Lost Tales II

[Finrod Felagund]

If you want a good description of the Battle of Gondolin, read this.

[Gwaihir]

It has the Battle of Gondolin? I'm definitely reading it then. I've read the first one, and I love it! :) I love all stories of the Valar. What other stories do they have in Lost Tales II?

[Finrod Felagund]

Turin, Ruin of Doriath (Told as the Nauflaring (sp?) that's all that comes to mind right now

[Gwaihir]

Is the story of Turin very similar to the one in Unfinished Tales?
Either way, I'm grabbing a copy as soon as possible. It has Beren and Luthien too does it not?

[Finrod Felagund]

I read it in sections, taking each part as a whole. I'm not much of a Turin fan, too depressing, so I haven't read it. Lost Tales can be confusing with all the different versions, so I'm not too familiar with it. The only parts that I've read are Gondolin and Doriath, I just remember seeing a Turin section.

[Luthien Tinuviel]

It has the story of Beren and Luthien first thing, then Turin, it has the Fall of Gondolin (finished, it's great!), and the Nauglafring, and the story of Eriol/Ælfwine (how would that be pronounced, by the way?). I think that's it, but I'm not sure, it's great, I finished it last week and started the Lays of Beleriand.

[Lasgalen]

How big, detailed is Gondolin in Lost Tales? My wife wants more to read but she doesn't want something that is just an earlier manuscript but basically the same as what she already read. She complained about that with Morgoth's Ring. Personally I like Morgoth's Ring.

[Luthien Tinuviel]

I've never read Morgoth's Ring (yet), so I can't compare it with anything in that, as I (as of right now) have no idea what's in Morgoth's Ring. But I can say this about the Fall of Gondolin: It's great, it tells about Tuors journey there, and about his relationship with Idril, and the battle, it goes into great detail about all the different clans of Elves, and tells about Morgoth's host. It tells about the battle, and how Tuor finally finds out about the trechery of what's-his-name (I serioulsy can't think of it right now). And the death of Turgon. It's wonderful! It was definately worth the read.

[Lasgalen]

Thanks. Sounds like I might have to pick up a copy of Lost Tales 2.

[Gwaihir]

I've finally gotten a copy for myself. Along with the Unfinished Tales and the Shaping of Middle Earth. I can't believe how easy it is to get Tolkien books in America! :)

I started reading Beren & Luthien, and was surprised to find it very different from the final version. Beren was an Elf, and they later changed the Cats to Wolves.

[Luthien Tinuviel]

Yeah, it was kind of annoying, 'cause I didn't know how he was going to make Lúthien and Beren mortal, but when I got there it was a pretty good ending...not horribly far from the final version.

[Finrod Felagund]

It makes me curious as to how much Christopher changed the story for the final rendition in the Silmarillion...

[Luthien Tinuviel]

Probably not too much, he said that it came basically from the Lay, and it seems really close to the Sil version, thus far (to where Lúthien leaves to find Beren).

[Gwaihir]

I'm sure Christopher Tolkien wouldn't dare change much of his father's works.

I like the Sil version much better. It is greatly improved and makes much more sense. However, I liked Tevildo the Cat in the Lost Tales II. Too bad Tolkien excluded that character.

[Lasgalen]

Do I need to read BoLT 1 first or are the stories in BoLT 2 independent of 1. I am interested in the Fall of Gondolin and don't want to buy 1 just yet if I don't need to (although I would eventually like to have all the HoME. Just don't have the money to buy them all now).

[Finrod Felagund]

I don't have BoLT 1 for the same reason. I think the Lost Tales is the earliest version of the Sil. I could be wrong though.