[Formendacil]

I too am expecting this to look a lot like The Children of Húrin--and as far as that expectation goes, I'm actually rather looking forward to it. Not that it would actually provide us with any new material--any expectation along those lines seems doomed to disappointment even if there ARE (as I incline to doubt) tidbits not previously seen before.

No, the reason I am would enjoy a Children of Húrin-esque "Beren and Lúthien" is because I think that volume did a good job of bringing one of the Tales of the First Age out of the realm of the Scholarly into the view of a general audience. Though The Silmarillion lacks the scholarly apparatus of the HoME, it is quite the first-time challenge to a reader: the prose is heightened and unusual, the plot is diffused by being a general history, and keeping track of so many characters is difficult. The succession of Unfinished Tales and the HoME only pushed ahead the idea that Tolkien's posthumous works are dry and only for the arch-fans.

My memory of things is that The Children of Húrin changed this--if only a little--and I think that "Beren and Lúthien" is even better suited to this treatment than "Túrin" was. As a reader myself who knows the complete legendarium, I like the idea of being able to pull out a single volume when I want to read a single tale.

So I'm happy enough (though definitely aware we're looking at another moneymaking enterprise for HarperCollins and the Tolkien Estate) if that's what the project turns out to be, but I think it important to set expectations accordingly.