In Morgoth's Ring, the
tenth volume of The History of Middle-earth and the first of two
companion volumes, Christopher Tolkien describes and documents the
legends of the Elder Days, as they were evolved and transformed by his
father in the years before he completed The Lord of the Rings. The text
of the Annals of Aman, the "Blessed Land" in the far West, is given in
full. And in writings never before published, we can see the nature of
the problems that J.R.R. Tolkien explored in his later years as new and
radical ideas, portending upheaval in the heart of the mythology. At
this time Tokien sought to redefine the old legends, and wrote of the
nature and destiny of Elves, the idea of Elvish rebirth, the origins of
the Orcs, and the Fall of Men. His meditation of mortality and
immortality as represented in the lives of Men and Elves led to another
major writing at this time, the "Debate of Finrod and Andreth," which is
reproduced here in full. "Above all," Christopher Tolkien writes in his
foreward, "the power and significance of Melkor-Morgoth...was enlarged
to become the ground and source of the corruption of Arda." This book
indeed is all about Morgoth. Incomparably greater than the power of
Sauron, concentrated in the One Ring, Morgoth's power (Tolkien wrote)
was dispersed into the very matter of Arda: "The whole of Middle-earth
was Morgoth's Ring."
Description: