Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Waiting on Wednesday: Beren and Lúthien by J. R. R. Tolkien


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

This week's upcoming book spotlight is:

Beren and Lúthien by J. R. R. Tolkien
Publication Date: May 4th, 2017
HarperCollins
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

From Goodreads:


Beren and Lúthien
"Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of Beren and Lúthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Dwarves and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for 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. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.


In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he 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 that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost."




I am a big fan of Tolkien, so of course more material being released from Tolkien - courtesy of Christopher Tolkien - is definitely going to grab my attention! I am really excited by the sound of this story and can't wait to check it out. :)


What do you think about this upcoming release? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?


2 comments:

  1. Oh wow, I had no idea this was even happening. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention. I've always been a big fan of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

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  2. This sounds so interesting! I have only seen the movies, but I should start reading the Lord of the Rings books to prepare for this one. :D

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