The Cottage of lost play

[Archbob the Elder]

I never quite got this story in the Similliarian(of course I read it when I was 13). It was the 1st story and so I'm guessing it happened before the music of Ainur. What was this story about? Is this when he created the Valinor?

[Sister Golden Hair]

I believe this is part of the old mythology in the Book of Lost Tales.

Moving to Middle-earth forum

[Michael Martinez]

The Cottage of Lost Play was a place where dreamers might encounter Elves of Faerie. It was part of The Book of Lost Tales and had nothing to do with Middle-earth.

Most of the dream visitors were children, and they listened to the Elves tell stories about their past deeds and misdeeds.

Eriol, an Anglo-Saxon mariner, stumbled across Faerie in his voyages, and he wandered through the land, exploring its wonders. He came to the Cottage of Lost Play and was entertained as a guest by Vaire and Lindo, the lady and lord of the Cottage, and they and their retainers shared the Lost Tales with him.

Although most people are aware that the major themes of the Lost Tales were carried forward into the Silmarillion mythologies, it is not so well known (I think) that Tolkien reused the idea of a mortal wanderer passing through Faerie in his story "Smith of Wootton Major".

There are other references to elements from "The Cottage of Lost Play" (and the Lost Tales in general, as well as the Silmarillion mythologies) in the book Roverandom.


Christopher Tolkien notes that the concept of the cottage was not used again in the other Lost Tales. It only occurs in "The Cottage of Lost Play" itself.