They're much, much earlier drafts of the Silmarillion.
Tom Send a noteboard - 20/12/2011 06:10:06 PM
The Unfinished Tales is a book of material that didn't make sense to put into the Silmarillion. The latter book is essentially a long history of Middle Earth, whereas the first book (reviewed here) is not quite completed stories that could have stood on their own had they been completed, much like The Hobbit.
The Lost Tales are essentially the first draft of the Silmarillion - you can tell that a lot of Tolkien's ideas are in a nascent stage because the first chapter even has something about elves being tiny, if I remember. It's the first form of the stories of the trees and the jewels, and Melko(r) and Ungoliant, and the departure from the Undying Lands, and the kinslaying at Aquilonde, and the elves in Middle Earth fighting the evil of Melko(r)/Morgoth.
EDIT: I checked my Unfinished Tales and see that some of the pieces were informational essays that more closely resemble the appendices to The Return of the King.
The Lost Tales are essentially the first draft of the Silmarillion - you can tell that a lot of Tolkien's ideas are in a nascent stage because the first chapter even has something about elves being tiny, if I remember. It's the first form of the stories of the trees and the jewels, and Melko(r) and Ungoliant, and the departure from the Undying Lands, and the kinslaying at Aquilonde, and the elves in Middle Earth fighting the evil of Melko(r)/Morgoth.
EDIT: I checked my Unfinished Tales and see that some of the pieces were informational essays that more closely resemble the appendices to The Return of the King.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
This message last edited by Tom on 20/12/2011 at 06:14:11 PM
Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien
- 20/12/2011 03:26:29 PM
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Where do volumes 1 and 2 of the Lost Tales fit into this?
- 20/12/2011 04:40:13 PM
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They're much, much earlier drafts of the Silmarillion.
- 20/12/2011 06:10:06 PM
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As Tom says
- 20/12/2011 11:24:49 PM
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Should the Simarillion be read prior to Unfinished Tales?
- 20/12/2011 11:55:13 PM
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Yes. The Silmarillion provides context and grounding for much of the content from Unfinished Tales
- 21/12/2011 04:36:35 PM
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