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Beren and Lúthien cover art

Beren and Lúthien

Written by: Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Timothy West, Samuel West
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Publisher's Summary

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

What the critics say

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

What listeners say about Beren and Lúthien

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good Text, Strange Format.

This story is really wonderful and tragically romantic. The narration is lovely. That being said, the format of the text is rather confusing as it is a collection of various versions of the same story. If you want to simply read the story, you can stop after about the first third. However, this collection does provide a fascinating insight into Tolkien's thought process and world building.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Please do the History of Middle-Earth Series!!

Timothy and Samual are now the voices of Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien for me. This and the Fall of Gondolin are so well done. It makes the experience so great having them both. If the History was to be done in this way.. it would be amazing.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating insight

I loved the various versions that show how Tolkien worked and reworked his story. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Essentially A Desk Reference

If you're looking for a detailed expansion of the Beren/Tinúviel legend, you're out of luck. While there are a few more descriptive elements to the story (how Beren came upon Luthien's dancing in Doreath and his captivity with Morgoth's minions, for example), you're better off sticking with the relation of the tale in 'The Silmarillion'.
To be certain, the first hour of the book is an extremely entertaining retelling - and colored with a version of events that I hadn't heard before - but the remainder of the book is a compilation of every mention of the legend that Christopher Tolkien could mine from his father's notes (poems, scraps of verse, snippets of songs, etc).

In the audiobook's favor: the narration from father/son tandem Timothy and Samuel West is genuinely outstanding. Both read with spot-on diction and pacing, comfortable timbre & cadence, and a pitch-perfect tone that makes listeners believe that they are hearing the authors' voices.

Despite the brilliant production values, however, the book is best suited as something to sit in the libraries of diehard Tolkien überfans. A text copy (paper or eBook) of this 7/10-star book would be more valuable to you if given the choice.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Lacks much of the original version

This was one of my favourite tales of the Silmarillion. I had gotten it hoping that it would expand on a beautiful story, that was key to the first age. I feel the story was ruined by this confusing, unfocused version.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful

One of Tolkien's greatest tales. I didn't know I loved poetry this much! This book is like drifting away to music.

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