The Fall of Gondolin!

I've just seen the news that The Fall of Gondolin, given the same treatment as the recent Beren and Luthien, will be released in August.

Of all the narratives in The Book of Lost Tales -- Tolkien's earliest version of his lengendarium -- this is my favorite. It even features quasi-mechanical dragons, long before Michael Swanwick. First appearance of Balrogs.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/10/the-fall-of-gondolin-new-jrr-tolki...

Oh yeah, I was so hoping this would eventually see the light of day!

I've not yet read Beren and Luthien, but am very much impressed with Children of Hurin and think of that story as one similar in development, weight, and drama as Gondolin.

Have to read the link and figure out whether Christopher was involved (presumably so), and if so, why this wasn't mentioned at his recent "retirement". What I read left the distinct impression he was done and nothing else was forthcoming from his hand.

Unfortunately Beren and Luthien did not get the 'full reconstruction' treatment that Children of Hurin did, and presumably Gondolin is the same. There was enough Hurin material written in more or less the same era/style that a finished tale could be put together without significant re-writing or additions. Such is not the case with B&L and FoG. Instead these are compilations of the various writings, in different styles and genres and from different eras (by eras I mean here 'Tolkien eras' -- e.g. the teens or the 30s or the 50s), that concern the subject. So, not stitched together like Hurin but laid out as it was left, but with commentary.

In the case of Gondolin the earliest version was more or less completed so once you get used to the Morrisish cod-medieval style you can just sail right thru it and it's very good. Then, I take it, there will be other texts from Tolkien's various attempts to revise or expand the Gondolin/Tuor tale. One of the best of these was included in Unfinished Tales.

Would the early version of "Gondolin" be different from that in Lost Tales?

I'm also excited by this. It will--even if modeled after Beren and Luthien --serve to round off the series of Great Tales from the First Age. I have always wished that Tolkien had "finished" the Gondolin saga in something like the fashion of The Children of Hurin; I agree with Crypto-W that the Book of Lost Tales version is fascinating and full of (unfulfilled, alas!) narrative potential. Sadly, we'll likely never learn more about the relationship between the First Age Glorfindel and Glorfindell of Rivendell, or about how Tuor was allowed to sail West, or about how the Eagles of the Encircling Mountains relate to those of the Misty Mountains. But a standalone volume collecting the various incomplete story threads will be welcome nonetheless, another final (?) tribute to Christopher Tolkien's devotion to the legendarium.

I see now that CoH is not the appropriate benchmark, rather that would be B&L. Still enthusiastic but I see it's to be a very different reading experience than I first anticipated.

I never picked up Book of Lost Tales or Unfinished Tales, so my reference for these tales (whenever it exists) is The Silmarillion or the LotR Appendices. I've long assumed that the latter two sources were specific versions chosen from among many, and that the former two sources were more inclusive of material and versions. Anyone care to comment on that general characterization?

The Book of Lost Tales is the first in the History of Middle-earth series, where each volume basically prints as many versions and variants of the tales of Arda that Christopher had found at the time, and discusses the differences between them. Unfinished Tales is much more homogenous, much more like The Children of Hurin, longer coherent single narratives. Like parts of the Silmarillion, but in expanded form.

>4 AndreasJ:
I doubt it, except perhaps for updated/expanded commentary with extra context.

>6 elenchus:
The 2-volume Book of Lost Tales is more or less an embryonic draft for the Legendarium -- before Hobbit and LotR were even conceived, of course. It's definitely worth reading in its entirety. It's a bit twee in places, the style is a bit overly ornate in places, some of it is just plain not finished, but the good far outweighs the flaws, and it will give you a fundamental understanding of what JRRT was trying to achieve in the following decades.

The Unfinished Tales are finished in style and texture, they just break off at a certain point. Some of the material is unique to that volume and iirc is not duplicated in History of Middle-earth.

>8 Crypto-Willobie: The Unfinished Tales versions were the ones that stuck in my memory. How do the "filled out" versions relate to those?

I also have the impression that there was material in UT that I didn't find in HoME. I don't know enough about how Christopher Tolkien worked - does anyone know why this is?

>9 Guanhumara:

(Disclaimer -- some of this is off the top of my head. and apologies if I'm telling you stuff you already know.)

"How do the "filled out" versions relate to those?"

Not quite sure which filled-out versions you are asking about. The only version I'd consider 'filled-out' would be Children of Hurin which links and maximizes the available material into a coherent narrative. Of course the Hurin material also exists as a compressed chapter in the Silmarillion and in a primitive version in the Book of Lost Tales, as well as in draft material in the History of the Middle Earth.

The recent Beren and Luthien, and apparently the new Fall of Gondolin, are pointedly NOT 'filled-out' -- they present the archival versions more or less as-is, with commentary. By bringing the different versions, previously scattered, together in single volumes they more transparently display their development and facilitate comparison.

The Lost Tales version of the Fall of Gondolin is 'filled-out' only in the sense that it tells more or less the whole story; but the conception, style and narrative are still in a relatively primitive state. Think Geoffrey of Monmouth vs Sir Thomas Malory.

"I also have the impression that there was material in UT that I didn't find in HoME. I don't know enough about how Christopher Tolkien worked - does anyone know why this is?"

As far as I can recall, the material in Unfinished Tales was written or re-written in the 50s, 60s and 70s and so has a mature finish to it but it is of course... Unfinished. Boy do I wish he had continued with the 'Tuor comes to Gondolin' bit so that the whole Fall of Gondolin now existed in that mature, detailed style.

Unfinished Tales overlaps? some of the subject matter overlaps but not the treatment. It's not compressed like the published Silmarillion, and I don't think the material reappears in HoME in the exact form because there was nothing to add -- it's like an extra HoME volume as it stands. Maybe I'm misremembering this a bit.

BTW, Tolkien originally intended 'The Silmarillion' to be a multi-volume work with full treatments of the creation, the travailes of the elves, the major tales, minor stuff, appendices, etc. Because he never got his materials in finished order, Christopher at the time felt he had no choice but to boil it down into one volume, the published Silmarillion. He has apparently said that if he had to do it again he would do it differently. In a sense HoME might be his penance -- its raw draft approach is more or less completely UN-boiled-down. There is a very interesting book called Arda Reconstructed which examines the process, showing what a full Silmarillion might look like. The book is a bit too hard on Christopher personally, but otherwise is well-done.

>10 Crypto-Willobie: Thank you for such an informative reply. I'll look into that book you suggested.

And I love your analogy. The Silmarillion is fascinating but somewhat dry, but in my opinion, The Fall of Gondolin(UT) is an unfinished masterpiece.

>12 Crypto-Willobie:

I'm not sure if I'm more impressed by "Landfill Night Watchman" or "Porcelain Doll Duster".

Today is the 45th anniversary of the death of JRRT, 2 Sept 1973.

Two days ago The Fall of Gondolin was published, and this time Christopher Tolkien says it is 'indubitably' his last Legendarium project. I just got mine from Amazon...

My copy arrived from Amazon on 30 August.

I was quite thrilled when I heard about the release of this book and received my hardcover reading copy and the deluxe slipcased edition. I'm looking forward to one day reading the Fall of Gondolin now that I started over again by reading the Simarillion and moving forward.
Anyone here know or heard who will continue working on J.R.R. Tolkien's material and publish future books since his son Christopher is retiring ?

I believe Christopher's son Adam has helped his dad with some projects, so maybe he will carry on the work, but I don't think anything definite has been said.

Some recent JRRT volumes (On Fairy Stories, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, The Secret Vice) have been edited by non-family members (e.g., Verlyn Flieger). So the Estate has experience with dealing with other scholar-editors, at least for books that don't deal with the Legendarium. In any case, I don't know what other JRRT books there are that await further treatment.