0232: The Book of Lost Tales I » How Tolkien’s Middle-earth Really Began

What exactly is The Book of Lost Tales—and why did Christopher Tolkien decide to publish the long, complicated history of his father’s evolving mythology?

In this episode of The Tolkien Road, John and Greta begin their journey through The History of Middle-earth with Volume 1, The Book of Lost Tales 1. Along the way, they explore Christopher Tolkien’s difficult task as his father’s literary executor, why The Silmarillion is so challenging, whether a frame narrative might have made it more accessible, and what Tolkien’s earliest surviving mythology reveals about the evolution of Middle-earth.

The episode also begins on a personal note, as John remembers his father, Nat Carswell, who first introduced him to The Hobbit and C.S. Lewis.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 — Introduction

03:12 — Remembering John’s Father

04:01 — The Hobbit Book Report That Started It All

05:05 — Narnia, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien

06:00 — A Tolkienian Farewell

08:39 — Beginning The History of Middle-earth

12:28 — Christopher Tolkien’s Foreword