Beren and Lúthien

Once again (and likely for the last time), Christopher Tolkien has passed to us our own Silmaril, diligently pieced together, from the very hand of his father. The respect and honor with which the son edits the father's many passages, letters, journals, and spoken word is no less evident than when doing so in The Children of Húrin. The care he takes to ensure that the editor not overpower the author is executed with great difficulty and expert precision. This is a beautiful story that has finally come to take it's rightful place at the center of the Tolkien collector's shelf.

Literary Genius! As usual Chris edited and published his Father's works with remarkable accuracy. This is a wonderful love story full of poetry and intrigue. If your looking for a Valentine's Day gift for your loved one this is it. The only issue I have is in the Foward where Christopher speaks of his age. Who will go on to continue his remarkable works? It saddens me to think of such!

This is very hard read. Not really a story then more of information. I think a total miss. Not even close to The Children of Hurin... Would not recommend to anyone except someone looking for reference...

Literary Genius! As usual Chris edited and published his Father's works with remarkable accuracy. This is a wonderful love story full of poetry and intrigue. If your looking for a Valentine's Day gift for your loved one this is it. The only issue I have is in the Foward where Christopher speaks of his age. Who will go on to continue his remarkable works? It saddens me to think of such!

This is very hard read. Not really a story then more of information. I think a total miss. Not even close to The Children of Hurin... Would not recommend to anyone except someone looking for reference...

I don't want to use the categories above. It appears I had to check them to get to this form. They are neither useful to me nor relevant to why I purchased this book (or any other!).

Very excited to get this book on Kindle this morning. I have already read a substantial part of it. It is absolutely essentially for any student or fan of Tolkien's work and it looks to be a great additional to my library of Tolkien's work, etc. It is wonderful to have all of this material in one book.

SO SAD, however, that the illustrations are impossible for me to see on my Kindle-on-PC. They are very small and unzoomable and are already painted in a desaturated color scheme and with low contrast. Does everyone hate people with vision problems or simply discount them as a viable readership? I think that is a big mistake for Kindle. Yet it is always the case with Kindle Illustrations. I allowed myself to believe it might be different this time, since the illustrations are an important part of the book. Isn't there a way to give Kindle buyers a link to decent-sized illustrations at least? (A lot of people use Kindle because of poor eyesight. It’s not fair to not even try to make a concession.)

This is a must-own for any serious Tolkien fan. But then, if you're a serious Tolkien fan, you probably already knew that.

Edited, as usual, by Tolkien's son Christopher, he says in the preface that this is to be his last time publishing (or republishing) his father's work.

If so, I can't think of a more appropriate swan song for the efforts Christopher has put into cementing his father's legacy for the last several decades.

While the material collected here has been previously published, it's never been presented like this before--in the past, readers who wanted to follow the various versions of the Beren and Luthien story had to jump around between different volumes of Tolkien's collected writings.

I've always found Tolkien's story of how Beren and Luthien came to be deeply moving: it all started when his wife Edith danced for him in the woods while they were on a private walk during World War I as he was recovering from trench fever.

Beren and Luthien eventually became the prototypes for the more widely-known Aragorn and Arwen. Tolkien so closely identified himself and his wife with these characters that he insisted the name "Beren" be inscribed beneath his name on his gravestone and the name "Luthien" beneath his wife's name.

What a tribute to the power of story and of love, and here we get to see how one of Tolkien's most personal myths developed over the course of many drafts and through the many changes in his life!

P.S. If you enjoyed the films but have never read anything by Tolkien, you will probably still enjoy this--but I'd say the Hobbit is a better place to start.

P.P.S. If you're a cat lover, steel yourself before you read Tolkien's earliest draft of the Beren and Luthien story. You'll know what I mean when you get there (I thought it was hilarious, personally).

Wonderful Book, truly a masterpiece from a great mind and made by incredible hands. Highly Recommend to any who Enjoyed the Tolkien books, and also to those that love artistic, epic, fantasy, romance and tragedy genres in their books. Would acquire it in hardcover though, it fits to be a part of your library, and you would want it to be read to your offsprings and their children after.

An interesting look at the development of a key part of Tolkien's mythology, that of the first union of Beren and Luthien, one of the few hopeful tales to come out of the first age of middle earth. This isn't for the casual fan (say those who looked the dreadful Hobbit movies), but the more dedicated ones. With reading as it shows the effort the professor put into his work.

This story of Beren and Luthien truly forms the back bone of all Tolkiens mythology. The story had great significance to Tolkiens personal life, and the conclusion of the tale brings readers to the end of the first age. The players of the second age and third are all still taking part in the aftermath of the momentous feats achieved by the two lovers.

Not completely Tolkien Sr in origin, this book is a definite must-read. I purchased it for my fiance and she's gobbled it up in a few sessions so it has to be pretty good. I'm starting on my read-through and you can definitely tell Christopher Tolkien has had his hands on this: the style is all over the place but the story is solid.

Unfortunately this is not really a JRR Tolkien book. His son wrote it, and you can tell.
It is a lot more like a history lecture than a book.

If you are a die hard Tolkien fan this is for you... but as a casual reader it was just too much for me.

When I bought this book, all I wanted was to read the story behind it... But it started with a long and boring history of Middle Earth full of rare names and a vast explanation of things that, according to the editor, were necessary to understand the context of the story, where and how it happened. Well, I couldn't go further than half the book! The center story is told by pieces and versions throughout the pages, and it stops telling the story to go back to Middle Earth explanations and people! So boring! I take it back every time I need to fall asleep sooner, it only takes a couple of lines to cause the effect...

Any review would take 500 words or more to just explain what the potential reader is going to encounter.

J.R.R. TOLKIEN (1892–1973) brought back to us, through the efforts of Christopher Tolkien who has a track record of doing so for us; this also includes illustrations by Alan Lee.

Even if you are a movie buff and have no reading background of Tolkien this book can stand on its own and is a good place to dive in.

The copyright on this book is 2017. This gives you a feel of where to place this book in the pantheon such as “The Similarion” (1977).

There is an extensive pre-face by Christopher Tolkien which places more emphasis on where this book came from and what it is all about. The preface helps with a great understanding for newbies and even those of us who read the other writings of J.R.R. TOLKIEN. Christopher Tolkien also reintroduces us to the forwards of previous and parallel writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Next the book includes notes on the elder days. This helps set the environment in which we were about to read.

Although I like to set my own imagination as to what things looked like, the illustrations by Alan Lee help allow all the readers to stay in sync with each other on what the world they are reading about looks like. This particular book has nine different plates in several other sketches to help give a visual to the words we are reading.

Passages extracted from “The Lay of Leithan” are displayed in numbered. One appendices give revisions to “The Lay of Leithan.”

Because the story is a compendium of several texts to create the individual history of Beren and Lúthien, there is a list of the names in the original texts.

At the end of the book is a glossary which I strongly relied on.

The only thing missing that I wish was in the book was the key to pronouncing the words that were in the glossary.

Finally, the tale Beren and Luthien in its own book. This story originally appeared in “The Fellowship of the Ring,” when Aragorn/Strider told the story to the hobbits as they were fleeing the Black Riders in their way to Rivendell. It was later featured as a chapter in “The Silmarillion,” and then earlier version of it appeared in “The Book of Lost Tales Part Two” and “The Lays of Beleriand.”
I was hoping for a continuous narrative in the form of a fantasy novel, written in the present tense, with separate chapters and dialogues, as in “The Hobbit,” “The Lord of the Rings,” and especially "The Children of Hurin." It isn’t. This book is simply all the writings of Tolkien’s story in one book, with the exception of the narrative in The Silmarillion.
This book has the original story, “The Tale of Tinuviel,” written in 1918, during the first world war, and published in “The Book of Lost Tales Part Two” back in 1984. The second version of the story, unfinished, is in the form of a very long poem titled “The Lay of Lethian,” also found in the book “The Lays of Beleriand,” released in 1985, so this book merely contain reprints from the two other books. Comments by the editor, Christopher Tolkien, son of the original author, come after each story, and then other unfinished, short works come in, in an attempt to finish the story of the saga and tell of the fate of the Silmaril.
I recommend that you read “The Silmarillion,” especially the chapter titled “Of Beren and Luthien” first before reading this book. You will get a better understanding of it. It is unfortunate that a version of the story never appear in a whole book the way I’ve described it at the very beginning. Perhaps someone, maybe one of Tolkien’s grandchildren, could undertake this task. This book is still worth reading, and I do recommend it for your Tolkien collection.
The story begins where Beren, his father Barahir, and their troops are fighting the original Dark Lord Morgoth, but everyone dies except Beren, where he is forces to flee to Doriath. He comes across a dancing elf, Luthien (Tinuviel) and falls madly in love with her. Coming to Menegroth, ruled by Luthien’s father Thingol, he is repulsed by Beren. Beren seeks Luthen’s hand in marriage, but Thingol devises a way to get rid of him, by demanding that Beren brings Thingol a silmaril from the crown of Morgoth, who resides in Angband, the equivalent of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings, or Hell in Christian doctrine.
Beren undertakes the quest, and the great adventure begins. If you don’t know the rest, I’ll leave it to you, the reader, but I guarantee you that there is excitement and suspense equal to that of the Lord of the Rings.
There are three versions of this story; two are in this book, and the final and complete narrative is in the Silmarillion. In this book, you see the history of the story itself by the author. Tolkien supposedly wrote it inspired by his fiancee, later wife, who loved to dance. The 1918 version was different in names the characters (Tinwelint instead of Thingol, for example) and Beren was originally an elf, a gnome later known as the Noldor) It is in the final version where Beren is a mortal. There is also section were Beren reaches Morgoth and makes him a slave to a kingdom of cats.
Although this version is complete, in the second version, in the form of a lay (poem) the cats are edited out of the story and in its place, Beren takes a entire troop with him and is captured by Thu, later known as Sauron (yes, that Sauron, who was then Morgoth’s chief servant back in the First Age) who captures the troops and hold them prisoner before reaching Morgoth. It is Tinuviel, with the aid of Huan, a faithful and fierce hound who comes to rescue Beren before continuing on the get the jewel. Tinuviel is no damsel in distress. This long poem is the main basis for the narrative in “The Silmarillion.”
Although there is no new material in this book, there are comments by the author and you will know the entire story by the time you finish reading it. You would enjoy it better if you are into reading poetry, but the chapter in The Silmarillion, and its subsequent chapters, have the final say in this saga.

I find it really hard to rate and review Beren and Luthien. Like a proper fool I assumed that Christopher Tolkien had cobbled a narrative together for this book, but what one really gets is exerts and drafts and summary from Christopher on the tale, so the book includes some repetition, pieces that have been published elsewhere and large sections of the "Lay of Luthien" a long-form poem of the saga.

This was probably obvious to most picking up the book but its worth pointing out to interested parties that this is what you'll be getting into with Beren and Luthien. The book is an absolute must for Tolkien fans who want to dive into his uncompleted works and hear Christopher explaining JRR's history with the work etc.

In terms of the content itself it is actually pretty epic, although somewhat bittersweet knowing that the full tale was never fully realized. There are tastes of North Mythology and Tolkien's signature knack for world-building, and if anything it does provide an interesting context for Aragon and Arwen in LoTRs.

Bring on the mini-series the store!

First, let me say that there is nothing new in this book. All of its content has been previously published, and it's just a recompilation that conveniently puts everything in one place and orders it for understandability.

Second, this isn't a novel like the Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. The story of Beren and Lúthien was never finalized, and it exists in multiple documents created by J.R.R. Tolkien over many years. As such, the book reprints parts of those documents in rough chronological order. Some are narrative form, but much of it is in verse.

Will the general audience like this book? Probably not. I think it's more for those with a deeper interest in Tolkien's universe. But you don't have to be a hard-core fan to enjoy the story—just someone who likes the mythos.

While Romeo and Juliet was indeed a romance for the ages, the story of Beren and Lúthien trump every aspect of the story. The actual book starts out with the bare bones story of Beren and Lúthien; Beren is on the run from Melko (the dark force in the story) and came across Lúthien (also known as Tinúviel) dancing in the woods, and was so entranced by the way she danced in the copse of trees and how she seemed to glow in the moonlight, that Beren risked breaking his cover just to look at her.

Lúthien’s brother, Dairon, spied Beren and told Lúthien to run home. Knowing she was not as fast as her brother, Lúthien tried to blend in with the moonlight and flowers. Beren, stumbling through the forest, accidentally grazed her arm and put her in such a fright that she “twittered between moonbeams all the way home”. Lúthien loved to dance, and would dance often while her brother Dairon would play the pipe reeds. Having been scared by Beren, Lúthien would not venture out to dance, until she couldn’t contain herself anymore. Perchance, Beren finally came across her and asked her to teach him how to dance. Of course, this made Lúthien smile, and she asked him to follow her, and dance the entire way to her father’s palace (yes palace; Lúthien was the daughter to the King, Tinwelint [also known as Thingol]).

So here we are in the palace of the Hidden Elves. Tinwelint (Thingol) is sitting on his throne with Queen Gwendeling (also known as Melion) by his side, and enters Beren. Immediately Tinwelint assumes Beren is a dark elf, and has come to cause trouble. Lúthien (scared little Lúthien who was running away from Beren not too long ago) comes to his defense and pulls the most quintessential trick daughters can do to their fathers; if you are mean to him, you will make me cry. And in typical fatherly fashion Tinwelint asks Beren what he wants just to be rid of him.

Beren surprised everyone by asking for Lúthien’s hand in marriage. Taken aback, Tinwelint makes impossible terms- to bring back one Simaril from Melko’s crown. Everyone knew that the Iron Crown never left Melko’s head, and if anyone dared lay a finger on it, they would not see the light of day. Beren knew he was being a made fool of, and his anger got the best of him. Foolheartedly he told the king “it is too small a gift, I will fulfill your small desire.” Beren storms out of the palace, and essentially does not stop his temper tantrum stomp until the gates of Melko. Meanwhile, Lúthien starts to weep in fear she would not find anyone that would look upon her with such love and adoration. Lúthien pleaded with her mother, Gwendeling to see if Beren was alive. Acknowledging he was alive, but captured, Lúthien wants to go in search of Beren to help him escape. Gwendeling asks her daughter not to talk of such things. But Lúthien, being ever earnest, begs her mother to go on her behalf to the king to send help to Beren. Her father also refuses, leaving her no choice but to beg her brother to run away with her to help Beren. Dairon, like any “good” sibling, goes to tell their father, who promptly builds a tree house that no ladder could touch, until Lúthien would get this fool hardy idea out of her head.

With Lúthien’s free spirit, she finds a way to leave her quaint tree house. Tinwelent has provided guards to bring her whatever she desires. Being imbued with elven magic, Lúthien asks for ingredients to make a potion that makes her hair grow continuously for 12 hours (as well as make her sleep). Once grown, she cuts her hair off, fashions a cloak which when flung about makes people fall asleep, and uses the remaining hair to climb down from her tower (yes, just like Rapunzel) and escape.

While in the woods before reaching Melko’s gate, Lúthien comes across a giant dog named Huan. When learning she was the princess of the woodland elves, Huan came up with an idea that benefited both. Huan wanted nothing more than to be rid of Tevildo (The Prince of Cats- but in other versions this particular character would be Sauron; yes the “One ring to rule them all” guy). After conspiring together, Lúthien sneaks up to the terrace where the cats sleep to see if she could spy Beren. If spotted, she would lure Telvido down to the forest where Huan would pretend to be injured, only to end the rivalry between cats and dogs forever. As cunning as this cat could be, he could not see through his hatred for dogs to know a lie. Telvido follows Lúthien into the forest with a scout cat, happening upon Huan’s lifeless form. Filled with euphoric satisfaction, Telvido completely misses the ambush, and his cohort pays the price. Telvido runs up a tree, tail between his legs, and negotiations start for the release of Beren in exchange for Telvido’s life.

After escaping, Beren, Lúthien, and Huan decide to carry out Tinwelint’s wishes and return with the Simaril.

Any newcomer to the Tolkien prose will be discouraged with the first part of the book. There are a lot of explanations and background information on characters and story outline that would make any Tolkien fan’s head spin- let alone someone attempting to join the fandom.

I am not dissuading you to read “Beren And Lúthien”- oh no. I am ENCOURAGING you to start with “The Hobbit”, continue with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and then proceed back in time to expanded references you are already familiar with.

Like any good story, over time it evolves. We start with the simplest of stories. From there Simon Tolkien attempts to revive and piece together his father’s manuscripts- it is here where names change, and the story is extended in exquisite prose. Reading prose could be similar to reading a screenplay- it’s not for everyone. BUT! If you can get into the rhythm it is well worth the effort.

Unfortunately - no original material. All that appear in this book, have already appeared in the 'History of Middle-earth' years ago.
Most unfortunate of all - new materials that Ch. Tolkien mentioned back it 1987 (in The Lost Road & other writings, p. 324-5) are not included, even though they were unknown to him when he edited the Silmarillion:

"...Thus at the time when he [Tolkien] turned again to the Lay of Leithian (see III. 390), The 'Lord ofthe Rings' being finished but its publication very doubtful [circa 1949-50] he embarked also once more on a prose ‘saga’ of Beren and Lúthien. This is a substantial text, though the story goes no further than the betrayal by Dairon to Thingol of Beren's presence in Doriath, and it is so closely based on the rewritten form of the Lay, as to read in places almost as a prose paraphrase of the verse. It was written on the verso pages of the text AB 2 of the Annals of Beleriand, and was not known to me when The Silmarillion was prepared for publication."

I've been waiting for this version to be published for the last 30 years.... Unfortunately, Ch. Tolkien chose not to include it (or maybe forgot all about it). Guess I gonna have to wait some more...

Christopher Tolkien has done it again!!!! In this 'stand alone' version of the mythology he has taken many versions of the story from several of his father's sources and collected them in one place. Like the History of Middle Earth, he has given some explanations and critical notes but not as in depth as the 'History' since it has already been done in detail there. How wonderful to have the 'seed' of the creation in one volume. To reader's of all Tolkien's works it is a jewel. To new comers to Middle Earth it is a great place to begin the journey behind The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It is mae govannen--very welcome!!!!!

“The trees writhe and twist in agony, their leaves showing their naked undersides. The wind moans, inarticulately, then howls with pain and anger. You know it is your fault, that you have killed it, that the trees are haunting you . . .” I stopped typing and listened to the wind moan. It felt good to take something that was happening and record it lyrically. One of my favorite authors also made a scene from his own life into a tale—a tale of love, magic, and unbelievable sadness.

Beren and Lúthien is an extraordinary tale by J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by his ninety-three-year-old son, Christopher, this book was printed this year a century after its completion. The tale tells of the gnome Beren (gnome here meaning a man with profound knowledge), who, stumbling into the elvish kingdom Doriath, falls in love with the elf Lúthien Tinúviel. But to marry her, Beren must bring a Silmaril (a precious jewel) back to the King—a task no one could ever accomplish.

The story of Beren and Lúthien was inspired by Tolkien’s own wife, Edith, when he saw her twirling in a field of flowers: the dancing Lúthien. Tolkien compared much of his life to the tale (see p. 16)—so much that on Edith’s tombstone, he had the word “Lúthien” engraved. But he strayed from the story when Edith died. In a piercing letter to his son, he wrote: “But the tale has gone crooked, and I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos” (p. 19; Mandos is the judge of the dead in the story).

Beren and Lúthien is deeply entwined with the tale of the Silmarils—three precious jewels crafted by the elf Fëanor in the First Age. The Silmarils held inside them the pure light of the Two Trees of Valinor, which were later destroyed by the evil Morgoth, one of the gods. Morgoth bound the Silmarils in his crown—but Beren would eventually succeed in recovering them.

Beren and Lúthien is a piercing story. If you'd like to read more youth-written book reviews, go to my blog, bookshelfexplorer. It’s hard to think that something a century old could still be so poignant. Tolkien took a scene from his life and wrote a tale, but as the story went “crooked,” so did his life. I hope that howling wind I heard was no omen . . .

Works Cited

Tolkien, J. R. R., and Christopher Tolkien. "Preface." Beren and Lúthien. London: HarperCollins, 2017. N. pag. Print.

In the very early pages of Christopher Tolkien’s Beren and Luthien, his exploration of how his father’s grand love story of the two star-crossed lovers developed, he notes that, “This book does not offer a single page of original and unpublished work. What then is the need, now, for such a book?”

It’s a fair question, and one that I’m not sure all readers will find a ready answer for. The last half-dozen or so posthumous Tolkien books (from now on I will refer to J.R.R. Tolkien as simply “Tolkien” and his son/editor as “Christopher”) run a spectrum from those, such as The Story of Kullervo, probably only enjoyed by the most diehard of Tolkien fans/completists and those such as The Children of Hurin that can be enjoyed by much more casual fans . Beren and Luthien I’d say falls pretty much at the far end of the diehard fan/completist range. Because of that, I’m not going to bother with the usual plot summary. If you’re thinking about buying this book, you almost assuredly already know it. If you don’t know then story, stop thinking about buying this book.

What Christopher has done here is set himself the task of tracing the full evolution of this tale, one of the oldest and most important of Tolkien’s stories, one that lies at the core of his history of Middle Earth. To that end, he first offers up a general summary of the characters and settings needed for context. Then he settles into the explorer’s job, beginning way back in 1917 with “the ghostly form of a manuscript in pencil that he all but erased for most of its length; over this he wrote the text that is for us the earliest version.” Then its onward to the various and sundry incarnations of the story, some in prose, some in verse, extracted in excerpts from drafts and manuscripts and with brief explanatory/analytical commentary by Christopher. As noted above, all of these have been published in the other texts edited by Christopher, such as the History of Middle-Earth, the Silmarillion, and others.

So then, if someone interested in more Tolkien can find these elsewhere, and the diehard fans probably already own those other texts, to paraphrase Christopher’s own question, what is the point of Beren and Luthien? Well, as a huge fan (though I don’t own all the texts), I can answer that question for similar fans in a few different ways.

One is that while one can read the other texts and thus find various versions of this tale, one lacks the focus this text brings to the reading. By reading the chronological versions one after the other (or at least excerpts and summaries of them), one can see much more clearly the development of the characters, the plot, the themes (not to mention the author’s own development of technique). The other way the story merely gets lost among all the others tales, fragments, and the like. Here we follow a singular path and thought it twists and turns, sometimes veers back upon itself or shapeshifts, as always, Christopher is a firm hand on the elbow, a clear-eyed guide through the thicket of his father’s multiple starts and stops.

This is where the fans will revel in the various parts kept and dropped, whether they cheer or bemoan Tolkien’s choices in that regard. Here we see the earliest mention of Sauron, for instance, the driving menace of The Lord of the Rings. Who knew that great glowing eye began as the yellow eye of “Tevildo Prince of Cats? (I kid you not).

Somewhat similarly, but in a more broad vein, those interested as much or more in the writing craft versus Tolkien’s craft can see how an author circles around a story central to their imagination, building it up, then removing a brick here, some mortar there, painting part of it a different color, changing the structure from a castle to a cottage to a skyscraper. The story shifts and turns, veers from one thing to another. Told in high style in one version, or as a fairy tale for children in another. It isn’t a craft text, not a “how-to” book, but for those interested in the creative process it’s a fascinating examination.

So despite Christopher’s own seeming insecurity, even if a passing one, about the “need” for this text, I think one can easily justify its publication, even if the audience is not particularly numerous or broad. I’d say though, that even thinking he needs a justification feels a bit churlish, because in truth, there’s a very personal reason for why this book, and particularly the “now” part of his question, and it’s a reason Christopher himself acknowledges:

In my ninety-third year this is (presumptively) my last book in the long series of editions of my father’s writing . . . This tale is chosen in memoriam because . . . of its deeply-rooted presence in his own life . . . it is my earliest actual recollection of some element in a story that was being told to me.

The “deeply-rooted presence” of this tale in Tolkien’s life is due to how it was inspired by his own vision of a woman dancing—his eventual wife Edith. When she died after their long years of marriage, a year before Tolkien himself, he had the names Beren and Luthien inscribed on their tombstones. Shortly after Edith died, Christopher relates, his father wrote to him of the devastation he felt, and returning to the connection between Edith and himself and the tale of Beren and Luthien, he wrote: “But the story has gone crooked, and I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos [for his love’s return].”

Why this book now? Because it is the father’s grandest, most powerful love story, one which he did not simply write, but lived. Because the son loved/loves the father and the mother. And because the son senses his own mortality and believes it likely to be the last work he does. What, therefore, could be more fitting as a final goodbye to both father and mother, to his father’s fictional world, and perhaps to this one as well? The tale of Beren and Luthien is moving. This book’s existence might be even more so.

(originally appeared on fantasyliterature.com)

In the pantheon of legends that make up the bones of Middle-earth, none compares to that of BEREN AND LÚTHIEN. Referenced within The Lord of the Rings and mirrored by the relationship of Aragorn and Arwen, as well as being told in a more fuller fashion within THE SILMARILLION, it is a tale of true love entwined with utter heartbreak.

Lúthien is a beautiful half-elf maiden, the daughter of Thingol and Melian, a Maia who left the gardens of Lórien to explore Middle-earth. She was known as the fairest of all elves, if not the fairest of all creatures who ever walked Middle-earth, and none danced with such grace. Not even her mother. She is the great-grandmother of Elrond, a cousin of Galadriel, and it is from her line that Aragorn and the Kings of Gondor would come. Beren was a man, the son of Barahir, and was an outlaw under the shadowy control of Morgoth, the Dark Lord of Angband.

Beren happened upon Lúthien dancing and was immediately taken by her, returning to watch her again and again, eventually following her seemingly in secret as she made her way home. There he would whisper farewell to her, never knowing that she knew he followed her and that she was beginning to find herself falling in love with him. Eventually the two would meet and dance, and Beren bravely would ask Thingol for her hand.

Thingol would never agree to see his beloved daughter, the light of his people, shackled to the hand of a mortal man. In mocking challenge, he agreed to give her hand to Beren if he would seek out Morgoth and steal one of the famed Silmarils from his crown. Beren would not be swayed and, propelled forward by love, made his way to Angband to seek Morgoth and the jewel he was required to obtain.

His mission is one of defeat. And without his knowledge, Lúthien set out on her own to find him and rescue him from the dungeons of Sauron, a regent of Morgoth. Though the two would successfully find each other, the tale would not end with rejoicing, for though Beren would eventually succeed in obtaining the Silmaril, he would ultimately pay for his love with his life. In her grief, Lúthien gave up her mortality and sang a song of great woe to Mandos, the Lord of the Dead, who was moved by her grief, allowing the two of them to return to Middle-earth, but they both would now be ruled by the fate of man --- they would be mortal and would, in time, die. Lúthien gave up the immortality of elves and chose to live with Beren until the end of their days.

BEREN AND LÚTHIEN takes this epic legend, one woven through the pages of THE SILMARILLION and intermingled with the greater events of the time, and tells the story singularly and contained as its own tale for the telling. But it is not just a simple telling. It is so much more.

It begins with THE TALE OF TINUVIEL, the earliest edition of the legend, conceived when J. R. R. Tolkien was serving in World War I. Interestingly, several very key changes have occurred over the years as he honed and perfected his mythology. In this first version, several names have changed, Beren is not a mortal man but an elf, and Sauron had not even become a thought yet. Story elements have been deleted but are displayed here to be enjoyed. Tolkien's son, Christopher, edited this collection and also includes verse segments of further attempts at the story, allowing for comparing and contrasting with the original vision as well as their final form in THE SILMARILLION. It is beautifully done, made all the more perfect by artwork from longtime Tolkien artist Alan Lee.

Christopher, who has spent decades poring over his father's notes and polishing them for release, explains in the opening of this book that it is likely the last he will edit. If so, it is a fitting end. His father considered the love story of Beren and Lúthien to be the key to the mythology of Middle-earth. To understand just how seriously this belief was held, he referred to his wife, Edith, as his Lúthien. She died a year before him, and his sense of loss was extraordinary. He wrote to Christopher that he wished to have Lúthien inscribed on her headstone, and in recalling the story of BEREN AND LÚTHIEN, he lamented, "But the story has gone crooked, and I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos."

Edith and John lay side by side in England beneath a marker bearing their names, with Lúthien inscribed alongside hers and Beren alongside his. Though BEREN AND LÚTHIEN is a fantasy, a myth and an epic work of fiction, it was born of a real love. Reading each successive attempt and recreation, you can see the threads of that reality woven into the tale.

Tolkien wrote, "None saw Beren and Lúthien leave the world or marked where at last their bodies lay." Thankfully we have the record of their time in the world and can rejoice in their legend, and, in this more singular edition, better come to understand their pivotal place in the pantheon of Middle-earth.

Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard.

In "Beren and Lúthien" Christopher Tolkien explores the evolution of his father's story of "The Tale of Beren and Lúthien" from the original "The Lay of Leithian" through the "Tale of Tinúviel" to its final form, which appeared as Chapter XIX of "The Silmarillion". Unlike "The Children of Húrin", in which Christopher Tolkien expanded Chapter XXI of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Quenta Silmarillion" into a full novel, this work primarily examines how the ideas of Beren, once an elf and later a man, and Lúthien, once called Tinúviel, crystallized. The overall effect is something that will primarily appeal to Tolkien scholars, although the story itself and Tolkien's use of verse are enjoyable to casual readers. Christopher Tolkien fills in background as necessary, such as the significance of the Silmarils and why Beren must steal one from Morgoth. The longest self-contained portion of this book comes from "The Lay of Leithian" and reads like the epic poem J.R.R. Tolkien intended. Alan Lee, who did the art for "The Children of Húrin", continues to capture visually the tone of Tolkien's text. Lee's portrayal of Tinúviel confronting Tevildo, a giant cat in Melko's (Melkor) castle, is delightful all on its own, making it a pity that Tevildo did not continue into later of Tolkien's drafts. Fans of "The Silmarillion" will enjoy this, but should not expect a coherent narrative.

“Beren and Lúthien” will be of great interest to scholars interested in J.R.R. Tolkien but this is not a book that will appeal to many casual readers. To be candid, the publishers and marketing team behind the book did a great disservice when they compared this book to “The Children of Hurin.” Frankly, this book does not offer an expansion of a beloved tale from the “Silmarillion” that way “Children of Hurin” did. Instead, readers are presented with various notes, fragments, poems and edits of the tale of Beren and Lúthien. This is far more in line with some of Christopher Tolkien’s other looks at his father’s work. Christopher Tolkien also offers a great deal of insight, usually dry but often interesting, on his father’s creative process. There are some nice illustrations by Alan Lee but, simply put, this isn’t a book for everyone. If possible, I would offer 3.25 stars though Tolkien scholars will find this book useful even if many readers won’t be entertained by it.

At first glance, the tale of Beren and Lúthien seems to be an insignificant tale reminiscent of Aragorn and Arwen’s romance. However, Christopher Tolkien pulls from several versions of the tale and includes a genealogy to show how integral the story is to the entire Middle Earth mythology. Further, it’s a glimpse in the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien, as he develops this story, which I thought was really cool. The art included throughout the book help make the story more approachable, between all the archaic language Tolkien employs.

My single complaint with the book is in the poetry, wherein many errors in the meter can be found. It may seem nitpicky, but seeing as the tale is presented as a traditional myth of the people of Middle Earth, one would expect that the songs would keep their rhythm.

This book was promoted for pre-orders as being a continuous narrative (that description has since been replaced with something less inaccurate). It is nothing of the sort. The largest part of the book is taken up by two sections of silly "dah, de-dah, de-dah" verse. There is one short prose section in the entire book. The rest is made up of a few scraps from here and there.

But the worst thing about this book is the constant interruptions by the unreadable Christopher Tolkien. He is incapable of writing a clear sentence or paragraph. He fills his tedious explanations up with weasel words like "aspect" and "somewhat" and for some reason is in love with pointless throat-clearing phrases like "It may be thought". There are some sections of his I read three times and still couldn't understand what on earth he was talking about.

The contrast between father and son is remarkable. J.R.R. Tolkien writes clear, beautiful prose the mind takes in with ease and delight. Christopher Tolkien writes blocks of constipated text that stare back at you like indigestable sludge.

I feel like a fool for having trusted the promotion and bought the book as a pre-order. I was expecting a proper story like Children of Hurin which I loved. Beware! This book is nothing like Children of Hurin.

In 1916, J.R.R. Tolkien returned from France and the Battle of Somme of the First World War. Three million men fought in this battle and over one million were injured or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. Knowing these statistics, it is safe to say that the battle impacted Tolkien's life. This is evidenced by the fact that he penned Beren and Lúthien, a tragic tale of an ill-fated love between a mortal man and immortal she-Elf. In fact, you can see elements of The Silmarillion and other First Age tales of Tolkien's in Beren and Lúthien. Unfortunately, for Tolkien and us, he never finished it. He constantly tweaked the work and revisited it, but it was never completed. The 2017 release of this title shows just that.

Like all of the Tolkien books that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has produced lately, the presentation value is top-notch! The book is a dust-jacketed hardcover, so it matches the formatting of the other books. Alan Lee does the illustrations for the book and after Pauline Baynes, he is my go-to Tolkien illustrator. As for the contents of the book, it is what you have come to expect from the recent Tolkien releases. This means that there is a lot of background, history, and revisions. A lot of this information and text can be found in You won't find a completed work, but instead you will find different attempts by Tolkien at completing this work. What I found interesting is that the literary style changed as well, as there are manuscripts that show this work in both poetry and prose format. Reading through the book was not only interesting because Tolkien's works are brilliant, but it is simply fascinating to enter the mind of a genius and see the evolution of a work. Looking at all the unfinished works that Tolkien left behind, it is clear that the man was a perfectionist, who was always trying to perfect his works and make them the best they could be. He reminds me of one of his characters named Niggle from Leaf by Niggle, which is another fine work of his you should read. Sadly for him (and more sadly for us), if he had given us a 75% effort and finished a work, it would probably still better than 99% of the other works out there. If you are someone who hasn't read the History of Middle Earth or are a Tolkien completionist, I recommend picking up a copy. If you are just a casual fan of his, then you'd be better served with other works of his.

This copy was provided to me for free by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a long time since I read anything Lord of the Rings related, and I gotta say, this was a great re-entry into a rich, one of a kind world brimming with lore. I've always been interested in the Lay of Lúthien, but admittedly have never read much of it. Until now. And I LOVED it. The stories and their interpretations were romantic and sweeping, leaving you caught up in the adventures of honourable Beren, loyal Huan, and brave Lúthien. I couldn't get enough of the stories, the poems, and the illustrations. The only thing that really took me out of the story was when the author injected little anecdotes about the history of the stories themselves. This doesn't alter my opinion and I understand why it was done, but it jarred me a little when I was particularly raptured by an explosive ending scene. Still, these stories were like reading pure mythology. I can't recommend this book more to lovers of classic Tolkien and any kind of fantasy lore. It's not a long book, but it's a beautiful one, and you'll be just as entranced as I was.

An absolute must for those of us who prize The Silmarillion, which is my very favorite of Tolkien's Middle-earth tales. The textual history CT presents is no less than a stellar compilation of his father's efforts to put this timeless love story/adventure into words, with important changes over decades that make a big difference not only to The Silmarillion but to other ME tales as well. CT knows his father best, and even in his nineties, he devotes himself with such care and respect for JRRT's characters and world that it is impossible not to feel that come through in his work.

I was hoping this would be pieced together in a stand alone story, like The Children of Hurin, and was quite disappointed that all it is is bits of Tolkien's writing with his son explaining the history. Which yes, could be interesting in itself, however, I get the feeling that Christopher just likes to hear himself speak. I found him to be long winded and boring. I may try to pick it up later and read it again, now that I know it's more of a literary history than an actual story. It's possible my disappointment could have biased my review. What's more is there is not really any new material in this book which hasn't been released before. Makes me very hesitant to purchase any more releases in the future if all I'm going to get is a long essay from Christopher.

This might be Tolkien's best story, a love story between a mortal man and an immortal elf, where the man (Beren) is sent on a hopeless quest to recover a stolen jewel which holds the world's fate in its hands, in order to win the hand of the immortal daughter (Luthien) of an elf king. In seemingly sentencing him to his death for his impertinence for falling in love, he ultimately manages to obtain the jewel, cutting it from the very crown of the evil Melkor and then from the belly of a wolf who bites off his hand whilst carrying it. But the quest ultimately causes his death, and then of his love, who dies of a broken heart. The two lovers are then re-united after death, and sent back to live in the land of the living by the gods (Valar), who take pity.

It's a very good mythical story, but it's marred by too much annoying commentary inserted between patchily hobbled parts of scripts, poems, and notes. Would have preferred a more fully expanded and coherent account to the one published in the original Silmarillion, than a jumble of different parts of the story with the intervening and annoying commentary.

One gets the impression that Christopher Tolkien (Tolkien's son) does not seem to notice or care about his overly heavy editorial presence (which is always a potential problem with editors given a free hand), which should be kept to an absolute minimum, or inserted at the end, not the beginning, as is the case here (there are essentially 2 prefaces). You know the same thing when you see a movie with 7 different company logos taking several minutes that nobody cares about, inserted at the beginning, rather than at the end.

Although I'm a big fan of Alan Lee as an illustrator, one criticism is that he has a weakness with scale in some of his drawings, possibly influenced by being in the movie business (objects further away are sometimes far too big for effect etc, and the eye does notice these things).

But give me a coherent version and leave out the commentary until the end.

I'm among the readers who were disappointed with this book. The actual story of Beren and Luthien is only a small portion of the book. I enjoyed it very much though I felt it was more a story for children in the mode of The Hobbit. Most of the book is filled with scraps of other notations made by JRR Tolkien and the usual addendum you find in Tolkien books. I expected something more like The Silmarillion or The Children of Hurin. Also, I'm past the point in my life where I want to write in Dwarvish or runes so deciphering the bits of notations to tie them back to past stories doesn't interest me.

While people are most familiar with his tales of hobbits, one of the most prominent tales of Tolkien's legendarium was that of Beren and Luthien.

So "Beren and Lúthien" separates this tale from the rest of Tolkien's work, exploring the different aspects and earlier drafts of the story, which have some notable differences (Beren was originally an elf referred to as a "Gnome"). It's not so much a cohesive telling of the tale as it is a collection of Tolkien's ever-evolving drafts, but they all revolve around the love story between a semi-divine elf maiden and her stalwart suitor.

This included:
* "The Tale of Tinuviel, in which the beautiful "fairy" princess Tinuviel is spotted by a Gnome named Beren, but her father's scorn for him sends him on a hopeless quest to steal a Silmaril from the crown of the evil Melko. The heartbroken Tinuviel, kept prisoner by her father, devises a way to escape and save Beren, but the danger and cost for them both will be enormous.
*Extracts from "The Lay of Leithian" and "The Quenta Noldorinwa," in which Tolkien made a number of important changes: the insertion of the elf Felagund, Beren's switch from an elf to a human, larger-scale conflicts with the evil Morgoth, and alterations to Beren and Luthien's fate. A great deal more of Middle-Earth's mythos is interwoven with these stories.
*Analysis of the "Quenta Silmarillion," which was what the final version of the tale was ultimately derived from.
*The story of the Nauglafring, a Norse-legend-like tale of Beren's actions that are fleshed out more expansively, and "The Morning and Evening Star," which follows Earendil and Elwing.

It's hard to overstate the importance of Beren and Luthien's tale in Tolkien's legendarium. Not only did it have massive personal resonance for Tolkien himself, but it also had ripple effects across the rest of his Middle-Earth mythos, including the kingship of multiple nations, the lineage of Elrond and the Dunedain, and the love story of Aragorn and Arwen. So its importance as a tale in Tolkien's world can't be overestimated.

It's also simply an entertaining, vivid story, full of forbidden romance, sparkling magic (Tinuviel's spell to make her hair grow AND become a sedative), werewolves, giant talking dogs, bitten-off hands, resurrection, and malevolent gods with shining crowns. There's something almost primally appealing about a tale of against-the-odds lovers whose devotion cannot be stopped.

And "Beren and Luthien" is in some ways a highlighting of the evolving tale, and partly an exploration of how the story evolved over time. The first rendition of it is fanciful, but it's also rather like a child's storybook. Just consider the giant evil cats. The later retellings are far more complicated, both in character development (more of Luthien's angst over her star-crossed romance) and in the world-building (Morgoth's increased influence, the more implicit bittersweetness of their fate rather than outright tragedy, and the involvement with outside elements of Middle-Earth).

And as always, Tolkien's writing is the star of the book -- his prose is hauntingly beautiful, with the quality of being much older than it actually was, as if he had dug up and translated an old legend ("Thereafter Beren was named Erchamion, which is the One-handed, and suffering was graven on his face"). His poetry is perhaps more beautiful ("Thus long they spoke with heavy hearts/and yet not all her elvish arts/nor lissom arms, nor shining eyes/as tremulous stars in rainy skies...").

"Beren and Luthien" is an intriguing look at the evolution of a legendary fantasy tale, and how Tolkien's skill spun it from a simple fairy love story into the heart of a vast epic. A must-see for fans of Tolkien's life's work.

Was hoping to find a delightful tale from J.R.R. Tolkien but was totally disappointed by this sad misuse of his name to get readers in. Trite and extremely wordy, try as I did to become involved I was bored. A waste of money.

5 star review for the actual story. A truly magical and emotional fairy tale typical of JRR Tolkien's work. Also a nice change of tone from Children of Hurin which I absolutely love, but boy is it dark. This story takes on a much lighter tone similar to that of the Hobbit in that it is very whimsical and fairy tale-like in nature but there are also genuine stakes and very real repercussions to the characters actions similar to the outcome of characters like Thorin, Fili and Kili in the Hobbit. All that being said it is a wonderful fantasy/romance/adventure story filled with elves and magical forests and giant talking cats and dogs (something I never knew Tolkien wrote about/had seemingly glanced past in previous writings) and is an amazing new wrinkle to his already vast world of Middle-Earth. At the end of the day it is a classic love story but told only the way Tolkien could tell it and regardless of everything I'm about to say, if you a Tolkien fan it is your obligation to own and read this book.

I gave this 5 stars because Tolkien fans deserve to experience this story. HOWEVER - That will only happen if you can chisel your way through the ice cold preface and essays by his son Christopher Tolkien. Let me start this by saying I've spoken to a handful of Tolkien experts, people who actually teach Tolkien to students and they seem to all agree that Christopher Tolkien loves the history of his fathers work but seems to HATE the fandom and story/fantasy of it all.

Let me explain:

I've always had an issue with Christopher Tolkien's attitude toward his fathers work. I feel like I'm not wrong in
assuming 90% of the people reading this book have read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and fell in love with the world and characters
as wel las the excitement and magic it fills them with. And, upon hearing about this book, were excited to see one of Tolkien's earliest
and without a doubt most personal stories to date finally getting its own release. What little I knew of the backstory was that it was basically something he wrote in honour
of his wife, a love story and fairy tale, and upon her death had Luthien's name placed on her tombstone along with Beren on his. Such a heartbreaking but lovely story
that goes perfectly with this new edition. I was under the impression that Christopher, being their son, would shed a more personal light on this story making this book almost more interesting for its backstory than for the actual fictional tale itself.
But reading through the few pages Preface by Christopher Tolkien it seems his mind a of a single, academic type. He barely even skims over the personal detail and spends page after page discussing the intricacies and details that have changed in the original story, lay as well as Silmarillion and Lost Tales versions. Names and details that have no bearing on the story whatsoever except in the larger, academic scheme of things with regards to the large world and history JRR Tolkien created and changed over the years.
Normally I skip past Christopher Tolkiens introductions right to the meat of the story. But this may very well be the last of his father's stories that he edits, which he says himself in the preface, due to his age. So this time I thought out of respect and because I expected a personal touch, I read it.

Cold. Just cold. As if he has no perception of the heart of the stories his father told.

I am also fully aware he LOATHES the film franchise and has zero respect for them. This also grates me to no end because I'm sure without them MANY new generations of fans wouldn't exist and there would hardly be an audience for books such as this or Children of Hurin. It's one thing to hate the adaptation but another to take advantage of the popularity. I myself wouldn't know these books without the films.

Now I've said this in my Children of Hurin review, but I don't think there are many people who read these books out of interest for the academic achievement. They're fairy tales, well crafted fairy tales, but still fairy tales. With goblins and elves and trolls and wizards and magic spells. Don't try and pretend its much more than that. Again, they're amazing stories that bring a tear to my eye after dozens of reads. But Christopher Tolkien doesn't seem to understand why people love his fathers work. It's pure escapism. Fantasy. Embrace that and let the readers and fans feel good about that. Stop shutting them down and giving us nothing but cold academia.

I just hope in the years to come, whomever the estate and ownership of Tolkiens work is handed to, they treat future releases and adaptations with the LOVE, that's the key word, LOVE and respect they deserve.

Christopher Tolkien, the youngest of J.R.R. Tolkien’s three sons, will be 93 this year. He is his father’s literary executor, and he has spent the years since his father’s death in 1973 poring over papers and files, considering an array of various texts, different versions of stories and poems, staying true to his father’s vision and helping publish a considerable number of books that represent both wonderful stories and insights into The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is because of Christopher that we have The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, many of the lost tales, the elder Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf, and many other works.

The latest, and possibly the last, is “Beren and Luthien,”a love story between Beren, a mortal man in exile after his father and clanare killed, and Luthien, an Elf princess (the idea of which was carried over into “The Lord of the Rings”). Luthien is also called Tinuviel by Beren, and it is by that name we see her part in the story. Beren sees Luthien dancing in the woods and falls in love with her. Her father isn’t exactly pleased, and he agrees to the marriage only if Beren can steal a Silmaril, a jewel in the crown of Melkor, the Black Enemy, also known as Morgoth – and a forerunner of Sauron in the trilogy. He’s captured and enslaved in the kitchen, and Luthien travels to his rescue. With the help of a giant dog (who tricks an evil cat), she succeeds in Beren, and then more adventures happen.

Tolkien wrote “Beren and Luthien” when he returned to England to recover from illness after the Battle of the Somme in World War I, the longest battle (July 1 – November 18, 1916) and the bloodiest battle (one million men killed or wounded) of the war. The story was written and rewritten many times, in prose and verse forms. Numerous ideas found their way into his other works, and especially the trilogy and “The Hobbit.”

What Christopher Tolkien has done with this publication is something special. He includes the original story, and he also includes various prose and verse sections that his father worked on over a period of some 14 years. This is an insider’s view of the working of a story by one of the most creative minds of the 20th century.

Here is a section from one of the verse amplifications of the story, which explains the beginning of Beren’s exile.

Then Beren walking swiftly sought
his sword and bow, and sped like wind
that cuts with knives the branches thinned
of autumn trees. At last he came,
his heart afire with burning flame,
where Barahir his father lay;
he came too late. At dawn of day
he found the homes of hunted men,
a wooded island in the fen
and birds rose up in sudden cloud –
no fen-fowl were they crying loud.
The raven and the carrion-crow
sat in the alders all a-row;
one croaked: “Ha! Beren comes too late’,
and answered all: ‘Too late! Too late!’
Then Beren buried his father’s bones,
and piled a heap of boulder-stones,
and cursed the name of Morgoth thrice,
but wept not, for his heart was ice.

The prose and the verses are the stuff of myth and legend, of stories told and passed down through the generations. They are full of heroism and courage in the face of insurmountable odds, of heroes using trickery when necessary, of love winning in the end even when it loses. Tolkien had the names “Luthien” and "Beren" inscribed on the tombstone for his wife Edith and himself, which suggests some of the deep personal connections he felt to the story he had written.

The volume includes wonderful illustrations by Alan Lee, who has illustrated a number of Tolkien publications.

In one sense, the writings we know as Tolkien’s began with “Beren and Luthien,” and it takes its place in the grand mythology of Middle Earth that Tolkien devoted so much of his life to. It is fitting that this first story may also be the last to be published.

“The trees writhe and twist in agony, their leaves showing their naked undersides. The wind moans, inarticulately, then howls with pain and anger. You know it is your fault, that you have killed it, that the trees are haunting you . . .” I stopped typing and listened to the wind moan. It felt good to take something that was happening and record it lyrically. One of my favorite authors also made a scene from his own life into a tale—a tale of love, magic, and unbelievable sadness.

Beren and Lúthien is an extraordinary tale by J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by his ninety-three-year-old son, Christopher, this book was printed this year a century after its completion. The tale tells of the gnome Beren (gnome here meaning a man with profound knowledge), who, stumbling into the elvish kingdom Doriath, falls in love with the elf Lúthien Tinúviel. But to marry her, Beren must bring a Silmaril (a precious jewel) back to the King—a task no one could ever accomplish.

The story of Beren and Lúthien was inspired by Tolkien’s own wife, Edith, when he saw her twirling in a field of flowers: the dancing Lúthien. Tolkien compared much of his life to the tale (see p. 16)—so much that on Edith’s tombstone, he had the word “Lúthien” engraved. But he strayed from the story when Edith died. In a piercing letter to his son, he wrote: “But the tale has gone crooked, and I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos” (p. 19; Mandos is the judge of the dead in the story).

Beren and Lúthien is deeply entwined with the tale of the Silmarils—three precious jewels crafted by the elf Fëanor in the First Age. The Silmarils held inside them the pure light of the Two Trees of Valinor, which were later destroyed by the evil Morgoth, one of the gods. Morgoth bound the Silmarils in his crown—but Beren would eventually succeed in recovering them.

Beren and Lúthien is a piercing story. If you'd like to read more youth-written book reviews, go to my blog, bookshelfexplorer. It’s hard to think that something a century old could still be so poignant. Tolkien took a scene from his life and wrote a tale, but as the story went “crooked,” so did his life. I hope that howling wind I heard was no omen . . .

Works Cited

Tolkien, J. R. R., and Christopher Tolkien. "Preface." Beren and Lúthien. London: HarperCollins, 2017. N. pag. Print.

For those that love J.R.R. Tolkien this is a further look into the mind and created world of a brilliant man. for those that don't this will probably be confusing, but if you can follow it a beautiful love story.

I love Tolkien! This is the seventh book from his legendarium I have read. I have also read his translation of the “Green Knight.”

Be warned. This is not a straightforward narrative. It shows the evolution of the story. Of course, some elements were highly improved (Thu vs. Telvido). Some of the Tevildo moments were, possibly unintentionally, quite humorous. Thu was much more intimidating.

Personally, I prefer the prose over the poetry. Nonetheless, his poetry is still superb! I especially enjoyed revisiting some great characters from “The Silmarillion.” I had forgotten how noble and honorable Felagund was. Beren’s fortitude is unforgettable.

Dorthonion, Menegroth, Nargothrond, oh my!