The Book of Lost Tales Part 1 - Reading Group

[Curufin]

This is the first thread in the HoME reading group discussed here. Please feel free to join in!

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The Book of Lost Tales - Chapter 1 - The Cottage of Lost Play

Characters:

Eriol - (Human) A mariner who is a "son of Eärendel"
Lindo - (Eldar) The Lord of the Cottage of Lost Play
Vairë - (Eldar) The Wife of Lindo
Meril-i-Turinqi - (Eldar) of the line of Inwë (Ingwë)

Brief Summary:

In this chapter, Eriol, a human mariner/explorer, has stumbled onto the isle of Tol Eressëa, and finds himself at a 'magical' house known as The Cottage of Lost Play. Here he meets Elves and becomes involved in story-telling and learning of the lore of Elder Days. This chapter also includes several poetic versions of 'The Cottage of Lost Play' and 'Kortirion among the Trees'.

Comments:

I thought I'd just post some of my impressions of the chapter, and other people can comment or add impressions of their own, or ask questions. Afraid I'm not real great at getting stuff like this started.

While reading this chapter, I was fascinated with the ways in which Tolkien tied together the ancient history of England with Tol Eressëa and the Elves of Valinor. I think this is something that would have been a good addition to the Silmarillion, although I also understand why it was left out.

I also found interesting how different the elves were between, for instance, BoLT 1 and, for instance, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth. In this version, there is even some indication that Tolkien thought of the elves as 'small', although CT points out that he also saw this as due to 'fading' and not being their natural state...

The poetry was also quite enjoyable, I thought. I thought it did a good job of conveying the sadness of a beautiful place and memories lost, just simply in the tone of the verse...

[Earniel]

(Sorry to keep you waiting, but as I said, not all of us are fast readers. )

I found the Cottage of Lost Play was packed full with story elements. It was as if Tolkien wanted to pour the entire history he had prepared into this one story, only remembering once in a while to check himself and keep certain information for later. You could see that in the way his sentences kept on running. In a way I'm glad I read the Silmarillion and the other books first, because without knowing them, The Cottage of Lost Play was somewhat too overwhelming to keep track of the history involved. For me, the other books provide the context the Cottage of Lost Play need.

Although even after having read all the 'finished' material, I did have some difficultly grasping all of the events and relations in the Cottage of Lost Play. I liked the idea of the Olorë Mallë and that it led to an old cottage where human children could play. In that aspect I understand why this Cottage is called that of Lost Play, but I didn't quite get the link with the Hall of Play Regained. Does it mean with the barring of the road to the first Cottage that the human children can no longer play at all? Or is the Cottage of Lost Play simply to indicate the children can't play there, and come there only after their play-time to eat and hear stories? So can they play then at the Hall of Play Regained? I was somewhat confused here.

I liked the inclusion of the poetry. You and I (and the Cottage of Lost play) had a wonderful fairy-tale/ childhood memory feel to it that is quite endearing. While Kortirion among the trees has a totally different mood. The first time I read it, I did wonder why they couldn't plant any new trees then, if all the other ones had died. That's what you get when doing gardening before reading BoLT.

But it is interesting to see how Tolkien constructed his tales, and how they evolved over time. In that aspect I always considered the History of Middle-earth series quite unique. There are no 'modern' writers to my knowlegde hat have their modus operandi and stories so analysed outside literary courses.

[Rían]

Looks like a good idea! I'll get out my BoLTI and see if I get some time to re-read it ...