Started: 21/06/21
Finished: 29/06/21
Spoilers: No
The breadth of Tolkien’s imagination is breathtaking. When reading this, I had to keep reminding myself that this world was created by one person within a single lifetime.
Not only did he create beautiful heartfelt stories in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but he created an entire world with histories, languages with varying linguistic differences depending on which culture your asking, myths that also vary from culture to culture, timelines, family trees, maps, a belief system and creation system, not to mention a magic system, backstories for every character with some dating back hundreds or even thousands of years.
And not only all this, but it’s consistent, or at least mostly consistent with itself.
And so much of it, linguistically at least, is based on Norse and Anglo Saxon language. I can’t imagine the amount of research he must have done to build this epic world. Even through all this extra information we’re given in Unfinished Tales, the man’s passion for his work oozes through the pages. He could easily have chosen to keep Middle-Earth to himself, but thankfully he chose to share it with the world.
Unfinished Tales is a fascinating read for any Tolkien fan. I found I was more interested in the latter half of the book, but that was to be expected. The latter half covers events and characters from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books. I particularly enjoyed learning more about the Istari and their history, the Dunedain, and Gandalf’s personal account of the events leading up to the Hobbit with him convincing Thorin Oakensheild that he needs Bilbo in his team. Although I enjoyed the whole book, my enjoyment doubled when the material centred around more known characters and beloved characters alike.
I don’t know how Tolkien made all this in a single lifetime, but this was a lifetime well spent.
Thank you, Tolkien — grandfather of the fantasy genre — for bringing this world to ours and inspiring so many. We wouldn’t have half the amazing fantasy stories we do today if not for this man’s brilliant imagination. Tolkien walked so that so many others could run. He built the foundations that we, to this day, base much of western-based fantasy on. Without Tolkien, the face of fantasy today would likely look vastly different.
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