John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After serving in World War I, he embarked upon a distinguished academic career and was recognized as one of the finest philologists in the world. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. He is, however, beloved throughout the world as the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic works as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He died on September 2, 1973, at the age of eighty-one.

"Tolkien devotees will no doubt rejoice. . . . Christopher Tolkien shows himself to be his father's son, delving into the question of Elvish genealogies. . . . He gives the reader histories of each character's name as it evolved in the course of Tolkien's revisions."--The New York Times Book Review

"The Tales will be appreciated by those who have read The Silmarillion and wish to examine how Tolkien improved his story and style from their original form, and how eventually The Lord of the Rings came to stand independently with only a few hints from the early mythology."--British Book News

Publisher: Random House Worlds

Pub date: 1992-04-22

Length: 400 pages