At the beginning of this year, Christopher Tolkien, the younger son of J.R.R. Tolkien and the executor of Tolkien's literary legacy, died in Provence, France, at the age of 95, and the Chinese edition of his last edited and compiled today, "The Fall of Gondolin", was finally available. Following "Beren and Lucian" and "Hulin's Children", "The Fall of Gondolin", as the final chapter of the three legends of the ancient era of Middle-earth, witnessed the end of the First Age.
The cornerstone of The Sprite
+ The Lord of the Rings background
Witness the end of the First Age of Middle-Earth
As we all know, "The Lord of the Rings" ("The Lord of the Rings"), which has long been famous through the film of the same name, is only a small part of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth world, and Tolkien's "Three Legends of Middle-earth" corresponds to "Belen and Lucian", "Hulin's Children" and "The Fall of Gondolin".
Following "Belen and Lucian" and "Hulin's Children", "The Fall of Gondolin", as the final chapter of the three legends of the ancient era of Middle-earth, witnessed the final end of the first era of the Middle-earth world. These three legends are not only part of the grand background of The Lord of the Rings, but also an indispensable cornerstone of The Sprite.
The "Hidden City" Gondorin is one of the three elven kingdoms of the First Age of Middle-earth, the most prosperous, the longest-standing, and the most tenacious city against the forces of darkness, and the fall of the city shows the great changes in the world of gods and elves. The Fall of Gondolin recounts the human Tuor's sojourn in Gondolin, his union with Ycholl Caleblindahl, the birth of Eyjarendil, the betrayal of Meglin, the fall of the city-state, and the escape of the survivors. The story is at the heart of Tolkien's imagination of the First Age. Readers can learn how Middle-earth came to an end to the First Age through the numerous branches of the various editions of the manuscripts included in this book. In The Fall of Gondolin, the reader can also see how J.R.R. Tolkien's conception of the history he conceived gradually came to light over the long years.
J.R.R. Tolkien
Unfortunately, there is only one complete version written by Tolkien in his lifetime, that is, the manuscript created in his youth. Christopher Tolkien writes in the preface: "It is true that my father set about rebuilding Gondolin, but he never reached the city again. After climbing the endless slopes of Orfakh Ehor and passing through a long series of outpost gates, Tuao saw the beauty of Gondolin, which was nestled in the middle of the plain, and his father stopped writing here and never again walked through Tum Laden. ”
The launch of "The Fall of Gondolin" completes the "Three Legends of Middle-earth" and presents the magical and magnificent Middle-earth world written by J.R.R. Tolkien for Chinese readers.
The Fall of Gondolin is at the heart of the Middle-earth world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Professor Tolkien wrote to W.H. Auden in a 1955 letter referring to the legend of the fall of Gondolin as "the first true legend of this fantasy world."
Christopher Tolkien
Speaking of Middle-earth, in addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, who created it, it is also necessary to mention J.R.R. Tolkien's younger son and the executor of Tolkien's literary legacy, Christopher Tolkien. When J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, Christopher Tolkien became the executor of his father's literary legacy. He was confronted with a full 70 boxes of his father's unpublished works, most of which were about the history of Middle-earth, with annotations covering a world larger than The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It is thanks to the unremitting efforts of his youngest son, Christopher Tolkien, in the past few decades, that more than 20 works, such as "The Jewel of the Spirit Diamond", which show the magnificence and magic of the Middle-earth world, and "The Unfinished Legend of Numenor and Middle-earth" have been able to meet readers around the world. As the three ancient legends of Middle-earth, "Belen and Lucien" and "The Fall of Gundolin" were compiled after Christopher Tolkien was 90 years old.
A year ago, Christopher Tolkien said, "I'm 94 years old, and The Fall of Gundolin (no doubt) is the last book I've ever written." "In a word. On January 15, French local time, the 95-year-old man, the youngest son of the famous British writer J.R.R. Tolkien and the executor of Tolkien's literary heritage passed away in Provence. The Fall of Gondolin also became the last Middle-earth legend compiled and edited by Christopher Tolkien during his lifetime.
Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods, said, "I love Tolkien. His words and phrases are like everything in nature, like the structure of rock walls and the rushing of waterfalls. For me, if I am obsessed with to the level of Tolkien's writing, it is like a delusion to bloom like a cherry tree, like a small squirrel trying to climb to the top of a tree, like an ordinary precipitation that wants to be called a storm. ”
Chinese edition of The Fall of Gundolin still invites the lord of the rings translators Deng Jiawan, Shi Zhongge, and Du Yunci to translate, and the illustrations in the book are still drawn by the British illustrator Alan Lee, who is familiar to Tolkien readers.
Inside page of The Fall of Gondolin