Unfinished Tales Audiobook By J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien - editor cover art

Unfinished Tales

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Unfinished Tales

By: J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien - editor
Narrated by: Timothy West, Samuel West
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JRR Tolkien’s legacy of short stories which inhabit the realm of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, on audio for the first time.

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 Numenor before its downfall, and all that is known about such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantiri and the legend of Amroth. The tales were collated and edited by JRR 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.

©1980 The Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien (P)1980 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Military War

Critic reviews

"Another monument to the incredible imagination of Tolkien." (Sunday Telegraph)

"Moments of mythic grandeur." (Sunday Times)

Featured Article: Who Is J.R.R. Tolkien? Celebrating the Incomparable Creator of Middle-earth


J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings epic, has an annual day devoted to reveling in his books. Established by the Tolkien Society in 2003. Tolkien Reading Day is held each year on March 25—the date marking the downfall of the terrible Dark Lord, Sauron (the Lord of the Rings). Before you dive into re-listening to your favorite passages, why not take learn more about the writer, scholar, linguist, and visionary behind the fantasy phenomenon?

Featured Article Who Is J R R Tolkien Celebrating the Incomparable Creator of Middle earth
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Rich Mythology • Unfinished Tales • Excellent Dual Narration • Detailed Backstories • Engaging Storytelling
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All the information one who loves to live in Middle Earth desires to fill in many gaps however, in The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, I wish C.Tolkien would have simply placed all the editorial comments and embellishments at the end as they are hard to mentally smooth into the story as one listens because they just seem to be interruptions like a car horn or siren when one is trying to nap. The puzzling thing is that there are extensive appendices to this segment already!! One does soldier on however when one loves something so.

Editorial roadblocks

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I really enjoyed this, it’s far more palatable than the Lost Tales, and answers lots of questions you might have about little details of the history of Middle Earth. The reading was excellent, and really helpful for understanding pronunciations.

A strong familiarity with both LotR and The Silmarillion is required to understand anything in this book; I highly recommend rereading both of them before and after listening to this. Enjoy!

Great for Tolkien Nerds

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If you love Tolkien’s universe, this is a must read.
If you haven’t read hobbit, LOTR, and the Silmarillion, read those first.

For lovers of Tolkien’s universe.

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It’s no easy thing to convert a book with footnotes into an audio, but the team at work here did a wonderful job. Also the readers’ voices are among the best I’ve ever heard.

Great voices, wonderful organization

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The 2 narrators' voices give an unimagined depth and clarity to a work that I struggled to read, in my singular voice. Highly recommended for Tolkien scholar fans on a deep dive.

Untangling Tolkien's web.

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In a brilliant move, customers are now forced to write reviews if they want to rate books. This is a waste of time both for me and for whoever reads this.

Four Stars

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Great tales and fragments pieced together with commentary by Christopher Tolkien that feels like Tolkien scholarship. Not finished but fascinating ideas and concepts that show how Tolkien’s secondary world evolved and changed over the years he worked on it.

Amazing insight into Tolkien’s world

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Great fill in of the Lore of Middle Earth, Great father and son tag team narration.

Great Narration

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I am reading this in conjunction with the Silmarillion. I have read Lord of the Rings at least a dozen times. This book made me realize that, no matter how well I know the Lord of the Rings, it is just a long, remarkably detailed tale, just a part of the overall story, on which the Unfinished Tales shed much light.

What I find the most profound is in the cases of revealed motives, predecessors, and previous history which illuminate decisions, characters, and priorities.

I am so thankful that Christopher Tolkien decided to go ahead and published this work.

Shaken to the core!

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Not for your average mainstream fans unless they are into this sort of thing. An enjoyable listen that fills in lots of gaps you may want to know more about and fills in some gaps you never knew you wanted filled.

Enlightening and Entertaining

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