Customer Reviews

The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11)

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The War of the Jewels is one of the most misunderstood and underrated volumes in the History of Middle-earth series. Although it is primarily a scholarly work which explains precisely how Christopher Tolkien brought together the various sources to produce the published Silmarillion, this book also opens up new vistas into First Age Middle-earth that readers never imagined could exist.

Casual readers will enjoy "The Wanderings of Hurin", which Christopher has editorialized to some extent. The story of what Hurin REALLY did after he left Morgoth's domain is an eye-opening experience, and it explains why the sons of Earendil and Elwing were the last heirs of the heroic chieftains of the Edain. But "The Wanderings of Hurin" also gives us the only detailed view of the Folk of Haleth, the mysterious woodmen who figured so prominently in "Narn i Chin Hurin", the tale of Turin Turambar.

Another fantastic gem lies between the covers of this book, however. Accompanying the very scholarly essay "Quendi and Eldar" is a short Elvish nursery tale which provides the only account of how the Elves awoke at Cuivienen, and who the eldest Elves actually were. Their names will surprise everyone. "Quendi and Eldar" itself is filled with a great deal of historical and cultural information although it is primarily a linguistic work. It may represent the last significant contribution Tolkien made to his mythology, even though he later changed his mind on a few details.

Hi! The WAR OF THE JEWELS is a good book for the die-hard Tolkien fan, but I can't reccommend it for the general fantasy reader. If you have never read the Silmarillion WOTJ probably won't make any sense to you. If you have, be warned that WOTJ duplicates quite a bit of the Silmarillion. However, there is some new material too, such as a very dramatic and sometimes moving account of Hurin's wanderings after his release from Angband. So if you're a Tolkien fanatic and have a little extra money, go for it. If not, this book's probably not for you.

Since J.R.R. Tolkien's death in 1973, a substantial effort has been made by first Guy Gavriel Kay working with Christopher Tolkien, then Christopher Tolkien but also a host of only marginally acknowledged Tolkien scholars such\ as Taum Santoski, John Rateliff, Doug Anderson, Richard C. West and possibly others unknown to us, to make the body of J.R.R. Tolkien's lifework available to those of us wishing to watch the creative process of architecture of Tolkien's world unfold. Early on in the process, there was a parting of the ways between Guy Gavriel Kay and J.R.R. Tolkien's son, Christopher, over the form that J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously-published lifework would be presented. G.G. Kay opted for a posthumous collaboration format which would allow for the presentation of much of the work in a finished form. Christopher Tolkien chose a more scholarly option. Each approach has its advantages and audiences. While The History of Middle Earth in its currently eleven volumes (projected for twelve) is perhaps a unique event in publishing history, useful to the scholar but also prized by a wider group of readers, one wonders what the effect might have been of presenting this body of work as works of fiction. Phil suspects that it may have supplanted a whole generation of bad imitators of the works, style and subject matter of Tolkien. Especially if the themes were handled at a level of artfulness consistent with the will of J.R.R. Tolkien. We can only speculate whether that would even be possible without Tolkien's own hand - a core question in any discussion of individual creativity. However, since J.R.R. Tolkien thought of himself as a chronicler rather than a creator, it might be argued that a writer such as G.G. Kay who has so effectively used other historical sources as themes for his own work (e.g. A Song for Arbonne), could have achieved results that even the master would have approved. This particular volume of the History also includes the second part of a set of Tolkien's notes and commentary on the Later or Quenta Silmarillion, an unfinished MS. that appears in Volume V of the History (The Lost Road and Other Writings, 1987, p. 199-338) as well as J.R.R's background notes and annotations on The Lays of Beleriand (Volume III, 1985) and a few other similar texts from J.R.R. Tolkien's papers, with contextual commentary by Christopher Tolkien. As with most of the other works in the History, this one requires a good memory or a good library of Tolkien or both. Nevertheless the scholar or the Tolkien enthusiast will want to own the book, complete with its (typically) excellent indexes to help in establishing both the illusion that Middle Earth has an intense level of validity (almost reality) and to trace the complexities of Tolkien's creative process. The history in its entirety is a demonstration of both J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien's textual/scholarly training in language and literature, translation and Anglo-Saxon textual studies, and the wonderful sense of play with these topics that could give rise to the entirety of Middle Earth in fictional and 'historical' detail. (Index, p. 425-470).

Philip E. Kaveny Reviewer

In the eleventh volume of the History of Middle Earth Christopher Tolkien continues from where he left off in "Morgoth's Ring". It spans the time from the Siege of Angband to the Tale of Maeglin. Also included are the Grey Annals, which are a timeline of the events in Beleriand, and The Wanderings of Hurin, which is an interesting story about Hurin after his release from Angband. This is a must have for those that have read the previous HoME volumes or for any Tolkien fan.

Volume XI of the History of Middle-Earth contains JRR Tolkien's writings of the First Age after the Lord of the Rings was published. Most texts date from the 1950s, but some were written as late as 1970, in the last years of his life. This volume contains the history of Beleriand.

Not everyone who has read The Silmarillion will enjoy this work, but if you read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and still hunger for more stories and information about the First Age, this book is a wonderful treat. If you don't care for the commentaries, there are still the stories themselves. Even folks who aren't interested in old versions of Tolkien's Middle-Earth writings, as published in the earlier History of Middle-Earth volumes, may enjoy this book, which like the Unfinished tales mostly contains texts contemporary with or written after the texts that made it into the Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Unlike most other volumes of the History of Middle-Earth, much of Volume XI is *NEW* material that is published nowhere else. It also includes some of the actual texts that Christopher Tolkien used to construct the "published" Silmarillion.

"The Wanderings of Húrin" can be considered the greatest gem of Volume XI, continuing the tragic tale of the Children of Húrin in the tradition of the Narn i Chîn Húrin, and further developing Húrin's character. It is a completely new narrative, describing in almost novelistic prose the story of Húrin after he was released from Angband: his travel to Hithlum, and the disastrous fallout of his visit to Brethil. This is a nearly complete story, similar to the narratives in Unfinished Tales.

"Quendi and Eldar" is a long linguistic work, a completed text focusing on the names for the Elves and their Clans, and the other Speaking Peoples, and many other words, in different Elvish languages. Besides the linguistic material, it also discusses the various Elven clans, as well as telepathy, sign language, the Great March, some information about the Avari and the Petty-Dwarves, and other subjects. Included is Pengolodh's description of the Valar's unique language, plus a detailed account of the Elves' awakening at Cuiviénen. This section will be essential to any student of the Elvish languages, but is quite valuable for non-linguists as well.

"The Grey Annals" and "The Tale of Years" are separate (incomplete) texts from the Quenta Silmarillion, containing different accounts of the history of Beleriand and the stories of the Noldor and Edain. More importantly, the Annals and Tale of Years together give the dates when the events of Beleriand's history happened.
The Tale of Years also tells for the first time the *real* story of the Nauglamír and the Ruin of Doriath. Silmarillion readers will be surprised!

"Of Maeglin" traces the development of that chapter in the Silmarillion, and includes several notes and additional writings that shed much new light on the story and character of Maeglin. This material was mostly written in 1970-1.

"The Later Quenta Silmarillion" is mostly a rough draft in the vein of earlier History of Middle-Earth volumes, but there is also new information about the Edain and Dwarves, including extensive family trees of the Three Houses of the Elf-Friends.

"Ælfwine and Dírhavel" is the prologue to the Narn i Chîn Húrin, which is not in the Unfinished Tales.

"Ents and Eagles" contains some notes on chapter 2 of The Silmarillion.

This is volume 11 in The History of Middle earth series, Christopher Tolkien's magisterial effort to publish every word his father wrote about his imagined worlds.

This volume in the History series, along with its immediate predecessor, chronicles the later development of the Silmarillion. Most of the material was written just before and after the publication of The Lord of the Rings in the 1950s, and thus represents Tolkien's later writings on the subject. No one new to Tolkien should begin by picking up any volume of the History, particularly this one and its predecessor, lest they be lost in what seems a sea of abstruse controversy and discovery. But those who have already read and fallen in love with The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion and wish to know more about the creative mind behind their creation will be richly rewarded by reading the entire History.

The variety of material available in 'The War of the Jewels' is what makes this volume of the History of Middle-earth series one of the best.

Two things stand out. First is the extensive writings on Hurin after his release from Angband. In an extension and more fully recounted version of his tale, Hurin's character and the consequences of his release are more fully explored, giving greater depth to the account given in 'The Silmarillion'.

The other is the essay 'Quendi and Eldar'. This is a treasure-trove not only for the Tolkien linguist but anyone interested in the history of the Elves. Through an examination of the different words used by the Elves to refer to themselves and their different divisions, the look at their history as they themselves saw it is priceless. Other parts of the essay and accompanying material fill out references found in 'Unfinished Tales', etc.

'The War of the Jewels' has many stories worth reading on their own that are great examples of the depth and the layers of the legendarium.

'Morgoth's Ring' and 'The War of the Jewels' are both collections of draft material which would become the postumously published 'The Silmarillion'. In that sense, they stand in the same relation to 'The Silmarillion' as Volumes VI through IX of 'The History of Middle Earth' stand to 'The Lord of the Rings'. The difference is that while Tolkien senior himself published LotR, 'The Silmarillion' was incomplete at the time of Tolkien's death, so these are commentaries on an imcomplete work. If, like me, you compulsively buy everything with Tolkien's name on it, this will make no differnce. But, if, like me, you find the story of the Valar and the origins of the elves in general to be the most interesting part of 'The Silmarillion, then you will find 'Morgoth's Ring' the more interesting of the two volumes. In the end, both volumes add more pieces to that great, but slightly ephemeral quality of deep historicity which makes LoTR and 'The Hobbit' stand head, shoulders, and chest above virtually every other fantasy fiction ever written.

This volume continues to show the development of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. It is a must-have for those seriously interested in studying the antecedents of the Silmarillion and related tales.

While the Christopher Tolkien commentary is somewhat laborious, the actual texts from JRR's manuscripts are absolute treasures, and the commentaries do manage to put things into context- if you can get through them. Definitely for hard core uber-nerds only.