"In this volume of their ground-breaking research, Lewis and Currie explore the earliest writings that formed a part of Tolkien's invented mythology to look for the origins and the sources. The authors of the highly-acclaimed Uncarted Realms of Tolkien venture out like Victorian explorers seeking the source of a mighty river. Their journey is no less spectacular--for in the cauldron of a World War the youthful Tolkien found is imagination turning to thoughts of Eärendil the Mariner and to Gondolin, and elvish city doomed to destruction. We find the sources of Tolkien's invented mythology are as wide-ranging as any river that Victorian explorers sought after. With tenacious research techniques, rigorous and painstaking investigation, Lewis and Currie in this book overturn a number of long-held opinions which were founded on little more than hearsay. By the use of rarely seen medieval texts some of which are translated for the first time in the modern era, and the use of Greek Philogy, Lewis and Currie have uncovered a fascinating web of connections. Find out where Gondolin is drawn from, and where else the same sources were utilised in The Lord of the Rings. Read about the fascinating origins of the hero-sailor who would become Eärendil. And discover the truly amazing background to the Witch-king, the Lord of Nazgul from The Lord of the Rings." --From cover.

Never before published in a single volume, Tolkien's four novellas ("Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wootton Major," and "Roverandom") and one book of poems ("The Adventures of Tom Bombadil") are gathered together in a fully illustrated set.

Throughout this vast and intricate mythology, says Publishers Weekly, "one marvels anew at the depth, breadth, and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien's labor. No one sympathetic to his aims, the invention of a secondary universe, will want to miss this chance to be present at the creation." In this capstone to that creation, we find the chronology of Middle-earth's later Ages, the Hobbit genealogies, and the Western language or Common Speech. These early essays show that Tolkien's fertile imagination was at work on Middle-earth's Second and Third Ages long before he explored them in the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings . Here too are valuable writings from Tolkien's last years: " The New Shadow," in Gondor of the Fourth Age, and" Tal-elmar," the tale of the coming of the Nsmen-rean ships.

A controversial approach to the Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other work. Unlike the conventional view that his fantasy writing was an escape from reality, Pearce argues that Tolkien saw his stories as a leap into reality. This is because of Tolkien's own view of life, faith and the supernatural. This understanding is crucial to fully appreciating both The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Middle Earth.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) is increasingly recognized as the most influential writer of the twentieth century. Sales of his books remain exceptionally high, and Middle-earth fan clubs flourish around the world. The massive success of the film versions made of The Lord of the Rings, and released between 2001 and 2003, have only added to his popularity. Throughout his life, Tolkien was acutely aware of the power of myth in shaping society; so much so, that one of his earliest ambitions as a writer was to create a mythology for England. The Middle-earth of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was to serve as a stand-in for Britain and North-western Europe and is strongly based on a variety of influential literatures and beliefs, particularly the Celtic and Norse. Perilous Realms is the first book to focus consistently on the ways in which Tolkien balances these two ancient cultures and unites them in a single literature. Renowned Tolkien scholar Marjorie Burns also investigates the ways Tolkien reconciled other oppositions, including paganism and Christianity, good and evil, home and wayside, war and peace, embellishment and simplicity, hierarchy and the common man. Even those who do not know Beowulf or the Arthurian tales or northern European mythology come away from The Lord of the Rings with a feeling for Britain's historical and literary past. Those who recognize the sources behind Tolkien – and the skill with which he combines these sources - gain far more. Perilous Realms gives this advantage to all readers and provides new discoveries, including material from obscure, little-known Celtic texts and a likely new source for the name 'hobbit.' It is truly essential reading for Tolkien fans.