The Lost Road and Other Writings: Language and Legend Before the Lord of the Rings (History of Middle-earth, 5)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Book Overview

At the end of the 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien reluctantly set aside his now greatly elaborated work on the myths and heroic legends of Valinor and Middle-earth and began The Lord of the Rings. This fifth volume of The History of Middle-earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien, completes the presentation of the whole compass of his writing on those themes up to that time. Later forms of the Annuals of Valinor and the Annals of Berleriand had been composed, The...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395455197
• ISBN13: 9780395455197
• Release Date: November 1987
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

The Lost Road - A must-have for the Tolkienian linguist

The Lost Road, the fifth book in the History of Middle Earth series, publishes for the first time the background material on Middle Earth J.R.R. Tolkien created for his own use as he wrote Lord of the Rings. Some of this draft material was edited and published posthumously in The Silmarillion. The Lost Road includes much of the material found in The Silmarillion in its previous incarnations, all with commentary from JRRT's son, Christopher Tolkien. Included as well is The Lost Road, a time-travel story Tolkien wrote at the behest of his good friend, C.S. Lewis (who was to work on a space-travel story). The Lost Road was never completed; Tolkien abandoned the idea midway.Especially of interest to Tolkienian linguists are the Lhammas, or book of tongues, which outlines Tolkien's former conception of the dividing and multiplying of the Elvish languages. While this scenario is extremely out of sync with Tolkien's final conception, it is still of interest historically and important in order to understand the section that follows, the Etymologies.The Etymologies are a /must/ for any Tolkienian linguist. They were and remain the greatest source of vocabulary in all the Elvish languages, and almost the only source for Primitive Elvish stems. While confusing to the non-technical reader, the Etymologies are still the main reference used by Tolkienian linguists. Allthough some of the material in the Etymologies is out of sync with what Tolkien imagined his languages to be as when he wrote Lord of the Rings, the changes necessary to bring Etymologies-style languages to 'modern' languages are mostly well documented.In short, if you're just someone who enjoys Tolkien's works, this would be a fun read. If you're a serious Tolkienian linguist, this is a requirement.

For any Tolkien linguist this is REQUIRED READING

This book contains the Etymologies of the Elvish languages. This is the prime source of all current vocabulary in Quenya, Sindarin, Telerin and all other Elvish tongues.I HIGHLY recommend that any serious student of Tolkien's languages buy this book.

Another great by Christopher Tolkien

In the fifth volume of The History of Middle Earth, Christopher Tolkien brings to light even more of his father's great stories. What started as a competition between Inkling members J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis almost became what looks to be a very good story (it ends after only two chapters), and was the foreshadowing of an even greater story--the Fall of Numenor. Tolkien also includes the later Annals of both Valinor and Beleriand, not to mention an early version of the Ainulindale. He also teases die hard fans with the Llamas and the Etymologies, which give new insight on Elvish languages. Also included is Tolkien's second Silmarillion map which shows how his understanding of Middle Earth's geography evolved. I recommend this book to any die hard Tolkien fan and to those who are casually strolling through this beautiful world of Middle Earth.

The earliest rumblings of the Middle-Earth myth...

What started as a simple challenge between Tolkien and C.S. Lewis evolved into the greatest story ever written by a man. This book, an analysis of Tolkien's earliest writings, explain how the Numenor story began. Although the story "The Lost Road" itself ends after 2 chapters, you get the feeling that Tolkien was on the verge of something great. You will also wish that you were Auboin or his son and could have the dreams they've had. This book also includes an etymology dictionary so that you can compare the various roots of Tolkien's rich Middle-Earth languages. A very good read.