The Unwritten Book

[Valandil]

What "Unwritten Book" by Tolkien would you most like to read? For me, it would be "The Chronicles of Arnor" - and would tell ALL ABOUT Arnor, Arthedain (and sister nations) and the Northern Dunedain in the time of the chieftains. Each king and chieftain, their families, their struggles, the lifestyles, towns, the customs, etc., etc.

[Astaldo]

I would like to read something like "The Lost Kingdom of Khazad-dum" or "The Chronicles of Erebor" os something about Dwarves.

[GuardianRanger]

A couple of things that come to mind might be:

The Blue Wizards
The Haradrim

Two subjects that really are not touched on much (at least, as far as I know without having read HOME.)

[Barliman Butterbur]

What "Unwritten Book" by Tolkien would you most like to read? For me, it would be "The Chronicles of Arnor" - and would tell ALL ABOUT Arnor, Arthedain (and sister nations) and the Northern Dunedain in the time of the chieftains. Each king and chieftain, their families, their struggles, the lifestyles, towns, the customs, etc., etc.

I would like to have seen him write a book that deals with the lost road that leads from our world to Middle-earth!

Barley

[Astaldo]

I would like to have seen him write a book that deals with the lost road that leads from our world to Middle-earth!

Barley
Yeah. I would like to have a book like this

[Aiwendil2]

1. A full Tale of Earendil - this is the one major story in the Legendarium for which we have nothing but the very compressed accounts in S, Q, and the Annals of Beleriand.

2. A large-scale telling of the Fall of Numenor and the Last Alliance - this strikes me as being capable of sustaining more than a short work like the Akallabeth. I think that Amandil, Elendil, Isildur, Anarion, and Ar-Pharazon would make great characters in a novel-length version.

3. Maglor's Noldolante - a full telling of the flight of the Noldor. Like the Fall of Numenor, I think this story has everything needed for a great novel.

4. The Lost Road - I found this really intriguing, and I wish we had more than four chapters of it. I'd love to read some of the intermediate chapters, between the modern ones and the Numenorean - some of the ideas in the outline sounded very interesting.

5. Tal-Elmar - for some reason, this fragment really drew me in. I'm not sure whether it was really going anywhere, but I think it could have gone somewhere good.

[Inderjit S]

Great points, Aiwendil! I especially agree with point 2-I wish Tolkien had wrote about the Last Alliance more, numbers involved etc. who was there, and how Elendil and Gil-Galad killed Sauron. Also the story of Tal-Elmar sounded very interesting-I wish Tolkien had finished it.

[Astaldo]

There are hundreds of pages that could be writen by Prof. Tolkien and many stories but his world is so huge that if he was still alive and could write we will still wanted more books about somethings that it is not explained very well :)

[Inderjit S]

Of course-but then he would not have much of a life! Middle-Earth is so vast that it would have been impossible for him to explain everything and given that he kept on making changes or abandoning this or that text I don't think he could or would have done it.

[Beleg]

I wish he had written more about Numenore, the most mystical and beautiful of his creations and given the various fragmantations scattered throughout his works a more expanded and coherent form.

[greypilgrim]

I want to read more about Tom Bombadil. Of course, this creature was very powerful and important...*somehow*...maybe he was the embodiment of all unnacounted-for Maia spirits?

Also, I want more
Gandalf.

and also to know why the dwarves wore those masks they put on to fight that dragon in the Sil *reminds myself to read the Silmarillion again*

[Eledhwen]

Of course-but then he would not have much of a life! He spent much less of his time in Middle-earth than he would have liked. Look at the Letters, and how many are apologies for the lateness of this and that writing, because University duties and more mundane stuff like mowing the lawn got in the way, not to mention bouts of ill health.

I would like to read a full account of the life of Bandobras (Bullroarer) Took and the fell winter of 1311 (2911), as well as all the above :)

[Barliman Butterbur]

...I would like to read a full account of the life of Bandobras (Bullroarer) Took and the fell winter of 1311 (2911), as well as all the above :)

I don't know how many of you have ever read "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum. His books were illustrated by John R. Neill. When Baum died, Neill took over the Oz series with many more books about Oz, in the same spirit, and some of his sequels were, I thought, even better than Baum's two or three Oz books. When I was a little boy, I loved those books, and my mother made sure to give me a new Oz book at every opportunity.

Perhaps someone will do the same with Tolkien's characters (although I highly doubt it). That person would have to be a writer of extraordinary ability and insight into Tolkien's writings, and gain the confidence of the Tolkien Estate. But I think it would be worth it, were someone of that quality actually to exist. Then you'd find out what happened to Bullroarer!

Barley

[Astaldo]

I do not think that anyone (except Christopher) could write in the same way that Prof. Tolkien did.

[Barliman Butterbur]

I want to ...to know why the dwarves wore those masks they put on to fight that dragon in the Sil...

It appears that the main purpose was to at least partially shield them from dragonfire, and a secondary purpose was to strike fear into their enemies:

"Last of all the eastern force to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegost, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. And but for them Glaurung and his brood would have withered all that was left of the Noldor."

Barley

[Gothmog]

Just a point to think about. It was never JRRT's intention to try to write the whole saga of Middle-earth himself. Not even when he first thought about such a vast idea.

From Letter 131 To Milton Waldman (not surprisingly :D)
Do not laugh! But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story-the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the vast backcloths – which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country. It should possess the tone and quality that I desired, somewhat cool and clear, be redolent of our 'air' (the clime and soil of the North West, meaning Britain and the hither parts of Europe: not Italy or the Aegean, still less the East), and, while possessing (if I could achieve it) the fair elusive beauty that some call Celtic (though it is rarely found in genuine ancient Celtic things), it should be 'high', purged of the gross, and fit for the more adult mind of a land long now steeped in poetry. I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd.So it may well have been the case that had any approached Prof. Tolkien during his life with a request to 'Fill out' some of the skeched stories he may have been happy for them to do so. However, that is something that we cannot now know.

[Barliman Butterbur]

...it may well have been the case that had any approached Prof. Tolkien during his life with a request to 'Fill out' some of the sketched stories he may have been happy for them to do so. However, that is something that we cannot now know.

Ha! Fascinating! Opens up new vistas all right!

Barley

[Lhunithiliel]

How about a full-length Feanoriada ?! ;) :D

[Barliman Butterbur]

How about a full-length Feanoriada ?! ;) :D

How about "The Prancing Pony: A History of the Butterburs of Bree"?

Barley

[Eledhwen]

How about "The Prancing Pony: A History of the Butterburs of Bree"?

BarleyI like it! Starting with the whole village waiting for old Hopman Butterbur's beer to be ready. He brewed it in his own home, of course, same as everyone else; but come mid-autumn, everyone in Bree had the same question on their lips "Is old Hopman's beer ready yet?" Until one year, by popular request, Hopman gave over more of his small plot of land to the growing of Hops and Barley than vegetables for his own use. Thus is was, more by accident than design, that Hopman and his son Darmalt needed to sell their beer so they could eat. They knocked down a wall to make two rooms into one, and opened the front parlour to all comers.

"What about a name, Dad?" Darmalt was standing outside, looking up at the front door as his father studied plans for a new wing for guest rooms. Hopman looked at his son. Darmalt's broad grin made his ruddy cheeks stand out like ripe apples, just like they did when he was a small tot; but in those days it was followed by a peal of merry laughter.

Hopman remembered with fondness, his son standing at the garden fence, now torn up to accommodate the foundations of the new guest wing. He would watch for old Mrs Ferney's grey pony to pass. The old lady always smiled and winked at him, then whispered to her pony, "Yo, silver; Dance!" Silver would then arch her head proudly, and prance gaily for Darmalt, who rewarded the pair with a burst of his famous giggling laughter.

Darmalt became more serious after his mother died; and now had a good business head on his shoulders. But in a secret place in Hopman's memory, his son would always be his ruddy cheeked little boy. He thought in silence for a moment, enjoying his memories. Then, almost to himself, he said; "Call it The Prancing Pony."

"You know, Dad, that name makes me smile." laughed Darmalt. "Prancing Pony it is, then." Hopman smiled, and his rough old hand squeezed Darmalt's shoulder.

"I'll get to work on a sign." he said.

[Firawyn]

I wish Tolkien had left more info on what he would still be writing were he alive today and shared it with someone so they could continue the sega. *frown* Why don't men think about the future?!?! ;)

[Barliman Butterbur]

I like it!...
"You know, Dad, that name makes me smile." laughed Darmalt. "Prancing Pony it is, then." Hopman smiled, and his rough old hand squeezed Darmalt's shoulder.

"I'll get to work on a sign." he said.

By God m'lady, but you can write a tale when you've a mind! I really enjoyed that! Keep going, keep going, that was wonderful!:D

Barley

[Eledhwen]

Thanks for the encouragement m'dear Barliman! :)

The writing of such ditties is probably the reason the book I am writing has yet to hit 50,000 words. I am so easily distracted by the rest of my life; and having read Tolkien's letters, I can quite understand that he took ten years to get the sequel to The Hobbit off the ground, and that the Silmarillion was never completed to his own satisfaction (how could it be? It was another growing, living world, like Leaf by Niggle).

[Gothmog]

Of course there is another possible reason of the difficulty of getting his works to the publisher.

This is from "JRR Tolkien a biography" by Humphrey Carpenter:
Tolkien had a passion for perfection in written work of any kind, whether it be philology or stories. This grew from his emotional commitment to his work, which did not permit him to treat it in any manner other than the deeply serious. Nothing was allowed to reach the printer until it had been revised, reconsidered, and polished – in which respect he was the opposite of C. S. Lewis, who sent manuscripts off for publication with scarcely a second glance at them. Lewis, well aware of this difference between them, wrote of Tolkien: 'His standard of self-criticism was high and the mere suggestion of publication usually set him upon a revision, in the course of which so many new ideas occurred to him that where his friends had hoped for the final text of an old work they actually got the first draft of a new one.'
It is quite possible that Tolkien would never have got the Sil. finished to his satisfaction. No matter how much time he had to work on it.

[Barliman Butterbur]

Of course there is another possible reason of the difficulty of getting his works to the publisher.

This is from "JRR Tolkien a biography" by Humphrey Carpenter:

It is quite possible that Tolkien would never have got the Sil. finished to his satisfaction.

More than merely possible, considering what actually happened...

Barley

[Gothmog]

Ooops :o

Well spoted Barly :) I rushed the post and missed out a complete sentence :o Post now edited to read as it should.

[Eledhwen]

His standard of self-criticism was high and the mere suggestion of publication usually set him upon a revision, in the course of which so many new ideas occurred to him that where his friends had hoped for the final text of an old work they actually got the first draft of a new one.I'm using a public computer, so I can't remember what Tolkien was asked to write a foreword (or critique) of, but the result evolved into a new story of his own.

[Eledhwen]

Yes, I'm at home and I've found it in the preface to letter 262. George MacDonald would have been delighted that persusing on his works should produce this gem of a story. I also read that Alf was based on the chef at Merton College.

I would like to find out what happened to those other hobbits that went off into the wilds, never to return (Tooks, usually).

[Ciryaher]

If only Tolkien had the productive capacity of Issac Asimov....alas.

I wish that there was much more information on the dwarves, particularly the 4 Eastern Clans. More stuffs on the Dunlendings, Druedain, and Dragons would be awesome.

But most of all, I would like to know about the East, Entwives, and Ithryn Luin...

Perhaps we could clone the Professor...hm...

[Firawyn]

Perhaps we could clone the Professor...hm...

Hear, hear! Let's do it!! :D

Now really...do you suppose that people will continue what Tolkien started? I mean, many peple have done it with the Star Wars books. :cool:

Do you think that is what he intented? What elso would he leave so much unfinished? It's not like him.

[Eledhwen]

The internet is stuffed with stories and roleplays inspired by Tolkien, and many SF and fantasy writers got their inspiration from LotR. What Tolkien had in mind, though, was that there are events in his writings that are just mentioned or very briefly told; and he hoped that others would render a fuller telling of these stories. It's something I enjoy doing, but I really mustn't spend the time on it as it is a distraction from my own writing.

As for JRRT not having Isaac Asimov's production capacity, I say "Quality, not quantity!", but I also point to HoME 1-10, UT, The Silmarillion, and the many essays and shorter books written by Tolkien. Tolkien's mythology became a living thing, and so could only be finished when he was.

[Ithrynluin]

Excellent suggestions made! It makes one drool, it does... :p

In addition to all of the above, I'd love to read a detailed account on the Maiar, including the Blue Wizards and their actions in the East. Something like The Maiaquenta... ;)

[Erestor Arcamen]

Well, I know this topic is old but i have a few I'd like to add.

1. More on the history of the Dwarves. There's so much about the elves and all, but little on the dwarves in their great halls, of their adventures in Kazaad Dum or the IronHills.

2. The Entwives-a history of the ents, and more detail in the search of the entwives

3. This one would be tough, the end of Middle Earth, when the day of judgement would come and all and Illuvatar would glorify his chosen and all

thats just a few!

[Noldor_returned]

Definetely ents. Probably more into Kings of Gondor, and more about the Maiar and Istari.
I would just like to point out that although someone said more about Tom Bombadil, I would have thought that is what the Adventures of TB is for. I have read the book, but I don't think it provides enough detail.

[Halasían]

What "Unwritten Book" by Tolkien would you most like to read? For me, it would be "The Chronicles of Arnor" - and would tell ALL ABOUT Arnor, Arthedain (and sister nations) and the Northern Dunedain in the time of the chieftains. Each king and chieftain, their families, their struggles, the lifestyles, towns, the customs, etc., etc.
Yeah, I could go with that book, but also the one of Numenor and the sea voyages of that time.

Also, an in depth history and workings of Easterling, Haradian, and Khandese cultures would be interesting, for there is more to them than "they were evil men of Mordor"...

[Eledhwen]

What part of the History of Middle-earth do we not want to read more about? Every little phrase that hints of a story untold; Bombadil remembering the previous owner of a brooch, Uncle Andy, the cats of Queen Beruthiel, the list goes on.

I would like to read of the distribution of the sixteen rings of power; the silver-smooth words of Sauron as he made promises that matched the deepest desires of each king's heart. I would like to read personal accounts of the moment the elves became aware of Sauron's intentions. Did the kings of men realise they had been ensnared as Sauron put on his One Ring, and did they hate him for it before they were robbed of all that made them men; becoming rulers in name only as they sold themselves to the Dark Lord?