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The History of Middle-Earth #3
The Lays of Beleriand
The third volume that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.
This, the third volume of The History of Middle-earth, gives us a privileged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth, through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien’s world—those of Turien and Luthien. The first of the poems is the unpublished Lay of The Children of Hurin, narrating on a grand scale the tragedy of Turin Turambar. The second is the moving Lay of Leithian, the chief source of the tale of Beren and Luthien in The Silmarillion, telling of the Quest of the Silmaril and the encounter with Morgoth in his subterranean fortress.
Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days, which was much developed during the years of the composition of the two Lays. Also included is the notable criticism in detail of the Lay of Lethian by C.S. Lewis, Tolkien's friend and colleague, who read the poem in 1929. By assuming that this poem is actually a fragment from a past lost in history, Lewis underlined the remarkable power of its author's imaginative talents and academic competence.
This, the third volume of The History of Middle-earth, gives us a privileged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth, through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien’s world—those of Turien and Luthien. The first of the poems is the unpublished Lay of The Children of Hurin, narrating on a grand scale the tragedy of Turin Turambar. The second is the moving Lay of Leithian, the chief source of the tale of Beren and Luthien in The Silmarillion, telling of the Quest of the Silmaril and the encounter with Morgoth in his subterranean fortress.
Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days, which was much developed during the years of the composition of the two Lays. Also included is the notable criticism in detail of the Lay of Lethian by C.S. Lewis, Tolkien's friend and colleague, who read the poem in 1929. By assuming that this poem is actually a fragment from a past lost in history, Lewis underlined the remarkable power of its author's imaginative talents and academic competence.
393 pages, Hardcover
First published August 22, 1985
248 people are currently reading
11464 people want to read
About the author
J.R.R. Tolkien
786 books77.3k followersJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
September 29, 2015
3 - 3.5 stars
_The Lays of Beleriand_ is a book that I’ve had on my bookshelf for many, many years and quite frankly never thought I’d get to. I think I probably got my copy around the time it was first published when I was but a wee sprat simply because it was by Tolkien and certainly at that time the likelihood that I would read a book comprised primarily of two long narrative poems accompanied by copious editorial apparatus was, to say the least, unlikely. As time went on and I got older I still never read it as I didn’t think the ‘History of Middle-earth’ series (or HoME) would hold much interest for me. Why bother reading the ‘preliminary drafts’ of the material when I had already read the finished products, or at least as close as we were going to get to them in the case of The Silmarillion? It took the podcasts of Corey Olsen (‘The Tolkien Professor’) to get me off my rump in this regard and encourage me to actually pick up the series which allowed me to more fully appreciate what the History of Middle-earth series really provides.
I had always thought the series was little more than rough drafts which would only, at best, provide a view into Tolkien’s writing process. An interesting area of study for some perhaps, but it certainly wasn’t my primary interest in him. While this aspect of the series is certainly still somewhat true, I found once I had given the books a fair chance that they offered far more. Ultimately they allowed me to see, in the best cases, much fuller versions of the tales of the First Age of Middle-earth that are given only in precis in The Silmarillion as published. I should have considered this possibility after being blown away by the content in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth when I read it, but all I remembered at the time were my failed attempts at the first volume in the series, The Book of Lost Tales, Part One, when I was young and as for the current volume in question? As noted above plowing through some very long narrative poems still didn’t exactly recommend itself to me when I considered all of the other items on my to-read list. Well, I will admit that I’m glad now that I *did* read it.
I could nit-pick and complain that instead of yet another version of the stories of Turin and Beren & Luthien (they were certainly the stories that Tolkien seemed to have loved the most and came back to again and again, re-writing, revising and tinkering as was his wont) it would have been great if we had gotten the full epic treatment of something for which we don’t already have a lot of material, say perhaps the story of Tuor…or hey how about Earendil? He was the first character in what was to become Middle-earth about whom Tolkien wrote and his was supposedly the tale that spawned the entire opus of Middle-earth and was, arguably, the cornerstone to the entire story of the First Age and yet we have little to nothing about him! Still, even if we’re visiting well-tread ground here (at least if you’re a Tolkien fan and have read the other material that exists apart from the HoME series) these versions have plenty to recommend them to us. For one thing there is just so much more detail than we get in the Silmarillion versions that you can really start to live inside the tales a little more easily as a result. You also get a glimpse of the true scope of what Tolkien worked on beyond his most famous works the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit; even though this material was all, in some ways, preliminary and ultimately published posthumously, it becomes obvious that this was really what was at the heart of his creative life and it was truly huge in scope.
I was actually surprised when I finished the book to find that I preferred the Lay of Leithian since I normally don’t gravitate as much to the story of Beren of Luthien, beautiful as it is, and the fact that it was written in rhyming couplets could have been disastrous. Luckily there was no twee sing-songiness to the poem (Tolkien really was a fairly accomplished poet) and the chance to see more of both Beren and Luthien in action (not to mention Huan the great hound of Valinor) turned out to be very enjoyable. All those people who think Tolkien didn’t like (or write) strong women really need to take a gander at Luthien. Her tale has been described as the story of a girl and her dog who go out to rescue her boyfriend, and while it is much more than that, the fact that it works well enough as a thumbnail sketch speaks volumes.
If you’re a Tolkien fan, especially one who enjoys poetry, and you enjoy the tales of the Silmarillion then you owe it to yourself to check out the HoME series and this volume does not at all disappoint in that regard. A must-read for the Tolkien completist.
_The Lays of Beleriand_ is a book that I’ve had on my bookshelf for many, many years and quite frankly never thought I’d get to. I think I probably got my copy around the time it was first published when I was but a wee sprat simply because it was by Tolkien and certainly at that time the likelihood that I would read a book comprised primarily of two long narrative poems accompanied by copious editorial apparatus was, to say the least, unlikely. As time went on and I got older I still never read it as I didn’t think the ‘History of Middle-earth’ series (or HoME) would hold much interest for me. Why bother reading the ‘preliminary drafts’ of the material when I had already read the finished products, or at least as close as we were going to get to them in the case of The Silmarillion? It took the podcasts of Corey Olsen (‘The Tolkien Professor’) to get me off my rump in this regard and encourage me to actually pick up the series which allowed me to more fully appreciate what the History of Middle-earth series really provides.
I had always thought the series was little more than rough drafts which would only, at best, provide a view into Tolkien’s writing process. An interesting area of study for some perhaps, but it certainly wasn’t my primary interest in him. While this aspect of the series is certainly still somewhat true, I found once I had given the books a fair chance that they offered far more. Ultimately they allowed me to see, in the best cases, much fuller versions of the tales of the First Age of Middle-earth that are given only in precis in The Silmarillion as published. I should have considered this possibility after being blown away by the content in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth when I read it, but all I remembered at the time were my failed attempts at the first volume in the series, The Book of Lost Tales, Part One, when I was young and as for the current volume in question? As noted above plowing through some very long narrative poems still didn’t exactly recommend itself to me when I considered all of the other items on my to-read list. Well, I will admit that I’m glad now that I *did* read it.
I could nit-pick and complain that instead of yet another version of the stories of Turin and Beren & Luthien (they were certainly the stories that Tolkien seemed to have loved the most and came back to again and again, re-writing, revising and tinkering as was his wont) it would have been great if we had gotten the full epic treatment of something for which we don’t already have a lot of material, say perhaps the story of Tuor…or hey how about Earendil? He was the first character in what was to become Middle-earth about whom Tolkien wrote and his was supposedly the tale that spawned the entire opus of Middle-earth and was, arguably, the cornerstone to the entire story of the First Age and yet we have little to nothing about him! Still, even if we’re visiting well-tread ground here (at least if you’re a Tolkien fan and have read the other material that exists apart from the HoME series) these versions have plenty to recommend them to us. For one thing there is just so much more detail than we get in the Silmarillion versions that you can really start to live inside the tales a little more easily as a result. You also get a glimpse of the true scope of what Tolkien worked on beyond his most famous works the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit; even though this material was all, in some ways, preliminary and ultimately published posthumously, it becomes obvious that this was really what was at the heart of his creative life and it was truly huge in scope.
I was actually surprised when I finished the book to find that I preferred the Lay of Leithian since I normally don’t gravitate as much to the story of Beren of Luthien, beautiful as it is, and the fact that it was written in rhyming couplets could have been disastrous. Luckily there was no twee sing-songiness to the poem (Tolkien really was a fairly accomplished poet) and the chance to see more of both Beren and Luthien in action (not to mention Huan the great hound of Valinor) turned out to be very enjoyable. All those people who think Tolkien didn’t like (or write) strong women really need to take a gander at Luthien. Her tale has been described as the story of a girl and her dog who go out to rescue her boyfriend, and while it is much more than that, the fact that it works well enough as a thumbnail sketch speaks volumes.
If you’re a Tolkien fan, especially one who enjoys poetry, and you enjoy the tales of the Silmarillion then you owe it to yourself to check out the HoME series and this volume does not at all disappoint in that regard. A must-read for the Tolkien completist.
June 12, 2013
I love Tolkien, but I was prepared to dislike this book, the third in his History of Middle-Earth series. After all, I thought, there's nothing new in this one: it's just a recap of the telling of the Tale of the Children of Hurin and the Lay of Leithian, about Beren and Luthien. Those have already been well covered, not only in the Silmarillion and in the standalone The Children of Hurin book, but in the previous two volumes as well. I'm happy to say I was wrong.
True, the bulk of this book is the retelling of these tales; but it's in verse, not prose, and some of the details are different and evolving enough that it is actually a joy to read. And I say that as someone who's never particularly enjoyed poetry.
First the lays are written in alliterative verse, where the same sound is repeated two or three times on each line, e.g.,
The summer slowly in the sad forest
waned and faded. In the west arose
winds that wandered over warring seas.
As I read these lays, I was continually astonished that the Professor never failed to find words that began with the right sounds to keep the pattern, yet which never failed to be the perfect words to convey the mental image he intended. His obvious command of the English language has never been more wonderfully put to use.
Then the lays are repeated in rhyming couplets, like
Once wide and smooth a plain was spread
where King Fingolfin proudly led
his silver armies on the green,
his horses white, his lances keen...
The ability to tell the same long tales in such different formats is astonishing; that he felt compelled to do it dismays me. After all, while I certainly enjoyed reading all three versions of each of the two long tales, the vast span of time and effort the professor spent creating and recreating them could have better, in my opinion, been spent writing more stories of Middle-Earth featuring, or amplifying, other times, places, and characters. And this in the end is what I took away from The Lays of Beleriand: awe at the man's sheer creativity and perseverance, but disappointment that there is so much about Middle-Earth we will never enjoy because of his obsession with these two tales and their forms.
True, the bulk of this book is the retelling of these tales; but it's in verse, not prose, and some of the details are different and evolving enough that it is actually a joy to read. And I say that as someone who's never particularly enjoyed poetry.
First the lays are written in alliterative verse, where the same sound is repeated two or three times on each line, e.g.,
The summer slowly in the sad forest
waned and faded. In the west arose
winds that wandered over warring seas.
As I read these lays, I was continually astonished that the Professor never failed to find words that began with the right sounds to keep the pattern, yet which never failed to be the perfect words to convey the mental image he intended. His obvious command of the English language has never been more wonderfully put to use.
Then the lays are repeated in rhyming couplets, like
Once wide and smooth a plain was spread
where King Fingolfin proudly led
his silver armies on the green,
his horses white, his lances keen...
The ability to tell the same long tales in such different formats is astonishing; that he felt compelled to do it dismays me. After all, while I certainly enjoyed reading all three versions of each of the two long tales, the vast span of time and effort the professor spent creating and recreating them could have better, in my opinion, been spent writing more stories of Middle-Earth featuring, or amplifying, other times, places, and characters. And this in the end is what I took away from The Lays of Beleriand: awe at the man's sheer creativity and perseverance, but disappointment that there is so much about Middle-Earth we will never enjoy because of his obsession with these two tales and their forms.
March 21, 2021
Honestly, this probably won't be of much interest to anyone who isn't a super big Tolkien nerd. It's the stories of Túrin and of Lúthien in verse form, and as per usual for most of Tolkien's earlier works, both are incomplete. Still, for what is there, it's an impressive feat of prose, and it shows why Tolkien's later writings are so lyrical in nature. There's also some excerpts from C.S. Lewis's critique of part of the Lay of Leithian, which was also interesting and the respect he held for his friend.
October 21, 2024
I didn't read the whole book - just the first, longer draft of the Lay of Leithian, aka the "Gest of Beren and Luthien", skipping any commentary.
I love poetry but this is my favourite poem EVER, even incomplete and unpolished as it is, and for me the definitive version of the story of Beren and Luthien.
SELECTED RAVINGS:
CANTO I
mostly scene setting, but it's so fun to get more worldbuilding details on Doriath. Also this poetry is just gorgeous
CANTO II
thou shalt to the moonless mists of hell
Descend and seek thy Eilinel
AUGH
A bunch of details are different in this early version (Gorlim seeking out the Enemy, and being taken to Morgoth not Sauron) but the one that gets me most is Gorlim sneaking away from the phantom without making himself known because he doesn't want her to be hurt T_T
LOTR Orcs are cockneys. Lay of Leithian Orcs have clearly been to university
CANTO III
OH HERE'S WHY LUTHIEN HAS SLEEP MAGIC!!!!! Because her mother Melian was associated with Lorien in Valinor, the Vala of dreams and visions, who in Line 439 of the Lay Tolkien calls "the Lord of Sleep"
Okay this is amazing:
There after but an hour, him seems,
he finds her where she lies and dreams,
pale Melian with her dark hair
upon a bed of leaves. Beware!
There slumber and a sleep is twined!
He touched her tresses and his mind
was drowned in the forgetful deep,
and dark the years rolled o'er his sleep
MESS WITH THE ENCHANTRESS AT YOUR PERIL
And now his heart was healed and slain
With a new life and with new pain
They enchant each other T_T when he calls "Tinuviel!" there's magic in it
CANTO IV
the deathless in his dying shared feels faintly redolent of the Gospel
CANTO V
TEXTILE MAGIC
Rapunzel joins the list of stories Tolkien looked at, sniffed, and said "I can do better"
CANTO VI
We find out why Sauron (here, Thu) is called The Necromancer:
In glamoury
that necromancer held his hosts
of phantoms and of wandering ghosts,
of misbegotten or spell-wronged
monsters that about him thronged,
working his bidding dark and vile:
the werewolves of the Wizard's Isle.
CANTO VII
I love SO MUCH the fact that in this version what gives them away to Sauron is the fact that they won't blaspheme the gods and declare Morgoth the king of all earthly kings
CANTO VIII
I think it's super important to note that this begins with an absolutely gorgeous passage describing the Bestest Boi, and also there's this beautiful beautiful little Sir Orfeo reference that lives in my head rent free:
Hark! afar in Nargothrond,
far over Sirion and beyond,
there are dim cries and horns blowing,
and barking hounds through the trees going.
Lúthien's meeting with Huan:
Huan alone that she ever met
she never in enchantment set
nor bound with spells.
RIP to you Beren
CANTO IX
this whole canto is unbeLIEVably epic, possibly my favourite in the whole Lay, but my favourite part is Sauron hearing the song from the bridge and saying
A! little Lúthien! What brought
the foolish fly to web unsought?
ee hee hee hee
CANTO X
Tolkien just really wants you to know that these guys are Beyond It:
Thereafter never bound was whelped
would follow horn of Celegorm
or Curufin.
It's interesting that Tolkien at this stage had Beren telling Lúthien to stay in Doriath waiting for his return specifically because Sauron had informed him that Morgoth was keen to capture her. It's like he realised that with all of Lúthien's evident capabilities he needed to give Beren a convincing reason to leave her behind lol
CANTO XI
Lúthien catching Beren in the middle of his dramatic farewell will never not crack me up but in this version she tells him off for not putting his trust in her might so weak and then when he asks where's the hound he left to guard her she tells him how much wiser and kinder Huan is than himat which point Beren demands to know why she doesn't just marry the dog
The description of them putting on the werewolf and vampire disguises, and their journey to the gates of Thangorodrim, is fanTAStically creepy and epic and also, I'm surprised to note, HIGHLY reminiscent of the hobbits' trek into Mordor.
CANTO XII
this bit about how Carcharoth has not yet come
disastrous, ravening, from the gates
of Angband
has STRONG Voluspa echoes -
Loud bays Garm before Gaping-Hel;
the bond shall be broken, the Wolf run free
CANTO XIII
I love these descriptions of Angband (even Morgoth has tree themed decor) and I love EVEN MORE the fact that when Lúthien flies into the hall a Dark Lord, all his Balrogs and a ton of werewolves suddenly feel the Valar walking over their graves -
A nameless doubt, a shapeless fear
had entered in their caverns drear,
and grew, and towered above them cowed,
hearing in heart the trumpets loud
of gods forgotten.
She stood revealed in hell.
(chewing glass)
CANTO XIV (fragment)
I am going to haunt Tolkien in the afterlife for leaving it off here.
I love poetry but this is my favourite poem EVER, even incomplete and unpolished as it is, and for me the definitive version of the story of Beren and Luthien.
SELECTED RAVINGS:
CANTO I
mostly scene setting, but it's so fun to get more worldbuilding details on Doriath. Also this poetry is just gorgeous
CANTO II
thou shalt to the moonless mists of hell
Descend and seek thy Eilinel
AUGH
A bunch of details are different in this early version (Gorlim seeking out the Enemy, and being taken to Morgoth not Sauron) but the one that gets me most is Gorlim sneaking away from the phantom without making himself known because he doesn't want her to be hurt T_T
LOTR Orcs are cockneys. Lay of Leithian Orcs have clearly been to university
CANTO III
OH HERE'S WHY LUTHIEN HAS SLEEP MAGIC!!!!! Because her mother Melian was associated with Lorien in Valinor, the Vala of dreams and visions, who in Line 439 of the Lay Tolkien calls "the Lord of Sleep"
Okay this is amazing:
There after but an hour, him seems,
he finds her where she lies and dreams,
pale Melian with her dark hair
upon a bed of leaves. Beware!
There slumber and a sleep is twined!
He touched her tresses and his mind
was drowned in the forgetful deep,
and dark the years rolled o'er his sleep
MESS WITH THE ENCHANTRESS AT YOUR PERIL
And now his heart was healed and slain
With a new life and with new pain
They enchant each other T_T when he calls "Tinuviel!" there's magic in it
CANTO IV
the deathless in his dying shared feels faintly redolent of the Gospel
CANTO V
TEXTILE MAGIC
Rapunzel joins the list of stories Tolkien looked at, sniffed, and said "I can do better"
CANTO VI
We find out why Sauron (here, Thu) is called The Necromancer:
In glamoury
that necromancer held his hosts
of phantoms and of wandering ghosts,
of misbegotten or spell-wronged
monsters that about him thronged,
working his bidding dark and vile:
the werewolves of the Wizard's Isle.
CANTO VII
I love SO MUCH the fact that in this version what gives them away to Sauron is the fact that they won't blaspheme the gods and declare Morgoth the king of all earthly kings
CANTO VIII
I think it's super important to note that this begins with an absolutely gorgeous passage describing the Bestest Boi, and also there's this beautiful beautiful little Sir Orfeo reference that lives in my head rent free:
Hark! afar in Nargothrond,
far over Sirion and beyond,
there are dim cries and horns blowing,
and barking hounds through the trees going.
Lúthien's meeting with Huan:
Huan alone that she ever met
she never in enchantment set
nor bound with spells.
RIP to you Beren
CANTO IX
this whole canto is unbeLIEVably epic, possibly my favourite in the whole Lay, but my favourite part is Sauron hearing the song from the bridge and saying
A! little Lúthien! What brought
the foolish fly to web unsought?
ee hee hee hee
CANTO X
Tolkien just really wants you to know that these guys are Beyond It:
Thereafter never bound was whelped
would follow horn of Celegorm
or Curufin.
It's interesting that Tolkien at this stage had Beren telling Lúthien to stay in Doriath waiting for his return specifically because Sauron had informed him that Morgoth was keen to capture her. It's like he realised that with all of Lúthien's evident capabilities he needed to give Beren a convincing reason to leave her behind lol
CANTO XI
Lúthien catching Beren in the middle of his dramatic farewell will never not crack me up but in this version she tells him off for not putting his trust in her might so weak and then when he asks where's the hound he left to guard her she tells him how much wiser and kinder Huan is than him
The description of them putting on the werewolf and vampire disguises, and their journey to the gates of Thangorodrim, is fanTAStically creepy and epic and also, I'm surprised to note, HIGHLY reminiscent of the hobbits' trek into Mordor.
CANTO XII
this bit about how Carcharoth has not yet come
disastrous, ravening, from the gates
of Angband
has STRONG Voluspa echoes -
Loud bays Garm before Gaping-Hel;
the bond shall be broken, the Wolf run free
CANTO XIII
I love these descriptions of Angband (even Morgoth has tree themed decor) and I love EVEN MORE the fact that when Lúthien flies into the hall a Dark Lord, all his Balrogs and a ton of werewolves suddenly feel the Valar walking over their graves -
A nameless doubt, a shapeless fear
had entered in their caverns drear,
and grew, and towered above them cowed,
hearing in heart the trumpets loud
of gods forgotten.
She stood revealed in hell.
(chewing glass)
CANTO XIV (fragment)
I am going to haunt Tolkien in the afterlife for leaving it off here.
November 25, 2007
I don't completely agree with the synopsis of this book on this website. It is certainly a "treasure trove of lore", but I was never aware that Turin was looking for his father, and "the dark destiny" of Turin and Beleg is quite an understatement. But, The Lay of Leithian *does* have a hero! :)
I nearly gave this book 4 stars, but decided on 5, more for what could have been than what is actually in the book. It's not LOTR, by any means, but it could have rivaled it if Tolkien had ever written an expanded prose version. I definitely enjoyed this book, though it was hard reading at times, both because of the way it was written and because I do not read poetry well. It is basically two poems about pre-LOTR Middle-Earth written in an Old-English style. The first, The Children of Hurin, is an alliterative poem, and the other, The Lay of Leithian, is in rhyming verse, which made it a little easier for me to read. It also has the first few lines of abandoned poems by Tolkien, and extensive commentary by Christopher Tolkien. There are also some comments on an early version of Leithian by C.S. Lewis, which was neat, both to think that he and Tolkien were friends and because Lewis treated it as critic reviewing a real translation of an Old-English poem.
One very nice thing about the poems was that they are actually more detailed in some places than the prose accounts in "The Silmarillion". I found that I liked some characters better in the poems.
That all said, I do not recommend this book to someone who has not read "The Silmarillion". Both poems, though very long, are incomplete (Tolkien never finished them) and would undoubtedly leave unanswered questions for someone who did not already know the stories.
I nearly gave this book 4 stars, but decided on 5, more for what could have been than what is actually in the book. It's not LOTR, by any means, but it could have rivaled it if Tolkien had ever written an expanded prose version. I definitely enjoyed this book, though it was hard reading at times, both because of the way it was written and because I do not read poetry well. It is basically two poems about pre-LOTR Middle-Earth written in an Old-English style. The first, The Children of Hurin, is an alliterative poem, and the other, The Lay of Leithian, is in rhyming verse, which made it a little easier for me to read. It also has the first few lines of abandoned poems by Tolkien, and extensive commentary by Christopher Tolkien. There are also some comments on an early version of Leithian by C.S. Lewis, which was neat, both to think that he and Tolkien were friends and because Lewis treated it as critic reviewing a real translation of an Old-English poem.
One very nice thing about the poems was that they are actually more detailed in some places than the prose accounts in "The Silmarillion". I found that I liked some characters better in the poems.
That all said, I do not recommend this book to someone who has not read "The Silmarillion". Both poems, though very long, are incomplete (Tolkien never finished them) and would undoubtedly leave unanswered questions for someone who did not already know the stories.
March 8, 2022
Tolkin u prozi ili u stihu, pa zar je bitno <3
June 12, 2024
The Lays of Beleriand is comprised entirely of narrative poems, which made it tougher at times (for this reader) to connect to the text. But for each poem, once I found the rhythm of the text, I found a lot of beauty within. Christopher Tolkien's commentary on each is invaluable. While I prefer Tolkien's prose writing, I enjoyed this poetic tome, and continue to marvel at the depth of his work in bringing Middle Earth alive.
December 3, 2018
Tolkien repeats two stories found in other published (posthumous) works, found in this work, in poetic form: “The Children of Hurin,” and “Beren and Luthien.” C.S. Lewis calls this type of rhyming scheme a “geste” in his critical analysis, also found in this book. The poems give deeper insight into the stories, with more reality and description (more showing than telling).
Here’s my favorite passage:
The Lay of Leithian (3888 - 3893)
Beneath them ranged with spear and sword
Stood Morgoth’s sable-armed horde:
The fire on blade and boss of shield
Was red as blood on stricken field.
Beneath a monstrous column loomed
The throne of Morgoth, and the doomed
And dying gasped upon the floor:
His hideous footstool, rape of war.
About him sat his aweful thanes
The Balrog-lords with fiery manes,
Red-handed, mouthed with fangs of steel;
Devouring wolves were crouched at heel.
And over the host of hell there shone
With a cold radiance, clear and wan.
The Simarils, the gems of fate,
Imprisoned in the crown of hate
Here’s my favorite passage:
The Lay of Leithian (3888 - 3893)
Beneath them ranged with spear and sword
Stood Morgoth’s sable-armed horde:
The fire on blade and boss of shield
Was red as blood on stricken field.
Beneath a monstrous column loomed
The throne of Morgoth, and the doomed
And dying gasped upon the floor:
His hideous footstool, rape of war.
About him sat his aweful thanes
The Balrog-lords with fiery manes,
Red-handed, mouthed with fangs of steel;
Devouring wolves were crouched at heel.
And over the host of hell there shone
With a cold radiance, clear and wan.
The Simarils, the gems of fate,
Imprisoned in the crown of hate
February 1, 2016
This volume, while largely a (further) re-hash of Simarillion material, nonetheless adds a few interesting tidbits/concepts to the fold, while the style of writing is a nice touch, using [as some astute reviews already noted] verse rather than prose to give it a more funereal [IMO] feel.
So, while I'm enjoying (for the most part) this series thus far.... I'm also finding it somewhat wearing on me (akin to Bilbo holding the One Ring for so many years), and I find my interest in Tolkien scholarship actually beginning to slightly diminish as I read on.
Maybe it's because there's so much new and compelling literature out there on my plate to get to?
So, I'm sticking with the series for now, but maybe a break before diving into Book 4...
So, while I'm enjoying (for the most part) this series thus far.... I'm also finding it somewhat wearing on me (akin to Bilbo holding the One Ring for so many years), and I find my interest in Tolkien scholarship actually beginning to slightly diminish as I read on.
Maybe it's because there's so much new and compelling literature out there on my plate to get to?
So, I'm sticking with the series for now, but maybe a break before diving into Book 4...
February 8, 2018
Not the earliest works of Middle Earth, but where he loses the bits of twee that were in the Book of Lost Tales.
Turin done in alliterative verse, in several variants. The basic bones of the story are down, but many interesting differences between here and the final version.
Luthein and Beren are done in rhyming verse, and come closer to the final version. It makes The Silmarillion version look terse. Some repetitionbetween this and Beren and Lúthien.
Turin done in alliterative verse, in several variants. The basic bones of the story are down, but many interesting differences between here and the final version.
Luthein and Beren are done in rhyming verse, and come closer to the final version. It makes The Silmarillion version look terse. Some repetitionbetween this and Beren and Lúthien.
Read
May 15, 2022
Σε σχέση με τους δύο προηγούμενους τόμους της Ιστορίας της Μέσης Γης, Το Βιβλίο των Χαμένων Ιστοριών, Μέρος Πρώτο και
Το Βιβλίο των Χαμένων Ιστοριών, Μέρος Δεύτερο
αυτός ο τρίτος τόμος ονόματι Τα Άσματα του Μπελέριαντ ήταν ο πιο ευκολοδιάβαστος και ευχάριστος τόμος.
Αυτό κυρίως λόγω του ότι η ποιητική μορφή του βιβλίου είχε ρυθμό και έκανε το διάβασμα πιο γρήγορο, όπως επίσης το ότι η γλώσσα δεν ήταν πλέον η βαριά και δυσνόητη αρχαΐζουσα αγγλική των προηγούμενων δύο.
Η αγγλική λέξη lay έχει εδώ την σημασία για ένα ποιητικό έργο μεσαιωνικής παραγωγής που αναφέρεται σε περιπέτεια ή και ρομάντζο ενός επικού ήρωα. Στα ελληνικά μπορεί να μεταφραστεί με τη λέξη μπαλάντα, με τη λέξη τραγούδι, αλλά και με τη λέξη άσμα που προτιμώ. Βλέπε τη χρήση της λέξης στο βυζαντινό Άσμα του Αρμούρη.
Ο Τόλκιν είχε σκοπό να γράψει 5 άσματα έκτασης χιλιάδων στίχων το καθένα τα οποία διαδραματίζονται στην Πρώτη Εποχή της Μέσης Γης.
Κατόρθωσε να γράψει σε εκτενή μορφή Τα Παιδιά του Χούριν (2276 στίχοι) και την Ιστορία του Μπέρεν και της Λούθιεν (4223 στίχοι), έστω και αν οι ιστορίες δεν είναι ολοκληρωμένες όπως η πεζή τους μορφή.
Για την φυγή των Νολντόλι (146 στίχοι) και Την Πτώση της Γκοντόλιν (130 στίχοι) δεν ξεπέρασε τους 150 στίχους, ενώ το Ταξίδι του Εαρέντιλ αριθμεί σε μόλις 38 στίχους.
Αυτά τα τρία ποιήματα ανήκουν μαζί στο ίδιο κεφάλαιο, ονόματι Ποιήματα Εγκαταλειμμένα Νωρίς, ενώ τα μεγαλύτερα σε έκταση ποιήματα, Χούριν και Μπέρεν έχουν το καθένα δικό τους κεφάλαιο.
Σαν επίλογος συμπεριλαμβάνεται και η κριτική για το Μπέρεν και Λούθιεν του C.S. Lewis (συγγραφέας του χρονικού της Νάρνια και στενός φίλος του Τόλκιν).
Μια κριτική με παιχνιδιάρικη διάθεση διότι ο Λούις έκανε την κριτική αυτή έχοντας στο νου ότι το ποίημα βρέθηκε σε διάφορες μορφές σε υποτιθέμενα μεσαιωνικά χειρόγραφα γραμμένα από διάφορους αντιγραφείς αντί του ότι γράφτηκε από τον φίλο του τον Τόλκιν στον 20ο αιώνα.
Με άλλα λόγια, διάβασα εδώ ό,τι και στον προηγούμενο τόμο αλλά σε ποιητική μορφή και σε πιο ευκολοδιάβαστη γλώσσα.
Οι δύο τόμοι που ακολουθούν θα είναι και οι τελευταίοι που αφορούν ό,τι έγραψε ο Τόλκιν για την Πρώτη Εποχή, πριν αρχίσει δηλαδή την συγγραφή για τον Άρχοντα τον Δαχτυλιδιών την δεκαετία του '40.
Τόμοι που ελπίζω να είναι το ίδιο άνετοι όπως και ο Τρίτος.
January 20, 2018
Immense talent and genius of professor Tolkien emerged, once again, among this pages. This time in form of epic poems. Great, long and unfinished poem "Lay of Leithian", written in octosyllabic couplets, so many times mentioned both in official version of "The Silmarillion", as well as in "The Book of Lost Tales part 1&2" bursts of beautiful literary expressions and reveals how the story of Beren and Luthien was step-by-step developed and how the plot and characters were shifted in the long period of time in which it was written.
Another great poem listed in this volume is "The Lay of the Children of Hurin" - an early Tolkien's work, written in his beloved alliterative stanzas.
And the most biggest surprise for me is "Noldolante" i.e. "The Flight of the Noldoli" - a poem that is mentioned in official version of "The Silmarillion" in chapter 9., which is but lament for the doom of Noldoli because of Fëanor's dreadful oath.
For all that enjoy in old English epic poems, this volume should be on high position on the reading list :)
Another great poem listed in this volume is "The Lay of the Children of Hurin" - an early Tolkien's work, written in his beloved alliterative stanzas.
And the most biggest surprise for me is "Noldolante" i.e. "The Flight of the Noldoli" - a poem that is mentioned in official version of "The Silmarillion" in chapter 9., which is but lament for the doom of Noldoli because of Fëanor's dreadful oath.
For all that enjoy in old English epic poems, this volume should be on high position on the reading list :)
March 14, 2019
Read the synopsis to see what it's about, lol, can't add anything to that. Took me a while to get through, and as always intense, so only for hardcore fans! (That's for all the books in the History-series, by the way!)
July 5, 2020
Las Baladas De Beleriand.- J.R.R. Tolkien
"Entonces Luthien no irá a su hogar,
sino que vagará por los bosques llorando,
sin atender al peligro, sin conocer la risa.
Y si ella no puede caminar a tu lado,
contra tu voluntad tus desesperados pies
perseguirá, hasta que encuentren,
Beren y Luthien, una vez más el amor
en la tierra o en la orilla sombría"
Las Baladas de Beleriand es un libro editado por Christopher Tolkien y contiene dos poemas extensos sobre la mitología de la Tierra Media escritos por John en diferentes épocas. El primero es La Balada De Los Hijos De Hurin, escrito en versos aliterados, y el segundo es La Balada De Leithian, escrito en pareados octosilábicos. Como complemento se incluyen también tres poemas prontamente abandonados (así los describe Christopher) y un fragmento de una interesante crítica escrita por C.S. Lewis, amigo de Tolkien y autor entre otras cosas de Las Crónicas De Narnia, sobre la Balada de Leithian.
Cómo es habitual en esta serie de libros, contiene un análisis exhaustivo de la obra por parte de Christopher, con notas sobre los nombres, sinopsis, diferencias con lo que después terminó formando parte de El Silmarillion y demás detalles. Créase o no, hasta vamos a tener información sobre el tipo de papel que usaba John para escribir y de dónde provenía. Así de exhaustivo…
Tuve sentimientos encontrados al cerrar el libro por última vez. Por un lado creo que este volumen de La Historia De La Tierra Media contiene algunos de los textos más bellamente escritos por Tolkien, pero por otro, al estar los poemas incompletos queda una sensación extraña al llegar al final de los mismos, una especie de impotencia lectora al no encontrar ese punto final que cierra la historia. Esto se da sobre todo en La Balada De Leithian, que tiene una extensión de más de 4200 versos divididos en 14 cantos y por lo que conocemos de la historia, no quedaba tanto para ser finalizada.
De todas formas considero esta lectura como otro de los puntos altos de la #tolkienreadalong2019 y sé que seguramente tendrá una relectura en un futuro, aunque inacabados, siguen siendo poemas de alta fantasía que merecen no olvidarse.
🤘🤘��🤘
"Entonces Luthien no irá a su hogar,
sino que vagará por los bosques llorando,
sin atender al peligro, sin conocer la risa.
Y si ella no puede caminar a tu lado,
contra tu voluntad tus desesperados pies
perseguirá, hasta que encuentren,
Beren y Luthien, una vez más el amor
en la tierra o en la orilla sombría"
Las Baladas de Beleriand es un libro editado por Christopher Tolkien y contiene dos poemas extensos sobre la mitología de la Tierra Media escritos por John en diferentes épocas. El primero es La Balada De Los Hijos De Hurin, escrito en versos aliterados, y el segundo es La Balada De Leithian, escrito en pareados octosilábicos. Como complemento se incluyen también tres poemas prontamente abandonados (así los describe Christopher) y un fragmento de una interesante crítica escrita por C.S. Lewis, amigo de Tolkien y autor entre otras cosas de Las Crónicas De Narnia, sobre la Balada de Leithian.
Cómo es habitual en esta serie de libros, contiene un análisis exhaustivo de la obra por parte de Christopher, con notas sobre los nombres, sinopsis, diferencias con lo que después terminó formando parte de El Silmarillion y demás detalles. Créase o no, hasta vamos a tener información sobre el tipo de papel que usaba John para escribir y de dónde provenía. Así de exhaustivo…
Tuve sentimientos encontrados al cerrar el libro por última vez. Por un lado creo que este volumen de La Historia De La Tierra Media contiene algunos de los textos más bellamente escritos por Tolkien, pero por otro, al estar los poemas incompletos queda una sensación extraña al llegar al final de los mismos, una especie de impotencia lectora al no encontrar ese punto final que cierra la historia. Esto se da sobre todo en La Balada De Leithian, que tiene una extensión de más de 4200 versos divididos en 14 cantos y por lo que conocemos de la historia, no quedaba tanto para ser finalizada.
De todas formas considero esta lectura como otro de los puntos altos de la #tolkienreadalong2019 y sé que seguramente tendrá una relectura en un futuro, aunque inacabados, siguen siendo poemas de alta fantasía que merecen no olvidarse.
🤘🤘��🤘
May 17, 2025
By far my favorite Tolkien that I've ever read*, I found the the long (though still incomplete) poems in this volume absolutely exquisite. They both use—and breathe new life into—archaic verse forms used in medieval poetry but seldom seen in Modern English. Merely as an exercise in creating art outside of the generic box, finding a home for a project not in the avant guard but in the apparently obsolete, these poems are worth reading and applauding.
But even better, the poems themselves are quite successful, even in their unfinished state. They read beautifully, narrate fluidly, describe gorgeously. I always had to psych myself up for reading, only to find that there was no toil involved once I got going. I relished especially Tolkien's poetic descriptions, which are as striking as they are natural—Tolkien's poetry always sounds preternaturally natural—and provide jewellike adornment to the well-crafted tales.
The soaring beauties, heartrending heroisms, stabbing ironies, lyrical tale-tellings, and utter terrors of Tolkien's writing is all here, distilled by his poetry to utmost potency. These poems made me wish Tolkien had written everything in verse!**
*with the caveat that I haven't read much of his work as an adult: only some of the short stories and hearing parts of The Hobbit aloud several times.
** Maybe I will change my mind after rereading the trilogy in the fall and become reconciled to his (also excellent) prose.
But even better, the poems themselves are quite successful, even in their unfinished state. They read beautifully, narrate fluidly, describe gorgeously. I always had to psych myself up for reading, only to find that there was no toil involved once I got going. I relished especially Tolkien's poetic descriptions, which are as striking as they are natural—Tolkien's poetry always sounds preternaturally natural—and provide jewellike adornment to the well-crafted tales.
The soaring beauties, heartrending heroisms, stabbing ironies, lyrical tale-tellings, and utter terrors of Tolkien's writing is all here, distilled by his poetry to utmost potency. These poems made me wish Tolkien had written everything in verse!**
*with the caveat that I haven't read much of his work as an adult: only some of the short stories and hearing parts of The Hobbit aloud several times.
** Maybe I will change my mind after rereading the trilogy in the fall and become reconciled to his (also excellent) prose.
Read
May 1, 2025I first picked this up to read The Lay of Leithian, and then decided to just finish the book. I cannot say that I read the rest of the book with very much attention, or of following the plots. I also did not read the notes on the poems. I did enjoy The Lay of Leithian, though.
October 6, 2025
“Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo” - a star shines on the hour of our meeting
This book is quite different from what I was expecting.
It’s poems as opposed to a full written story.
And I have to say- I don’t love Tolkiens poetry!
His stories are phenomenal but I just don’t think he was meant to be a poet.
What is awesome about this though- is the insane amount we get to learn about Elvish language!
He really did create an entire language by himself. Which is kind of insane.
If I remember correctly, he took inspiration from Anglo-Saxon old English.
(Which he spoke) (also insane to me!)
Anyway, that really boosted this up for me. I still don’t speak sindarian or Quenya! But it was cool.
This book is quite different from what I was expecting.
It’s poems as opposed to a full written story.
And I have to say- I don’t love Tolkiens poetry!
His stories are phenomenal but I just don’t think he was meant to be a poet.
What is awesome about this though- is the insane amount we get to learn about Elvish language!
He really did create an entire language by himself. Which is kind of insane.
If I remember correctly, he took inspiration from Anglo-Saxon old English.
(Which he spoke) (also insane to me!)
Anyway, that really boosted this up for me. I still don’t speak sindarian or Quenya! But it was cool.
March 1, 2015
All right, I haven't read this book all the way through. Mainly, because a great portion of the book is the story of Turin, which is the most depressing story Tolkien ever came up with. But this also includes a great deal of the tale of Beren and Luthien, told in a beautiful way.
You see, the stories in here are written in leys, told in a poetic form that flows off the tongue and right into the heart. It's pure genius. I can get chills reading certain passages of The Ley of Leithian. Fantastic. The one downer is that the poem ends before the story does. If you want the complete tale of Beren and Luthien, read it in the Silmarillion. :)
You see, the stories in here are written in leys, told in a poetic form that flows off the tongue and right into the heart. It's pure genius. I can get chills reading certain passages of The Ley of Leithian. Fantastic. The one downer is that the poem ends before the story does. If you want the complete tale of Beren and Luthien, read it in the Silmarillion. :)
August 21, 2022
Although I'm no great shakes at poetry, I found this very enjoyable. It helps I am listening to a Tolkien podcast that references these lays sometimes and talks about the meter and alliterative rhyme schemes he uses. That background knowledge definitely made this easier and more enjoyable. The versions of Beren and Luthien are especially good. They include so much more detail that's not in their chapter of the Silmarillion! Unfortunately none of these lays are finished, and usually stop at a somewhat exciting point. But they are interesting to see how these iconic legends of Middle-earth developed in Tolkien's brain.
May 31, 2018
I adored these stories in this form, for me reading them in the rhyme and meter of older works of poetry made them so much more lyrical and enjoyable than the brief summaries found in The Silmarillion.
April 11, 2024
A long time ago, during the years in which The Lord of the Rings films were released, my father arrived home periodically with a new Tolkien book he had found for my brother and me. They were beautiful books: the Minotauro Spanish Hardbacks of The History of Middle-Earth. I didn't read them then. They are difficult books because they're largely about the evolution and the process of creation (sub-creation) of Tolkien's legendarium. However, they have always lingered in the back of my mind, and particularly this one, because it included the long poems of The Children of Húrin and the Lay of Leithian: the story of Beren and Luthien.
Am I glad to have finally arrived to this book! The stories are known, and much beloved by millions of people, but the poems are spectacular. Especially de Lay of Leithian. It's a huge pity Tolkien never finished it (in spite of the 4200+ lines that were written!), so that more people could read it in full.
I am always grateful to Tolkien, because these books take me back to happy times, and support me (if even just as a quality distraction) in moments when I need it.
I am very happy I have been able to read it (thanks once again to the nudge of an amazon daily deal on Tolkien Reading Day 2024.)
5/5 stars.
----
Review upcoming. A debt with my past, impressed at how much was actually written and a pity it wasn't ever finished. They are great stories and this form is quite spectacular, if a bit obscure. 5 stars.
Am I glad to have finally arrived to this book! The stories are known, and much beloved by millions of people, but the poems are spectacular. Especially de Lay of Leithian. It's a huge pity Tolkien never finished it (in spite of the 4200+ lines that were written!), so that more people could read it in full.
I am always grateful to Tolkien, because these books take me back to happy times, and support me (if even just as a quality distraction) in moments when I need it.
I am very happy I have been able to read it (thanks once again to the nudge of an amazon daily deal on Tolkien Reading Day 2024.)
5/5 stars.
----
Review upcoming. A debt with my past, impressed at how much was actually written and a pity it wasn't ever finished. They are great stories and this form is quite spectacular, if a bit obscure. 5 stars.
November 9, 2023
Księgi zaginionych opowieści J.R.R. Tolkiena, zredagowane przez niezastąpionego Christophera Tolkiena, pozwoliły mi na nowo rozpalić wyobraźnię i dumnie przechadzać się po Śródziemiu. Czyli tym wspaniałym miejscu, które dziś rozbrzmiewa feerią barw i dźwięków dzięki trzeciej części cyklu Historia Śródziemia zatytułowanej Ballady Beleriandu.
Ballady i wiersze wraz z komentarzami.
Standardowo nie będę Wam streszczać ballad i wierszy zawartych w trzeciej część monumentalnego cyklu Historia Śródziemia J.R.R. Tolkiena, ale pozostawię tu tylko ich tytuły.
Ballada o dzieciach Húrina;
Wiersze wcześniej zarzucone;
Ballada o Leithian;
Ballada o Leithian rozpoczęta na nowo.
Wczesne mity i legendy.
Księgi zaginionych opowieści były wspaniałe, ale to co otrzymałam w Balladach Beleriandu przeszło moje najśmielsze oczekiwania.
Tolkien w mistrzowski sposób nie tylko ukazuje tragedię Túrina Turambara czy historię Leithian, która stanowi podstawę opowieści o Berenie i Lúthien w Silmarillionie, ale także operuje językiem w sposób niezwykle biegły. Nadaje mu wyjątkowy, wręcz archaiczny i śpiewny rytm, stosując wersy aliteracyjne.
Zachwyty, zachwytami, ale przyznaję, że lektura Ballad Beleriandu nie należy do najłatwiejszych.
Książka zachwyca formą i treścią, jednak wymaga sporego skupienia i zaangażowania. Ten wysiłek przynosi jednak dużą satysfakcję, ponieważ proces tworzenia dzieł mistrza jest niezwykle wciągający. Dzięki przypisom i komentarzom jego syna, tekst zyskuje dodatkowych barw, a nam maluczkim łatwiej zrozumieć niuanse i subtelne zmiany, jakie zachodziły w tekstach na przestrzeni lat.
Dlatego nie będę oryginalna i pozwolę sobie powtórzyć: sięgnijcie i czytajcie Ballady Beleriandu J.R.R. Tolkiena. To dzięki nim będziecie mogli w pełni docenić kunszt, wyobraźnię i ogrom pracy autora, którą w cudowny sposób przedstawia nam Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-ka.
https://unserious.pl/2023/11/ballady-...
Ballady i wiersze wraz z komentarzami.
Standardowo nie będę Wam streszczać ballad i wierszy zawartych w trzeciej część monumentalnego cyklu Historia Śródziemia J.R.R. Tolkiena, ale pozostawię tu tylko ich tytuły.
Ballada o dzieciach Húrina;
Wiersze wcześniej zarzucone;
Ballada o Leithian;
Ballada o Leithian rozpoczęta na nowo.
Wczesne mity i legendy.
Księgi zaginionych opowieści były wspaniałe, ale to co otrzymałam w Balladach Beleriandu przeszło moje najśmielsze oczekiwania.
Tolkien w mistrzowski sposób nie tylko ukazuje tragedię Túrina Turambara czy historię Leithian, która stanowi podstawę opowieści o Berenie i Lúthien w Silmarillionie, ale także operuje językiem w sposób niezwykle biegły. Nadaje mu wyjątkowy, wręcz archaiczny i śpiewny rytm, stosując wersy aliteracyjne.
Zachwyty, zachwytami, ale przyznaję, że lektura Ballad Beleriandu nie należy do najłatwiejszych.
Książka zachwyca formą i treścią, jednak wymaga sporego skupienia i zaangażowania. Ten wysiłek przynosi jednak dużą satysfakcję, ponieważ proces tworzenia dzieł mistrza jest niezwykle wciągający. Dzięki przypisom i komentarzom jego syna, tekst zyskuje dodatkowych barw, a nam maluczkim łatwiej zrozumieć niuanse i subtelne zmiany, jakie zachodziły w tekstach na przestrzeni lat.
Dlatego nie będę oryginalna i pozwolę sobie powtórzyć: sięgnijcie i czytajcie Ballady Beleriandu J.R.R. Tolkiena. To dzięki nim będziecie mogli w pełni docenić kunszt, wyobraźnię i ogrom pracy autora, którą w cudowny sposób przedstawia nam Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-ka.
https://unserious.pl/2023/11/ballady-...
October 26, 2022
It was a busy month but I didn't want to rush through this reading -- I savored every line. Some favorite passages:
'Farewell, sweet earth and northern sky,
for ever blest, since here did lie,
and here with lissom limbs did run,
beneath the moon, beneath the sun,
Lúthien Tinúviel
more fair than mortal tongue can tell.
Though all to ruin fell the world,
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss,
yet were its making good, for this--
the dawn, the dusk, the earth, the sea--
that Lúthien on a time should be!'
'Men called him Thû, and as a god
in after days beneath his rod
bewildered bowed to him, and made
his ghastly temples in the shade.
Not yet by Men enthralled adored,
now was he Morgoth's mightiest lord,
Master of Wolves, whose shivering howl
for ever echoed in the hills, and foul
enchantments and dark sigaldry
did weave and wield. In glamoury
that necromancer held his hosts
of phantoms and of wandering ghosts,
of misbegotten or spell-wronged
monsters that about him thronged,
working his bidding dark and vile:
the werewolves of the Wizard's Isle.'
'He sought for comfort, with courage saying:
"Quickly will I come from the courts of Thingol,
long ere manhood I will lead to Morwin
great tale of treasure, and true comrades" --
for he wist not the weird woven by Bauglir,
nor the sundering sorrow that swept between.
The farewells are taken: their footsteps are turned
to the dark forest: the dwelling fadeth
in the tangled trees. Then in Turin leapt
his awakened heart, and he wept blindly,
calling "I cannot, I cannot leave thee.
O Morwin, my mother, why makest me go?
Hateful are the hills where hope is lost.
O Morwin, my mother, I am meshed in tears.
Grim are the hills, and my home is gone."
And there came his cries calling faintly
down the dark alleys of the dreary trees,
and one who wept weary on the threshold
heard how the hills said "my home is gone."'
'Farewell, sweet earth and northern sky,
for ever blest, since here did lie,
and here with lissom limbs did run,
beneath the moon, beneath the sun,
Lúthien Tinúviel
more fair than mortal tongue can tell.
Though all to ruin fell the world,
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss,
yet were its making good, for this--
the dawn, the dusk, the earth, the sea--
that Lúthien on a time should be!'
'Men called him Thû, and as a god
in after days beneath his rod
bewildered bowed to him, and made
his ghastly temples in the shade.
Not yet by Men enthralled adored,
now was he Morgoth's mightiest lord,
Master of Wolves, whose shivering howl
for ever echoed in the hills, and foul
enchantments and dark sigaldry
did weave and wield. In glamoury
that necromancer held his hosts
of phantoms and of wandering ghosts,
of misbegotten or spell-wronged
monsters that about him thronged,
working his bidding dark and vile:
the werewolves of the Wizard's Isle.'
'He sought for comfort, with courage saying:
"Quickly will I come from the courts of Thingol,
long ere manhood I will lead to Morwin
great tale of treasure, and true comrades" --
for he wist not the weird woven by Bauglir,
nor the sundering sorrow that swept between.
The farewells are taken: their footsteps are turned
to the dark forest: the dwelling fadeth
in the tangled trees. Then in Turin leapt
his awakened heart, and he wept blindly,
calling "I cannot, I cannot leave thee.
O Morwin, my mother, why makest me go?
Hateful are the hills where hope is lost.
O Morwin, my mother, I am meshed in tears.
Grim are the hills, and my home is gone."
And there came his cries calling faintly
down the dark alleys of the dreary trees,
and one who wept weary on the threshold
heard how the hills said "my home is gone."'
June 17, 2017
I am reminded of that old saying of law and sausages, and not wanting to see how either is made. I felt that way periodically while reading this. While I was interested to see how the different narratives developed, and while I did enjoy those narratives, some of the commentary was a little too detailed and abstract for me - I really do not care to read endless notes on minor spelling changes, for instance - and it's hard to deny that there's a lot of repetition here.
As always, the sheer depth of Tolkien's imagination is a delight. I am forced to conclude, however, that he's just not that great a poet. Yes, come at me with your pitchforks, but I genuinely think his prose is better. He does enjoy the rhyming form, and in order to force the rhymes his sentences are twisted to fit and the results aren't fantastic - for this reason I much preferred the alliterative Children of Hurin parts to that of rhyming Beren and Luthien. Still, on a macro level if not a micro, this is an interesting read if perhaps one more directed towards academics than people who just want to read a good story without being interrupted by sausage-making.
As always, the sheer depth of Tolkien's imagination is a delight. I am forced to conclude, however, that he's just not that great a poet. Yes, come at me with your pitchforks, but I genuinely think his prose is better. He does enjoy the rhyming form, and in order to force the rhymes his sentences are twisted to fit and the results aren't fantastic - for this reason I much preferred the alliterative Children of Hurin parts to that of rhyming Beren and Luthien. Still, on a macro level if not a micro, this is an interesting read if perhaps one more directed towards academics than people who just want to read a good story without being interrupted by sausage-making.
September 11, 2024
Questa non è stata una lettura facile.
Intanto perché il grosso del testo è poesia, tradotta dall'inglese.
Poi perché leggere in sequenza diverse versioni della storia di Turin e di Beren e Luthien sarebbe già stancante di per se.
La lettura è consigliata a chi vuole saperne di più del processo di cambiamento delle storie di Tolkien ambientate nella prima era, e per questo tutte le annotazioni di Christopher sono importanti.
Personalmente ho gradito maggiormente i canti minori, quelli non sviluppati, e il Lai di Leithian.
Mi sono annoiato ferocemente con Turin, e con la riscrittura del Lai. Anche il commento di Lewis è stato una noia mortale, ma alla fine ce l'ho fatta a finirlo.
Come opera merita le 4 stelle, ma non preoccupatevi se la abbandonate dopo qualche pagina. Bisogna davvero avere lo spirito del filologo tolkeniano per amarlo.
Intanto perché il grosso del testo è poesia, tradotta dall'inglese.
Poi perché leggere in sequenza diverse versioni della storia di Turin e di Beren e Luthien sarebbe già stancante di per se.
La lettura è consigliata a chi vuole saperne di più del processo di cambiamento delle storie di Tolkien ambientate nella prima era, e per questo tutte le annotazioni di Christopher sono importanti.
Personalmente ho gradito maggiormente i canti minori, quelli non sviluppati, e il Lai di Leithian.
Mi sono annoiato ferocemente con Turin, e con la riscrittura del Lai. Anche il commento di Lewis è stato una noia mortale, ma alla fine ce l'ho fatta a finirlo.
Come opera merita le 4 stelle, ma non preoccupatevi se la abbandonate dopo qualche pagina. Bisogna davvero avere lo spirito del filologo tolkeniano per amarlo.
April 5, 2023
In the 1920's, J. R. R. Tolkien composed two epic poems to tell his most important stories of the First Age of Middle Earth. He worked on them on and off for 35 years before he abandoned the project. However, both tales would continue to evolve and eventually find their way (in prose) into The Silmarillion.
The first poem Lay of the Children of Húrin runs to 2,275 lines of alliterative verse. It begins with the capture of Húrin and concludes with Finduilas falling in love with Túrin in the halls of Nargothrond. A second attempt at this poem, which only runs 817 lines, is also included. Unfortunately, neither version gets as far as the slaying of Glórund, a memorable episode from the Lost Tales which is a brilliant reworking of the myth of Sigurd and Fáfnir from the Poetic Edda.
In this alliterative style, Tolkien repeats the same consonant sounds 2-3 times per line to produce a "resonance and richness of sound that might be achieved in the ancient English meter":
"Lo! the golden dragon of the God of Hell,
the gloom of the woods of the world now gone,
the woes of Men, and weeping of Elves
fading faintly down forest pathways,
is now to tell, and the name most tearful
Of Níniel the sorrowful, and the name most sad
Of Thalion's son Túrin o'erthrown by fate."
The Lay of Leithian is composed of 4,220 lines of rhyming octsyllabic couplets. The poem begins with the betrayal of Barahir and stops just after Carcharoth the Wolf of Angband bites off Beren’s hand with the Silmaril still clutched within (reminiscent of Fenrir biting off Týr’s hand in the Prose Edda).
“A sparkle through the darkling trees,
A piercing glint of light he sees,
And there she dances all alone
Upon a treeless knoll of stone!
Her mantle blue with jewels white
Caught all the rays of frosted light.
She shone with cold and wintry flame,
As dancing down the hill she came,
And passed his watchful silent gaze,
A glimmer as of stars ablaze.”
Also included is C. S. Lewis’ lengthy critique of an early version of Lay of Leithian as well as some short fragments that are “early abandoned”.
Some Tolkien fans consider these two long narrative poems to be his best work, superior to even Lord of the Rings. I think they grow tedious, although they might benefit from a professional audiobook narration.
Ley of Leithian is the better of the two. My favorite sequences are the fight between Huar, the hound of Valinar, and Thû the Necromancer (later: Sauron); and the scene in which Beren cuts the Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. It also contains the best version of the Fëanorian oath:
“Be he friend or foe, or demon wild
of Morgoth, Elf, or mortal child,
or any that here on earth may dwell,
no law, nor love, nor league of hell,
no might of Gods, no binding spell,
shall him defend from hatred fell
of Fëanor’s sons, whoso take or steal
or finding keep a Silmaril.
These we alone do claim by right,
our thrice enchanted jewels bright.”
Christopher Tolkien’s editorial comments, which were so illuminating in The Books of Lost Tales, feel intrusive here. He painstakingly documents every extant draft of every poem. He highlights all his father’s name changes and alterations to genealogies. It feels like overkill and detracts from the work itself.
The first poem Lay of the Children of Húrin runs to 2,275 lines of alliterative verse. It begins with the capture of Húrin and concludes with Finduilas falling in love with Túrin in the halls of Nargothrond. A second attempt at this poem, which only runs 817 lines, is also included. Unfortunately, neither version gets as far as the slaying of Glórund, a memorable episode from the Lost Tales which is a brilliant reworking of the myth of Sigurd and Fáfnir from the Poetic Edda.
In this alliterative style, Tolkien repeats the same consonant sounds 2-3 times per line to produce a "resonance and richness of sound that might be achieved in the ancient English meter":
"Lo! the golden dragon of the God of Hell,
the gloom of the woods of the world now gone,
the woes of Men, and weeping of Elves
fading faintly down forest pathways,
is now to tell, and the name most tearful
Of Níniel the sorrowful, and the name most sad
Of Thalion's son Túrin o'erthrown by fate."
The Lay of Leithian is composed of 4,220 lines of rhyming octsyllabic couplets. The poem begins with the betrayal of Barahir and stops just after Carcharoth the Wolf of Angband bites off Beren’s hand with the Silmaril still clutched within (reminiscent of Fenrir biting off Týr’s hand in the Prose Edda).
“A sparkle through the darkling trees,
A piercing glint of light he sees,
And there she dances all alone
Upon a treeless knoll of stone!
Her mantle blue with jewels white
Caught all the rays of frosted light.
She shone with cold and wintry flame,
As dancing down the hill she came,
And passed his watchful silent gaze,
A glimmer as of stars ablaze.”
Also included is C. S. Lewis’ lengthy critique of an early version of Lay of Leithian as well as some short fragments that are “early abandoned”.
Some Tolkien fans consider these two long narrative poems to be his best work, superior to even Lord of the Rings. I think they grow tedious, although they might benefit from a professional audiobook narration.
Ley of Leithian is the better of the two. My favorite sequences are the fight between Huar, the hound of Valinar, and Thû the Necromancer (later: Sauron); and the scene in which Beren cuts the Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. It also contains the best version of the Fëanorian oath:
“Be he friend or foe, or demon wild
of Morgoth, Elf, or mortal child,
or any that here on earth may dwell,
no law, nor love, nor league of hell,
no might of Gods, no binding spell,
shall him defend from hatred fell
of Fëanor’s sons, whoso take or steal
or finding keep a Silmaril.
These we alone do claim by right,
our thrice enchanted jewels bright.”
Christopher Tolkien’s editorial comments, which were so illuminating in The Books of Lost Tales, feel intrusive here. He painstakingly documents every extant draft of every poem. He highlights all his father’s name changes and alterations to genealogies. It feels like overkill and detracts from the work itself.
October 16, 2022
'But the Land of the Lost is further yet,
where the Dead wait, while ye forget.
No moon is there, no voice, no sound
of beating heart; a sigh profound
once in each age as each age dies
alone is heard. Far, far it lies...'
After the disappointment of Amazon Prime's "The Rings of Power", I feel compelled to return to Tolkien's words, where the magic first began and where it will endure.
Despite my love for Tolkien, I've always been somewhat intimidated by the sprawling "History of Middle-earth" volumes which are clearly aimed at the more serious kind of Tolkienite. Together, these painstakingly compiled and edited volumes offer an over-the-shoulder glimpse into how the mythology of Middle-earth evolved and took firmer shape as Tolkien tested and developed his ideas over time, sometimes altering them completely, often returning to particular themes and motifs. (As an editor, I'm particularly intrigued by how and why an author decides to make certain changes to a narrative; though I get that most readers might not particularly care about this.)
Feeling less daunted by the challenge now, I've begun with "The Lays of Beleriand", which comprise exquisite verse retellings of two crucial stories in the legendarium: the tale of Turin, and the song of Beren and Lúthien. Both stories were never fully completed, which is a pity, and Tolkien returned to them repeatedly, fleshing out certain details in each revision while cutting out or changing others. But even unfinished, they flash and gleam vividly, their breathtaking scope matched by Tolkien's word-wizardry, their tragic themes somehow enhanced by these poems being incomplete. Of the two, I'm more moved by the tragedy of Beren and Lúthien, where I feel that almost each word was carefully chosen and burnished to lustrous gold.
where the Dead wait, while ye forget.
No moon is there, no voice, no sound
of beating heart; a sigh profound
once in each age as each age dies
alone is heard. Far, far it lies...'
After the disappointment of Amazon Prime's "The Rings of Power", I feel compelled to return to Tolkien's words, where the magic first began and where it will endure.
Despite my love for Tolkien, I've always been somewhat intimidated by the sprawling "History of Middle-earth" volumes which are clearly aimed at the more serious kind of Tolkienite. Together, these painstakingly compiled and edited volumes offer an over-the-shoulder glimpse into how the mythology of Middle-earth evolved and took firmer shape as Tolkien tested and developed his ideas over time, sometimes altering them completely, often returning to particular themes and motifs. (As an editor, I'm particularly intrigued by how and why an author decides to make certain changes to a narrative; though I get that most readers might not particularly care about this.)
Feeling less daunted by the challenge now, I've begun with "The Lays of Beleriand", which comprise exquisite verse retellings of two crucial stories in the legendarium: the tale of Turin, and the song of Beren and Lúthien. Both stories were never fully completed, which is a pity, and Tolkien returned to them repeatedly, fleshing out certain details in each revision while cutting out or changing others. But even unfinished, they flash and gleam vividly, their breathtaking scope matched by Tolkien's word-wizardry, their tragic themes somehow enhanced by these poems being incomplete. Of the two, I'm more moved by the tragedy of Beren and Lúthien, where I feel that almost each word was carefully chosen and burnished to lustrous gold.
September 13, 2019
The third book of the history of middle earth series is even more difficult and hard to read than the two before it! Now we deal with the abandoned poems that consisted of the first attempts for Tolkien to tell the story of the silmarils in verse. Christopher had found and presents in this books the many different versions of the long poems mainly the “lay of leithian” and we can see how the named ideas and descriptions evolved noticing some major differences from the earlier stages to the final form that was presented in the Silmarillion although the stories of the first age were never put into a finished book by the professor himself. Nonetheless, the book is a tedious reading because of the many details comments names and indexes and the useful parts are small and few. I wouldn’t recommend this book for people who had just seen the movies but for the most hardcore middle earth fans and mainly scholars
March 27, 2025
After the uneven experience of The Book of Lost Tales (and a much-needed break from reading Tolkien), this was a wonderful read. Yes, it is *yet another* retelling of Túrin, Beleg, Beren, and Lúthien, but reading it in verse makes it feel much less redundant. Without question, the highlight of the book is reading C.S. Lewis' criticism of part of the manuscript that J.R.R. Tolkien sent him. I loved flipping back and forth from his comments to the original text to see Lewis' praise and suggestions. It was like eavesdropping on a private conversation between two literary giants and good friends.
Christopher's editing and commentary continues to oscillate between exhaustive and exhausting. I quickly got overwhelmed by his discussion of various A, B, C, and D texts. But more than anything, I am beyond grateful to him for publishing The History of Middle-Earth for all of us. This had to be a nightmare to compile and edit.
Christopher's editing and commentary continues to oscillate between exhaustive and exhausting. I quickly got overwhelmed by his discussion of various A, B, C, and D texts. But more than anything, I am beyond grateful to him for publishing The History of Middle-Earth for all of us. This had to be a nightmare to compile and edit.
May 14, 2018
Was really cool to read, especially being able to read the commentary by C.S. Lewis on the Lay of Leithian alongside an early version of it.Luthiens story is my favourite of all Tolkien's characters in the stories other than LOTR. There were quite a few bits and pieces that were quite cool, but it was not an easy read, as it is obviously not a story, but for the hard core fans.
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