Natur und Wesen von Mittelerde

“Nature and Beings of Middle-earth – Obscure and Surprising Things from Middle-earth”.

Last year another book with “new” texts by Tolkien was published: “Natur und Wesen von Mittelerde” (Nature and Beings of Middle-earth). The reactions to it were very divided. From “totally unreadable and uninteresting” and “suddenly I know that I am a fan of a madman” to “highly interesting, full of surprises”. And barring certain exaggerations, they’re all not entirely wrong.

The book is a collection of shorter texts on a wide variety of topics, such as the reproduction, aging, economics and children’s games of the Elves, descriptions of characters and lands, and telepathic communication. Of course, not all of them can be equally interesting. Who wants to know more about what is really in it and whether it is worth to take such a thick book in hand should come to this lecture.