The Shaping of Middle-Earth
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- Create Date：2021-04-07 14:54:00
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：J.R.R. Tolkien
- ISBN：0261102184
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Summary
The fourth volume that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war， The Silmarillion。
Reviews
Kimberley
，
3。5。 liked this more than book 3 but not as much as 1 & 2。 it was pretty interesting to see the development of the specific stories told in the silmarillion。
C。E。
，
A fascinating look at how Middle-Earth came to be。 I would recommend this for only the most ardent Tolkien fans， or writers looking for world-building inspiration。 The book is fairly dry reading， as it's basically a collection of summaries/history。 I'm a huge Tolkienite， but even I skimmed a lot of the notes。 However， some of the content was truly mind-expanding。 I appreciated the timelines for Tolkien's world， and I got to know more about Beleriand and how everything interconnected。 Thus， "The A fascinating look at how Middle-Earth came to be。 I would recommend this for only the most ardent Tolkien fans， or writers looking for world-building inspiration。 The book is fairly dry reading， as it's basically a collection of summaries/history。 I'm a huge Tolkienite， but even I skimmed a lot of the notes。 However， some of the content was truly mind-expanding。 I appreciated the timelines for Tolkien's world， and I got to know more about Beleriand and how everything interconnected。 Thus， "The Shaping of Middle-Earth" is a great study in Tolkien's lore and world-building。 。。。more
Mihály Szabó
，
Nem egy könnyű olvasmány， legyen bármekkora Tolkien-rajongó az ember。 Hihetetlenül nagyszámú és hihetetlenül részletes jegyzetek magyaráznak minden egyes apró szövegváltozatot， névváltoztatást， beszúrt vagy kihúzott mondatot stb。 Nem érdektelen olvasni， hogyan fejlődött a tolkieni mitológia， de ez az alaposság megnehezíti a lényeg kihámozását。 Döbbenet， mennyi szövegváltozatot írt Tolkien （esetenként óangolul！）， és le a kalappal a fia előtt， hogy ezt filológiai igényességgel hozzáférhetővé tette Nem egy könnyű olvasmány， legyen bármekkora Tolkien-rajongó az ember。 Hihetetlenül nagyszámú és hihetetlenül részletes jegyzetek magyaráznak minden egyes apró szövegváltozatot， névváltoztatást， beszúrt vagy kihúzott mondatot stb。 Nem érdektelen olvasni， hogyan fejlődött a tolkieni mitológia， de ez az alaposság megnehezíti a lényeg kihámozását。 Döbbenet， mennyi szövegváltozatot írt Tolkien （esetenként óangolul！）， és le a kalappal a fia előtt， hogy ezt filológiai igényességgel hozzáférhetővé tette a nagyközönség számára。 Ebben a mélységben mégis csak egy Tolkien-kutató számára érdekes a jegyzetek többsége， pedig azok a könyv jelentős részét teszik ki。 A néhány mellékelt térkép annyira rossz minőségű és apró， hogy nem igazán tesznek hozzá az élményhez。 Hiányoltam egy jobban átlátható térképet， bár egy ilyen， utólag megrajzolt térkép kilógott volna a sok "eredeti" tartalomból。 。。。more
Noelle
，
Want to read 5+ summaries of the same stories that you've already read multiple full versions of？ Then this is the book for you！ Overall， it's very helpful for filling out the picture of the development of Tolkien's world-building， but the story isn't new and it's written as summary， not prose， so it loses all the charms of the previous books。 I did enjoy the end sections of QII， and I thought ABII was an especially helpful bird's eye view of the story。 Also， this book has the most interesting m Want to read 5+ summaries of the same stories that you've already read multiple full versions of？ Then this is the book for you！ Overall， it's very helpful for filling out the picture of the development of Tolkien's world-building， but the story isn't new and it's written as summary， not prose， so it loses all the charms of the previous books。 I did enjoy the end sections of QII， and I thought ABII was an especially helpful bird's eye view of the story。 Also， this book has the most interesting maps。 Worth owning， and if you really want the full picture of the development of the legendarium， it's worth a one-time read。 。。。more
Mark Redman
，
The Shaping of Middle-Earth， Histories vol 4。 Concentrates on the chronology and geographical structure of the legends of Middle-Earth。 We get the earliest version of The Silmarillion， The Quenta and the first-ever Simarillion map。 To finish off this volume， we get the earliest annals of Valinor and Beleriand。 All of the above together makes for a fascinating insight into the development of Middle-Earth and the mind of professor Tolkien。 On the downside， the early development of the Silmarillion The Shaping of Middle-Earth， Histories vol 4。 Concentrates on the chronology and geographical structure of the legends of Middle-Earth。 We get the earliest version of The Silmarillion， The Quenta and the first-ever Simarillion map。 To finish off this volume， we get the earliest annals of Valinor and Beleriand。 All of the above together makes for a fascinating insight into the development of Middle-Earth and the mind of professor Tolkien。 On the downside， the early development of the Silmarillion does become a bit repetitive！ What it does， is demonstrate the richness of Tolkien’s mythology。 Not the easiest nor the best of The Histories volumes but worth tackling， if you're into the development of the mythology。 3。5 stars 。。。more
Molly
，
Not for the faint of heart 🤣
Daniel
，
The book was a slog even for a J。R。R。 Tolkien fan。 And I wonder if I would have liked it more had I not already read the first three volumes of the series his son Christopher edited， The History of Middle-Earth。 Basically， these are just various drafts of what would become perhaps my favorite Tolkien book， The Silmarillion。So it is interesting to see how that story evolved over time--and even to see how the master wrote some of his notes and annals in the language of the greatest poem of the Fir The book was a slog even for a J。R。R。 Tolkien fan。 And I wonder if I would have liked it more had I not already read the first three volumes of the series his son Christopher edited， The History of Middle-Earth。 Basically， these are just various drafts of what would become perhaps my favorite Tolkien book， The Silmarillion。So it is interesting to see how that story evolved over time--and even to see how the master wrote some of his notes and annals in the language of the greatest poem of the First Millennium， Beowulf。 Yup， he wrote in an older version of a great language， one that has not been spoken for maybe eight hundred years。We have also his son Christopher's notes where he basically notes the changes from one draft to another。 It seems more as if he is sharing with his his thought process as he himself shaped his father's unfinished draft（s） of The Silmarillion into their final marvelous form。An interesting book， but not nearly as fascinating as the first three volumes in this series。 And maybe that is because， as I said at the outset， I had already read those book。A window into the evolution of a mythology which feels as real （in The Silmarillion） as do many of the great legends this doctor of mythology （yes， I have a PhD in Mythological Studies） has read over the years。There is a reason Tolkien's tales resonate with so many。 。。。more
Matias Cerizola
，
La Formación De La Tierra Media。- J。R。R。 Tolkien"Solo las cañas susurraban， pero una niebla pendía sobre los ríos como una niebla marina arrastrada tierra adentro， como un jirón de sueños salinos。"La Formación De La Tierra Media es un compilado de textos escritos por John y editados y ordenados por Christopher Tolkien。 En estos textos encontramos las primeras leyendas sobre la creación del mundo， su geografía y primeros mitos。La antología incluye el primer Silmarillion （un esbozo de la La Formación De La Tierra Media。- J。R。R。 Tolkien"Solo las cañas susurraban， pero una niebla pendía sobre los ríos como una niebla marina arrastrada tierra adentro， como un jirón de sueños salinos。"La Formación De La Tierra Media es un compilado de textos escritos por John y editados y ordenados por Christopher Tolkien。 En estos textos encontramos las primeras leyendas sobre la creación del mundo， su geografía y primeros mitos。La antología incluye el primer Silmarillion （un esbozo de la mitología）， El Quenta （una ampliación y reescritura del primer Silmarillion）， El Primer Mapa Del Silmarillion （dividido en sección occidental y oriental， con explicaciones del mismo muy interesantes）， El Ambarkanta （lo más interesante del libro， una descripción del Universo， con mapas y diagramas que explican cómo fue cambiando el mundo） y por último Los Anales De Valinor y Los Anales De Beleriand。Después de cada texto original， Christopher nos explica （capítulo por capítulo） las diferencias con el texto finalmente publicado， además de exponer también significados e intenciones de su padre con esos escritos。 Cómo suele ser en esta serie de libros de la Historia De La Tierra Media， algunas de estas explicaciones （todas importantes） son de una longitud mayor que el texto original。Una gran opción para conocer en profundidad la Creación y Primer Edad de La Tierra Media。🤘🤘🤘 。。。more
Ulysses
，
This volume of The History of Middle-Earth is of solely historical interest。 Its main and perhaps only function is to illuminate the numerous slight incremental changes over time in the very earliest versions of the Tolkien legendarium that were later consolidated as The Silmarillion。 However， the versions in this volume （which date to the 1930s， still well before the writing of The Lord of the Rings） are among the most primitive and underdeveloped; the versions described in volumes 10 （Morgoth' This volume of The History of Middle-Earth is of solely historical interest。 Its main and perhaps only function is to illuminate the numerous slight incremental changes over time in the very earliest versions of the Tolkien legendarium that were later consolidated as The Silmarillion。 However， the versions in this volume （which date to the 1930s， still well before the writing of The Lord of the Rings） are among the most primitive and underdeveloped; the versions described in volumes 10 （Morgoth's Ring） and 11 （The War of the Jewels） are more fleshed-out and readable for non-historians。 Furthermore， this volume contains none of the "B-sides and rarities" （i。e。 content previously unpublished in any form） that Christopher Tolkien included in HoME volumes 10 + 11， meaning that unless one has a burning need to know when and where the name of a given character or place in The Silmarillion evolved from its initial sketch version to the next version （which itself would evolve later into what we know from The Silmarillion）， there is little to see here。 。。。more
Mitch Milam
，
The weakest HoME book for me so far， but I still enjoyed reading it for the most part。 It's interesting to see how these early writings compare and contrast with the published Silmarillion。 The weakest HoME book for me so far， but I still enjoyed reading it for the most part。 It's interesting to see how these early writings compare and contrast with the published Silmarillion。 。。。more
Dustin Huffman
，
A retelling of the events in the Simarillion and the early days of the first age。
Viel Nast
，
he shaping of middle earth have many interesting and never before seen features for the Tolkien fun。 We are still in the first age reading many different versions of the Silmarillion but this book contains sketches of early maps made by the professor himself depicting arda before the cataclysm when it was flat！ There is a huge section with poems in ancient English non readable by non-experts and of course there are many （really many） comments and explanations by the editor。 The books contains de he shaping of middle earth have many interesting and never before seen features for the Tolkien fun。 We are still in the first age reading many different versions of the Silmarillion but this book contains sketches of early maps made by the professor himself depicting arda before the cataclysm when it was flat！ There is a huge section with poems in ancient English non readable by non-experts and of course there are many （really many） comments and explanations by the editor。 The books contains descriptions of the lands of beleriand and valinor and some unknown facts and twists for the already known stories （beren and luthien， turin， tuor and earandel）。Although not so difficult to read as previous tomes it is still focused on hard core funs who want to learn every bit of information available for their beloved middle earth despite the many hours of tedious reading。 If you have just seen the movies stay away！ 。。。more
Brian
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The original Silmarillion writings。
Rossrn Nunamaker
，
This volume of HoME covers the early part of the Silmarillion。In the preface Christopher Tolkien writes， "My object is to try to show， and not merely impressionistically， how Middle-Earth and its history was built up gradually and delicately， and how a long series of small shifts or combinations would often lead to the emergence of new and unforeseen structures。。。"I think he does a good job of this， and this take is what I enjoy about the entire series。 This volume of HoME covers the early part of the Silmarillion。In the preface Christopher Tolkien writes， "My object is to try to show， and not merely impressionistically， how Middle-Earth and its history was built up gradually and delicately， and how a long series of small shifts or combinations would often lead to the emergence of new and unforeseen structures。。。"I think he does a good job of this， and this take is what I enjoy about the entire series。 。。。more
Warren Dunn
，
As with the previous books in this series， this one takes the various drafts of The Silmarillion and shows its development towards the final form。 This is the first time， however， that the book actually takes on the style that it would have when it was eventually published。 In The Book of Lost Tales， these were stories told to a visitor to the island of the elves， far in the future。 The Lays of Beleriand showed the tales of Beren and of Turin in poetic form。 There was also a small fragment of la As with the previous books in this series， this one takes the various drafts of The Silmarillion and shows its development towards the final form。 This is the first time， however， that the book actually takes on the style that it would have when it was eventually published。 In The Book of Lost Tales， these were stories told to a visitor to the island of the elves， far in the future。 The Lays of Beleriand showed the tales of Beren and of Turin in poetic form。 There was also a small fragment of later tales such as Gondolin and Earendil。This book， however， shows us a couple of summaries of the whole story of the Silmarillion， and it brings the drafts to the form they were in when The Hobbit was written。http://ossuslibrary。tripod。com/Bk_Fan。。。 。。。more
Thijs
，
At the beginning of each of the volumes in the Complete History I am loathe to yet again tackle ANOTHER version of the Silmarillion。 Yet again Christopher manages to arrange the material in such an interesting an different version that before long I am drawn into the story yet again， seeing what twists Tolkien devised this time and the insight into his mind。What especially stood out to me at this time was the maps， which shows his development as much as anything。 And I love me a good map。Also be At the beginning of each of the volumes in the Complete History I am loathe to yet again tackle ANOTHER version of the Silmarillion。 Yet again Christopher manages to arrange the material in such an interesting an different version that before long I am drawn into the story yet again， seeing what twists Tolkien devised this time and the insight into his mind。What especially stood out to me at this time was the maps， which shows his development as much as anything。 And I love me a good map。Also be prepared to read Old English too （or in my case just skip over that part） 。。。more
Michael Pryor
，
Magisterial， profound， important。
William Cardini
，
Reading the full text of two drafts of The Silmarillion in this book， the Sketch of the Mythology and the Quenta Noldorinwa， gives me a greater appreciation of what Christopher Tolkien has done for the separate books Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin， where he presents selections from these early drafts without showing all the layers of edits in footnotes。
Octavia Cade
，
I read this with mild enjoyment and some interest。 At this point I've almost stopped caring about the narrative itself （although， reading through these histories， I'm so bombarded with repetition that even Fucking Turin comes to be slightly affecting， which at this point I can only put down to Stockholm Syndrome）。 No such sympathy for the house of Fucking Fëanor， though， who should have been drowned at birth， the whole wretched clan of them， obsessed with their own bling as they are。 Say it with I read this with mild enjoyment and some interest。 At this point I've almost stopped caring about the narrative itself （although， reading through these histories， I'm so bombarded with repetition that even Fucking Turin comes to be slightly affecting， which at this point I can only put down to Stockholm Syndrome）。 No such sympathy for the house of Fucking Fëanor， though， who should have been drowned at birth， the whole wretched clan of them， obsessed with their own bling as they are。 Say it with me， people: lives are more important than jewellery。The interest here lies not so much in the characters， however， but in how Tolkien's perception of them changes （or doesn't） as the years go on。 This book basically traces the evolution of the stories， from very early sketches to the most complete forms available， and as a writer myself - albeit not one at Tolkien's level - I do find that interesting。 Also: he is more of a nerd than I ever thought， translating his own stories into Old English my God， man， just how much time did you have on your hands？ 。。。more
Melissa
，
Sadly the reviews are starting to sound the same at this point， Tolkien’s original attention to detail， and his son’s research exposing the creation and growth of the story through multiple revisions and discarded or enhanced paths continues to amaze。
Marten
，
Still incredibly interesting and insightful， this book however has a lot of boring crap。 I mean at this point we’ve read the history of middle earth twice and this book has us read the history another 5 times。 Along with a bunch of Old English crap you can’t even read。 So， while it’s still ridiculously informative， at this point it’s like being on a hamster wheel。
Nonethousand Oberrhein
，
Sketches and Annals of the First AgeOnce again （after Vol。1， Vol。2 and Vol。3）， Christopher Tolkien transports us in the First Age， sifting through the mare magnum of his father's notes。 Far from being redundant， the new documents from which The Silmarillion derived， elucidate some of the obscure points in the originally published mythology， while at the same time unveiling the huge creative work behind the creation of the fantastic world of Middle-Earth。 A special treat for the O Sketches and Annals of the First AgeOnce again （after Vol。1， Vol。2 and Vol。3）， Christopher Tolkien transports us in the First Age， sifting through the mare magnum of his father's notes。 Far from being redundant， the new documents from which The Silmarillion derived， elucidate some of the obscure points in the originally published mythology， while at the same time unveiling the huge creative work behind the creation of the fantastic world of Middle-Earth。 A special treat for the Old-English enthusiasts: to fuel the Ælfwine of England narrative， small parts of the Annals were translated in Old-English！ 。。。more
D-day
，
Volume 4 of the History of Middle Earth comes with the usual disclaimer for this series- this is for Tolkien enthusiast only。The Shaping Of Middle-Earth still has some fascinating insights but the reader is definitely treading familiar ground here。 We have three more iterations of the Silmarillion stories， each time getting closer to their final form。 However going through the same material again with only slight differences can get a little dry even for devotees。 Beyond that there is a section Volume 4 of the History of Middle Earth comes with the usual disclaimer for this series- this is for Tolkien enthusiast only。The Shaping Of Middle-Earth still has some fascinating insights but the reader is definitely treading familiar ground here。 We have three more iterations of the Silmarillion stories， each time getting closer to their final form。 However going through the same material again with only slight differences can get a little dry even for devotees。 Beyond that there is a section on the earliest maps of Beleriand。 I love maps， but this proved disappointing as my edition seemed to be missing two of the maps。 Grrr！ There is also included some translations of portions of the stories into Anglo-Saxon， and although I am a hardcore fan， I am not that hardcore to learn to read Anglo Saxon！There will be some new material next time though as Tolkien expands his legendarium into the second age！ 。。。more
Gergely
，
Rather tedious reading and a lot of notes to keep track of， but fascinating if you get into the details， and the Old English annals are wonderful。
Max
，
Phew， tough cookie to chew。 But I did， and swallowed it too。 Very interesting， but intense。
Marko Vasić
，
The first part of the book describes， in the scrap-book fashion form， sketches of the phases of the birth of the mythology; i。e。 explanations and annotations are organized as re-told text of previous versions of the stories that are published in official version of "The Silmarillion"， along with some versions from "The Book of Lost Tales 1&2"。 The second part was real chocolate muffin for me。 I literally devoured those pages。 And in the passages that are part of "The Ambarkanta" much is told abo The first part of the book describes， in the scrap-book fashion form， sketches of the phases of the birth of the mythology; i。e。 explanations and annotations are organized as re-told text of previous versions of the stories that are published in official version of "The Silmarillion"， along with some versions from "The Book of Lost Tales 1&2"。 The second part was real chocolate muffin for me。 I literally devoured those pages。 And in the passages that are part of "The Ambarkanta" much is told about the shaping and re-modeling of Arda （that， of course， official version of "The Silmarillion" is lacking of） along with explanations about the Circles of the World and with six by Tolkien's hand drawn draft maps。 Also， first and emended versions about creation and purpose of the Walls of the World and The Door of the Night are presented， and now perplexity （due to lack of logical explanations and links in previous versions） about this structures that tormented me is finally solved。 The third part are early annals of Valinor and Beleriand - useful and interesting data that explain the same events but from different Valar/Elves time counting manner。 。。。more
Abooksflower
，
j'ai adoré 👌😍 j'ai adoré 👌😍 。。。more
Jackson Compton
，
I enjoyed parts of this book。 The thing that dragged it down was the fact that I seemed to be rereading summaries of events in The Silmarillion over and over again。 There was evidence of development of the mythology， as shown by Christopher Tolkien， but nothing really memorable or really interesting。 Just a lot of name changes and date changes。 The most interesting part for me was The Earliest Annals of Beleriand。 This was interesting because it provided dates for all big events。 This helped me I enjoyed parts of this book。 The thing that dragged it down was the fact that I seemed to be rereading summaries of events in The Silmarillion over and over again。 There was evidence of development of the mythology， as shown by Christopher Tolkien， but nothing really memorable or really interesting。 Just a lot of name changes and date changes。 The most interesting part for me was The Earliest Annals of Beleriand。 This was interesting because it provided dates for all big events。 This helped me to get a bigger picture of the First Age of Middle Earth。 Overall， if you bought the History of Middle Earth Collection and are debating reading this one， just read through The Earliest Annals of Beleriand chapter and call it a day。 。。。more
Regitze
，
Several different stories detailing the creation of Middle-Earth， as usual with Christopher Tolkien's many notes and insights on the manuscripts， how they differ and maybe even why。This series is so nerdy， I love it。 Several different stories detailing the creation of Middle-Earth， as usual with Christopher Tolkien's many notes and insights on the manuscripts， how they differ and maybe even why。This series is so nerdy， I love it。 。。。more
Hew La France
，