Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

Christopher Tolkien passed away this year, so it is timely to delve into the many books he edited/extended on behalf of his father J.R.R. Tolkien.

So the focus will be on books like the The Children of Húrin, but if you are inclined to discuss/read JRR's work, then do that too. It's all in the spirit of Tolkien.

Ah, the Children of Hurin.

I remember NOT reading The Silmarillion in my early teens. All the rest of it, but Turin's tale defeated me.

Mary wrote: "Ah, the Children of Hurin.

I remember NOT reading The Silmarillion in my early teens."

Same here. I had it on my shelf, and there it languished.

Jack, The Children of Hurin can be read alone. It occurs chronologically long before the others you mention. It is a bit darker too. More dense (less easy to read) than the hobbit. It is much easy to read than the Simillarion. But if you were new to Tolkien altogether.... good question...the Hobbit may be the best.

I listened to Christopher Lee's audio version of The Children of Hurin..... which was awesome

And since it's been seven years, under the circumstances this seems like as good a time as any for a Tolkien reread. I'm beginning with The Silmarillion and will probably add in at least some of the books (Beren and Lúthien, e.g.) that were published since 2013.

OK, I finished Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth and started The Children of Húrin, which isn't S&S per se, but which at least has a lot of Elder Eddas and Icelandic Sagas in its DNA

On to Beren and Lúthien, which is … interesting. It has all of JRRT's different versions of the story, going back to the original 1917 manuscript, and in that one (which is what I'm reading now) the story is pretty familiar, but the tone is very, very different -- almost Dunsanian.

Yes. Very different in tone.

Finished Beren and Lúthien and decided to push on to The Fall of Gondolin -- not like I'll be pressed for time or anything.

And yep, on to The Hobbit, or There and Back Again -- The Fall of Gondolin was relatively short, especially when I skipped the lengthy section that had also appeared in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth.

I love this book so very, very much.

@Joseph, you have inspired me... Ill go check out my Unfinished Tales for the "final version" of the Fall of Gondolin.

Fair warning … the version in UT is, well, very unfinished and ends just as Tuor first reaches Gondolin, without going into the subsequent Fall … :)

The version in The Silmarillion is much more summarized, but at least it's complete.

Joseph wrote: "Fair warning … the version in UT is, well, very unfinished and ends just as Tuor first reaches Gondolin, without going into the subsequent Fall … :) The version in The Silmarillion is ..."

You make a good tour guide, Master Ultan.

I've been wandering these paths for many, many years now.

He doesn't even meet Idril in UT

And I'm finally into The Lord of the Rings and yes, this is my favorite book ever, full stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

what a marvel and wonder it is

And I just finished LotR yesterday (all the way through to the end of the last appendix) and yep, still my favorite book, hands down, no contest.