Synopses & Reviews
A
New York Times bestseller for twenty-one weeks upon publication,
Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and further relates events as told in
The Silmarillion and
The Lord of the Rings.
The book concentrates on the lands of Middle-earth and comprises Gandalf's lively account of how he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag End, the story of the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand, and an exact description of the military organization of the Riders of Rohan and the journey of the Black Riders during the hunt for the Ring.
Unfinished Tales also contains the only surviving story about the long ages of Numenor before its downfall, and all that is known about the Five Wizards sent to Middle-earth as emissaries of the Valar, about the Seeing Stones known as the Palantiri, and about the legend of Amroth.
Review
"The tone is heroic, both the heroes and the villains greater than life-size." New York Times Book Review
Review
"An indispensable volume illuminating many unknown stories and details of Middle-earth unavailable elsewhere." Douglas A. Anderson, author of The Annotated Hobbit
Review
"The nature and state of this material gives us a rare glimpse of how Tolkien developed his fantasy world." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Another monument to the incredible imagination of Tolkien." Sunday Telegraph (London)
About the Author
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892. After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon a distinguished career as a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. He is the renowned creator of Middle-earth and author of the great modern classic, The Hobbit, the prelude to his epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Other works by J.R.R. Tolkien include The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973 at the age of 81.