[davem]

Durelin

One could highlight a different section of the statement & discover a whole other subtext to the statement.

Can I / someone else write / complete / develop my / their own version of one of these unfinished tales ? (or any others)
The simple answer is NO.
You are of course free to do whatever you like for your own private enjoyment, but there is no question of any commercial exploitation of this form of "fan-fiction".
Also, in these days of the Internet, and privately produced collectors’ items for sale on eBay, we must make it as clear as possible that the Tolkien Estate never has, and never will authorize the commercialisation or distribution of any works of this type.
The Estate exists to defend the integrity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings. Christopher Tolkien's work as his father’s literary executor has always been to publish as faithfully and honestly as possible his father's completed and uncompleted works, without adaptation or embellishment.

Back in the 1990's a certain Mr Alex Lewis (co-author with his wife, Elizabeth Currie (aka Ruth Lacon) of the book The Uncharted Realms of Tolkien) produced a privately printed work entitled 'The Fall of Gondolin'. Basically Lewis took bits from the various unfinished accounts/versions of Tolkien's Gondoolin story, Ruth Lacon illustrated it & Mr Lewis decided it was good enough to put out. So he asks Priscilla, & she says 'ok' (CT & the Estate were not consulted. Lewis gets 'permission' to publish 50 copies. Many go to collectors, the rest end up on internet sites like eBay.

Of course, the Estate do not like this work being out there. Bloody furious would be a good description, but what could they do - a 'friend' of Priscilla asks her if he can print up a few copies of his book, & she says 'Alright then'.

I know of a few Tolkien collectors who have this book & say its very good. I've seen it at Tolkien 2005 in Birmingham but wasn't that impressed. I've also seen it reported as on sale for £1000 +. CT & the Estate, as I said did not want this book printed, made available at all & they do not want it around. After all, Lewis basically took Tolkien's own words without permission from the Estate (without even asking CT if it was ok come to that) & put out a 'Tolkien' book with his own name on there as 'Editor'.

Now read that bit again:

Also, in these days of the Internet, and privately produced collectors’ items for sale on eBay, we must make it as clear as possible that the Tolkien Estate never has, and never will authorize the commercialisation or distribution of any works of this type.