The Book of Lost Tales, Part One
Mythopoeic Award nominee 1985.
The first of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends
which led to the writing of Tolkien’s epic tale of war, The
Silmarillion.
The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of
the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The
Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they
are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the lonely Isle where the Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts of Gods and Elves, Dwarves,
Balrogs and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of the
geography and cosmology of Tolkien’s invented world.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon academic career and was recognized as one of the finest philologists in the world. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959.
Tolkien is the creator of Middle-earth and author of the great modern classic, his epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien died in 1973 at the age of 81.
The History of Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth consists of twelve books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Related series The History of Middle-earth (omnibus editions)
