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Great Tales of Middle-earth Box Set: The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin Hardcover – 14 Aug. 2025 HarperCollins
Sixth and final in a series of collectible boxed sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien. Set #6 presents hardback editions of the three 'Great Tales' of Middle-earth, printed in full colour and with new art in each, and housed in a matching slipcase decorated with stunning new artwork by the books’ artist, Alan Lee.
THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN
Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Túrin and his sister will be tragically entwined. Their brief and passionate lives are dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Húrin, the man who dared defy him to his face. Against them Morgoth sends his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire, in an attempt to fulfil his curse and destroy the children of Húrin.
BEREN AND LÚTHIEN
Deeply opposed to the marriage of Beren, a mortal man, to his daughter Lúthien, the great Elvish lord, Thingol, imposes an impossible task that Beren must perform before they might wed. Undaunted by Lord Thingol’s challenge, Beren and Lúthien embark on the supremely heroic attempt to rob Morgoth, the greatest of all evil beings, of a Silmaril, one of the hallowed jewels that adorn the Black Enemy’s crown.
THE FALL OF GONDOLIN
Central to the enmity of two of the greatest Powers in the world – Morgoth and Ulmo – is the Elvish city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor largely refuse to support Ulmo. Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo's designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out on the fearful journey to Gondolin, where he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon's daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo. Then Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs.
Great Tales of Middle-earth Box Set: The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin Hardcover – 19 Aug. 2025 WILLIAM MORROW
The Great Tales of Middle-earth is a beautiful box set of the three final novels of Middle-earth: The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin, packaged together and ready for gifting. Completing Christopher Tolkien’s lifelong achievement as the curator of his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts, The Great Tales features handsome color plates and maps by famed illustrator Alan Lee and a map by Christopher Tolkien.
The Children of Húrin was the first standalone story by J.R.R. Tolkien since the 1977 publication of The Silmarillion. Six thousand years before the One Ring is destroyed, Middle-earth lies under the shadow of the Dark Lord Morgoth. The greatest heroes among elves and men have perished, and all is in darkness and despair. But a new warrior arises, Túrin, son of Húrin, and with his grim band of outlaws begins to turn the tide in the war for Middle-earth—awaiting the day he confronts his destiny and the deadly curse laid upon him.
Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.
The Fall of Gondolin completes the set and tells the story of the legendary Elven city hidden within Middle-earth. Evil Morgoth seeks to destroy the last realm of his Elven enemies while Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, tries to protect it. At the core of the tale is Tuor, cousin of Túrin, who becomes great in Gondolin and marries, Idril, daughter of Turgon, king of Gondolin, and fathers a child, Eärendel. When an act of supreme treachery allows Morgoth to attack Gondolin, Tuor and his family must try to flee the blazing wreckage, for the fate of all of Middle-earth depends on Eärendel’s survival.
Each hardcover volume includes color plates and pencil drawings by award-winning illustrator Alan Lee together with a black and white map drawn by Christopher Tolkien.
‘Sixth and final in a series of collectible boxed sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien. Set #6 presents hardback editions of the three Great Tales of Middle-earth, printed in full color and with new art in each, and housed in a matching slipcase decorated with stunning new artwork by the books’ artist, Alan Lee.’
These editions match the earlier boxed set of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and do not have reversible jackets.
William Morrow already has released a Great Tales three-volume box set, hardcover and illustrated by Alan Lee (ISBN 9780358003915). It appears to be in print still, available on harpercollins.com. Anyone know what's different about this new one (ISBN 9780063447981)?
William Morrow already has released a Great Tales three-volume box set, hardcover and illustrated by Alan Lee (ISBN 9780358003915). It appears to be in print still, available on harpercollins.com. Anyone know what's different about this new one (ISBN 9780063447981)?
Assumption on my part but I imagine it will be some sort of matching edition to the various hardcovers in matte that HarperCollins and William Morrow have been publishing.
Might it be part of the ongoing series of Christopher-edited sets as the next one after the Gawain/Beowulf/Arthur/Sigurd&Gudrun box? Or just a re-release?
Would be nice to have more information on this new box set and how it compares from , the current William Morrow Great Tales boxset (ISBN: 9780358003915)
9780358003915 was initially a HMH boxset, so shorter than the UK and recent WM hardcovers, also with glossy DJ's with a MSRP of $100 (usually found for much cheaper) and is still readily available for purchase.
So what makes the new one (9780063447981) worth a new ISBN and an additional $25 to bring the MSRP up to $125? It'd be nice for collector's in the US if these matched in height to the rest of the recent WM boxsets but that would leave TFtPR and NoMe as still being shorter and not sure. Doubt they'll be double-sided like the other boxsets releasing though, since there was no mention of it in the description.
Another possibility just hit me, in that it could be ‘collector’s editions’ fitting in with what WM has recently published of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
The product description likely would’ve addressed that, though.
See first post for mock-up boxed set art and release dates of the UK edition.
‘Sixth and final in a series of collectible boxed sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien. Set #6 presents hardback editions of the three Great Tales of Middle-earth, printed in full colour and with new art in each, and housed in a matching slipcase decorated with stunning new artwork by the books’ artist, Alan Lee.’