NCW Libraries

Frodo is led to Orthanc, the citadel of Saruman, and the fortress of Minas Morgul that guards the secret entrance to Mordor. All the while, the Great Darkness draws in.

After discovering the true nature of the one ring, Bilbo Baggins entrusts it to the care of his young cousin, Frodo, who is charged with bringing about its destruction and thus foiling the plans of the Dark Lord.

Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, [Christopher Tolkien] has told the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts...

"Published for the first time in one volume, this chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-Earth, told substantially in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, adheres to the timeline of 'The Tale of Years'"--

This second part of The Book Of Lost Tales includes the tale of Beneren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, Necklace of the Dwarves, and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay, together with the texts of associated poems, as well as information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages.

The Lays of Beleriand are epic stories in verse form of the Elder days of Middle-earth. Contained herein is The Lay of the Children of Hurin, which tell the tale of Turin Son of Hurin and Glorund the Dragon. The Lay of Leithian tells of Thingol, of the meeting of Beren and Luthien, and of the battle between Fiingolfin and Morgoth. Together these Lays form an important backdrop to The Silmarillion, and illuminate some of the oldest tales of Middle-earth....

"In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar: he is called the Lord of Waters, of all seas, lakes, and rivers under the sky. But he works in secret in Middle-earth to support the Noldor, the kindred...

After long study of the various manuscripts that composed this early tale of Middle-Earth, Christopher Tolkien has constructed a coherent and epic narrative that composes a crucial part of his father's literary oeuvre. In the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West following the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World, Morgoth--the first Dark Lord--dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband, the Hells of Iron. As he waged...