Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth

Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories from the twentieth century's most acclaimed popular author. The book concentrates on the realm of Middle-earth and comprises such elements as Gandalf's lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End, the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand, and an exact description of the military organization of the Riders of Rohan. Unfinished Tales also contains the only story about the long ages of Númenor before its downfall, and all that is known about such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantíri and the legend of Amroth. The tales were collated and edited by J.R.R. Tolkien's son and literary heir, Christopher Tolkien, who provides a short commentary on each story, helping the reader to fill in the gaps and put each story into the context of the rest of his father's writings. Contents: Part One: The First Age: "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin" "Narn i Hîn Húrin (The Tale of the Children of Húrin)" Part Two: The Second Age: "A Description of the Island of Númenor" "Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife" "The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor" "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" Part Three: The Third Age: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan" "The Quest of Erebor" "The Hunt for the Ring" "The Battles of the Fords of Isen" Part Four "The Drúedain" "The Istari" "The Palantíri"