Beren and Lúthien

By: Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Timothy West, Samuel West

Presented for the first time on audio, the epic tale of Beren and Lúthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves, Men and Orcs and the rich landscape unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth in this unabridged recording read by critically acclaimed father and son, Timothy and Samuel West.

Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, was deeply opposed to Beren, and imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien.

Undaunted by Lord Thingol’s challenge, Beren and Lúthien embark on the supremely heroic attempt to rob Morgoth, the greatest of all evil beings, of a Silmaril, one of the hallowed jewels that adorn the Black Enemy’s crown.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien, which was written shortly after J.R.R. Tolkien returned from the Battle of the Somme in 1916, was an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion. In this book Christopher Tolkien has extracted the various versions of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which they are embedded.

To show something of the process whereby this Great Tale of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he tells the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost.

©2017 HarperCollins Publishers Limited (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"A seamless editorial construct, the capstone to a job Christopher Tolkien began with The Silmarillion." (New Statesman)

High quality but a bit disorganized

This book does not present a single cohesive plot from start to finish but rather the development and variations of the story of Beren and Luthien. It is essentially a large Appendix to be read after the account in the Silmarillion. Despite this lack of cohesion, a lover of Tolkien will still feel at home. The Lay of Leithian is the most beautiful and powerful alliterative verse I have perhaps ever read.
The audio performance was also very good.

The sheer extent of the creative process

If only there was a bit of timeline in one place laying it all out

Not for the Casual Ringer

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio version. Though, I have read it in print before, the reading here makes the poetry seem more pronounced. In any case, this shows the evolution of the story more than it just gives it. Fascinating for hard core Tolkien fans, but it my be a bit much for Lord of the Rings fans that haven't made it through The Silmarillion yet.

Great story, but choppy delivery.

I appreciate the different versions of the story, as well as the context provided, though I wish the book would have concluded with the full finished version of the tale.

Epic tales of love and tragedy

loved the complete tales and how they include the process involves in the writing of the tales. such exquisite poems. beautiful language. love how it adds to the overall storie of the Tolkien universe so to speak.