Beren and Lúthien (book)

Beren and Lúthien is a 2017 publication that presents the evolution of J.R.R. Tolkien's second Great Tale of the same title, a cornerstone of his legendarium, of First Age characters Beren and Lúthien.
The publication was compiled by Christopher Tolkien, a year before the same was done with the tale of the Fall of Gondolin.
== Synopsis ==
The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of the mythology of ancient Arda (the Creation through the First Age) conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien, which were published as The Silmarillion. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.
Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril. 
In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost. 
Published on the tenth anniversary of the last Middle-earth book, the international bestseller The Children of Húrin, this new volume similarly includes drawings and color plates by Alan Lee, who also illustrated and , and had won Academy Awards for his work on the .
== Details and canon ==
The intent of the book is to extract a 'single narrative' out of the ever evolving materials that make up the tale of Beren and Lúthien. It does not contain every version or edit to the story, but those chosen by Christopher Tolkien which he believed would offer the most 'clarity' without need to over explain the complexities of the changes.
:...I have tried to separate the story of Beren and Tinúviel (Lúthien) so that it stands alone, so far as that can be done (in my opinion) without distortion. On the other hand, I have wished to show how this fundamental story evolved over the years.Tolkien, J.R.R.. Beren and Lúthien (Kindle Locations 86-88). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
:The purpose of this book, then, is altogether different from that of the volumes of from which it is derived. It is emphatically not intended as an adjunct to those books. It is an attempt to extract one narrative element from a vast work of extraordinary richness and complexity; but that narrative, the story of Beren and Lúthien, was itself continually evolving, and developing new associations as it became more embedded in the wider history. The decision of what to include and what to exclude of that ancient world ‘at large’ could only be a matter of personal and often questionable judgement: in such an attempt there can be no attainable ‘correct way’. In general, however, I have erred on the side of clarity, and resisted the urge to explain, for fear of undermining the primary purpose and method of the book.Tolkien, J.R.R.. Beren and Lúthien (Kindle Locations 129-135). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
The book starts with the most complete version of the beginning of the tale as told in the Book of Lost Tales (with only some slight character/place name editing to add references from later versions of the story to avoid confusion). However, the general aspects of the story have not been modified, for example Beren is a 'Gnome (Nolder)' the son of Egnor bo-Rimion, rather than the human son of Barahir (Beren's heritage switches between 'elf' and 'man' throughout the story depending on which portion of the story is being told). No major modifications are made to make the older material inline with the newer material.
As Christopher explains:
:A further problem which I should mention arose from the very frequent changes of names. To follow with exactness and consistency the succession of names in texts of different dates would not serve the purpose of this book. I have therefore observed no rule in this respect, but distinguished old and new in some cases but not in others, for various reasons. In a great many cases my father would alter a name in a manuscript at some later, or even much later, time, but not consistently: for example, Elfin to Elven. In such cases I have made Elven the sole form, or Beleriand for earlier Broseliand; but in others I have retained both, as in Tinwelint/ Thingol, Artanor/ Doriath.Tolkien, J.R.R.. Beren and Lúthien (Kindle Locations 124-129). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
Then the book continues the story in later sections/chapters through later poems, summaries and prose showing how the story evolved over time and 'myth'. These follow in order of the chronology of the story itself (but not the release order of the texts being used). These are made up of portions of different versions of The Lay of Leithian, and various versions of The Silmarillion, and later chapters of the Lost Tales in the order of where they take place 'in the full story'.
Due to the nature of the story undergoing the most changes and edits and style over time by J.R.R. Tolkien the presentation of this story is somewhat 'fractured', and there is some overlap of details (and discrepancies in continuity), but mostly the sections are put in order that creates a 'complete and continuous' story. Christopher Tolkien included further editorial explanations and historical details to bridge between sections.
It also means some details 'lost' in later accounts get reintroduced back into the 'complete narrative' such as the Tevildo (who due to the nature of his introduction is treated as his own character, rather than an preconception of Sauron for the sake of the narrative), Thû the Necromancer (treated as the first appearance of Sauron), and even some of the stories including the Wicked Dwarves/treacherous Dwarves (one of 's references back to the Lost Tales), and other terminology such as Gnomes, Fays, Fairies, Laprawns, Pixies, etc. (some of the terminology were used in some editions of The Hobbit, but lost in later stories of the legendarium).
The book offers a somewhat 'in-universe' perspective for some of the inconsistencies being rather evolution of stories being told by different perspectives/voices over time, with both 'historical/mythic' styles (but also mirroring his own father's 'styles' and interpretive changes over time).
:the First Age in The History of Middle-earth was in those books conceived as a history in two senses. It was indeed a history— a chronicle of lives and events in Middle-earth; but it was also a history of the changing literary conceptions in the passing years; and therefore the story of Beren and Lúthien is spread over many years and several books. Moreover, since that story became entangled with the slowly evolving ‘Silmarillion’, and ultimately an essential part of it, its developments are recorded in successive manuscripts primarily concerned with the whole history of the Elder Days.Tolkien, J.R.R.. Beren and Lúthien (Kindle Locations 74-79). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
This book reintroduces much of what was lost in the highly edited version in Of the Ruin of Doriath by including the cursed treasure of Mîm, and the fact that Doriath was betrayed from the inside by treacherous Elves allowing Dwarves to bypass the Girdle of Melian, as well as Dwarves already inside the city of Menegroth, and that Thingol was able to push the Dwarves out of the city, and that he is later killed while on a hunt by the Dwarven forces lying in wait. It roughly reconciles the elements of early Lost Tales with what was constructed by Guy Gavriel Kay for the chapter in The Silmarillion to put it back in line with what J.R.R. Tolkien had intended in later revisions and ideas for the story in 1950-60s (see The War of the Jewels).
:...there are brought to light passages of close description or dramatic immediacy that are lost in the summary, condensed manner characteristic of so much Silmarillion narrative writing; there are even to be discovered elements in the story that were later altogether lost. Thus, for example, the cross-examination of Beren and Felagund and their companions, disguised as Orcs, by Thû the Necromancer (the first appearance of Sauron), or the entry into the story of the appalling Tevildo, Prince of Cats, who clearly deserves to be remembered, short as was his literary life.Tolkien, J.R.R.. Beren and Lúthien (Kindle Locations 95-99). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
== Contents ==
;CONTENTSGoogle Books - Beren And Lúthien By J.R.R. Tolkien
*List of Plates
*Preface
*Notes on the Elder Days
*BEREN AND LÚTHIEN
**The Tale of Tinúviel (this is largely based on the 1915 version with only a few edits)The The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, actually discusses a version edited in 1925 (and later changes details such as Egnor to Barahir made casually, an attempt to bring it in line with later ideas, but no changes to Beren's race in the manuscript, and "Tiberth" replaces Tevildo (but still the Prince of Cats), Thingol replaces Tinwelint, Melian replaces Gwendeling, etc.
**A Passage from the 'Sketch of the Mythology'
**A Passage Extracted from The Lay of Leithian
**The Quenta Noldorinwa
**A Passage Extracted from the Quenta
**A Second Extract from The Lay of Leithian
**A Further Extract from the Quenta
**The Narrative in The Lay of Leithian to its Termination
**The Quenta Silmarillion
**The Return of Beren and Luthien According to the Quenta Noldorinwa
**Extract from the Lost Tale of the Nauglafring
**The Morning and the Evening Star
=== Appendix ===
*Revisions to The Lay of Leithian
*:Footnotes
*List of names in the Original Texts
*Glossary
=== List of Plates ===
* ‘yet now did he see Tunúviel dancing in the twilight’
* ‘but Tevildo caught sight of her where she was perched’
* ‘no leaves they had, but ravens dark / sat thick as leaves on bough and bark’
* ‘Now ringed about with wolves they stand, / and fear their doom’
* ‘THen the brothers rode off, but shot back treacherously’
* ‘On the bridge of woe / in mantle wrapped at dead of night / she sat and sang’
* ‘now down there swooped / Thorondor the King of Eagles, stooped’
* ‘fluttering before his eyes, she wound / a mazy-wingéd dance’
* ‘Surely that is a Silmaril that shines now in the West?’
== Behind the scenes ==
The book does not include every version of the story or every reference to the story made, but it is Christopher's attempt to combine the most 'complete' or 'clear' versions of the story and put into an order that more or less forms a single continuous narrative through the book, and which expands beyond the shorter summary version and constructions made by Guy Kay included in the original Silmarillion with more details.
Though Christopher Tolkien, in his nineties at the time of editing the book, at the time expressed the belief that Beren and Lúthien would be his last work, The Fall of Gondolin was published the following year. 
:In my ninety-third year this is (presumptively) my last book in the long series of editions of my father’s writings, very largely previously unpublished, and is of a somewhat curious nature. This tale is chosen in memoriam because of its deeply-rooted presence in his own life, and his intense thought on the union of Lúthien, whom he called ‘the greatest of the Eldar’, and of Beren the mortal man, of their fates, and of their second lives.
Beren and Luthien, as with The Fall of Gondolin, reveals the nature of the respective story without heavy handed editorial presence to Tolkien's original written text; in comparison to limited un-authorised (without Christopher's consent) release of The Tale of Gondolin edited by Alex Lewis which used judicious editing to merge what was originally conflicting materials from different stages of development into one cohesive whole (he has met his own criticism for his choice of process).
In The Children of Húrin Christopher Tolkien speaks of a late stage attempt at rewriting The Lay of Leithian into a long prose story before it was abandoned. It's not clear from Beren and Luthien release if any of that material was utilized or not.
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Beren en Lúthien
Albanian 	Beren dhe Lúthien
Amharic 	በረን እና ሉጢአን
Arabic 	بيرين و لوثيين
Armenian 	Բերեն եւ Լուտհիեն
Azerbaijani 	Beren və Lúthien
Basque 	Beren eta Lúthien
Belarusian Cyrillic	Берен і Лутhіен
Bengali 	বেরেন এবং লুথিয়েন
Bosnian 	Beren i Lúthien
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Берен и Лутиен
Cambodian 	ប៊ែរនិងលូថៃ
Catalan 	Beren i Lúthien
Chinese 	貝倫和露西安
Croatian 	Beren i Lúthien
Czech 	Beren a Lúthien
Danish 	Beren og Lúthien
Dutch 	Beren en Lúthien
Esperanto 	Beren kaj Lúthien
Estonian 	Beren ja Lúthien
Faroese 	Beren og Lúthien
Filipino 	Beren at Lúthien
Finnish 	Beren ja Lúthien
French 	Beren et Lúthien
Frisian 	Beren en Lúthien
Galician 	Beren e Lúthien
Georgian 	ბერენის და ლუთიენისა
German 	Beren und Lúthien
Greek 	Μπέρεν και Λούθιεν
Gujarati 	બેરેન અને લ્યુથિઅન
Haitian Creole 	Beren ak Lúthien
Hausa 	Beren da Lúthien
Hawaiian 	ʻO Beren lāuaʻo Lūthien
Hebrew 	ברן ולות'יין
Hindi 	बेरेन तथा ळुथिएन
Hmong 	Beren thiab Lúthien
Hungarian 	Beren és Lúthien
Icelandic 	Beren og Lúthien
Indonesian 	Beren dan Lúthien
Irish Gaelic 	Beren agus Lúthien
Italian 	Beren e Lúthien
Japanese 	ベレンとルーシエン
Javanese 	Beren lan Lúthien
Kannada 	ಬೆರೆನ್ ಮತ್ತು ಲೂಥಿಯನ್
Kazakh 	Берен пен Лұтһіен (Cyrillic) Beren pen Luthien (Latin)
Korean 	베렌 과 루시엔
Kurdish 	Beren û Lúthien (Kurmanji Kurdish)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Бэрэн жана Лутhиэн
Latin 	Beren et Lúthien
Latvian 	Beren un Lúthien
Lithuanian 	Beren ir Lúthien
Luxembourgish 	Beren a Lúthien
Macedonian Cyrillic	Берен и Лутхиен
Malagasy 	Beren sy Lúthien
Malaysian 	Beren dan Lúthien
Maltese 	Beren u Lúthien
Manx 	Beren as Lúthien
Maori 	Beren me Lúthien
Marathi 	बेरेन आणि लुथेन
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Бэрэн ба Лутhиэн
Nepalese 	बेरेन र लुथियाना
Norwegian 	Beren og Lúthien
Persian 	برن و لوثین
Polish 	Beren i Lúthien
Portuguese 	Beren e Lúthien
Punjabi 	ਬੇਰੇਨ ਅਤੇ ਲੁਥੀਅਨ
Romanian 	Beren și Lúthien
Romansh 	Beren e Lúthien
Russian 	Берен и Лютиэн
Samoan 	Beren ma Lúthien
Scottish Gaelic 	Beren agus Lúthien
Serbian 	Берен и Лутхиен (Cyrillic) Beren i Luthien (Latin)
Sesotho 	Beren le Lúthien
Shona 	Beren naLúthien
Sinhalese 	බෙරෙන් සහ ළුථිඑන්
Slovak 	Beren a Lúthien
Slovenian 	Beren in Lúthien
Somalian 	Beren iyo Lúthien
Spanish 	Beren y Lúthien
Sudanese 	Beren na Lúthien
Swahili 	Beren na Lúthien
Swedish 	Beren och Lúthien
Tagalog 	Beren at Lúthien
Tajik Cyrillic 	Берен ва Лутҳиен
Tamil 	பெரெந் மற்றும் லுத்ஹிஎந்
Telugu 	బెరెన మరియు లుథియన్
Thai 	เบเรนและลูธิเอน
Turkish 	Beren ve Lúthien
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Берен і Лутієн
Urdu 	باران اور لوتین
Uzbek 	Берен ва Лутҳиен (Cyrillic) Beren va Luthien (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Beren và Lúthien
Welsh 	Beren a Lúthien
Xhosa 	Beren naseLúthien
Yiddish 	בערענ און לוטהיען
Yoruba 	Beren ati Lúthien
Zulu 	Beren noLúthien
== References ==
== External links ==
Category:2017 publications
Category:Books
Category:Great Tales publications
Category:Middle-earth source literature
Category:Novels
Category:Primary literature
Category:Primary lit. published by HarperCollins
de:Beren und Lúthien (Buch)
it:Beren e Lúthien
pl:Beren i Lúthien
tr:Beren ve Lúthien