Unveiling the Letters: What is the name of Tolkien's Legendarium?

In Letter no.126 (10 March 1950 to Milton Waldman), J.R.R. Tolkien for the first time reveals [formally] how he called the entire story placed in His World - Eä, where the Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings are joined together as one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings.

Quote:

"I had in my letter made a strong point that the Silmarillion etc. and The Lord of the Rings went together, as one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings, and that I was resolved to treat them as one thing, however they might formally be issued." 

This approach to naming one's World was presented also in anothe Letter (BAM! dated as from same day!). 
Quote from Letter no. 125 (10 March 1950 to Sir Stanley Unwin):

"But the whole Saga of the Three Jewels and the Rings of Power has only one natural division into two parts (each of about 600,000 words): The Silmarillion and other legends; and The Lord of the Rings."

What a dates coincidence! Chance that exact name of Legendarium was coined by Tolkien specifelly at 10 march 1950!? ... or maybe earlier, but only on this day he wrote about it twice - what do You think is more likely?

Much more later on, in The Fall of Gondolin (book edited by Christopher Tolkien, published on 30 August 2018), in the commentary note author is re-writing the J.R.R. Tolkien's statement of Saga of the Jewels and the Rings (p.186 of mine Polish edition).
By this,Christopher Tolkien seems finally confirms his father will on what the Legendarium name should be.


  watch The Tolkien Compass playlist
Labels:
Author:

Comments

Post a Comment

TOP 5 popular posts:

Investigation: Northern Waste or Forodwaith - what is at the top of the Middle-earth map?

Image
Looking at the maps of Middle-earth, both created by famous Tolkien-based authors as well as Christopher Tolkien himself, we can see differences in the nomenclature of the extreme northern part of  Middle-earth. Once the northern region is signed Forodwaith, sometimes Northern Waste, and sometimes both at once. So what is at the "top" of the Middle-earth map? … and how should this region be correctly named? Northern Waste is basically cold polar region (Arctic tundra alike) placed on uttermost north part of Middle-earth, whereas  Forodwaith  (S. forod = "north" and gwaith = "people")  is   named  after the hardy Forodwaith folk, who inhabited this part of land since 1st. Age. By the 3rd Age, last remnants of Forodwaith folk migrated near the Icebay of Forochel, theirs descendants are Lossoth.  In the first published map of Middle-earth  by Christopher Tolkien :  General Map of Middle-earth  (Fig.1), Forodwaith is labelled in smaller letters next to  Nor
Read more

Welcome!

Image
“I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit (generally with meticulous care for distances). The other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities, and in any case it is weary work to compose a map from a story.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters The Tolkien Compass   Blog  is devoted to the broadly understood geography and nature of Arda. It is created with the intention of writing down my researches, studies and reflections. Connecting-the-dots work, that I'm conducting over the years on the holes and gaps left by Tolkien's in theirs writings, ensured me that there is still lot's of canonical content to discover in between lines, and it's hiding not only on the edge of the maps. My goal is also to make the fans aware of Arda's true and undisturbed shape, strengthen fans knowledge and build in them awareness on the geek and nerd levels. 👍  The Tolkien Comp ass     was created in 2018 as a Facebook page and at the time of writing this post it has almo
Read more
Image
  TOLKIEN Facts ~ The HOBBIT ~ #1: One quote to rule them all !   “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”   This opening sentence from The Hobbit became so well known and world-wide famous that in 1980 it was incorporated into the 15th edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations ). ~ The Hobbit has been translated into at least 41 languages ​​(by 2002) and the book itself has been published in over a hundred editions around the World. This first sentence is recognizable in many languages ​​and has become even more famous than the first line of The Ring-verse from The Lord of the Rings . 👉 Please visit Facebook page  The Tolkien Comp ass   for PDF and JPEG file to share in social media. Always follow #TrueTolkien and stay curious ! #tolkienfact #tolkienfan #thetolkienist #tolkiengeek #tolkiennerd   Watch  The Tolkien Compass   playlist
Read more

Unveiling the Letters: Letter no. 112 and the Runes

Image
In Letter no. 112 (on  30 November 1947 to  Katherine Farrer), J.R.R. introduced  text in Runes . Text as a postcard, is written in Futhorc (not in Cirth), which are Old English (Anglo-Saxon) runes used by the author in The Hobbit . At that time, original runic writing system ( Cirth ) used in  The Lord of the Rings is not deviced yet. The text is a modern English, but display the use of Westron of Third Age . Runic text: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, runes from letter 112 Westron translation: þree manor road sunday noveber þe þirtieþ dear mrs farrer: of course i will sign yo ur copy of þe hobbit. i am honoured by þe recwest. it is good news þat þe book is obtain able again. þe next book will cotain more d etailed information about runes and oþer alfabets in respose to many encwiries. in þe meantime while þe great work is beiŋ finiš ed i wonder if you would like a proper key to þe special dwarviš adaptation of þe eŋliš runic alfabet only part of which appears
Read more