Well, it is now official.
In a statement made this morning on the J.R.R. Tolkien Official Facebook page, it was announced that The Fall of Gondolin, written by J.R.R. Tolkien and edited by Christopher Tolkien, will be published on August 30, 2018.
The statement added that this release shall be:
“completing the ‘trilogy’ of Middle-earth tales”
The publication will run to 304 pages and will also include drawings and colour plates from illustrator Alan Lee.
This is fantastic news, if long-rumoured. I cannot wait to purchase a copy to adorn the rest of my collection!
But one should note that this will most probably not be the expected stand-alone, epic novel as with The Children of Húrin. It would seem that this publication shall adopt the same approach as that of Beren and Lúthien — with a presentation and analysis of the tale of Gondolin texts, their history and evolution.
The book run
Be that as it may, this is still exciting news. It will be interested how Christopher Tolkien shall approach this book and how the narrative shall be presented.
What are you thoughts about this? Let us know below!
A Tolkienist's Perspective 
Sounds like great news! I’ll look forward to its arrival!
According to the Tolkien Society [1], the narrative will follow the same structure used in Beren and Lúthien:
“The Fall of Gondolin will follow the same format as Beren and Lúthien published last year, separating out the story so that it stands alone while showing how the narrative evolved over the years. This is the first time the tale of the Fall of Gondolin will be published as a standalone edition, collecting all versions of the story together.”
[1]: https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2018/04/the-fall-of-gondolin-to-be-published/
So it’s official! Blue slipcase for the deluxe version. The Fall of Gondolin is coming out in August!!!!!! Sooooo excited!!!!!!!!
James, is this the final book that Christopher Tolkien can possibly edit? Or are there other epics within the Tolkien secondary world that have yet to be published? Surely, there cannot be any more material to release in a book-format … or is there?
Nah this will be it methinks, at least so far as these kinds of books are concerned. C. Tolkien had stated Beren and Luthien would be his last book, but I’m pretty sure this is it now! But there are others who can pick up his mantle, so who knows? 😉
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Reblogged this on The Slavic Polytheist and commented:
This is exceptionally exciting news to hear about!
This is wonderful news!! I’m glad it wasn’t only a rumor. I will have to try and get a copy when its published.
That will be worth waiting for. No complaints here. Does anyone know why Amazon offers only the special hardback in a slipcase, and not the edition shown on this page ?
It should have the standard hardback on offer too.
The UK site now has both. The hardback copy is much kinder to one’s pocket.
I can’t wait to get and read it!
So now the Great Tales Trilogy is complete!
Indeed 🙂
I’m bummed that it won’t be in the “Children of Hurin” format, but I’m still excited to read it. The Unfinished Tales version of the story is one of my favorite stories in Tolkien’s works. It would make a brilliant stand alone movie if nothing was changed about the story, but we all know Hollywood is too in love with itself for that to happen (the lack of changes, that is).