A Guide to Middle Earth by Robert Foster Ballantine 1974 VTG LOTR Paperback *

Description: A Guide to Middle Earth by Robert Foster Ballantine 1974 VTG LOTR Paperback. Good Condition. Please look at all pictures as they are part of the description. Smoke free home. Thank you for looking. The Complete Guide to Middle-earth is a reference book for J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe Middle-earth, compiled and edited by Robert Foster.It was first published in 1971 under the title A Guide to Middle-earth. In 1978 it was revised and enlarged, changing its title to the one currently using. It received a third edition in 2001.The book is widely recognized as an excellent reference book on Middle-earth.[1][2] Christopher Tolkien has commended it himself as an "admirable work of reference".[3]A new edition was released on 1st September 2022, by HarperCollins. Book structureA standard entry in the book consists of: a name; the language it belongs to; its translation from Elvish, Adûnaic, and sometimes Old English when known; and known dates when a character flourished; the first lines of the entry usually give a general definition of the topic, like race, heritage, and role (in case of a character), leading to a chronological description or biography. The last paragraphs of the entry give a physical description or characteristics of the character with some speculations; the final paragraph gives the topic's alternative names, epithets, translation to other languages, and/or redirects to other entries.The Guide is generally inclusive and there is no limitation to the topics it covers; it includes even obscure and little explored topics, like individual entries on each single name of the Tengwar. Many entries are simply epithets and only redirect to the names of their main entries.The book begins with an introduction, an abbreviations legend, and concludes with two appendices. The first appendix is a chronology of the First Age in order to complement the Tale of Years, and contains a prologue on Foster's reasoning and calculations based solely on descriptions in the Silmarillion; the second appendix is genealogical trees of the Three Houses of the Edain, the Kings of Númenor, the Kings of Gondor and Arnor, the House of Húrin, and the Kings of Rohan. AccuracySince no edition of the book includes info on post-Silmarillion material (i.e. Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth series), in points it could be outdated or in error.Introduction: It is explained that death dates of those who sailed to the West are not given in their characters' entries because "they may live still". While this can be true for Gandalf and the Elves, this is also implied for Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and Gimli. This may contradict Tolkien's concept that the Undying Lands do not grant immortality.[8][9]Tar-Aldarion: Foster speculates that the tragic relations with his father and wife were because he left no male heirs. The later published text Aldarion and Erendis gives a detailed account on their relationship, mostly owing to Aldarion's obsession with the Sea.Ambar: Foster relates the Elvish words ambar ("world") and umbar ("fate"). In the entry of Ambar, he mentions it is a concept related to fate of the world. The manuscript Words Phrases and Passages later showed that while the two words are indeed related (through the root MBAR "settle"), they are distinct in meaning.Star of Elendil: The royal symbol Elendilmir, and the Star of the Dúnedain given by Aragorn to Samwise Gamgee, are considered to be the same. This was not agreed by Christopher Tolkien.[10]Buckland: The date Fo.A. 42 is mentioned as the date when Buckland and the Westmarch were officially added to the Shire by the gift of King Elessar. There are two mistakes in this statement: 1. The date has been corrected as S.R. 1452 in later editions of the Lord of the Rings; 2. Tolkien did not mention that Buckland joined the Shire: in the Prologue a semi-colon is intended to show that the Westmarch was added, but not Buckland.[11]Dolmed: Foster suggests that the mountain was perhaps destroyed at the end of the First Age when the Gulf of Lune, broke through the Blue Mountains; while this may be true, the text does not mention anything about it.[12]Gollum: Foster mentions that Déagol was Sméagol's cousin while this is not mentioned in the texts. Tolkien went only as far as to suppose he was "evidently a relative (as no doubt all the members of the small community were)"[13]Gwaihir: Foster reproduces the fan conception merging the character of the Great Eagle of The Hobbit to that of Gwaihir, whereas nowhere is it implied in The Lord of the Rings that Gwaihir is Lord of the Eagles.

Price: 15 USD

Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

End Time: 2025-01-07T21:20:14.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.13 USD