The Lays of Beleriand

The Lays of Beleriand
Author	J.R.R. Tolkien
Editor	Christopher Tolkien
Publisher	George Allen and Unwin (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US)
Released	22 August 1985 (UK) 20 November 1985 (US)
Format	Hardcover; paperback
Pages	393
ISBN	0048232777
Preceded by	The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two (1984)
Followed by	The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)

The Lays of Beleriand, published in 1985, is the third volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume book series, The History of Middle-earth, in which he analyzes the unpublished manuscripts of J.R.R. Tolkien.

This book includes the five poems that Tolkien began to write shortly after The Book of Lost Tales phase. Only two of them were continued beyond the beginning, the Lay of the Children of Húrin and the Lay of Leithian, the latter being the longest poem Tolkien ever composed, although he didn't finish it.

Overview

The book contains the long heroic lays or lyric poetry Tolkien wrote: these are The Lay of the Children of Húrin about the saga of Túrin Turambar, and The Lay of Leithian (also called Release from Bondage) about Beren and Lúthien. Although Tolkien abandoned them before their respective ends, they are both long enough to occupy many stanzas, each of which can last for over ten pages. The first poem is in alliterative verse, and the second is in rhyming couplets. Both exist in two versions.

In addition to these two poems, the book also gives three short, soon-abandoned alliterative poems, which are The Flight of the Noldoli from Valinor, The Lay of Eärendel, and The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin.

The first versions of the long lays fit chronologically in with Tolkien's earliest writings, as recounted in The Book of Lost Tales, but the later version of The Lay of Leithian is contemporary with the writing of The Lord of the Rings.

Contents

• Preface

• I. "The Lay of the Children of Húrin"
  • First version
  • Second version

• II. Poems Early Abandoned:
  • "The Flight of the Noldoli"
  • "Fragment of an alliterative Lay of Eärendel"
  • "The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin"

• III. "The Lay of Leithian"
  • The Gest of Beren and Lúthien — Release from Bondage
    Canto I — Canto XIV
  • Unwritten cantos
  • Appendix: Commentary by C. S. Lewis

• IV. "The Lay of Leithian Recommenced"

Inscriptions

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 III reads:

"In the first part of this Book is given the Lay of the Children of Húrin by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, in which is set forth in part the Tale of Túrin. In the second part is the Lay of Leithian, which is the Gest of Beren and Lúthien as far as the encounter of Beren with Carcharoth at the gate of Angband."

From the publisher

The third volume that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.

This, the third volume of The History of Middle-earth, gives us a privileged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth, through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien's world – those of Túrin, Beren and Lúthien. The first of the poems is the unpublished Lay of The Children of Húrin, narrating on a grand scale the tragedy of Túrin Turambar. The second is the moving Lay of Leithian, the chief source of the tale of Beren and Lúthien in The Silmarillion, telling of the Quest of the Silmaril and the encounter with Morgoth in his subterranean fortress.

Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days. Also included is the notable criticism of The Lay of The Leithian by C.S. Lewis, who read the poem in 1929.

Publication history and gallery

UK Editions

1985 hardcover   1987 paperback   1994 paperback   2002 paperback   2010 hardcover

• George Allen & Unwin hardcover (1985), pp. 393. ISBN 0048232777
• Unwin Paperbacks paperback (1987), ISBN 0044400187 (cover art by Roger Garland)
• HarperCollins paperback (1994), ISBN 0261102265 (cover art by John Howe)
• HarperCollins paperback (2002), ISBN 0261102265
• HarperCollins hardcover (2010), ISBN 0007365276

External links

A detailed list of unique writings and works by Tolkien in this volume, at Tolkienbooks.net