Evolution of a Reader

[Mithadan]

Reviving this old thread for further comment. Since I opened this thread, Christopher Tolkien has published The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin. Of the three, only The Children of Hurin was an attempt to "complete" Tolkien's writing as a coherent narrative, rather than as a purely scholarly and heavily annotated work.

Personally, I feel that these three later publications, with the exception of portions of the Children of Hurin which add detail and flavor, add little to Tolkien's body of Middle Earth work. I am wondering if there are any differing opinions?

[Inziladun]

I seem to have overlooked this thread all these years.

I own CoH and Gondolin, but confess I haven't even read Luthien.

CoH struck me as really nothing but an amalgam of the Unfinished Tales Narn and the chapter in The Silmarillion. As you said, it does have its moments, but I honestly could have done without it.

I'm not very keen on Gondolin. I have always loved the UT section on Tuor and his journey to Turgon, so a look at earlier conceptions left me a bit nonplussed.
The appearance of Ulmo to Tuor at Vinyamar is epic. The image of a more easygoing, more kindly Lord of Waters sitting in a bunch of reeds playing with shells in order to persuade Tuor reminds me somehow of Bombadil skulking along the Withywindle. Hey! You don't suppose....