"In this volume of their ground-breaking research, Lewis and Currie explore the earliest writings that formed a part of Tolkien's invented mythology to look for the origins and the sources. The authors of the highly-acclaimed Uncarted Realms of Tolkien venture out like Victorian explorers seeking the source of a mighty river. Their journey is no less spectacular--for in the cauldron of a World War the youthful Tolkien found is imagination turning to thoughts of Eärendil the Mariner and to Gondolin, and elvish city doomed to destruction. We find the sources of Tolkien's invented mythology are as wide-ranging as any river that Victorian explorers sought after. With tenacious research techniques, rigorous and painstaking investigation, Lewis and Currie in this book overturn a number of long-held opinions which were founded on little more than hearsay. By the use of rarely seen medieval texts some of which are translated for the first time in the modern era, and the use of Greek Philogy, Lewis and Currie have uncovered a fascinating web of connections. Find out where Gondolin is drawn from, and where else the same sources were utilised in The Lord of the Rings. Read about the fascinating origins of the hero-sailor who would become Eärendil. And discover the truly amazing background to the Witch-king, the Lord of Nazgul from The Lord of the Rings." --From cover.