1 00:00:00,930 --> 00:00:05,130 Hello, everyone. I'm Grace Curry. And welcome to this lecture. 2 00:00:05,130 --> 00:00:10,840 What is the Silmarillion? An introduction to Tokens mythology. 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:15,650 The Silmarillion Tokens, oldest and favourite, major work. 4 00:00:15,650 --> 00:00:22,260 But she attempted to publish in some form or other first with The Hobbit in 1937. 5 00:00:22,260 --> 00:00:29,920 And again, at the time of publishing The Lord of the Rings in the early 1950s, was a prequel to these works. 6 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:40,450 Although the Silmarillion lacks Hobbit's, it features heroic, fierce and at times treacherous elves and human heroes all caught in the web of deceit, 7 00:00:40,450 --> 00:00:48,100 distrust and war stirred by a dark lord, even more powerful than Sarum. 8 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:56,550 Unlike his more famous books, Tolkan Silmarillion, as described by Barrowland Pfleger in her book Interrupted Music. 9 00:00:56,550 --> 00:01:11,120 Symphonic in scope, a huge yet UN concluded chronicle of history and epic romance. 10 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:21,270 In this lecture, we are going to briefly look at tokens early life before discussing the mythology itself and its origins in the First World War. 11 00:01:21,270 --> 00:01:29,250 It will then look at the identity of the Silmarillion in italics versus the Silmarillion in quotation marks, 12 00:01:29,250 --> 00:01:34,140 the first referring to the 1977 publication. 13 00:01:34,140 --> 00:01:43,680 And the other referencing the wider textual corpus of alternate draughts and related materials composed between 1914, 14 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,420 all the way up to Tolkien's death in nineteen seventy three. 15 00:01:48,420 --> 00:01:57,050 The lecture will also cover the chronology of the various poetic and prose manuscripts that relate to the Silmarillion mythology. 16 00:01:57,050 --> 00:02:03,570 As well as the publication dates of those materials and the history of Middle Earth series. 17 00:02:03,570 --> 00:02:10,960 We'll also look at the editorial challenges that Tolkan son and editor Christopher was dealing with. 18 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:23,960 And how he managed to reproduce his father's manuscripts in a form that was not only coherent but scholarly. 19 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:35,240 First, a bit on Tolkan himself. John Ronald Rule Tolkan was born January 3rd, 1892 in Boone, Fontane, South Africa. 20 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:45,650 Then the Orange Free State. His father, Arthur Tolkan, was a bank clerk and died of rheumatic fever when John Ronald was only four. 21 00:02:45,650 --> 00:02:49,040 His mother, Mabel, talkin nay, Suffield move. 22 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:58,260 John Ronald and his brother Hillary to England when John was two but died from complications from diabetes when John was twelve. 23 00:02:58,260 --> 00:03:08,100 Tokens early education at King Edward School in Birmingham fuelled both strong friendships and stirred intellectual curiosity. 24 00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:15,660 The transient joy of the encouragement and inspiration of three close school friends who adopt themselves. 25 00:03:15,660 --> 00:03:21,100 The Tea Club and Bhairavi in Society or Tea CBS. 26 00:03:21,100 --> 00:03:27,180 Ended in tragedy when two of the three died in the First World War. 27 00:03:27,180 --> 00:03:33,330 Profound grief and an imagination fuelled by the myths and legends of the North. 28 00:03:33,330 --> 00:03:36,730 Old Norse, old English, Finnish. 29 00:03:36,730 --> 00:03:45,820 Led to the beginning of Tulka, this legend Darrian, which he initially composed in various military hospitals while recovering from trench fever, 30 00:03:45,820 --> 00:03:50,940 contracted while serving as a signalling officer on the sun. 31 00:03:50,940 --> 00:04:00,030 This early mythology, the precursor to his more famous works, The Hobbit, 1937, and The Lord of the Rings. 32 00:04:00,030 --> 00:04:09,480 Nineteen fifty four to fifty five. Always remained the most important to token of all his literary creations. 33 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:18,680 It was a lifelong and ultimately unfinished labour. 34 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:19,940 In nineteen fifty five, 35 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:30,980 let her talk him looks back on his early desire to produce a body of more or less connected legend ranging from the Large and Kosma Organic. 36 00:04:30,980 --> 00:04:36,710 To the level of romantic fairy story, the larger, founded on the lesser. 37 00:04:36,710 --> 00:04:47,820 The lesser drawing splendour from the vast backlots, which I could dedicate simply to England, to my country. 38 00:04:47,820 --> 00:04:54,950 These sentiments mirror a passage from Enforcers 1910 novel Howards End. 39 00:04:54,950 --> 00:05:02,360 Why is not England a great mythology? Our folklore has never advanced beyond daintiness. 40 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:11,800 England still waits for the supreme moment of her literature for the great poet who shall voice her. 41 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:21,040 Looking back to the 1910s there, Lynn Pfleger observes that the imminence of war with its implied destruction of existing 42 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:29,420 culture fuelled if it did not create tokens desire to give his country and mythology. 43 00:05:29,420 --> 00:05:35,100 Gergi Lee Naggie notes, the tokens tax and the background mythological system. 44 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:42,200 They succeed in creating are essentially similar to real world mythological corpora. 45 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:55,150 And the way they invoke their mythological system. Because of the basically similar relation of text to meth. 46 00:05:55,150 --> 00:06:01,060 Tolkien's myth, like so many others, begins with a cousin Marghani. 47 00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:08,530 In the new Lindh delay, the supreme being and primary creator ERU or L'Ouverture. 48 00:06:08,530 --> 00:06:19,160 Composes music and directs the eye nor quasar angelic beings under Arrow to sing the world of Arda into existence. 49 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,480 The creation airy music is divided into three themes. 50 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:28,380 The last of which relates to the making of the children of Aluva tar. 51 00:06:28,380 --> 00:06:43,180 Ls the first born and then. The first conflict of any kind comes in the clash of the opposing themes of the iron ore. 52 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:50,620 The first and main theme is song to bring the universe and world of Arda into existence. 53 00:06:50,620 --> 00:06:58,900 Then the voices of the Einer like onto harps and loots and pipes and trumpets and vials and organs and 54 00:06:58,900 --> 00:07:07,050 like onto countless choirs singing with words begin to fashion the theme of Aluva thaat to a great music. 55 00:07:07,050 --> 00:07:15,030 And a sound a rose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the 56 00:07:15,030 --> 00:07:22,710 depths and into the heights and the places of the dwelling of aloof guitar were filled to overflowing. 57 00:07:22,710 --> 00:07:28,140 And the music and the echo of the music went out into the void. 58 00:07:28,140 --> 00:07:39,650 And it was not void. Milker, the most powerful of the iron ore rebels against Aluva Tar and the others by propounding his own dark, 59 00:07:39,650 --> 00:07:49,510 discordant musical theme, one that weaves discontent, war and violence into the nobler themes of the others. 60 00:07:49,510 --> 00:07:55,090 Clashing musics of the iron ore loyal to error and those who attune their song 61 00:07:55,090 --> 00:08:01,120 to milkers leads to the mixture of beauty and wonder on the one hand and woe, 62 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:06,700 strife and terror on the other. That play out in Arda. 63 00:08:06,700 --> 00:08:11,080 I am providing here two different versions of the music of Milker. 64 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:20,630 The first is derived from the late text, but the second taken from the earliest draught is more detailed as to the nature of this theme. 65 00:08:20,630 --> 00:08:29,620 In the 1977 Silmarillion Milkers, music is characterised as loud and vain and endlessly repeated. 66 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:31,390 It had little harmony, 67 00:08:31,390 --> 00:08:44,740 but rather a clamorous unison as many trumpets sprang upon a few notes and did a seed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice. 68 00:08:44,740 --> 00:08:50,490 The earliest description of milkers theme was very topical, given that the earliest draught, 69 00:08:50,490 --> 00:08:56,980 because Marghani was composed in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. 70 00:08:56,980 --> 00:09:08,580 It explains how through him, meaning milker has pain and misery been made in the clashing of overwhelming musics and with confusion of sound, 71 00:09:08,580 --> 00:09:11,770 of cruelty and ravening and darkness. 72 00:09:11,770 --> 00:09:27,710 Lonely Meyer and all you Trest sense of thought or thing, fowl, mists and violent flame, cold without mercy, been born and death without hope. 73 00:09:27,710 --> 00:09:32,970 In his essay, You Lose Music. The Creation of Tokens Creation Myth. 74 00:09:32,970 --> 00:09:44,740 John Ghaffar states this text to the war years around 1917 and observes an air of some battlefields in the descriptions of milkers theme. 75 00:09:44,740 --> 00:09:54,890 To elaborate on his observation, I've underlined several instances in this passage that evoke specific attributes of World War One battlefields. 76 00:09:54,890 --> 00:10:02,730 Lonely Meyer and putrid Essence recalls the mud and decay of soldiers and animals on the Western Front. 77 00:10:02,730 --> 00:10:07,630 Foul mists could be an oblique reference to poison gas. 78 00:10:07,630 --> 00:10:14,660 Violent flame evokes the effects of flame throwers and exploding ordinance. 79 00:10:14,660 --> 00:10:18,860 The last description referring to Death Without Hope, 80 00:10:18,860 --> 00:10:26,560 is especially poignant as part of a work composed months after the deaths of two close friends on some. 81 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:34,480 Robert Gillson and Jeffrey Basch Smith, former members of the team CBS from King Edward School, 82 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:49,530 who represented the earliest audience for Tolkien's mythological verse, were the Proteau Silmarillion lyrics of 1914 through 1916. 83 00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:58,740 After initial struggles in the fledgling world between the violent power hungry milker and the other Valois and the establishment of a divine island, 84 00:10:58,740 --> 00:11:03,210 Homeland and Valan are the first born of the children of Aluva TAR. 85 00:11:03,210 --> 00:11:08,520 The elves also called gnomes and fairies in earlier versions. 86 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:17,920 Awake on the shores of Middle Earth. Many follow the valour to Vallina and become the greatest, wisest and most powerful of the elves, 87 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:25,110 while others remain in middle earth called the great lands and early draughts. 88 00:11:25,110 --> 00:11:32,490 Later, the race of men awakens and fight alongside the elves in the later wars. 89 00:11:32,490 --> 00:11:41,680 The Silmarillion is essentially a history of the elfs, although it features several prominent mortal heroes as well. 90 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:51,870 Tokens elves are not the miniature htwe inhabitants of the fairy in worlds of Shakespeare and a Victorian and Edwardian children's literature. 91 00:11:51,870 --> 00:12:01,260 But more to the magisterial, to Atha down in the Irish myth and the light elves of the Old Norse, Ed does. 92 00:12:01,260 --> 00:12:07,680 The Silmarillion elves are human in height and are stronger and more beautiful than mortal's. 93 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:14,190 In the 1977 Silmarillion, they are divided into three main peoples. 94 00:12:14,190 --> 00:12:30,800 The nolder, the most skilled and learnt of the Alps. The van, you're the fairest and wisest and the two, Larry, who are seafarer's and shipbuilders. 95 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:39,460 Much like the historical period in which Tolkan lived with its two major world wars in the first half of the 20th century. 96 00:12:39,460 --> 00:12:45,950 Middle Earth also has two major cycles of conflict in its history. 97 00:12:45,950 --> 00:12:52,310 The war of the jewels in the first stage. The subject of the Silmarillion. 98 00:12:52,310 --> 00:12:58,820 And the war of the ring in the third age, the subject of the Lord of the Rings. 99 00:12:58,820 --> 00:13:06,130 The origin of the first war came when the most skilled and learnt amongst the nolder or deep elves, the Smith, 100 00:13:06,130 --> 00:13:13,680 Fay and Haw, crafted three gems that contained the light of the two magical trees that lit Vallina. 101 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:26,750 Milkers theft of these jewels and murder of Fay Indorse father drives Fay and or into a mad rage and a disastrous old. 102 00:13:26,750 --> 00:13:31,670 Fan or Suares to pursue with vengeance and hatred to the ends of the world. 103 00:13:31,670 --> 00:13:39,770 Valla Demon elf or man as yet unborn or any creature, great or small, good or evil, 104 00:13:39,770 --> 00:13:51,720 that time should bring forth unto the end of days who so should hold or take or keep a soul merill from their possession. 105 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:59,140 Or is joined in this oath by his seven sons. And afterwards leads along with his valiant half brother, Finn Gulf, 106 00:13:59,140 --> 00:14:07,570 and a large contingent of the nolder to make an incursion against Milker and his forces in Middle Earth. 107 00:14:07,570 --> 00:14:15,730 So begins the centuries long conflict between the most powerful elves and their kingdoms and milkers armies of orcs, 108 00:14:15,730 --> 00:14:28,650 dragons and battle rocks, the ladder creatures that have much in common with the fire giants of Norse mythology. 109 00:14:28,650 --> 00:14:37,530 In the midst of this war cycle and the related history are the three great tales centring on moral heroes. 110 00:14:37,530 --> 00:14:45,270 The love story of the mortal baron who falls in love with the half elf, half Maya, Princess Ruthian. 111 00:14:45,270 --> 00:14:49,380 The tragedy of the troubled antihero Turin Turin Embar, 112 00:14:49,380 --> 00:14:56,580 who kills the mightiest of milkers dragons in the manner of Sickert the full song from EdTech Legend. 113 00:14:56,580 --> 00:14:59,460 And finally, the account of Toure, 114 00:14:59,460 --> 00:15:08,000 whose fate becomes entwined with the doom of Gandal and the most powerful of the three major Elvan kingdoms of Middle Earth. 115 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:20,260 And the Kamelot equivalent of Thomkins mythology. So from a textual stand. 116 00:15:20,260 --> 00:15:30,080 Over the years, the Silmarillion has been regarded with some wariness was it a true authorial creation or an editorial composition? 117 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:42,570 It did not reflect the intent of the original author. The early concerns immediately after publication continued to be echoed many decades later. 118 00:15:42,570 --> 00:15:51,600 More recent assessments of the Silmarillion have characterised it as a collaborative effort between Tolkan and his third son. 119 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,740 And as a mediated text. 120 00:15:54,740 --> 00:16:06,330 Douglas Kane in his monograph, Arda Reconstructed, which is dedicated to the detective work of how the 1977 Silmarillion was assembled. 121 00:16:06,330 --> 00:16:12,610 Observes that the work pushes the limits of editorial intervention. 122 00:16:12,610 --> 00:16:23,490 And amongst other things, Cain complains about reductions made from the source draughts. 123 00:16:23,490 --> 00:16:34,480 Anxieties over the extent of Christopher Tomkins editorial intervention stirred critical debates over the candidacy of the 1977 publication. 124 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:46,660 Fairline Pfleger feels that the 1977 text gives a misleading impression of coherence and finality, as if it were a definitive canonical text, 125 00:16:46,660 --> 00:16:54,250 whereas the mass of material from which that volume was taken is a jumble of overlapping and often competing stories. 126 00:16:54,250 --> 00:17:05,210 Annells and Lexicons. Despite such assertions, Allan Turner observes that the book stands as the canonical work. 127 00:17:05,210 --> 00:17:16,310 The standard against which all variations are measured. By virtue of its status as the first and most unified form of the mythology. 128 00:17:16,310 --> 00:17:21,530 Niels EVAR Agwai goes as far as to say that for most readers, 129 00:17:21,530 --> 00:17:31,770 the 1977 Silmarillion is the standard authoritative source of information about the older days. 130 00:17:31,770 --> 00:17:37,240 For a number of scholars, the shadow of the editor loomed large over this long awaited, 131 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:45,430 yet controversial product, which was only a small piece of Tolkien's life work on the project. 132 00:17:45,430 --> 00:17:52,540 In the introduction to the Book of Lost Tales, an earlier version of the mythology Christopher Tolkan regretted, 133 00:17:52,540 --> 00:18:01,020 as he put it, leaving no suggestion of what it the 1977 Silmarillion is. 134 00:18:01,020 --> 00:18:10,130 And how within the imagined world it came to be. 135 00:18:10,130 --> 00:18:16,430 Christopher Tolkan responded directly to such concerns by publishing a few of the earlier draughts of 136 00:18:16,430 --> 00:18:26,180 individual stories in The Unfinished Tales published in 1980 and shown here in the bottom right hand corner. 137 00:18:26,180 --> 00:18:30,940 Rest appeared in the 12 volume history of Middle Earth series. 138 00:18:30,940 --> 00:18:36,490 Over half of which was dedicated to Silmarillion material. 139 00:18:36,490 --> 00:18:42,460 David Bratman explains in his overview of the collection how the history in the title, 140 00:18:42,460 --> 00:18:51,970 The History of Middle Earth refers to both the internal history of the secondary world, of the legendary and the external history of the author. 141 00:18:51,970 --> 00:19:01,780 Writing about it. It provides the reader with options to use the draughts either as a resource and encyclopaedia. 142 00:19:01,780 --> 00:19:10,740 Or as a narrative. The title Silmarillion in quotation marks is the scholarly designation for the textual 143 00:19:10,740 --> 00:19:17,660 variance preserved in these volumes which trace the development of an unfinished opus. 144 00:19:17,660 --> 00:19:26,440 The Silmarillion corpus was composed and first intense and then sporadic fits over the course of 60 years. 145 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:31,930 Tolkan began writing in earnest during the winter of 1916 and 17, 146 00:19:31,930 --> 00:19:40,120 although a collection of lyrics featuring figures or places from the mythology were composed as early as 1914. 147 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:49,620 And some of these are preserved in the Book of Lost Tales. Elizabeth Weddington in her book The Evolution of Tolkien's Mythology, 148 00:19:49,620 --> 00:19:56,880 identifies six stages of composition for the developing corpus and the substrata of this complex 149 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:04,050 textual tradition are preserved in the posthumously published volumes edited from often paleo, 150 00:20:04,050 --> 00:20:12,520 graphically difficult manuscripts. In his forward to the 1977 Silmarillion, 151 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:21,550 Christopher explains how the same legends came to be retold in longer and shorter forms and in different styles. 152 00:20:21,550 --> 00:20:28,870 My father came to conceive of the Silmarillion as a compilation compendious narrative made long afterwards 153 00:20:28,870 --> 00:20:38,670 from sources of great diversity poems and ADLs and oral tales that had survived an age long tradition. 154 00:20:38,670 --> 00:20:47,120 Christopher also describes this corpus as a vast repository and labyrinth of story poetry, 155 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:56,440 a philosophy and a philology with everything from forays into heroic verse in the ancient English alliterative metre. 156 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:06,880 Exercises in severe historical analysis of his own extremely difficult languages. 157 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,190 Volumes one through five and nine through 12. 158 00:21:09,190 --> 00:21:15,940 Of the history of Middle Earth consist of verse and prose, redactions in various states of completion of tokens, 159 00:21:15,940 --> 00:21:24,010 mythology spanning the 1910s and twenties and thirties, and later the 1950s and 1960s. 160 00:21:24,010 --> 00:21:30,010 Volume six through nine are predominantly concerned with alternate draughts of the Lord of the Rings, 161 00:21:30,010 --> 00:21:41,200 with the exception of one Silmarillion related text. The Notion Club papers, which appears in Volume nine. 162 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,700 The unfinished tales of numinous and middle earth already briefly mentioned, well, 163 00:21:45,700 --> 00:21:54,470 not part of the 12 volume series serves the same function as the Silmarillion focussed volumes of the history of Middle Earth. 164 00:21:54,470 --> 00:22:05,230 Two techs relate directly to the Silmarillion, the tale of the Children of Heren, which is the longest prose account of the story of Turin. 165 00:22:05,230 --> 00:22:14,010 Also of tour and his coming to Gandal in a fragmentary later version of the Tale of the Fall of Goblin. 166 00:22:14,010 --> 00:22:24,150 The unfinished tales also feature stories from the second and third ages covering materials pertaining to the Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings. 167 00:22:24,150 --> 00:22:32,080 The introduction to the volume presents Christopher's earliest responses to critiques on his editorial practise. 168 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:42,610 He explains how he produced the 1977 publication in order to be of the same order as the writings published by my father himself. 169 00:22:42,610 --> 00:22:51,200 A completed and cohesive entity rather than a complex of divergent texts interlinked by commentary. 170 00:22:51,200 --> 00:23:00,150 This last description characterises the nature of the then forthcoming publications. 171 00:23:00,150 --> 00:23:07,410 The Book of Lost Tales Volumes one and two, composed between 1916 and 1920, 172 00:23:07,410 --> 00:23:16,230 is a collection of prose tales that represents a considerable but not yet complete account of the first stage legend, Darrian. 173 00:23:16,230 --> 00:23:25,260 Tokens tales are organised within a semi historic sized frame narrative in which the mortal wander Ariel, 174 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:33,510 or one who dreams alone, also called Engle a name which, according to Tokens early notes, relates to the room and gown. 175 00:23:33,510 --> 00:23:39,690 In southern Denmark. Finds a hidden civilisation of ancient fairies or elves. 176 00:23:39,690 --> 00:23:46,330 The island of Tall Dressier, originally conceived as ancient England. 177 00:23:46,330 --> 00:23:57,560 In a later reconceived frame, narrative aerialists transformed into the Anglo-Saxon traveller ALF winner, whose name is old English for L friend. 178 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:08,770 The inhabitants of a grand magical cottage on tolerances to recount stories of their glorious past before mortals dominated the world. 179 00:24:08,770 --> 00:24:10,900 This collection was never finished. 180 00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:19,910 Trailing off with a variety of fragmentary tales, some of which appear in the next volume, along with outlines and notes. 181 00:24:19,910 --> 00:24:29,460 These two volumes represent what Elizabeth Wittington identifies as tokens, first of six stages of Silmarillion composition. 182 00:24:29,460 --> 00:24:38,840 The serialised format and framing story of the Book of Lost Tales recalls the format of such classics as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, 183 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:48,680 Catch Yeo's to Cameron and More Contemporary for Tolkan, William Morris's 1868 Romance Earthly Paradise, 184 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:53,710 a collection of tales told by a group of travellers gathered on an island. 185 00:24:53,710 --> 00:25:00,850 The work was given as a gift by another officer. We'll token was on the some. 186 00:25:00,850 --> 00:25:09,610 The Lost Tales contains all three of the great tales that would recur and verse and prose redactions throughout the Silmarillion Corpus. 187 00:25:09,610 --> 00:25:18,090 The Love Story of the Elf. Later a mortal Derren and Elf Princess Luthan in the tale of two new VEO. 188 00:25:18,090 --> 00:25:25,000 The tragedy of the ill fated mortal warrior turned to a bar, int. bar and the follow. 189 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:36,170 The account of the fall of the renowned Elvan city of Lin in the tale of the fall of condoling, as well as early versions of the surrounding history. 190 00:25:36,170 --> 00:25:44,780 With the exception of the frame story, the cottage of lost play, these three tales are also the oldest in the collection, 191 00:25:44,780 --> 00:25:54,940 all composed during or in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. 192 00:25:54,940 --> 00:25:59,800 There is arguably a case to be made regarding the earliest mythological poems 193 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:05,410 and prose draughts as war literature based on the time of their composition, 194 00:26:05,410 --> 00:26:11,830 especially the 1917 war themed narrative, The Tale of the Fall of Gonda Lin, 195 00:26:11,830 --> 00:26:19,080 which recounts the demise of the greatest of the Elf City states through treason and invasion. 196 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:28,140 In his biographical study, Tolkan and the Great War, John Garthe notes the kinship between the magical mechanical dragons that assail the 197 00:26:28,140 --> 00:26:33,810 city walls and the tanks that began to appear on the Western Front during the year. 198 00:26:33,810 --> 00:26:38,540 Tolkien was composing his epic narrative. 199 00:26:38,540 --> 00:26:49,280 The earliest the cows for tokens, composition of early languages, notes and possible summaries were various military venues in England and France. 200 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:54,410 In letters addressed to Christopher during his service in the Second World War, 201 00:26:54,410 --> 00:27:05,130 Tolkan explained how he first began to write the history of the Nome's meaning the Silmarillion or the Lost Tales in army huts crowded, 202 00:27:05,130 --> 00:27:11,560 filled with the noise of gramophones. In another letter from the same year, 203 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:20,760 he outlined the various unlikely locations for jotting down the earliest concepts and excerpts for his developing history. 204 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:32,740 These include grimy canteen's lectures and cold fox bell tents and even some in dugouts under shell fire. 205 00:27:32,740 --> 00:27:44,310 He continues to reinforce these origins many years later, citing camps and hospitals between 1915 and 1918 as places of literary invention. 206 00:27:44,310 --> 00:27:57,700 Is 19 17 tale of the Fall of Gonda, Lynn was a product of his medical leave taken after the battle of some. 207 00:27:57,700 --> 00:28:01,750 After abandoning the Book of Lost Tales around 1920, 208 00:28:01,750 --> 00:28:12,580 Tolkan embarked on the lengthy project of developing what he called the vast backlogs of his ancient history slash mythology. 209 00:28:12,580 --> 00:28:19,940 In the 1920s and 1930s, he alternately resorted to poetry and prose summaries, 210 00:28:19,940 --> 00:28:26,350 delays of Blerick and Volume three represents along with the next volume in the series. 211 00:28:26,350 --> 00:28:32,630 The second stage of Tolkien's work on the mythology. It contains two narrative poems. 212 00:28:32,630 --> 00:28:38,720 The lay of Lethlean, composed between twenty and nineteen thirty one, 213 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:51,290 a verse version of the story of Barran and Luthan as first told in the tale of two Neuville and the Lay of the Children of Heren, abandoned in 1925. 214 00:28:51,290 --> 00:29:02,580 The Story of Turin tour, Barr told in verse. His volume also features shorter verse relating to the mythology as listed here. 215 00:29:02,580 --> 00:29:10,410 And most of these are unfinished or fragmentary pieces. 216 00:29:10,410 --> 00:29:15,180 Volume for the shaping of Middle Earth is a continuation of the second stage of the 217 00:29:15,180 --> 00:29:21,060 textual corpus and begins with prose fragments continuing the Book of Lost Tales. 218 00:29:21,060 --> 00:29:29,580 More significant are the two prose versions of the mythology which dispense with the mediator figure of Ariel and the frame narrative. 219 00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:41,670 The first sketch of the mythology from 1926 is just that a sketch or prose outline of the key events of the first stage, a highly condensed form. 220 00:29:41,670 --> 00:29:47,550 It was originally intended to provide background for poetic recasting of the tale of two Newville 221 00:29:47,550 --> 00:29:54,980 and turn bar on the follow look for assessment by Tolkien's former tutor from King Edward School. 222 00:29:54,980 --> 00:29:59,120 Although the original intent was not to rewrite the Book of Lost Tales. 223 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:07,630 This reformulation of the old bludgeoned Darrian material inspired a permanent restructuring based on its model. 224 00:30:07,630 --> 00:30:11,910 The sketch is followed by a longer, more formal prose text. 225 00:30:11,910 --> 00:30:19,820 The Quinta Nolder wow from nineteen thirty, which expands considerably on its predecessor. 226 00:30:19,820 --> 00:30:29,400 Volume four also includes the earliest annals of Valinda and the earliest annals of Clarient from the early 1930s. 227 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:37,630 And both are formatted as chronicles, listing highly abbreviated accounts of historical events by deep. 228 00:30:37,630 --> 00:30:45,240 In the manner of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other similar analysts histories from the Middle Ages. 229 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:58,840 Within Tokens World, these works were supposed to be histories composed by chroniclers, living in either Valinda or Boolarra and. 230 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:05,710 Volume five. The Lost Road and other writings is home to texts written during the composition of 231 00:31:05,710 --> 00:31:11,680 The Hobbit and before the lengthy and all consuming project of the Lord of the Rings, 232 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:18,260 which very nearly suspended all activity relating to the early mythology for many years. 233 00:31:18,260 --> 00:31:27,190 This book features the first version of the Atlantis influence narrative, the fall of New INOR from the 1930s. 234 00:31:27,190 --> 00:31:37,290 And the unfinished modern time travel story, The Lost Road, which formed a frame around another version of the new Menora in material. 235 00:31:37,290 --> 00:31:44,700 Additionally, there is a fourth prose version of Thomkins mythology, the unfinished Quintus Silmarillion, 236 00:31:44,700 --> 00:31:51,410 from the mid to late 1930s, whose composition coincided with that of The Hobbit. 237 00:31:51,410 --> 00:31:59,820 And in fact, Tolkan unsuccessfully attempted to publish the incomplete Quintus Silmarillion, along with other related texts. 238 00:31:59,820 --> 00:32:09,840 In 1937. More Chronical style material is present from the late 1930s, along with the new Linda Lay, 239 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:16,650 the cosmological myth that was to function like a prologue in the 1977 Silmarillion 240 00:32:16,650 --> 00:32:21,440 had replaced the earlier caused Marghani found in the Book of Lost Tales. 241 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:27,700 They're called The Music of the Iron or. 242 00:32:27,700 --> 00:32:38,830 The 10th and 11th volumes of the series More Goths Ring and the War of the Jewels each include portions of the later Quenton Silmarillion, 243 00:32:38,830 --> 00:32:49,410 a rewrite of the nineteen thirties text of the same name, a token refurbished and expanded in stages, but left unfinished. 244 00:32:49,410 --> 00:32:56,250 This late version was the base text for the 1977 publication. 245 00:32:56,250 --> 00:33:06,450 More Goths Ring contains two phases of later Quenton material. Phase one from the early 1950s and phase two from around 1958. 246 00:33:06,450 --> 00:33:10,620 It also preserves another version of the Ayna, Linda Lee. 247 00:33:10,620 --> 00:33:22,070 The annals of Amman from the early 1950s and some miscellaneous material relating to the mythology. 248 00:33:22,070 --> 00:33:31,250 The War of the Jewels, in addition to further later CUENTA chapters, also features the great annals from the late 1950s, 249 00:33:31,250 --> 00:33:40,920 which consisted of two closely related works and was also used extensively in the 1977 Silmarillion. 250 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:46,840 It also has the wanderings of Heren, which follows the post captivity exile of Turin, 251 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:55,690 Turin, Barr's father, but was not included in the 1977 Silmarillion. 252 00:33:55,690 --> 00:33:59,890 The final volume in the series, The Peoples of Middle Earth, 253 00:33:59,890 --> 00:34:09,050 contains tokens latest writings mainly from the 1960s, along with some from the last few months of his life. 254 00:34:09,050 --> 00:34:16,890 These include the remainder of the late CUENTA texts, some linguistic essays as listed here. 255 00:34:16,890 --> 00:34:23,640 A work purported to be by an Elvish scribe, chronicler of Gonda Lynn Pingle of. 256 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:32,490 Who is also the attributed author of The Annals of Valaria and and co-author of The Annals of Aman. 257 00:34:32,490 --> 00:34:45,140 It also features more incomplete stories. Christopher Tolkan passed away on January 16th, 2020, 258 00:34:45,140 --> 00:34:51,340 and he leaves behind a remarkable legacy of dedicated editorial scholarship that which 259 00:34:51,340 --> 00:34:55,420 readers and scholars would have a much more limited perspective of Gera are tokens, 260 00:34:55,420 --> 00:34:59,560 writings. During the last decade of his life, 261 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:05,410 Christopher assembled textual variants of the three great tales of the mythology in 262 00:35:05,410 --> 00:35:10,480 order to enable those interested in the development of the narratives concerning Turin, 263 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:20,170 Baron, Ruthian and Toure to have a clear understanding of what was gained, lost and modified over time in the different versions. 264 00:35:20,170 --> 00:35:26,050 While most of the texts provided had been previously published in the history of Middle Earth Series, 265 00:35:26,050 --> 00:35:33,190 Christopher thought it best to produce volumes that allowed for comparative analysis of the development, 266 00:35:33,190 --> 00:35:38,170 in particular of the tales of Baron and Lucien and the fall of Gandelman. 267 00:35:38,170 --> 00:35:42,140 The exception to the rule here is the children of Heren. 268 00:35:42,140 --> 00:35:50,980 Which only contains the longest prose version of that tale and omits the other poetic and prose versions. 269 00:35:50,980 --> 00:35:59,050 These three volumes provide a chance to experience the three great tales outside the context of the mythology, 270 00:35:59,050 --> 00:36:09,590 as in the manner of Old Norse sagas or mediaeval romances. HarperCollins will be releasing a new volume of unpublished material. 271 00:36:09,590 --> 00:36:16,420 The nature of Middle Earth scheduled for release June 24th, 2021. 272 00:36:16,420 --> 00:36:24,550 The forthcoming book is going to be based on photocopied materials sent by Christopher Tolkan before his passing The Token linguist Carl 273 00:36:24,550 --> 00:36:36,050 Hofstetter and will reproduce Tokens essays on his legend Darrian from the years 1959 through 1973 about the nature of Middle Earth. 274 00:36:36,050 --> 00:36:40,610 Both in the metaphysical and natural historical census. 275 00:36:40,610 --> 00:36:54,990 Some of these will relate to the Silmarillion and the unfinished tales and will be a useful resource to read alongside the wider Silmarillion Corpus. 276 00:36:54,990 --> 00:36:58,460 Here I've listed the key texts for the legendary, um, 277 00:36:58,460 --> 00:37:05,950 if you were interested in reading the whole history, the best place to start is the 1977 Silmarillion. 278 00:37:05,950 --> 00:37:12,060 Anyone wishing to delve further could then read the rest of the versions in the order of production. 279 00:37:12,060 --> 00:37:22,740 The Book of Lost Tales, the first two volumes of the series, the sketch in the Shaping of Middle Earth, the two 1930s Quintus. 280 00:37:22,740 --> 00:37:28,620 The earlier one in the shaping of Metallurgic. And the slightly later won in the Lost Road. 281 00:37:28,620 --> 00:37:35,500 And finally, the late Quinter, which is spread across more Goths Ring and the War of the Jewels. 282 00:37:35,500 --> 00:37:39,790 Well, the last work may seem redundant with the 1977 text. 283 00:37:39,790 --> 00:37:45,820 It does contain extended passages and bits of dialogue that were reduced or excised 284 00:37:45,820 --> 00:37:55,340 for the Silmarillion and can be useful for textual comparison or character study. 285 00:37:55,340 --> 00:38:01,400 This is only a limited sampling of the secondary literature dealing with the Silmarillion anthology. 286 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:10,120 The work's listed here are ones that deal with either the textual history or the creative development of the legend Darrian. 287 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:20,530 Berlin, Pfleger spoke, interrupted music traces not only the development of a key literary influences on Takins legend Darrian and is 288 00:38:20,530 --> 00:38:32,480 noteworthy for being one of a limited number of book length literary studies exclusively dedicated to the Silmarillion. 289 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:40,610 Worthy of special mention. Are the books by John Garthe? His biographical study, Tolkan and the Great War, 290 00:38:40,610 --> 00:38:46,970 traces the earliest developments of the mythology during the First World War and the impact of tokens, 291 00:38:46,970 --> 00:38:51,790 early school friends from the team, CBS on his writing. 292 00:38:51,790 --> 00:38:55,840 Garth's other book, The Worlds of J.R., Our Token, 293 00:38:55,840 --> 00:39:04,980 features illuminating details relating to the early mythology and its links with real locations in England and Europe. 294 00:39:04,980 --> 00:39:15,020 It has much to say about places that inspired character and place names in the Silmarillion Corpus as well as in The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. 295 00:39:15,020 --> 00:39:22,910 And these are accompanied by beautiful illustrations and photographs. 296 00:39:22,910 --> 00:39:29,530 So how far did Tolkan succeed in his original goal of creating a native mythology? 297 00:39:29,530 --> 00:39:34,800 We'll leave you with some of the literary assessments featured in periodicals from around the world 298 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:41,900 that were quoted on the back cover of the 2008 HarperCollins paperback edition of The Silmarillion. 299 00:39:41,900 --> 00:39:48,970 The Financial Times says that the Silmarillion Times rises to the greatness of true myth. 300 00:39:48,970 --> 00:39:57,440 The Toronto Globe and Mail calls it a grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book shot through with heroism and hope. 301 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:09,810 Most tellingly, The Guardian asks how given little over half a century, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people? 302 00:40:09,810 --> 00:40:22,500 So it seems, at least in the view of one writer at The Guardian, Token achieved his early goal of creating a mythology for his own country. 303 00:40:22,500 --> 00:40:28,040 The cover shown here is not the 2008 edition, but another showing, Ted Narced, 304 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:34,130 miss beautiful portrayal of Mangler, the last surviving son of Fan, or who, 305 00:40:34,130 --> 00:40:37,230 after briefly recapturing one of the Sohmer LS, 306 00:40:37,230 --> 00:40:49,010 casts it away into the sea as his moral failings have now made him unworthy of the holy Jewelz made by his own father. 307 00:40:49,010 --> 00:40:54,830 I hope this lecture has intrigued you enough to pursue tokens earliest literary creations, 308 00:40:54,830 --> 00:41:04,560 which are striking counterparts to his more famous works and our well deserving of both scholarly attention and general interest. 309 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:11,380 The collective corpus is more than a mere ancient backdrop to The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. 310 00:41:11,380 --> 00:41:20,610 It is of great literary value in its own right and has been gaining greater recognition over the past few decades. 311 00:41:20,610 --> 00:41:25,280 Thanks to Christopher Tokens tireless and dedicated scholarship, 312 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:35,170 the Silmarillion Corpus will continue to provide a more expansive view of tokens, imagination and inspirations. 313 00:41:35,170 --> 00:41:38,925 Thank you all for listening.