Book Review - 'Unfinished Tales' by J.R.R. Tolkien
‘Unfinished Tales’ by J.R.R. Tolkien
‘This collection ranges from the time of The Silmarillion to the end of the War of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings. Its many treasures include Gandalf’s lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End, the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor, the only story of Númenor before its fall, and all that is known of the Five Wizards.
This collection has been edited by Christopher Tolkien, who provides a commentary placing each of the Tales in the context of his father’s works.’
When I started this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect; how ‘unfinished’ were these tales?
What about the stories I was already familiar with? Would those be nothing more than a rehash?
As this book followed my favourite, ‘The Silmarillion’, I admit to feeling a little apprehensive.
I’ll cut to the chase and say, my worries (seems weird to use the word ‘worried’ in relation to a Tolkien book) were unfounded.
Between the covers is a treasure trove of Middle-earth information covering all 3 Ages, content that add to the greater lore.
It’s not a novel or even a historical-mythological narration like ‘The Silmarillion’.
The stories are unrelated, most of them in an unfinished state.
As Christopher Tolkien says in the ‘Introduction’, “The narratives in this book… taken together… constitute no whole, and the book is no more than a collection of writings…”
But these narratives are not laid out as excerpts, as I was expecting, but as proper stories, making for quite the satisfying read.
This book, though, isn’t for everyone.
If you’re unfamiliar with ‘The Silmarillion’, ‘The Hobbit’, and ‘The Lord of the Rings’, reading this will make no sense at all.
Neither is it for the casual Tolkien reader.
‘Unfinished Tales’ is meant for the Tolkien-nerd.
It’s for those who can’t get enough of the history of Middle-earth, whose appetite has only been whetted after reading the Appendices at the end of ‘The Return of the King’.
As the stories are unrelated, I’ll give my thoughts on each one as per the contents while unashamedly indulging my inner ‘Tolkien-nerd’.
Part One covers The First Age, and contains 2 stories, which feature in ‘The Silmarillion’.
‘Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin’ expands Tuor’s story, told in ‘The Silmarillion’, from his birth to when he finally passes the Seventh Gate to look down on Gondolin, with each of the 7 gates fully described.
There’s satisfying detail as to how he finds his way to the sea, to the ruined city of Vinyamar, how Ulmo, the Vala of Water, appears before him and tells him to find the hidden city of Gondolin…
“… the sun was like a smoky fire behind the menace of the sky… a great wave rose far off and rolled towards the land… as it drew near it curled, and broke… there stood dark against the rising storm a living shape of great height and majesty… A tall crown he wore like silver, from which his long hair fell down as foam glimmering in the dusk… he cast back the grey mantle that hung about him like a mist… clad in a gleaming coat, close-fitted as the mail of a mighty fish, and in kirtle of deep green that flashed and flickered with sea-fire as he strode slowly towards the land. In this manner the Dweller of the Deep… Ulmo, Lord of Waters showed himself… the sound of his deep voice… came as it seemed from the foundations of the world…”
There’s even more of the story of Voronwë who helps Tuor find his way to Gondolin.
An Elf from Gondolin, Voronwë was one of many who, despite the futility of such attempts, had been sent to try and find Valinor, the land of the Valar, to ask for their aid against Morgoth, and he was the only one to survive and return to Middle-earth after losing his shipmates to the sea.
The second story in this section is ‘Narn I Hîn Húrin (The Tale of the Children of Húrin)’.
Like the previous story, this one too has been fleshed out with so much more detail, bringing the characters to life.
At the start of the tale, we learn more of Húrin and his brother, Huor (the father of Tuor), and their respective wives, Morwen and Rían.
From ‘The Silmarillion’, I already knew of Morwen’s beauty and that she was ‘somewhat stern of mood and proud.’
So, I appreciated finding out more about Rían, Huor’s wife and Morwen’s cousin. She was ‘gentle of heart and loved neither hunting nor war. Her love was given to trees and to the flowers of the wild, and she was a singer and maker of songs.’
We learn more of the lives of Húrin and Morwen, and their son, Turin, and little daughter up until the moment Húrin leaves for the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
Then we find out what exactly happened when, instead of falling in battle, Húrin was captured alive and taken to Morgoth, and the words they exchanged.
The level of detail is truly substantial, from the aftermath of the Battle, to how Morwen reached her decision to send Turin to Doriath, his life there as King Thingol’s foster-son, and what occurred afterwards, to when he joined the outlaws, and the circumstances surrounding Mîm the Dwarf.
However, we don’t get the whole story in such copious detail.
After Turin agrees to stay with Mîm, there’s a note directing the reader to ‘The Silmarillion’ for events up to the fall of Nargothrond, and the Appendix after ‘Narn I Hîn Húrin’ in ‘Unfinished Tales’ itself.
The detailed story then picks up again after Nargothrond when Turin returns to what had once been his home, searching for his mother, Morwen, and Nienor, his sister.
More is told of Morwen and Nienor leaving Doriath, where they had gone believing Turin to still be there, and their journey to Nargothrond, and all the grief that followed to the end of the story.
While the tale I’d read in ‘The Silmarillion’ was sad beyond belief, this version adds even more poignancy, making it all the more tragic.
I haven’t read the separate copies of ‘The Fall of Gondolin’ and ‘The Children of Húrin’, so can’t speak to how similar the versions in the ‘Unfinished Tales’ are to those.
We move on to Part Two, which comprises stories set in The Second Age, starting with ‘A Description of the Island of Númenor’, which speaks for itself.
Then, there’s ‘Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife’.
This is the least developed of the stories, and Christopher Tolkien had to do so much “editorial rehandling”, he almost decided against including it.
But he went ahead because it’s the only story from Númenor before its downfall.
I’m glad he did as it gives a good indication of life in Númenor, and of royal protocol.
Aldarion was the son of the 5th King of Númenor, and would go on to become king after his father.
His maternal grandfather was Captain of the King’s Ships during the rule of Aldarion’s paternal grandfather.
From a young boy, Aldarion was drawn more to the sea and ships than to royal life…
‘From the first he loved the Sea, and his mind was turned to the craft of ship-building… Aldarion was much loved by… his mother’s father, and he dwelt often in [his grandfather’s] house…”
Already a great explorer before becoming king, his love of the sea is the main cause of strife in the story.
‘The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor’ lists all the Kings and Queens of Númenor, giving snippets of relevant information about their lives and reign.
‘The History of Galadriel and Celeborn’, according to Christopher Tolkien, is the “part of the history of Middle-earth” that is full of problems.
So, for this section, “… there is here no single text but rather an essay incorporating citations.”
He explains “that the role and importance of Galadriel only emerges slowly, [as] her story underwent continual refashionings.”
Included here is what I found to be an informative essay titled ‘Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn’, “a short and hasty outline… which is nonetheless almost the sole narrative source for the events in the West of Middle-earth up to the defeat and expulsion of Sauron from Eriador in… the Second Age.”
In Part Three are stories of the Third Age, including incidents that occurred ‘behind the scenes’ during the events of ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
‘The Disaster of the Gladden Fields’ is one in which, as Christopher Tolkien says, “The editorial hand has here had little to do.”
It tells us exactly what happened when Isildur and his men were waylaid by Orcs and how the Ring betrayed him to his death.
Near the end, the text takes us to the time after Aragorn has been crowned King Elessar.
Part of the re-ordering of the realm included restoring Orthanc during which ‘all the secrets of the tower were searched. Many things of worth were found… more ancient and beautiful, from mounds and tombs far and wide.’
And those present are left questioning the true fate of Isildur’s body.
Next is one of my favourite stories, ‘Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan’.
It begins with the history of the Éothéod and how their leader came to form an alliance with the 30th King of Gondor…
“… the greatest effect of the alliance lay far in the future… the two great rides of the Rohirrim to the salvation of Gondor, the coming of Eorl to the Field of Celebrant, and the horns of King Théoden upon the Pelennor but for which the return of the King would have been in vain.”
A clear example of the weight of history that permeates Tolkien’s lore.
During the time of Cirion, the 12th Steward of Gondor, there is danger, once more, from the North and a new foe from the East.
To help tackle this new threat, he decides to call on the Éothéod and their young lord, Eorl, even though their land is many days journey across dangerous territories, and he doubts if they will arrive in time to aid Gondor.
At the Battle of the Field of Celebrant, ‘All hope was lost when, unlooked for, the Riders came out of the North and broke upon the rear of the enemy. Then the fortunes of battle were reversed, and the enemy was driven with slaughter… Eorl led his men in pursuit, and… great was the fear that went before the horsemen of the North…’
As thanks, Cirion gives as a gift to Eorl and his people the land that would become their new homeland, which they call the Mark, and Gondor calls Rohan.
‘The Quest of Erebor’ is my second favourite story.
In one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters, he writes, “There are… quite a lot of links between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that are not clearly set out… I actually wrote in full an account of what really happened before Gandalf’s visit to Bilbo and the subsequent ‘Unexpected Party’, as seen by Gandalf himself. It was to have come in during a looking-back conversation in Minas Tirith; but it had to go, and is only represented in brief in Appendix A…”
I found it fascinating reading Gandalf’s reasoning for wanting to take out the dragon, Smaug, and how a chance meeting with Thorin Oakenshield set the gears of his mind working to come up with a workable plan.
‘The Hunt for the Ring’ expands the events concerning the search for Gollum and, eventually, the Ring that Gandalf related to Frodo in ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’.
There are also other versions of the story included which I think give a complete picture as they include Saruman’s jealousy of Gandalf.
The last story in this section is ‘The Battles of the Fords of Isen’.
What I enjoyed most about this is it includes the military organisation of the Rohirrim.
An important strategic position, the Fords of Isen were guarded by the Rohirrim as it was the only way for large armies to cross the river Isen.
Saruman needed to gain control of it to conquer Rohan but standing in his way were Théodred and Éomer.
Although, as Christopher Tolkien says, “it presented relatively little difficulty of a textual kind… [it] is only unfinished in the most obvious sense.” Which is a shame.
Part Four comprises an eclectic mix of topics.
First, we have ‘The Drúedain’, the “Wild Men of the Drúadan Forest”, who were around during the First Age, and this chapter tells of their time with the Elves and, mainly, Men of that age.
They are the ancestors of the Púkel-men whose statues line the winding path leading to Dunharrow where the Rohirrim gathered before marching to Pelennor Fields as told in ‘The Return of the King’.
Other direct descendants of the Drúedain who feature in ‘The Return of the King’ are Ghân-buri-Ghân and his Woses (Wild Men of the Wood); they helped the Rohirrim get to Gondor by guiding them along a secret path to avoid being attacked by Orcs.
Once again, a clear example of history that’s grounded, elevating Tolkien’s Middle-earth stories beyond mere fantasy.
The next chapter concerns ‘The Istari’, detailing not only their arrival in Middle-earth, but also their origin and purpose.
Although those in Middle-earth thought they were Men, they were ‘Emissaries… from the… Valar, who… when the shadow of Sauron began first to stir… took this means of resisting him.’
Although the Istari are ‘members of [the Valar’s] own high order’, they were ‘clad in bodies as of Men… subject to the fears and pains and weariness of earth, able to hunger and thirst and be slain… aged only by the cares and labours of many long years.’
Christopher Tolkien notes that ‘Most of the remaining writings about the Istari… are unhappily no more than very rapid jottings, often illegible.’
However, he has included “a brief… sketch of a narrative, telling of a council of the Valar… at which it was resolved to send out three emissaries to Middle-earth…” and that makes for interesting reading as it points to how “each Istar was chosen by each Vala for his innate characteristics…”
The last essay is ‘The Palantíri’, covering their origin and usage.
At the beginning, it’s stated that ‘until the passing of the Kings they were not sinister secrets. Their use involved no peril, and no king or other person authorized to survey them would have hesitated to reveal the source of his knowledge of the deeds or opinions of distant rulers, if obtained through the Stones.’
I think that’s of interest as in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, they are viewed as sinister.
Christopher Tolkien has done a superb job compiling and ordering these stories and texts with accompanying introductions, editorial inclusions, and numbered notes.
Although he admits that his father, “peculiarly critical and exacting of his own work, would not have dreamt of allowing even the more completed narratives in this book to appear without much further refinement”, he believes he’s as justified in publishing these narratives as he did ‘The Silmarillion’.
Quoting one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters in which he wished he hadn’t promised the appendices that would be included in the third volume of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, his father does say:
“It is, I suppose, a tribute to the curious effect that story has, when based on very elaborate and detailed workings of geography, chronology, and language, that so many should clamour for sheer ‘information’, or ‘lore’.”
It is for those who “clamour” thus that Christopher Tolkien compiled and published the ‘Unfinished Tales’.
I, for one, am very grateful that he did.
And if you’ve read this through to the end, I am also grateful to you and honestly hope it was time well spent.