The War of the Jewels

Bought as a gift but it looks to be as described.

A scholarly masterpiece

Good very well received, thank you

really good read

i am a fan and this is a biased review. if you are into tolkien's mythology, this series will come handy to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the history of the middle-earth - from silmarillion to the lord of the rings, and much more. a must have for any hardcore tolkien fan!

This series of books are well worth reading. Get to grips with the full story

A massive 13 volume work of Tolkein's work by his son Christopher. It's heavy reading but nice to dip into it from time to time especially if you have Tolkien's most famous works, you are a fan of Middle Earth and want to know more. Volumes 1 to 5 and 10 to 11 relate to "The Silmarillion", volumes 6 to 9 to "Lord of the Rings", volume 12 is an appendix and volume 13 an index. There is a shorter version of volume 9 "Sauron Defeated" called "End of the third age". They are available in hardcover which make a fine collection but not so easy to find and would cost nearly £300. I got them all as paperbacks for about £60 which is not a bad buy as you get plenty of insight into Tolkien's mind and how thorough his research was when he wrote "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings". There are numerous essays, quotes and different versions of his published works so you can see how involved he was with his creation and the meticulous care he took to fill in every detail.

present for someone but they say brilliant.

Awesome

Come gli altri 12 volumi della serie, ho preso anche questo per collezione e l'ho solo sfogliato per ora. Si tratta della pubblicazione degli appunti di Tolkien da parte del figlio. La monumentale opera dell'autore previde storie parallele, modifiche, tagli, prima di arrivare alla pubblicazione dei più noti Silmarillon, Lo Hobbit e Il Signore degli Anelli nella forma che troviamo nelle librerie. E' affascinante, per chi è appassionato, poter leggere le tracce originali ed anche qualche aneddoto poco noto e relativo alle ere precedenti della Terra di Mezzo. Il commento è lo stesso per gli altri volumi che ho comprato.

A l'instar du volume précédent dans la série HOME "Morgoth's Ring" (les deux ne sont pas encore traduits en français), "The War of the Jewels" est un ouvrage indispensable pour les tolkiendili voulant compléter leur lecture du Silmarillion et la replacer dans son contexte. Le livre donne accès à des textes tels qu'écrits par J.R.R. Tolkien accompagnés et mis en contexte par les notes et les introductions toujours aussi remarquables et complètes de son fils Christopher. On découvre ainsi "The Grey Annals" (pensez à une chronologie comme celles des appendices de "The Lord of the Rings", mais bien plus développée et concernant le Premier Âge) et une version fort intéressante de la "Quenta Silmarillion", mais aussi un texte important sur le Premier Âge permettant d'aller plus loin dans la compréhension des Elfes ("Quendi and Eldar" qui contient maintes indications sur les langues des Quendi) et des tentatives de Tolkien de donner plus d'importance à certains mythes et de les compléter (l'important "The Wanderings of Hurin" et l'intéressant "Maeglin", par exemple). Comme son compagnon le volume précédent, cet ouvrage permet de mieux comprendre l'histoire du "Silmarillion" tardif, de découvrir de nombreux éléments autrement inédits, et d'apprécier les directions (parfois contradictoires, certes) que Tolkien voulait donner à son projet de publication, qui ne put avoir lieu. A noter est l'approche un peu différente des deux textes évoqués plus haut. "Maeglin" par exemple aborde l'histoire de ce personnage d'une manière moins "surplombante" et mythique que les différentes versions du "Silmarillion" ; le texte est court mais fort intéressant à lire et à analyser dans cette optique. Concernant le deuxième texte cité, il s'agit à mes yeux d'une belle entreprise de Tolkien qui, hélas, n'a pas pu être achevée ou reconduite pour d'autres légendes (parfois je suis un peu fâché contre les tableaux généalogiques des Hobbits ou d'autres choses qui ont détourné le Professeur de ce genre de composition !). Il s'agit donc de lectures indispensables pour ceux qui s'intéressent profondément au Professeur : qui veut essayer de recomposer pour lui-même ce que pourrait être "le Silmarillion" ne peut pas passer à côté. Les autres lecteurs, curieux, pourront bien sûr faire leur miel de certains passages ou certains textes. On trouve parfois ne serait-ce que dans les notes de bonnes idées qui n'ont, pour des raisons évidentes, pas pu être incluses dans le "Silmarillion" publié par Christopher Tolkien.

Volume XI of the History of Middle-Earth contains JRR Tolkien's writings of the First Age after the Lord of the Rings was published. Most texts date from the 1950s, but some were written as late as 1970, in the last years of his life. This volume contains the history of Beleriand. Not everyone who has read The Silmarillion will enjoy this work, but if you read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and still hunger for more stories and information about the First Age, this book is a wonderful treat. If you don't care for the commentaries, there are still the stories themselves. Even folks who aren't interested in old versions of Tolkien's Middle-Earth writings, as published in the earlier History of Middle-Earth volumes, may enjoy this book, which like the Unfinished Tales mostly contains texts contemporary with or written after the texts that made it into the Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Unlike most other volumes of the History of Middle-Earth, much of Volume XI is *NEW* material that is published nowhere else. It also includes some of the actual texts that Christopher Tolkien used to construct the standard version of The Silmarillion. "The Wanderings of Húrin" can be considered the greatest gem of Volume XI, continuing the tragic tale of the Children of Húrin in the tradition of the Narn i Chîn Húrin, and further developing Húrin's character. It is a completely new narrative, describing in almost novelistic prose the story of Húrin after he was released from Angband: his travel to Hithlum, and the disastrous fallout of his visit to Brethil. This is a nearly complete story, similar to the narratives in Unfinished Tales. "Quendi and Eldar" is a long linguistic work, a completed text focusing on the names for the Elves and their Clans, and the other Speaking Peoples, and many other words, in different Elvish languages. Besides the linguistic material, it also discusses the various Elven clans, as well as telepathy, sign language, the Great March, some information about the Avari and the Petty-Dwarves, and other subjects. Included is Pengolodh's description of the Valar's unique language, plus a detailed account of the Elves' awakening at Cuiviénen. This section will be essential to any student of the Elvish languages, but is quite valuable for non-linguists as well. "The Grey Annals" and "The Tale of Years" are separate (incomplete) texts from the Quenta Silmarillion, containing different accounts of the history of Beleriand and the stories of the Noldor and Edain. More importantly, the Annals and Tale of Years together give the dates when the events of Beleriand's history happened. The Tale of Years also tells for the first time the *real* story of the Nauglamír and the Ruin of Doriath. Silmarillion readers will be surprised! "Of Maeglin" traces the development of that chapter in the Silmarillion, and includes several notes and additional writings that shed much new light on the story and character of Maeglin. This material was mostly written in 1970-1. "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" is mostly a rough draft in the vein of earlier History of Middle-Earth volumes, but there is also new information about the Edain and Dwarves, including extensive family trees of the Three Houses of the Elf-Friends. "Ælfwine and Dírhavel" is the prologue to the Narn i Chîn Húrin, which is not in the Unfinished Tales. "Ents and Eagles" contains some notes on chapter 2 of The Silmarillion.