# Tolkien had a sequel for LoTR



## SlimShady (Jul 28, 2012)

I actually just found this out earlier this morning, but this absolutely blows my mind.  Tolkien actually had an idea for a sequel to Lord of the Rings called The New Shadow.  They say he had about 30 pages of finished text, however I haven't found it yet.  (Although, I am sure it is up somewhere on the internet)

  Links:

The New Shadow - Tolkien Gateway

The New Shadow - Lord of the Rings Wiki

JRR Tolkien’s "The New Shadow"

  Just google The New Shadow and you'll find all kinds of stuff.  How many of you actually new about this?  Has anyone ever even heard of the New Shadow?  Has anyone read the first 30 pages?  Do you think it would be as good as LoTR?  

  Personally, I believe it would have been magnificent as they said it was sinister and depressing.  (Tolkien actually quit work on it, because of this if I am not mistaken?)  If Tolkien would have finished the New Shadow he would have most likely created a Dark Fantasy craze and many more plot lines to ripoff.  

  So what are your thoughts on this?


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## Ireth (Jul 28, 2012)

I've heard of the sequel, but never been able to find it. I'm sure it would have been amazing as a finished story.


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## ThinkerX (Jul 28, 2012)

I thought there was a sequil of some sort involving time travel.


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## SlimShady (Jul 28, 2012)

ThinkerX said:


> I thought there was a sequil of some sort involving time travel.



  I don't understand.  Is this some bit of humor that has went over my head or were you being serious?


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## ThinkerX (Jul 28, 2012)

> I don't understand. Is this some bit of humor that has went over my head or were you being serious?



Somewhere in the vast pile of material published after Tolkiens death (I seem to remember like four or five books) there was a short story fragment which began with a man either coming from the past or looking into the past somehow.  I seem to remember it being part of a tale about evil returning to middle earth.


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## SlimShady (Jul 28, 2012)

ThinkerX said:


> Somewhere in the vast pile of material published after Tolkiens death (I seem to remember like four or five books) there was a short story fragment which began with a man either coming from the past or looking into the past somehow.  I seem to remember it being part of a tale about evil returning to middle earth.



  Cool.  Sounds interesting.


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## Shockley (Jul 30, 2012)

I wonder what they mean by thirteen pages of 'finished' work, because that's a very different thing when you're dealing with Tolkien. He was not a guy to sit down and write stream-of-conscious, preferring extensive notes and huge amounts of backstory that was then edited down to fit a neat story. His notes when writing the Lord of the Rings were eventually published (after going through the Christopher process) as a twelve volume set, with only four of the books actually having anything to do with the War of the Ring itself.


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## shangrila (Aug 9, 2012)

It might have been good. I'd worry about the imagery a little though. Having a cult like that has potential, if he would have pursued the reasons for why people would join and do the things they did. Basically, the humanity of it, the flaws in us all.

But, considering the way LOTR is, I kind of imagined it being just another "these people are evil and that's it" type of deal, which I personally didn't like about the LOTR.


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## Ravana (Aug 10, 2012)

Yeah, it's real. The fragment was published sixteen years ago, in _The Peoples of Middle-earth_–the last of that twelve-volume set Shockley mentions. So it's already been subjected to "the Christopher process."  According to his letters, Tolkien himself didn't like it and abandoned it… "not worth doing," in his own words.


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## Ivan (Aug 12, 2012)

While it would have been an interesting episode I am sure, it is hard to justify a sequel in this case. Return of the King is a strong, bittersweet note to the long fading of the mythical in Middle-earth. Besides there was plenty of time between the Silmarillion and the Hobbit to fill in, which Tolkien made only a dent in. (If you are interested there are a lot of mostly complete snippets in _Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth_.)


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