would become the Ainulindalë
  3. "The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor" – later Valaquenta and first chapters of Quenta Silmarillion
  4. "The Chaining of Melko" – Melko is an earlier name of Melkor
  5. "The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr" – Kôr is the original name of Tirion upon Túna
  6. "The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor"
  7. "The Flight of the Noldoli" – "Noldoli" or "Gnomes" are the Elves later called the Noldor
  8. "The Tale of the Sun and Moon"
  9. "The Hiding of Valinor"
  10. "Gilfanon's Tale: The Travail of the Noldoli and the Coming of Mankind"

Editions, selection

The History of Middle-earth series
i.The Book of Lost Tales: Part One · ii.The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two · iii.The Lays of Beleriand ·
iv.The Shaping of Middle-earth · v.The Lost Road and Other Writings · vi.The Return of the Shadow ·
vii.The Treason of Isengard · viii.The War of the Ring · ix.Sauron Defeated ·
x.Morgoth's Ring · xi.The War of the Jewels · xii.The Peoples of Middle-earth · (Index)