Promo Post: The Book of Lost Tales

[grundyscribbling]

(written by dawn_felagund )

Summary: Tolkien began writing the "Silmarillion" as a young man in the trenches of World War I. The Book of Lost Tales are the stories he penned during this period of his life and represent his earliest work on the "Silmarillion." Many of the familiar tales are already present in their early form: the cosmic conflict between the Valar and Melkor, the tale of Beren and Lúthien, and the Fall of Gondolin, to name just three. These stories are embedded in a frame narrative where the Anglo-Saxon mariner Eriol ends up visiting Eressëa and hearing a series of stories from the Elven residents there. The Lost Tales were never finished in their entirety, so while some of the early stories are complete, others are fragmentary or just outlines. Each tale is accompanied by commentary from Christopher Tolkien, who edited the collection.

Why Should I Check Out This Canon? The Lost Tales are recognizably "Silmarillion" stories, yet they differ greatly in style and tone from Tolkien's later work. They are more whimsical and more like the Victorian fairy-stories that Tolkien later denigrated. Magical elements abound, and the texts are more playful than the more sober "Silmarillion" texts Tolkien would write in the decades to come. In addition, they contain copious detail, especially about the Valar and Maiar, their homes in Valinor, and their adventures against Melkor.

For creators who work with the published Silmarillion, the Lost Tales can provide canon details that expand what is available in The Silmarillion (Nienna lives in a hall constructed of bat wings!) or deviate from it in surprising and delightful ways (Sauron is the prince of cats!)

Where Can I Get This? The Book of Lost Tales comprise the first two volumes of the History of Middle-earth series. They are available as both print and ebooks. For a reader not up for two volumes of sometimes dense reading, individual stories stand well on their own.

What Fanworks Already Exist? There is no tag on AO3 specifically for The Book of Lost Tales. Creators use several different Tolkien tags to mark these works. On AO3, you may have luck finding Lost Tales fanworks here. The #book of lost tales tag on Tumblr has more fanworks.