It is no exaggeration to say that much more of J.R.R. Tolkien's work has appeared since his death than was ever published while he was alive. After the publication of
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earthin 1980 — itself the third posthumous collection of Tolkien's writings to reach the public — his son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, proposed “an unflinchingly scholarly treatment” (Unwin “Early Days” 5) of the vast amount of unpublished and often unfinished material Tolkien left behind, aimed at guiding “the serious pilgrim […] along all the paths, and variants, and blind ends of his father's creation” (ibid.). This treatment was originally planned for four volumes, but the scope of the work quickly exceeded this conservative estimate. By 1990, some…
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Citation: Fisher, Jason. "The History of Middle-earth". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 February 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21928, accessed 22 November 2024.]
