Oaths hold an astonishing power in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Here, TORn Discord member Narrative Epicure explores how Sauron and Elrond’s understanding of this fact drives each to behave very differently toward others.
~ Staffer Demosthenes
Concerning Oaths in Middle-earth
by TORn Discord member Narrative Epicure
In December 3018 of the Third Age, everybody’s lucky number was nine. After an involuntary white-water rafting trip down the Bruinen, Sauron’s Nazgûl returned to Mordor. These servants, so long bound to him by works he wrought in ages past, gathered once more in the dark shadow of Barad-dûr. In the Elven realm of Rivendell, Lord Elrond prepared a Fellowship whose journey would determine the fate of Middle-earth.
“The Company of the Ring shall be Nine;”1 he declared, “and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil.”2
Contrasts between the Ringwraiths and the Fellowship are legion, but in their preparations, one particular distinction reveals the nature of the hands that send them: while Sauron insists on sending servants bound to him by rings of power, Elrond demands nothing of anyone but Frodo (to not cast away the ring or deliver it to an Enemy). To the fellowship, he says, “no oath or bond is laid upon you.”3
As they depart on their journey south, he demands no promise from the nine he sent.
This difference between Elrond and Sauron is illustrative of each lord’s perspective on oaths and—to a larger degree—of the way each lord interacts with and treats the people of Middle-earth.
Concerning Oaths
Oaths and promises are fascinating subjects that could fill volumes on their own. On a surface level, an oath is a set of words promising some conduct or restraint. Yet, the way we treat an oath transforms it from a set of words to a power. In our own world, this power is usually subtle, intangible, and typically confined to the effects on psyche, trust, or the occasional legal ramification. In large part, oaths have over us what power we give them. In Middle-earth, this intangible power becomes tangible. Tolkien writes of oaths not only as if they have power, but as if they behave.
Oaths are living things that bless those who honor them, and occasionally impose consequences on oathbreakers. Tolkien describes the Oath of Fëanor (an oath that drives much of the action and conflict of the First Age) as “ever at work,”4 and on other occasions he says it has “slept now for a time.”5
In The Lord of the Rings, we see the terrible result of going back on your word when the Men of Dunharrow break oaths to fight Sauron and Isildur curses them to “rest never until [their] oath is fulfilled.”6
Tolkien’s writing ascribes another unique trait to oaths: they bind people to each other. Tolkien’s Legendarium offers many examples of this: the Oath of Eorl bound Rohan and Gondor together, the Oath of Finrod bound him to aid the kin of Barahir (at the cost of his life), and the sons of Fëanor were “bound by the oath”7 they swore.
But the people of Middle-earth can be bound even without oaths. When Melkor darkened the two Trees of Valinor, the Valar determined that the light of the Silmarils could restore the trees if Fëanor allowed their use. Fëanor refused. The Silmarillion describes him as “fast bound” to the Silmarils. Long before his oath, the love of his crafts bound him.
It was this binding power that Sauron would seek to replicate. In the Second Age, he bent the power of oaths back on itself, twisting it into the shape of rings, “for his desire was to set a bond upon the Elves.”8
Bound by Oaths
In Season 1 of the Rings of Power, young Elrond describes his outlook on oaths. “To some, [oaths] may now hold little weight, but in my esteem, it is by such things our very souls are bound.”9
He sees oaths as Tolkien wrote of them, and he uses them to build a web of collective strength. Elrond gives oaths. He enters them freely as a show of loyalty to those he cares about. Some may argue he enters them too freely.
Yet, despite the impetuous manner in which he binds himself to others, he’s hesitant to let others make oaths to him. When the Fellowship departs, and he asks no oath or bond, he explains some of his reasoning (paraphrased to just dialogue):
Gimli: “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” Elrond: “Maybe, but let him not vow to walk in the dark who has not seen the nightfall.” Gimli: “Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart.” Elrond: “Or break it.”10
He’s cautious to hold others to promises made without all facts. We see this again in the mines when he stops Durin from sharing his true name—an act that, while not an overt oath, would have bound the two together. And while he freely binds himself, he’s cautious with whom he makes such promises. Note that in Season 2, when Galadriel asks, he immediately refuses to swear any promise “whose asking is born of that ring.”11
But seconds later, he swears exactly what she wishes, only this time to her. He will not suffer himself to be bound to or by her ring, but holds no qualms for his friend. And despite his fears that she is bound to Sauron through that ring, he demands no similar oath from her lips.
At his core, Elrond believes oaths are about people. He cares much more about binding himself to others than binding them to him. He cares deeply about them. When he stumbled into Durin’s Mithril mine in Season 1, he wasn’t looking for mithril itself like Durin suspected. He was looking for his friend. He worried about Durin’s secrets and went there to maintain trust between them.
After swearing an oath to Durin, he’s given a nugget of mithril, which he immediately offers to return. His king sought that ore, but to Elrond, this was always about his friend. Incidentally, this outlook works to his favor. Durin never would have given him the mithril if it were why he came lurking.
Bound in Darkness
If Elrond is the give, Sauron is the take. Elrond builds strength, Sauron builds power. To the dark lord, the purpose of oaths is to ensure those beneath him remain subservient. We see this in the very terminology he uses. He almost always eschews the word “oaths” in favor of “binding.” He doesn’t want to forge webs like Elrond; he wants to forge chains.
Sauron is cautious about oaths he swears. When faced with no alternative, he tries to manipulate them in his favor. “I swear to serve the lord of Mordor”12 is the juicy example that springs to mind. He’s there to bind others to him, not the other way around. Oaths don’t show loyalty or closeness, they keep others in line.
In the finale of Season 1, he asks Galadriel to bind herself to him. What he wants from Galadriel is a promise—an oath—so he can make her a queen, fair as the sea and the sun, stronger than the foundations of the earth. But notice again his subtlety. He offers her effectively nothing. “You bind me to light, and I bind you to power.”13
In exchange for her legitimizing his “healing” of Middle-earth, he binds her to power. But in Sauron’s estimation, he is that power. He binds her to him, and in exchange, she validates his rule. But as Gandalf famously warned Saruman, “he does not share power.”14
He’s promised her only chains.
Since he cannot elicit true loyalty, Sauron must demand it. He can deceive and win hearts, but he cannot keep them. It is this inability to earn true loyalty that—in part—drives Sauron’s need for the rings. Elrond cares for people while Sauron seeks only what he can use from them.
Each ring of power is a literal manifestation of that search for utility. If the people of Middle-earth will not swear to him, he will find some other way to bind them to him.
Frodo observed that “the Shadow . . . can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own.”15
Unable to make bonds and elicit oaths, Sauron mocks, imitating the power of an oath’s bond with his rings. That involuntary bond shreds trust, but he doesn’t need trust when he has control. Dominate some creatures, bind others, make empty promises, and—when your army is threatening enough—maybe some people will swear with less coercion and deception.
And so, nine walkers set out from Rivendell, each a hero, while nine riders set out from Mordor, each a thrall. Sauron told us his plan from a prison cell in Númenor: “identify what it is that [a person] most fears . . . [and] give them a means of mastering it so you can master them.”16
Elrond’s line of thinking would likely be more along the lines of “identify what it is that a person most fears, and swear to protect them from it.”
With that contrast laid out, it’s clear in which fellowship you’d find better company.
About the author:Narrative Epicure is an aspiring loremaster and practicing attorney longing to read or write things that aren’t legal. When he’s not buried in Tolkien’s Legendarium, he enjoys books, board games, and other activities with his Fellowship, which includes his wife and three daughters.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
I learned something important from my daughter’s first-grade teacher that has stayed with me: “Don’t yuk someone else’s yum.” Our moms might have said it differently: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” It’s simple, but there’s wisdom in it that the online, and particularly social media, world of fandom could use. Just because you don’t love something doesn’t mean someone else can’t find joy in it. Even worse, your ‘yuk’ hot take may stifle content creators’ ability to bring out content you might end up loving.
(Let’s address the elephant in the room: Yes, I know this is my hot take—but hey, mine’s aimed at you, the fan, not the content creators.)
After what seems like a lifetime at TheOneRing.net (Has it really been 25 years?!), I’ve seen every possible reaction to new Tolkien content. From diehard fans reveling in every second of a new adaptation to those who can’t wait to point out what went “wrong.” It’s predictable and, frankly, exhausting. Every time something new comes out, it’s like clockwork: a flurry of love, a tidal wave of hate, and everyone shouting into the social void.
The truth is, not every story needs to be made for you, and that’s okay. I promise. 🤗
Critique? Sure, it has its place. But what’s happened is we’ve confused having an opinion with needing to broadcast it. Tolkien’s world is vast. It can hold different visions and interpretations from both filmmakers and fans. We don’t need to take sides in an imaginary battle over what’s “right.”
But why even bring this up? Because the casual social user, or even the casual internet participant, sees that ‘yuk’ always rises to the top. Algorithms are designed to push controversy and conflict into our feeds, knowing that our human condition tends to lean toward drama over harmony. Negative opinions and arguments get engagement, and platforms thrive on that. But here’s the problem: content creators use those negative metrics to gauge the success or failure of their work. And often, they make decisions—like canceling a show—based on the loudest, angriest voices, even when there’s a quiet following that genuinely enjoys it. Yes, these entities might be large corporations with teams of data scientists, but don’t assume that they are fully exploring the data to avoid simplistic conclusions.
Don’t yuk someone else’s yum – Annonymous
And there’s another side to this. Fans who do love something often hesitate to share their enthusiasm. Why? Because they don’t want to deal with the trolls. The loudest voices—the bullies of fandom—are quick to tear down anything that doesn’t meet their personal standards. And just like in politics, where the conversation is dominated by those with the loudest, harshest opinions, fandom is too often steered by negativity. The result? Studios and creators miss out on hearing from those who love the content, because those voices are drowned out.
Take the trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew as an example. When it dropped, my fellow over-40 male demographic flooded my feed with waves of negativity. But here’s the thing: I’m secretly loving the idea of mixing Star Wars with The Goonies and Stranger Things. I want creators to take those kinds of risks with our beloved franchises. And if it turns out to be something I don’t enjoy, I’ll just quietly move on; no need to let folks know I wasn’t into it.
The beauty of all fictional universes and our beloved Middle-earth is that they can mean different things to different people. If someone’s finding joy in a version of the story that isn’t your cup of tea, do you really need to jump in and let them know? Let them have their moment. There’s a quiet strength in stepping back and allowing others to enjoy what they enjoy.
At the end of the day, fandom is supposed to bring people together, not force everyone into corners based on whether they loved or hated the latest installment. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to weigh in on every adaptation. If you’re not feeling it, maybe scroll past, or better yet, log off and reread The Silmarillion. The stories aren’t going anywhere. There will always be space for your favorites and your least favorites in Tolkien’s world.
The next time you’re tempted to post your hot take, think back to my daughter’s first-grade lesson. It’s okay to stay quiet and let someone else have their yum.
In fact, it might be the best thing you can do—not just for them, but for the creators who need to hear the whole story, and for fandoms to enjoy a new risk here and there.
So, remember: Too much yuk, and the content you love might never get made.
The views expressed in this article are those of just me, but maybe a few other TORn staffers agree. 🤷🏻♂️
P.S. If you’ve got thoughtful critiques or just want to discuss all things Tolkien in a more welcoming, troll-free zone, there are safer places for that. Check out TheOneRing.net’s Discord or message boards, where you can share your thoughts without drowning in negativity. Let’s keep the conversation lively, but respectful—Middle-earth deserves nothing less. Feel free to email me as well
P.P.S.Hey Amazon – I couldn’t end this article without sharing some of my yum. I am LOVING Season 2 of ‘Rings of Power!’ Don’t let anyone yuk my yum! 😋
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Last week Rings of Power returned to our tv screens, when the first three episodes were released on Thursday 29th of August. Once again it has attracted its share of responses from those who love the show and those who don’t. Perhaps the most surprising result of ROP’s return has been the reaction to one, quick, scene showing an Orc holding a baby.
While Tolkien never fully resolved the origin of the Orcs, owing to his own theological beliefs that nothing is entirely evil, he did provide ideas on their origins. Their creation story changes from Orcs being created from stone, and being soulless, to them being corrupted elves or men, containing souls. However, in every iteration he always speaks of them being “bred”.
The very first idea of the Orcs, as mentioned in The Book of Lost Tales, had them created by Melko,
“all that race were bred by Melko of the subterranean heats and slime.”
This text also speaks of members of the Noldoli (Noldor elves) being twisted by Melko and combined with the Orcs, until they believed themselves to be one kindred.
This idea was later expanded upon in Morgoth’s Ring, with the Orcs being corrupted Eldar, captured by Melkor after their first awakening. These Eldar were taken to Utumno and
“broken… and by slow arts of cruelty and wickedness were corrupted and enslaved. Thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orkor in envy and mockery of the Eldar”.
Similarly, Morgoth’s Ring also discusses the creation of the larger Uruk-hai, stating that the Men who were under Morgoths rule would be made to mate with Orcs to produce the larger more cunning Uruks. It also states that this was rediscovered by Saruman who inter-bred Orcs and Men, to create Men-orcs, who were large and cunning, and Orc-men, who were treacherous and vile. Which is quite different to how their creation was depicted in the Peter Jackson films.
It is quite horrifying to us to envisage such inter-breeding, but Tolkien did, repeatedly. The showing of an Orc baby is merely acknowledging Tolkien’s own words that Orcs breed, they mate and produce young.
There have been arguments online that this is trying to make us more sympathetic towards the Orcs, as the existence of Orc babies implies that Orcs have gentle feelings. Why? Because they breed? There are humans who have children who don’t have any gentle or “maternal” feelings towards them. Yet they raise these children, not well, but they do raise them. While not all children raised by parents like this will go on to emulate their parents behaviour, sadly, many of them will, which leads to this learned parenting behaviour becoming the norm. When the brutish nature of Orcs is considered, it is quite likely that their children are raised in a similar manner. Provide food, shelter, and clothing, and not much else. Those that survive would go on to continue their brutish and vile natures, which increases with each successive generation, until we arrive at the Orcs of the Third Age in Lord of the Rings.
The fact that Orcs produce young in no way implies that the Orcs are not horrific. None of their acts of atrocity are played down. All that it shows is this is how more Orcs are created, they breed. They don’t just spring fully formed out of a sac in the ground.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Publisher HarperCollins is set to release a new Tolkien book, The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, this September. The three-volume book will gather together much of J.R.R. Tolkien’s published verse, as well as somewhere in the vicinity of 77 (see below for the editors’ explanation about the inherent difficulties of being precise) previously unreleased poems from his archives.
Editors Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond note that it’s a Collected Poems work, not a Complete Poems work, due to “economies of production”. However, the book will still include “most of the verses Tolkien is known to have written, and for most of these, multiple versions which show their evolution.”
There are at least 240 discrete poems, depending on how one distinguishes titles and versions, presented in 195 entries and five appendices.
When possible, we have used manuscripts and typescripts in the Bodleian Library, at Marquette University, and at the University of Leeds.
We have chosen not to include all of the one hundred or so poems contained in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but have made a representative selection – surely, no one who reads the Collected Poems will not already have at least one copy of Tolkien’s two most popular works.
They further explain that “discrete poems” depends on one’s definition.
Some of the poems morph in their evolution so much that one could either count a work as a single entity in a variety of forms, or as a variety of separate poems that are closely related. Hence our vagueness about the number: we didn’t want to overhype it.
There’s a similar issue with counting which poems have been published and which haven’t. The best we can say is that among the poems we include, 77 have not been published before in any form, or only a few lines from them have appeared, e.g. in Carpenter’s biography.
The HarperCollins press release notes that poetry was the first way in which Tolkien expressed himself creatively and through it the seeds of his literary ambition would be sown. The character Eärendil emerged from one of his earliest poems The Voyage of Éarendel the Evening Star in 1914. And from Eärendil we have world of The Silmarillion, and subsequently The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, each which is enriched with many poems.
Charged, at first, by Christopher Tolkien to review only his early poems, Hammond and Scull soon saw the benefits of examining his entire poetic opus across six decades and showing its evolution with comments in the manner of Christopher’s magisterial History of Middle-earth series.
Collected Poems will provide the stories behind, and analysis of, each poem, as well as revealing the extraordinary amount of work that Tolkien invested in them.
Not long before his death, Hammond and Scull were able to send Christopher Tolkien a portion of the book, which he praised as “remarkable and immensely desirable”.
They state that the 1,500-plus-page book (the numbers listed on Amazon’s description are apparently outdated and not correct) will also include “a long introduction to Tolkien as a poet, a brief chronology of his poetry, and a glossary of archaic, unusual, or unfamiliar words he used in his verse.”
According to Hammond and Scull, there are currently no plans for a deluxe edition; the aim is for an elegant trade release (hardcover). As yet there is no announcement of a U.S. edition. It looks as though like Amazon will carry a (Kindle) e-book as well.
The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien will be released on September 12.
First published in 1981 and now expanded with more than 150 new letters, excerpts and additional notes, this new edition of the oft-cited book, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, gives fans and scholars a deeper insight into the man behind The Lord of the Rings.
Get the new updated edition at your favourite bookstore or online (Amazon).
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, first edited by Humphrey Carpenter with assistance from Christopher Tolkien, is the definitive source of Tolkien’s personal writings. If you have ever seen a quotation cited from “Letter 131” it’s a reference to the numbering of this book. Some call it a biblical bibliography of Tolkien. In this new edition the numbering remains the same, with additional content added in context via a “203a… 203b…” system. Several letters have expanded, with the 8+ page Letter 131 now 40% longer from its originally edited form.
We learned on the podcast this week how these letters continue to be discovered, with some fetching over $100,000 at auction in recent years. Tolkien was prolific in his communications to fans and family over his lifetime. In one series of letters, he talks about the wonderful quality of storyboards presented in a film pitch meeting – drawings by Ron Cobb who went on to design Star Wars, Alien and Back to the Future.
The following is extracted from a much longer (and more collector-focused) review at TolkienGuide.com which also includes a PDF tracking all the changes big and small in this new 2023 edition.
This edition will give fans of J.R.R. Tolkien a greater understanding of his family life, his work, and his secondary world.
We see the first change come in the June 1925 letterto the “Electors of the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, University of Oxford” but it is not until January 1934 in a letter to his son John, at that time a 16-year-old pupil of the Oratory School in Berkshire, that we see the first new letter.
We notice very quickly that early letters are sadly not found here and Humphrey Carpenter in his introduction to the original edition says that “among the omissions is the very large body of letters he wrote between 1913 and 1918 to Edith Bratt, who was his fiancee and then his wife; these are highly personal in character, and from them I have chosen only a few passages which refer to writings in which Tolkien was engaged at the time” so omitting those early, private letters shouldn’t be too surprising, and that attitude still holds.
This new edition allows us to see the editorship of Humphrey Carpenter, with Christopher Tolkien’s assistance, in a brand-new light. Originally,the book was far more general, and generous with the inclusion of many excerpts which show J.R.R. Tolkien’s love and concern toward his sons who were either engaged in battle or training to be during WW2. With enlightening passages to Christopher Tolkien, we witness J.R.R. Tolkien talking openly about the horrors of war, and the impact on those involved. The published edition was cut down, as said already, but only with this new edition do we see how Humphrey Carpenter did not simply reduce it for size, but also for thematic purposes. If the original edition is a letters volume which focuses mostly on J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagined writing, this new edition gives us the filling, it shows us the backdrop to it all and offers more on J.R.R. Tolkien’s routines around his working and home life. We see J.R.R. Tolkien exchanging with his sons now at school and what comes across is more of the concerned father, it exemplifies (if one needed any such confirmation) the relationship he shared with his boys and the concern for their education, life choices, financial matters, and love. With open and honest assessments of the relationships his sons were beginning to experience, J.R.R. Tolkien’s role as a father is brought into sharper focus.
The more astute reader among us will read some newly published excerpts and know that they have read portions or all of the quotes previously in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, and this is true, not every new passage found here is truly new, but they are reunited with topically connected letters and offer us yet more glimpses into J.R.R. Tolkien’s life. There are of course still treasures to be found among the details found in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, and readers should use the two books side-by-side to explore further.
We learn more of the work that J.R.R. Tolkien put into The Hobbit through his letters to his publisher and being able to read what J.R.R. Tolkien was sending to George Allen & Unwin. But we also see some stories about his family life, and how his children were very much his children. For example, you will learnthat Priscilla Tolkien could “take any amount of dragon, and a reasonable dose of goblin; but we recently had to change all the handles on the chest-of-drawers in her room, because the former handles ‘grinned at her’, even in the dark.”
In November 1937 we get the first bulky new letter – sent to his friend E. V. Gordon. We learn more about Gordon’s Pearl and Tolkien’s role in the creation of this book, which would not be published until long after E.V. Gordon’s untimely death.
The revisions and additions in this new edition gives a greater insight into J.R.R. Tolkien’s life and allows us to find out more about the mind and thinking of the Professor. These letters are of great use to general readers and J.R.R. Tolkien researchers when looking for answers in J.R.R. Tolkien’s works.
During the late 1930s and through the war years of the early to mid 1940s, Tolkien wrote to his sons a lot, and this volume has a healthy group of excerpts, mostly to Christopher Tolkien and we witness the closeness of the two. That Christopher Tolkien became his father’s literary executor is no accident. These letters demonstrate further how essential Christopher Tolkien was to his father’s creative endeavors.
Our first glimpse of 1951 is where the new edition really pays off. J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous letter #131 to Milton Waldman (of Collins)has always been a favorite among readers, but now, we see just how potent this letter is. The original was always known to be longer, and the portion which dealt with The Lord of the Rings was wisely not included. Now the two pieces are reunited, as we now know was Humphrey Carpenter’s original intent. But there is more! A portion which we do not believe to have been known is included at the conclusion and it is J.R.R. Tolkien’s “proposed for publication” list which is a wonderful gift to those interested in how Tolkien saw his writing, and what he believed was important for publication.
After that we learn more on proofs of The Lord of the Rings, the artwork for it and the pressures of Tolkien’s life at that time. Still a busy academic, he now faced increased demands from those interested in adapting his work and the new selections provided highlight that fact further.
For the next decade of his life, J.R.R. Tolkien would spend his time on revisions, dealing with piracy and how he will enlist fans’ help in informing people of its harm to his financial welfare, adaptations, translated editions of his work, academia, and all manner of other responsibilities which would keep him from completing his epic work on The Silmarillion.We can understand through these letters more than ever just how much J.R.R. Tolkien had on his plate. But also we can deduce that J.R.R. Tolkien would flit from one project to another. He would decide that Sir Gawain must be dealt with, only for him to delay it to complete the Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien was nothing if not an expert excuse maker and those who love his excuses need not worry, there are plenty of new additions here to keep fans happy.
From Letter 131, which is 40 per cent longer in the new edition. Previously edited for space.
And this carries us through the book to its end. It gives us new details on a myriad of subjects. We learn more about J.R.R. Tolkien’s professional relationships and his family, his losses, and his achievements which make him a house-hold name. This edition shows more keenly the shifting of time and with it we see both his and Edith Tolkien’s health decline far more closely than in the original edition.
The Index at the back of the book, compiled and revised for this edition by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, is comprehensive and does allow for easy retrieval of a letter based on subject.
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded edition is a welcome addition to Tolkien studies, for both readers and researchers and it is to Humphrey Carpenter’s credit that this volume can stand on its own as a monumental work, but it also makes the original a more impressive read because we can now see how the editor shaped and crafted it into an absorbing work.
A volume like this can be a curse and a wonderful gift all at the same time, and it delivers both in equal measure, especially for those who hold J.R.R. Tolkien, Edith Tolkien, and their family in their hearts. We meet these people again through this expanded selection of letters, and it is brought home to this reader that they have all passed into the West and we are given these new memories to remember them by. The new book is an essential addition to your Tolkien library, as it supersedes the earlier edition.
Read the entire collector-focused review over at the Tolkien Guide.
More Context and Perspectives
TolkienGuide.com joined TORn Tuesday show for a 2-hour deep dive on the biggest changes and most enlightening additions to the book.
Late last year we brought you news of the incredible artistic feat which is composer Paul Corfield Godfrey’s series of operas, telling tales from The Silmarillion. Already available at that time were Fëanor, Beren and Lúthien, The Children of Húrin and The Fall of Gondolin. Last week, the fifth and final part, The War of Wrath, was released.
These stunning and suitably epic operas all use text taken directly from Tolkien’s writing (with full permission from the Tolkien Estate). You can order your copies from Volante Opera’s website. Check out this video (really way more than a trailer!) to give you a taste of this labour of love:
