The Book of Lost Tales
He called his collection of nascent stories "The Book of Lost Tales". This became the name for the first two volumes of "The History of Middle-earth", which include these early texts. The stories employ the narrative device of a mariner named Eriol (in later versions, an Anglo-Saxon named Ælfwine) who finds the island of Tol Eressëa, where the Elves live; and the Elves tell him their history. Tolkien never completed "The Book of Lost Tales"; he left it to compose the poems "The Lay of Leithian" and "The Lay of the Children of Húrin".