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The Children of Hurin

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Anyone looking forward to this? For anyone who doesn't know what it is, it's a new novel by J.R.R. Tolkien that he never finished, but has been completed by his son Christopher. Due in April. Not sure how I feel about this. I don't take JRRT as seriously as some folks do, but I sure hope it doesn't suck.
Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
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I definitely want to read it that is for sure. Because it is another chance to get more of Middle Earth.


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I am very much looking forward to it, this is not just another volume of "The History of Middle-Earth". I have hopes this book will surpass the Silmarillion, which can be a pretty daunting read, and rank among The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Also unlike the Silmarillion (which had parts written by Christopher Tolkien) the text of Children of Hurin is completely J.R.R. Tolkien's words. At least this is what I understand.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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It'll porbaby be like the Game of Death.

Some parts will obviously be the real Tolkein, the rest will seem like it's written by a 3rd grader.

Hobbits have tiny units.

Harrison Ford Has Pretty Much Given Up on His Son. Here's Why

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Christopher Tolkien takes a very serious approach to his father's work. I'll trust it to represent what his father wanted. I don't know much about this specific story though.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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As I understand it, the story takes place in the first age, when Morgoth was still around and Sauron was just a lieutenant.
Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
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it is the story of Turin the dragon slayer. and his sister Nienor. who are the son and daughter of Hurin the steadfast. so the book is called "the Children of hurin". it is one of the two great tales of the silmarillion the other being the tale of beren and luthien.

hopefully if this book is sucessfull chistopher will publish the longer version of beren and luthien, that was never finished. neither was this tale there are many versions and alternates of passages so this book will certainly be working out a complete text from them just like he did with the silmarillion.

I would like to read the original manuscripts, what tolkien actually wrote, readers of the history of middle earth only get a small amount of this. the only thing published in it's complete form are the book of lost tales, and the lays of belerriand as well as the early sketch of the mythology and the annals.

the most interesting volumes to me are morgoth's ring, and the war of the jewels. being the final version of the silmarillion tolkien worked on until his death, albeit in very compressed form with lots of notes.

then there is that other book coming out about the history of the hobbit, in 2 volumes not written or edited by christopher tolkien but sanctioned by the tolkien estate.

the one book they blocked from being published that i very much wanted to read was Tolkien's translations of the epic old english poem beowulf in prose and verse edited with tolkien's original notes by michael d.c. drout professor of wheaton college massachusetts.

by the the way there is an illustrated hardback edition by alan lee coming out, and i think he does the cover art as well.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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As C.S. Lewis once wrote about J.R.R. Tolkien, "He is a very great man. His published works (both imaginative & scholarly) ought to fill a shelf by now: but he's one of those people who is never satisfied with a manuscript. The mere suggestion of publication provokes the reply 'Yes. I'll just look through it and give it a few finishing touches' - which means that he really begins the whole thing over again." (The Letters of C.S. Lewis. New York:Harcourt Brace. 1993)

Tolkien has a fantastic number of works, it really is ashamed more of them didn't make it to the publisher in his life time. What Lewis wrote about his friend really is true, the man has so many drafts, the stuff that is publised is nowhere near all of it. It is very unfortunate that most of it is in fairly useless condition for the casual reader, as many people who unknowingly picked up a copy of anything from The Book of Lost Tales through The Peoples of Middle Earth might tell you. He has few works that were truely completed and those that were are true gems.

Skyjedi, why exactly did they block Tolkien's Beowulf from being published? That is really ashame.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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i think bewoulf was blocked because the tolkien estate itself wants to publish it themselves somewhere down the line, or it could simply be a copyright, rights issue with the university of oxford. since michael drout was not to specific in his blog and would not tell me the reason via e-mail because he was affraid of the tolkien estate, and there lawyers manches and co from bretahing down his neck.

it's really a shame because the book beowulf and the critics only wets your appetite further.

i still wonder why all mr tolkien's academic journals and pieces still have yet to be reprinted, yeah they are specialized knowledge for philogists but should be made to the general public rather than existing only as collector's items. I've been lobbying the original publisher for instance and the tolkien estate to republish the old english exodus as it's a book so scarce my library cannot get a copy.

two or three articles by J.R.R. Tolkien have been released by Oxford university as electronic journals, but unless you belong to a specific university that subscribes to it, or pay money for private use downloads you'll never be able to read them.

Fortunetely i know of a tolkien book collector who was able to make photo copies of sigelwara land parts 1&2 from the journal of medieval studies Medium Aevum. too bad the legibility of some of the article is lost in the black and white photo copy. If i had the money i would go to the university of wisconsin where the majority of his manuscripts are stored, they only allow limited access however and note taking, and will only supply photocopies if you have the prior written consent of the tolkien estate, and you might even have to sign a release waiver claiming you will not share the material or publish it in any form.

I would like to see fascimile editions of the first edition's of the lord of the rings and especially the hobbit before the revisions or alterations were made to the text.

i'm suprised there is no fan preservation project by electronic scanning and pdf, but they are probably affraid of the wrath of the tolkien estate.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I have always wondered why the Tolkien Estate is so tight with everything. It really is ashame. I know they have been burnt in the past with copyright stuff and been taken advantage of. But now adays they would be pretty well protected. If J.R.R. Tolkien himself were still alive I doubt he would be so strict with everything. I would gladly pay for a lot of this stuff. Sometimes it feels like the Tolkien Estate is a bit too RIAAish about Tolkien's work and things related to it. I certainly do hope his Beowulf translation gets released sometime in the future. I am glade little things like Roverandom and Mr. Bliss make their way to the publisher every so many years. I hope there will be more minor works of his like this to appear briefly on our bookstore shelves in the future.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Originally posted by: skyjedi2005
it is the story of Turin the dragon slayer. and his sister Nienor. who are the son and daughter of Hurin the steadfast. so the book is called "the Children of hurin". it is one of the two great tales of the silmarillion the other being the tale of beren and luthien.

hopefully if this book is sucessfull chistopher will publish the longer version of beren and luthien, that was never finished. neither was this tale there are many versions and alternates of passages so this book will certainly be working out a complete text from them just like he did with the silmarillion.

I would like to read the original manuscripts, what tolkien actually wrote, readers of the history of middle earth only get a small amount of this. the only thing published in it's complete form are the book of lost tales, and the lays of belerriand as well as the early sketch of the mythology and the annals.

the most interesting volumes to me are morgoth's ring, and the war of the jewels. being the final version of the silmarillion tolkien worked on until his death, albeit in very compressed form with lots of notes.

then there is that other book coming out about the history of the hobbit, in 2 volumes not written or edited by christopher tolkien but sanctioned by the tolkien estate.

the one book they blocked from being published that i very much wanted to read was Tolkien's translations of the epic old english poem beowulf in prose and verse edited with tolkien's original notes by michael d.c. drout professor of wheaton college massachusetts.

by the the way there is an illustrated hardback edition by alan lee coming out, and i think he does the cover art as well.


I think I will pick up the illustrated edition to go with my Lord of the Rings boxset illustrated by Allen Lee.


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Since this whole Children of Hurin thing I have had renewed interest in Tolkien. I stumbled across this site: http://www.simontolkien.com/jrrtolkien.html

It is the personal website of Simon Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien's grandchild, Christopher Tolkien's eldest son. Simon is a lawyer and as of 2003 a published writer. The particular page I have given a link to is an article he wrote about his relationship with his grandfather. It is a very interesting article and an enjoyable read. There is one sort of off handed comment that he kind of just throws in there, saying that when his father choose new board members for the Tolkien Estate he was not among them. I don't know, the way it was written it seems like he saw this as a bit of a put down. He is from Christopher's first marriage, which ended badly, I get the impression he doesn't have much of a relationship with his father. He is the only of Christopher's children to have known Tolkien, and from the article it seems he and J.R.R. had a pretty strong relationship. I don't know the guy or anything about him other than the brief bits posted, but I feel sorry he is not one of the board members of the estate. From what I have read about Tolkien I am not sure he would like things the way they are now. Of course all I can do is speculate, which is quite meaningless.

You know, I bet having a last name like "Tolkien" is no small advantage in the publishing world. Being a true descendant of J.R.R., I bet all he had to do was mail in a few manuscript and wait for the phone calls and find out what publisher was willing to pay the most. Not much a fan of court room/crime novels, but I may have to keep my eyes open for this one, perhaps only for a curiosity piece.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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simon's mom faith is the one who sculpted and made the bust of j.r.r. tolkien that resides at Oxford university.

His writings are not in a genre i'm really into, to bad he could'nt write fantasy fiction.

Christopher Tolkien was his father's son being both an english professor at oxford university, and an amateur philologist. as well as having the keenest understanding of middle earth out of anyone alive.

Michael Tolkien was a writer as well too bad he died so abrubtly.

John Tolkien is a priest in the catholic church of rome.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.