Some
of the best fantasy novels were written by JRR Tolkien. It's not that
he wrote many of those, but the ones he wrote certainly resonated with
the people. What many casual observers may not realize is that he had a
different story in mind before he ever wrote The Hobbit or the Lord of
the Rings. Sadly, there didn't appear to be much interest in a book
about Beren and Luthien Tinuviel or the fall of Numenor. We may not have
gotten any Middle Earth novels at all if not for the stories he told to
his children.
The Hobbit became a novel after
Tolkien was encouraged to write the book based on the stories he was
telling his children. The book sold well, and the publishers wanted a
sequel. Sadly, this meant that he wouldn't be able to develop any of the
stories that we see depicted in The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales.
They wanted another story involving hobbits, and they weren't even a
part of the other stories Tolkien had in mind. Therefore, he drew on
some of the history of the land he had envisioned in his mind and
created The Lord of the Rings.
Once again, those
books sold very well. It's interesting to note that people credit
Tolkien with creating the trilogy, but the Lord of the Rings was one
giant book. The publisher preferred to break it up into three books, but
he felt it was one big story. There still didn't seem to be any
interest in the stories that he was creating long before he wrote The
Hobbit. Therefore, the tragic tale of Turin Tarambar or the creation of
The Silmarils was going to have to wait. We didn't even see a glimpse
of what he had in mind until after he passed away and son Christopher
Tolkien finished his work for him.
I'm of the
opinion that JRR Tolkien had such a big vision in his mind that it
became overwhelming to him. Plus, he had a life. He might write a little
bit here or there, but developing those other stories just never
happened. It's amazing how rich and full the world of Middle Earth was
when you consider how much writing he didn't do. I think about all of
the books that could have been and it makes me sad. However, I'm also
appreciative of the fact that he wrote as much as he did.
Son
Christopher didn't attempt to write more stories in the land of Middle
Earth. When you think about it, he might have been the one to do it. He
was there when his dad was creating those stories about hobbits, and he
had discussions with him about the land of Middle Earth in general. When
Christopher put together The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The
History of Middle Earth books, he did it by piecing together what his
father wrote and did his best to work with only his father's words. He
was very clear that any story taking place in Middle Earth was not his
but his father's to tell.
In The History of
Middle Earth books, it's mentioned that JRR Tolkien considered going
back one more time to tell another story. It was to be a sequel to The
Lord of the Rings. I think what it really came down to was he didn't
know where to go from there. Everything was so big in The Lord of the
Rings that he might have felt that he wrote himself into a corner. With
the elves sailing away to the west and the magic seemingly fading away
from Middle Earth as the age of man began, I can see why he would have
been discouraged. He hinted at the possibility of a new shadow over
Middle Earth, but he only got as far as one chapter before he gave up.
I
know there are others out there like myself who believe there were
other stories that could have been told. It's easy for us fans to say
something like that. We enjoyed his work. We didn't have the pressure of
creating the stories. We had the pleasure of sitting back and reading
his words while we let the story play out in our minds. The man who gave
us the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit felt he didn't have any place
to go with a new story. He just didn't have it in him to take another
shot at it when he never really finished the work that meant the most to
him.
It makes me wonder what could have been
if he'd have just sat down and kept writing. I enjoyed The Silmarillion,
though it can be a challenging read for some people. I wonder how much
bigger and better his fantasy world could have been if Tolkien had been
encouraged to keep writing and developing the lore of the land. Sadly,
we'll never know.
