The Lays of Beleriand (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 3)

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely beautiful!
Review: This book of poetry is extremely beautiful and inspiring. Tolkien captures a true sense of nobility, heroism, wonder, and great and terrible deeds. The poems themselves are excellent, with finely-turned phrases, evocative imagery, and scarcely a word out of place, especially the Lay of Beren and Luthien (which, admittedly, has always been a personal favorite story with me). A must-have for any serious Tolkien fan or anyone who appreciates noble and beautiful poetry!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely beautiful!
Review: This book of poetry is extremely beautiful and inspiring. Tolkien captures a true sense of nobility, heroism, wonder, and great and terrible deeds. The poems themselves are excellent, with finely-turned phrases, evocative imagery, and scarcely a word out of place, especially the Lay of Beren and Luthien (which, admittedly, has always been a personal favorite story with me). A must-have for any serious Tolkien fan or anyone who appreciates noble and beautiful poetry!

Rating:
Summary: Step into the adventures of an ancient Middle-Earth
Review: This is a very good book. The stories are very well thought up by the genius, J.R.R. Tolkien. The notes from Christopher Tolkien in all of the stories go along well with it. It's nice to see the original versions of these stories that were later put into the book, The Silmarillion. If you have read The Lord of the Rings series and crave for more history of the enchanted world of Middle-Earth, then you must read this book. It tells of stories from a long ago Middle-Earth. These are great stories! A Must-Read for any dedicated Tolkien fan!

Rating:
Summary: Great for a fuller appreciation of Tolkien's poetic skills
Review: Tolkien outdid himself with these two long poems. Although never completed, these alliterative verse versions of the "Lay of the Children of Hurin" and "The Lay of Beren and Luthien" are vivid, thrilling and deeply moving. There is little different about these stories from their versions in The Silmarillion, but they are more detailed, and in VERSE. Not only do they make very enjoyable reading, but students of Old, Middle and Early Modern English poetry will be in awe of Tolkiens completely unaffected ability to render his story in alliterative verse, complete with caesura. I was very frustrated not to be able to read complete versions, but the lies of Delu Morgoth live even today, and the ends of these tales are lost in the mists of time...

Rating:
Summary: Great for a fuller appreciation of Tolkien's poetic skills
Review: Tolkien outdid himself with these two long poems. Although never completed, these alliterative verse versions of the "Lay of the Children of Hurin" and "The Lay of Beren and Luthien" are vivid, thrilling and deeply moving. There is little different about these stories from their versions in The Silmarillion, but they are more detailed, and in VERSE. Not only do they make very enjoyable reading, but students of Old, Middle and Early Modern English poetry will be in awe of Tolkiens completely unaffected ability to render his story in alliterative verse, complete with caesura. I was very frustrated not to be able to read complete versions, but the lies of Delu Morgoth live even today, and the ends of these tales are lost in the mists of time...

Rating:
Summary: A great addition to an already large Tolkien library
Review: When I bought this book a few years ago, I thought it was an excellent resource for clarifying some points not covered in The Silmarillion. Tolkien was truly gifted .