Essays on Tolkien's Middle-Earth

✍ Scribed by Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel

• Publisher: Vivisphere Pub
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: en-GB
• Weight: 89 KB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781587761454

✦ Synopsis

The History of Middle-Earth is one of the largest works of 'literary archeology', and was marvously undertaken by J.R.R Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien. During the 1980s and 1990s, Christopher Tolkien edited the vast collection of manuscripts together with maps and illustrations and published most of his father's Middle-Earth writings as the 12-volume History of Middle-earth series. In addition to the source material and earlier drafts of several portions of The Lord of the Rings, these books greatly expand on the original material published in The Silmarillion, and in many cases diverge from it.

Review

"All of the major and much of the minor that comprises Middle-Earth is covered with meticulous attention to detail." -- SF Site, March 2005

"UNDERSTANDING MIDDLE EARTH is just plain fun for the hard-core Tolkien enthusiast, and it gives plenty to chew on!" -- YetAnotherBookReview.com, November 2004

Product Description

Michael Martinez begins a comprehesive study of Tolkien's imaginery history by "Browsing the Compleat Middle-Earth Library". His trademark conversational tone and style introduce Tolkien's readers to new persepctives on Elves, Hobbits, Numenorians, and other fantastic inhabitants of Middle-Earth.

Advising that "...if you really want to see where it all came from...you first need to see what it all is", Martinez explores Tolkien's pseudo-history in detail, analyzing the motivations and values of Middle-Earth's civilizations as described by Tolkien himself. Extensive research on Tolkien's Second Age, a mysterious era spanning thousands of years, illuminates the second "fall" of Tolkien's Elves, who made the dreadful Rings of Power, withheld vital knowledge from their allies, and exposed all of Middle-Earth to Sauron's evil.

Finally, Martinez provides a wealth of insightful commentary, quoting Tolkien's letters and his son Christopher's extensive documentation, on those of Tolkien's sources which are often missed by other researchers.

You will never look at Middle-Earth the same way again after reading Understanding Middle-Earth.