If and/or when you see this book, you will perceive immediately why I have said that it is in no conceivable way publishable. The textual and other discussions are far too detailed and minute; the size of it is (and will become progressively more so) prohibitive. It is done partly for my own satisfaction in getting things right, and because I wanted to know how the whole conception did in reality evolve from the earliest origins... A thirteenth volume was published in 2002, The History of Middle-earth Index. This book has completely integrated all the indices from the set in one large index. i. The Book of Lost Tales: Part One · ii. The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two · iii. The Lays of Beleriand ·

HarperCollins has today published The Complete History of Middle-earth, a boxed set featuring all 12 parts of the History of Middle-earth series. Gwaihir: Foster reproduces the fan conception merging the character of the Great Eagle of The Hobbit to that of Gwaihir, whereas nowhere is it implied in The Lord of the Rings that Gwaihir is Lord of the Eagles. J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 246, (dated September 1963)

It was inevitable to afford a copy of this capitally edition, nevertheless I have all XII tomes as individual editions. These are my overall impressions about each of these five books, written one by one as I finished each of volumes:

I have revised my opinion of who might enjoy this book - if you've read LOTR more than four times and wish there were more, I recommend at least reading the three volumes that deal with the writing of The Hobbit and LOTR. However, if you love the Silmarillion, you simply can't afford to pass this collection up. The Tale of Luthien and Beren in verse form is a thing apart. How I wished it was finished in full.

Ambar: Foster relates the Elvish words ambar ("world") and umbar ("fate"). In the entry of Ambar, he mentions it is a concept related to fate of the world. The manuscript Words Phrases and Passages later showed that while the two words are indeed related (through the root MBAR "settle"), they are distinct in meaning. Dolmed: Foster suggests that the mountain was perhaps destroyed at the end of the First Age when the Gulf of Lune, broke through the Blue Mountains; while this may be true, the text does not mention anything about it. [12]