The Book of Lost Tales, Parts One & Two

(Volumes I & II of the of The History of Middle-earth series)

Begun in 1916-17 while Tolkien was in hospital after serving in the Battle of the Somme, The Book of Lost Tales is the earliest version of The Silmarillion -- the storyline is much the same but the style is very different indeed (extremely archaic). Compared to The Silmarillion (which is to some extent a compression of both Books of Lost Tales) these tales read more like stories and less like annals. A significant minority of readers prefer these versions to the published The Silmarillion.

The Books: A full list of everything known to have been written by J.R.R. Tolkien.