What Else Is There??
Whenever a 'new' Tolkien book gets released or published, I (as selflessly as possible) always wonder: "What else is there left? What could they publish next? Is this book I have potentially the last new Tolkien item? Excluding anniverary, deluxe editions etc."
During my Google searches and attempted research (I am by no means a Tolkien scholar. Afterall, it was Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy that got me interested in Tolkien. I'd heard of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings beforehand but did not really know what they were about, nor read them) I had discovered a website titled 'Tolkien Gateway'. Using that as a resource, I shall list and explain what has not been published yet by J.R.R. Tolkien. Again, I am not sure how accurate this may be (no offence meant to the good people at that site but merely how up to date it is now) or rather if there is enough material to actually publish any more books.
Before I begin the list and their explanations, here is their main site: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Main_Page
Essays, Notes, and Lectures
"The Beginnings of English Poetry" (talk to the Oxford High School for Girls)
"Celts and Teutons"
"The Chill Barbarians of the North"
The Chill Barbarians of the North is the title of a paper by J.R.R. Tolkien, read at a meeting of the Newman Society in Oxford during Hilary Term 1928.The Catholic journal The Tablet reported on 7 April 1928 that:
Mr. Tolkien, the newly appointed Professor of Anglo-Saxon, criticized the views associated with Mr. Belloc and maintained that the Northern culture was quite as real as the Latin, and that so far as observation of foreign lands was concerned the Romans were stupid and devoid of imagination. No doubt, the fact is that North and South have combined to form our civilization; but it has ever seemed to the writer that our literary inspiration has been Greek, apart from our own Northern sentiment and delight in wild nature which is the antithesis of either the Greek or Latin spirit.—[2]
Concerning ... 'The Hoard'
The manuscript, consisting of nine pages, gives an outline of 'The Silmarillion' by relating his poem The Hoard to this still unpublished work. An extract from the manuscript appeared in Sotheby's English Literature and English History 6-7 December 1984, and was reproduced in Beyond Bree May 1985.[1][2][3]
Writing about the manuscript, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have commented that:
Christina examined the manuscript on one of the pre-auction viewing days at Sotheby's, and found that it gives some indication of Tolkien's then-current thoughts on some parts of The Silmarillion. She had just read The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (published 16 August 1984) and had reviewed it for Beyond Bree, so that text was fresh in her mind; and in relation to it, she noted developments by Tolkien since the Lost Tales as well as differences from the published Silmarillion. With regard to the ruin of Doriath, the story told in the 1964 manuscript is closer to the Quenta Noldorinwa (not published until 1986) than to The Nauglafring in The Book of Lost Tales,
but differs in some respects from any published version — for instance,
before beginning work on the treasure, the dwarves agree to accept a
payment of a tenth of the unwrought metals. Thingol, however, is still killed outside Menegroth, with Tolkien giving two possible reasons why the dwarves were able to pass the Girdle of Melian.
Presumably Tolkien made no file copy of this manuscript, and otherwise left no record in his papers to assist Christopher in his work on The Silmarillion. A few years ago, Christina sent Christopher a copy of the notes she made at Sotheby's ..., which he found very interesting. The manuscript and covering letter sold for £2,000 to 'Sawyer', presumably a bookseller acting for a buyer, and we have seen no sign of it in later years, in public or private collections or in the marketplace.''
Presumably Tolkien made no file copy of this manuscript, and otherwise left no record in his papers to assist Christopher in his work on The Silmarillion. A few years ago, Christina sent Christopher a copy of the notes she made at Sotheby's ..., which he found very interesting. The manuscript and covering letter sold for £2,000 to 'Sawyer', presumably a bookseller acting for a buyer, and we have seen no sign of it in later years, in public or private collections or in the marketplace.''
Critique of "Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler"
Refers to a hand-written manuscript by J.R.R. Tolkien, in which he offers a criticism of Lord Dunsany's story "Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler". The manuscript was found in Tolkien's copy of the fantasy anthology Swords & Sorcery (which included the story), a gift from L. Sprague de Camp (who wrote the introduction of the book). According to sales of the item, Tolkien's text is "not [a] very complementary critique".[1][2]
Cushing Memorial Library and Archives collection
A collection of sixteen philological books in German from J.R.R. Tolkien's personal library and two full pages and four fragments of notes and two letters, held at the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M University.
Fifteen of the books are inscribed with Tolkien's name and date, and a number of these contain his annotations. Madeline J. Keyser provided a description of parts of the material in the article "Sixteen Philological Books and Notes from the Library of J.R.R. Tolkien" (appearing on the website Tolkien Library).[1]
Carl F. Hostetter and Patrick H. Wynne have analyzed portions of the material posted by Keyser, specifically the fragments consisting of an "invented Elvish, or Elvish-influenced, language".[2]
Diplomatarium Islandicum manuscripts
Elvish time (partially published)
Essay concerning Smith of Wootton Major (partially published)
(Essay, written in response to seeing Pauline Baynes's depiction of various characters from The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien described each member of the Fellowship of the Ring and some other persons as he pictured them — an invaluable aid to any illustrator of his work. [Bodleian Library, Oxford: Dept. of Western Manuscripts, Mss Tolkien A61, fols. 1—31.])[2]
"Francis Thompson" - paper on Francis Thompson, presented to the Exeter College Essay Club. (partially published)[3]
The Goths
Deals with the vanished tradition, literature, history, and the tongue of the Goths.[1]
The manuscript is held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford: Dept. of Western Manuscripts, Mss Tolkien A15/2, fol. 149.[1]
Lecture on Dragons (partially published)
Manuscript notes in Dictionary in Englysshe and Welshe
Notes in Tolkien's copies of:
(Cairo Studies in English)
The New Testament in the Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures (Sands & Company Ltd 1947; contains "numerous notes and bibliographical amendments")[4]
Portugais; phonétique et phonologie, morphologie, textes
Probleme der Englischen Sprache und Kultur
Songs for the Philologists (held at the Marquette University; annotations in pencil)[5]
(Specimens Of Early English)
Notes on etymology of 'Lydney'
Notes on James Joyce
Númenórean religion
Papers relating to "English and Welsh"
Review (written ca. 1934-1935) of "the Devonshire volumes published by the English Place-Name Society in 1931 and 1932".[6]
Review notes for Beowulf: An Introduction to the Study of the Poem
"The Ulsterior Motive"
Fiction
The End of Bovadium
Also commonly referred to as "The Bovadium Fragments", is an unpublished story by J.R.R. Tolkien, possibly written in the early 1960s.[2][3]
In 1968, Tolkien included The End of Bovarium among those of his unpublished works that he had "no intention of publishing now (if ever), or of allowing them to get in the way of my proper work."[1] However, earlier Tolkien seems to have been of a different opinion. On 25 October 1960 Tolkien sought (through his secretary Elisabeth Lumsden) to publish what is believed to be this writing (since it was described as "a sort of satirical fantasy") in the magazine Time and Tide.[note 1][4] And on 24 August 1966 Tolkien lent Rayner Unwin the manuscript, who wrote to Tolkien already the next day, thinking that he "should publish it in the Oxford Magazine." Also Clyde S. Kilby was given a copy, being asked if the piece was worthy of publication.[5] Kilby would later (1976) recall that the story was:
- "[a] satire written long before and having as its main point the worship of the Motores, i.e., automobiles, and the traffic jams blocking the roads in and around Oxford. It was full of the inventiveness to be expected of Tolkien. Some of the characters are Rotzopny, Dr. Gums, and Sarevelk. I judged that it had two elements that would make it unpublishable. One was the more than liberal use of Latin, and the other the probability that a reader's eye would focus on its playfulness rather than its serious implications. Actually it was an early comment on the commercialization of our world."
- ― Clyde S. Kilby[6]
The writing is kept at the Bodleian Library (Department of Western Manuscripts, Mss. Tolkien, Series A, folder A62, pages 38-91),[7] which suggests that the manuscript consists of 53 pages.[8]
The King of the Green Dozen
An incomplete story written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is described as a pseudo-Celtic fairy-story with a little satire. The story is set in Wales and is about the King of Iwerddon who, along with his sons, has green hair.[1] In a letter to Stanley Unwin in 1945 Tolkien states the story is half-written and could be finished if Unwin approves of Farmer Giles of Ham.[2]
The Orgog
An unfinished and unpublished children's tale by J.R.R. Tolkien.
When the Tolkien family had moved in 1924 to 2 Darnley Road in Leeds, John Tolkien recalls that "The Orgog" was one of the tales read by his father to him, when he could not fall asleep. While most of these tales were not written down, "The Orgog" survives as an unfinished, typewritten manuscript. Not much is known of the story itself, except that it is a "strange, convoluted tale of an odd creature travelling through a fantastic landscape."[1][2][3][4]
It has been suggested that Tolkien's watercolour A Shop on the Edge of the Hills of Fairy Land (painted in 1924) is likely related to the tale,[note 1] as the word "Gogs" appears on the depicted shop building (although there is no mention of such a shop in the tale). The painting is dedicated to John.[3]
"The Brothers in Arms" (or "The Brothers-in-Arms")[7]
"Companions of the Rose"[8]
"Copernicus and Ptolemy" (or "Copernicus v. Ptolemy")[8]
"The Dale-lands"[8]
Poetry
(Unknown "alliterative poem")
Rehabilitations and Other Essays is a collection of essays by C.S. Lewis.
The essay "The Alliterative Metre" includes a mention of an unpublished text by J.R.R. Tolkien: "Professor Tolkien will soon, I hope, be ready to publish an alliterative poem". It remains unknown to which poem Lewis is referring, although suggestions have included "The Fall of Arthur", "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son", "Lay of the Children of Húrin", or poems included in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún.[1] Since all mentioned except The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth have been published, I will now focus on that:
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son is a poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien which was originally published in 1953 in volume 6 of the scholarly journal Essays and Studies by Members of the English Association. It is inspired by an Old English fragment about The Battle of Maldon. It is written in the form of an alliterative poem, but is also a play, being mainly a dialogue between two characters in the aftermath of The Battle of Maldon. The work was accompanied by two essays, also by Tolkien, one before and one after the main work.
The work, as published, was thus presented as:
- The Death of Beorhtnoth - an introductory essay concerning the battle and the Old English fragment that inspired Tolkien.
- The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son - the actual work itself.
- Ofermod
- an essay following on from the main work, discussing the meaning
of the Old English word ofermod.
Extracts from unpublished drafts of The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth were published in Tolkien Studies, Volume 4 .
Poem for Rosalind Ramage
Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay
A series of poems written by J.R.R. Tolkien. Although Humphrey Carpenter wrote that they were written in 1922,[1] Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond place the time of composition as c. 1928.[2] The poems tell stories about an imaginary English coastal town and harbour, Bimble Bay.
"Completorium"[8]
"From the many-willow'd margin of the immemorial Thames (second stanza) [add note in article]
"The Grimness of the Sea" [add note in article]
"The Horns of the Host of Doriath"[9]
"Magna Dei Gloria"[10]
"The Two Riders. Earlier versions"
"The Brothers in Arms" (or The Brothers-inArms).
"The Children of Hurin. Another version of The Children of Hurin, with the same title,unpublished, is in rhyming couplets.
"Companions of the Rose".
"Completorium. Earlier called Evening".
"Consolatrix Afflictorum"
"Copernicus and Ptolemy" (or Copernicus v. Ptolemy). Earlier called Dark.
"Courage Speaks with the Love of Earth"
"The Dale-lands". Earlier called The Dale Lands.
"Dark Are the Clouds about the North"
"Darkness on the Road"
"Doworst" (partially published)
a humorous poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The poem, written in a medieval style reminding of Piers Plowman, was a given by Tolkien to R.W. Chambers in December 1933. Eventually, the decorated manuscript containing the poem came into the possession of Arthur Brown, Professor of English at Monash University in Australia.[1]
Two publications related to the Monash University have reproduced parts of the manuscript:
- 1975: Monash Review 3 (title of poem appearing as "Do Worst")[2]
- 1978: A Elbereth Gilthoniel! 1, no. 2[1]
"Elf Alone". Earlier called The Lonely Harebell.
"Ferrum et Sanguis"
"From Iffley"
"The Forest-walker". Earlier called The Forest Walker.
"A Fragment of an Epic: Before Jerusalem Richard Makes an End of Speech".
"G.B.S. Earlier called GBS".
"The Grimness of the Sea".
"The Horns of the Host of Doriath". An earlier version was called The Trumpets of Faery.
"The Lonely Harebell"
"Magna Dei Gloria"
"May-day". Earlier called May Day, May Day in a Backward Year.
"A Memory of Julyin England"
"Meolchwitum sind marmanstane"
"The Mermaid's Flute".
"Monoceros, the Unicorn"
"Morning"*"Morning Song". Earlier called Morning-song
"Morning Tea"
"The New Lemminkainen"
"Now and Ever"
"Old Grabbler". One of the Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay. Earlier called Poor Old Grabbler.
"Outside".
"The Pool of the Dead Year"
"Poor Old Grabbler"
"The Bum-pus"
"Reginhardus the Fox"
"A Rime for My Boy"
"The Ruined Enchanter: A Fairy Ballad"
"The Sirens"
"Tol Eressea" An earlier version of The Lonely Isle.
"A Song of Bimble Bay". One of the Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay.
"Sparrow Song" (Bilink). Earlier called Sparrowsong.
"Stella Vespertina". Earlier called Consolatrix Afflictorum.
"Sunset in a Town".
"The Swallow and the Traveller on the Plains". Earlier called Thoughts on Parade.
"The Thatch of Poppies"
"Vestr um Haf". Adapted as Bilbo's Last Song.
Linguistics (invented languages)
(athelas/asëa etymology (1970s))
Book of the Foxrook (partially published)
A manuscript by J.R.R. Tolkien, likely composed around 10 June 1909 (this date was added to the title-page).[1]
It consists of a 16-page notebook containing "the key to a secret code consisting of a rune-like phonetic alphabet and a sizable number of ideographic symbols". The book also contains comments on Esperanto.[2]
The existence of this manuscript was apparently first mentioned by Humphrey Carpenter in his J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (p. 37).[2] A page from the Book of the Foxrook was reproduced in the exhibition catalogue Tolkien: Life and Legend. An analysis and transcription of the same page appeared in the article "Tolkien and Esperanto" (cf. pp. 29-34), published in SEVEN, Volume 17.
The Book of the Foxrook is kept at the Bodleian Library (Family papers 1/29(3), fol. 1r).[2]
Common Eldarin pronominal elements (grammatical description; partially published)[11][note 1]
Discussion of Quenya demonstrative and relative pronouns (partially published; dating from the 1940s)[12]
"Homophonic stems" (partially published; ca. 1968, typescript text)[13]
"Lyenna" inscription (1968)
Mágol
one of the early languages of Tolkien. It was said to be of Hungarian style and Tolkien worked on it around the years he was writing The Hobbit or earlier. The context in which Tolkien created it is not known, since it is not much connected with his legendarium.
There are at least two papers concerning Mágol. In the earliest one it is referred as "Mágo", and it was said that "Old Mágo" was the language of the children of Húrin. The second paper seems a mixture of Hungarian and Elvish.[1] Sometime later he considered making this language Orkish; he marked this page with the name "Orcish" but striked it out[1] which means that he rejected this idea.[2]. However one word from its vocabulary is bolg meaning "strong".[2]
In The Notion Club Papers Michael Ramer mentions several Ungric words like Shomorú (Hung. szomorú 'sad'[3]) 'Saturn'[4], Dalud dimran, Eshil dimzor[5], a waterfall on the world Ellor Eshúrizel [6], Gyönyörü, Emberü [7] , Gyürüchill 'Saturn' [8]
"Late essay", ca. 1966-70 (partially published)
Noldorin Grammar[14]
Pronominal endings (1950s)[15]
Specimens of Tolkien's invented languages in tengwar-type script from the 1930s (might appear in "future issues of Parma Eldalamberon")[16]
Taliska historical grammar and dictionary[17]
Miscellaneous
The Book of Ishness (partially published)
a sketchbook, begun by J.R.R. Tolkien on 6 January 1914, where he collected illustrations devoted to "imaginative subjects".[1]
Cigar bill (3 March 1972)
Collection at the University of Leeds (includes letter Letter to Arthur Ransome and transcriptions into Tengwar of parts of this and Ransome's letter)[18][19]
Collection of Simonne d'Ardenne (includes letters, lecture notes, etc.; only a tengwar inscription from the collection published)[20]
The Diaries of J.R.R. Tolkien (partially published)
the unpublished diaries of J.R.R. Tolkien. The manuscripts are part of the Tolkien Papers at the Bodleian Library, a collection which is only open to researchers working under the auspices of the Tolkien Estate.[1]
Humphrey Carpenter was given access to the writings and quoted several passages in his work J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, noting that Tolkien used the diaries "chiefly as a record of sorrow and distress, and when ... his gloom dissipated he ceased to keep up the diary entries".[2] Permission to research the diaries was also granted to Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull for their preparation of The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (a work which also includes several quotes from the diaries).[1]
Contents
- New Year's Day 1910: "Depressed and as much in dark as ever, [...] God help me. Feel weak and weary." [Entry in the first of Tolkien's preserved diaries][2]
- April 1910: [After seeing Peter Pan at a Birmingham theatre]: "Indescribable but shall never forget it as long as I live. Wish E. had been with me."[2]
- January 1913: Tolkien starts keeping a diary (entitled "JRRT and EMB in account together, AMDG") of how many hours he works and, in red ink, his performance of religious duties.[3]
- New Year's Day 1919: Tolkien starts a new diary, mainly written with the Alphabet of Rúmil.[2][4]
- [Unknown date, referring to his school years]: "Did a lot of private lang."[2]
- January 1922: "Eric Valentine Gordon has come [to Leeds University] and got firmly established and is my devoted friend and pal."[5]
- 1924: [Concerning the birth of Christoper: "Now I would not go without what God has sent."[2]
- 1926: [Carpenter notes that Tolkien wrote "his diary from 1926 to 1933" in the alphabet 'Quenyatic'/'Feanorian'][2]
- 1926: [As part of a summary of events of 1925, Tolkien writes:] "The Tale of 'Roverandom', written to amuse John (and myself as it grew) got done."[6]
- ?1920s-1930s: [On C.S. Lewis]: "Friendship with Lewis compensates for much, and besides giving constant pleasure and comfort has done me much good from the contact with a man at once honest, brave, intellectual - a scholar, a poet, and a philosopher - and a lover, at least after a long pilgrimage, of Our Lord."[2]
- ?1930s: [On Christopher Tolkien:] "a nervy, irritable, cross-grained, self-tormenting, cheeky person. Yet there is something intensely lovable about him, to me at any rate, from the very similarity between us"[2]
- 1933: [On the occasion of driving his family to visit relatives in Birmingham:] "I pass over the pangs to me of passing through Hall Green - become a huge tram-ridden meaningless suburb, where I actually lost my way - and eventually down what is left of beloved lanes of childhood, and past the very gate of our cottage, now in the midst of a sea of new red-brick. The old mill still stands, and Mrs Hunt's still sticks out into the road as it turns uphill; but the crossing beyond the now fenced-in pool, where the bluebell lane ran down into the mill lane, is now a dangerous crossing alive with motors and red lights. The White Ogre's house (which the children were excited to see) is become a petrol station, and most of Short Avenue and the elms between it and the crossing have gone. How I envy those whose precious early scenery has not been exposed to such violent and peculiarly hideous change."[2]
- August 1955: [Notes on his visit to Italy with Priscilla:] : "Venice seemed incredibly, elvishly lovely"[2]; "contrary to legend and my belief, Italians ... dislike exaggeration, superlatives, and adjectives of excessive praise. But they seem to answer to colour and poetic expression, if justified."[7]
- Late 1963 or early 1964: [Carpenter notes that soon after C.S. Lewis's death, Tolkien "began to keep a diary, which was something he had not done for many years. In part it was an excuse for using another alphabet that he had invented; he called it his 'New English Alphabet'.]: "Life is grey and grim. I can get nothing done, between stateness and boredom (confined to quarters), and anxiety and distraction. What am I going to do? Be sucked down into residence in a hotel or old-people's home or club, without books or contacts or talk with men? God help me!"[2]
- 1968-1971: [Carpenter notes that Tolkien kept a diary "for a brief time during [the] Bournemouth years".][2]
English to Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
an unpublished dictionary by J.R.R. Tolkien, consisting of a group of more than 400 slips of entries for an English to Anglo-Saxon dictionary. The entries were arranged alphabetically according to Modern English. The papers are held at the Bodleian Library, Manuscript Tolkien A 20/4.[1]
"A few minor items" related to the Father Christmas letters ("verso inscriptions", "a couple of plainer envelopes ... and a couple of brief notes")[21]
"Index questions" (Glossary-index) (partially published)
Oxford University visitor's page
"The Sword of the Stone manuscript"
Translations and Editions
[they list Beowulf but it has been published]the "Clarendon Chaucer"
Was the working title of an edition by J.R.R. Tolkien of Geoffrey Chaucer's works for the Clarendon Press, which never was completed (a manuscript suggests that Selections from Chaucer's Poetry and Prose might have been intended as the published title). While at the University of Leeds, Tolkien worked with E.V. Gordon on the edition, under the supervision of Kenneth Sisam.[1] Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have noted that the existence of the "Clarendon Chaucer" was largely unknown before the publication of their The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006).[2]
"Gunnar's End". [Translation of brief passage from the Norse Atlakviða into Old English verse.][23]
The Owl and the Nightingale
A Middle English poem. J.R.R. Tolkien began a translation of the poem, which has never reached publication.[1] In a letter from 1967, Tolkien wrote:
I have at present given up the task [of translating The Owl and the Nightingale]. It comes off well enough in certain passages, but in general octo-syllabic couplets are defeating for a translator; there is no room to move.
Pwyll Prince of Dyved
The title of the first of the Four Branches of the Welsh medieval manuscript Mabinogion. Tolkien worked on an edition and translation of Pwyll, which reached to include around the first fifth of the first Branch (Tolkien's edition is held at the Bodleian Library).[1] A discussion and presentation of (including a brief quote from) Tolkien's manuscript was provided by Carl Phelpstead in Tolkien and Wales: Language, Literature and Identity (2011; cf. pp. 9, 11, 60-1, 139 n. 33).
(Die Walküre)
Second of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung"), by Richard Wagner.
During the 1930s, the Inklings members J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis apparently began working on a translation of Die Walküre.[1][2]
Courtesy of : http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Index:Unpublished_material
So what would you like to see published? I would be most interested in The King of the Green Dozen, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, The Clarendon Chaucer, and Pwyll / Mabinogion.
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