Books by Tolkien that were eagerly anticipated but never written…
20 April
2025-4-20 7:59:10 PM UTC
2025-4-20 7:59:10 PM UTC
I apologise to everyone for not being able to post as much as I would like. Unfortunately, work, family, my studies, and research absorb a great deal of my time. I’ve been collecting for 29 years now, and over the years I have amassed a huge amount of material—not only books but countless curious items discovered during my research. I would genuinely love to share every single object here, as it might intrigue someone or prove useful to the many scholars in this fantastic group. Even though I can’t do so as fully as I’d like, I’m taking this opportunity to post these two little curiosities.
These are two publications listing “books in preparation,” among which appear two references to works that would have counted J. R. R. Tolkien among their authors. I’m not able at present to write the backstories of these never‑published Tolkien projects (which are very interesting), but I can show you the covers and the pages where Tolkien’s name appears.
Waldere
The first major translation of Waldere was edited by Frederick Norman in 1933 (the second edition appeared in 1979 under Arne Zettersten, another name associated with Tolkien). This text was issued by Methuen’s Old English Library, a series edited by Norman and A.H. Smith (yet another Tolkien connection).
On the “forthcoming books” page we read:
The European Spirit
The second is The European Spirit, a book by the German philosopher and psychiatrist Karl Jaspers, first published in 1948 by SCM Press as part of the Viewpoints series. On the page listing “books in preparation,” we read:
These are two publications listing “books in preparation,” among which appear two references to works that would have counted J. R. R. Tolkien among their authors. I’m not able at present to write the backstories of these never‑published Tolkien projects (which are very interesting), but I can show you the covers and the pages where Tolkien’s name appears.
Waldere
The first major translation of Waldere was edited by Frederick Norman in 1933 (the second edition appeared in 1979 under Arne Zettersten, another name associated with Tolkien). This text was issued by Methuen’s Old English Library, a series edited by Norman and A.H. Smith (yet another Tolkien connection).
On the “forthcoming books” page we read:
The Wanderer. Edited by J. R. R. Tolkien, M.A., Bosworth Professor of Anglo‑Saxon, University of Oxford, and E. V. Gordon, M.A., Smith Professor of the English Language, University of Manchester.
The European Spirit
The second is The European Spirit, a book by the German philosopher and psychiatrist Karl Jaspers, first published in 1948 by SCM Press as part of the Viewpoints series. On the page listing “books in preparation,” we read:
Language and Human Nature
C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien
Very interesting, thanks for pointing this out, I was sifting through my copies of other Old English Library booklets today and came across the same preparation page in Deor also from 1933 edited by Kemp Malone.
Deor is An Old English poem from the 10th Century contained in the Exeter Book.
Deor is An Old English poem from the 10th Century contained in the Exeter Book.
I've checked on my side also.
The mention of both the Wanderer and the Seafarer by Tolkien and Gordon is still present on the first edition of the Battle of Maldon by Gordon (Methuen, 1937).
Also the Yorkshire Society for Celtic Studies booklets from the 30s also mention a conference by Tolkien we never had in print to my knowledge : Celts and Teutons - Early times (1929)
The mention of both the Wanderer and the Seafarer by Tolkien and Gordon is still present on the first edition of the Battle of Maldon by Gordon (Methuen, 1937).
Also the Yorkshire Society for Celtic Studies booklets from the 30s also mention a conference by Tolkien we never had in print to my knowledge : Celts and Teutons - Early times (1929)
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