1977 The Silmarillion: Of Beren and Lúthien

Release Date: 1977.09
Reader: Christopher Tolkien
Language: English
Organisation: Caedemon Records
Catalog: TC 1564
Duration: 60 minutes
Unabridged: n/a
Country: UK
Licenced: Yes
Formats: Vinyl, CD, Digital

Unlike JRR Tolkien’s 1952 Malvern recordings, this production was a deliberate, professional effort to coincide with the release of The Silmarillion on September 15th. The precise release date is unknown but it would have been either the same day or shortly after this date.

While J.R.R. Tolkien was rhythmic and performative, Christopher reads with a much more formal, lofty cadence as befits the different tone of the text. As the editor who spent years deciphering his father’s handwriting, Christopher’s pronunciation of names like Lúthien Tinúviel, Angband, and Carcharoth etc is definitive. This was a solo performance. Christopher made no attempt at “character voices”—instead, he used subtle shifts in tone to distinguish between the mortal Beren and the divine presence of Melian the Maia.

Recorded at Century 21 Studios in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and produced by Ward Botsford who handled the professor’s Malvern tape. The LP is divided into two parts, covering the core of the Beren and Lúthien saga as it appears in the prose Silmarillion, chapter 19.

• Side A: The meeting in Neldoreth, Beren’s quest, and the arrival at Menegroth.
• Side B: The journey to Angband, the stealing of the Silmaril, and the tragic return to Doriath.

Release History

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