Paperback | 288 pages

New York TimesBestseller

A good introduction to LOTR fans nervous about taking onThe Silmarillion, and also gives longtime fans a fascinating look at the Tolkiens myth-making process.EntertainmentWeekly.com

A beautiful book.San Antonio Express-News

With eloquence and diligence and care, the son reconstructs and retraces the fathers journey, pursuing the tale through draft after draft as Tolkien pursued his vision of Middle-earth.NPR.org

The epic tale of Beren and Lthien became an essential element in the evolution ofThe Silmarillion, the myths and legends of J.R.R. Tolkiens First Age of the World. Always key to the story is the fate that shadowed their love: Beren was a mortal man, Lthien an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, imposed on Beren an impossible task before he might wed Lthien: to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, of a Silmaril.
Painstakingly restored from Tolkiens manuscripts and presented for the first time as a continuous and standalone story,Beren and Lthienreunites fans ofThe HobbitandThe Lord of the Ringswith Elves and Men, along with the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkiens Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien tells the story in his fathers own words by giving its original form as well as prose and verse passages from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed.