The Nature of Middle-earth

Excellent livre.

I have really enjoyed this book, it has given me a lot of insight into the thought process of J.R.R Tolkien and how Middle Earth all connects. It is an amazing read and I never get bored with it. The book came in great shape from the seller, no problems with it. Will definitely order from seller again in the future.

My copy arrived today (2.Sep.21), the day of the book's hardback publication in the UK, so obviously I've not read it cover-to-cover as yet. However, I have skimmed through it, and found an interesting store of detailed knowledge about Tolkien's creation - Middle-earth. As one would expect from Tolkien, and indeed of Carl Hostetter who edited this book, everything has been set out logically, with appropriate annotations that add to, rather than clutter the text, which is very nicely presented. I would caution prospective purchasers that this book will not give you a story to read: there is no substantial narrative or connected text for you to get your teeth into. What you will find here is a collection of fairly short pieces, delving into some detail or another of Middle-earth, to enable to truly committed to enjoy and visualise the realms in which were set The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the other posthumous publications such as The Children of Húrin and The History of Middle-earth. So if it's not a story, what do you get in this book? The body of the book is divided into three parts (each with its own short introduction), together with a brief Foreword and introductory matter at the beginning, and a couple of Appendices and an Index at the back. Here's an outline of its content - ONE - TIME AND AGEING This is the longest of the three parts, and consists of 23 short chapters averaging 7 pages each. The first four are JRRT's workings of the horology of Middle-earth: they are surprisingly detailed - scientific even - and parts are presented in tabular form. Then comes a short piece describing the 'life-cycle' of the Quendi (Elves), and another (in two versions) on the origin ('Awakening') of the Quendi, alternating with two more 'mathematical' interludes which calculate the growth of their population across successive generations. The next three sections explore in more detail the chronology and ageing of the Quendi, and these are followed by a chapter called Key Dates which is the draft of a 'timeline'. The next four chapters are highly numerical expositions of Quendi Generational Schemes. Then come two more on Elvish Ages and their life-cycles, before we return to two more brief purely horological pieces. The last two chapters in Part One are fragments from the Annals of Aman and the Grey Annals: each fragment is only a page long, but the latter includes a short poem. PART TWO - BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT Seventeen chapters, averaging 6 pages each, discuss all sorts of attributes of Tolkien's peoples - beauty, goodness, gender and sex (don't worry: nothing to frighten the horses), hands, fingers, hair, beards, minds, and memories. There's a version of 'Ósanwe-kenta' (different to that in Vinyar Tengwar [VT]), relating to communication of thoughts, and - perhaps one of the most interesting sections of all - Tolkien's commentary on his visualisation of some of his characters, as related to the Allen & Unwin poster map of 1970. Notes on Órë is a representation of a short piece already published in VT - it is somewhat linguistic in nature, as are the following chapters entitled Fate And Free Will, The Knowledge Of The Valar, Spirit, and The Visible Forms Of The Valar And Maiar. At 21 pages, Elvish Reincarnation looks like a fascinating collection of pieces, previously only available (in different form) in a French publication. Part Two concludes with a portion of The Statute of Finwë and Míriel that did not appear in The History of Middle-earth (X: Morgoth's Ring), and a final piece on Death. PART THREE - THE WORLD, ITS LANDS, AND ITS INHABITANTS [Potentially the most interesting and accessible, but one I have barely looked at yet, so this 'description' is little more than a summary of the chapter headings]. Like the second part, the third occupies about 100 pages. It consists of 22 chapters, some only 2 or 3 pages long. They discuss Dark and Light, Spirit, the Powers of the Valar, Lembas, the Economy, Dwellings, the Founding of Nargothrond, Manwë's Ban, some calculations as to how fast Elves could travel on horseback, and a short passage that Tolkien chose not to use in The Lord of the Rings' chapter 'The White Rider'. There There are chapters concerned with the lives and ageing of Númenóreans, the land and beasts of their domain, and even mushrooms(!) There are musings on the Númenórean catastrophe, Galadriel and Celeborn (especially their names), the Silvan Elves and their language, and short notes on 'the delay of Gil-galad and the Númenóreans in attacking Sauron', Dwarvish voices, and the Dwarf Road. A 'new' brief fragment of The Hunt for the Ring follows, and the main text ends with a longish discussion of the topography of Gondor (updated and streamlined from Hostetter's own version that appeared in VT). The longer appendix discusses methaphysical and theological themes, and the shorter is a 2-page Quenya glossary. If you've not read any Tolkien before, do not under any circumstances start with this! But if you've read everything there is and are still hungry for more, this volume may fill some of the gaps in your knowledge.

Las opiniones del anuncio pueden tratar de diferentes ediciones del libro (gracias a las fotos incluidas en algunos comentarios, vi que la edición no coincidía con la que se ofertaba cuando lo compré). La edición que yo adquirí es la "de luxe", de tapa dura y dentro de una cajita. Llegó perfecta, sin rasguño o esquinas dobladas (el paquete de envío es de doble caja, más la propia de la edición). Es una edición muy cuidada, la portada de la tapa pertenece a un dibujo de J.R.R.Tolkien y dentro incluye una página laminada de Ted Nadsmith. Todo estudioso y curioso de Tolkien, con interés en los escritos previos y borradores de sus obras publicadas, estará encantado con esta edición, por los detalles cuidados y porque conocerá más sobre el mundo que Tolkien nos presentó en sus novelas. Este libro no es ni tiene la intención de ser una novela, ni continuación de las publicadas, por lo que su lectura no atraerá ni será adecuada para todo tipo de lector.

Tutto ok!!! Come da descrizione