The History of Middle-earth volume 3

The third volume of The History of Middle-earth gives us a privileged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth, through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien's world - those of Turin and Luthien. The first of the poem is the unpublished Lay of the Children of Hurin, narrating on a grand scale the tragedy of Turin Turambar. The second is the moving Lay of Leithian, the chief source of the tale of Beren and Luthien in The Silmarillion, telling of the Quest of the Silmaril and the encounter with Morgoth in the subterranean fortress.
Accompanying the poem are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days. Also included is the notable criticism of Lay of Leithian by C.S. Lewis, who read the poem in 1929.