WI J.R.R. Tolkien lived until 1990?

Would he manage to complete the Silmarillion? Would he begin writing a sequel to 'Lord of the Rings' and what other books about Middle-Earth might be written?
 
Considering that Tolkien spent most of his time on the lays of Beleriand and the tales of the Silmarillion (the back story of Middle Earth) then I think it would be safe to assume that any book released by him would be a prequel rather than a sequel .
 
Also, he would have been 98 years old. I know that writing is something that you can do for pretty much your whole life, but he might have been a bit past it in the last few years before that.
 

Thande

Donor
It's a nice idea, but I don't think so. Apparently Tolkien lost a lot of his will to write after finishing LOTR, and indeed spent a long time procrastinating on the Silmarillion and playing Solitaire (proving you don't need computers to do that :D )
 
Would he begin writing a sequel to 'Lord of the Rings'
He actually tried that, but by the time he'd gotten to the end of the first chapter he realised that any new villain would be poor compared to Sauron and any new crisis would cheapen the end of LotR, so he stopped writing it.
 
I suspect that he would have worked on the Silmarillion until his death. I don't think that he would have published it in his lifetime, but I suspect that it might have been more coherent than it was in OTL. IIRC, it was quite fragmented and his son had quite the time putting it in any kind of order that could be published.
 
I expect that aside from writing Children of Hurin himself, he might have just delved deeper into the history and mythology of Middle Earth. Maybe a few short stories or something?
 

mojojojo

Gone Fishin'
He actually tried that, but by the time he'd gotten to the end of the first chapter he realised that any new villain would be poor compared to Sauron and any new crisis would cheapen the end of LotR, so he stopped writing it.
What is known about this sequel?
 
What is known about this sequel?

It's been published in one of the volumes of History of Middle-earth. People of Middle-earth, I think.

Tolkien wrote about 30 pages, and it seemed to involve a secret Sauronic cult in Gondor about 100 years after the War of the Ring. One of the main characters was Beregond (the door warden in Minas Tirith)'s grandson, IIRC.
 
More than one Sequel

Since the Lay of the Children of Hurin, the Fall of Gondolin, and Beren and Lutien were his greatest tales, he would have probably written books for them as well. I have read accounts of the coming of Tuor to Gondolin and how he saved a small number of people before it was destroyed. He might have continued with stories about his son Earrendiel, and his grandsons, Elros and Elrond. Of course, such an attempt might have put him in a position of writing long novels on the history of Numenor, which he probably wouldn't have time to write. Other tales might include a novel about Beren's quest to steal the Silmaril from Morgoth's crown, and maybe even about Sauron and the Maia. His attempt on writing a sci-fi might have blossomed into a more complex story than ELendil just talking to a kid who was having trouble learning Latin.;)
 
Yes any sequel to LOTR would be cheap. I think his time would have been spent on writing more tales about the time of the Elves. He was also a big fan of rewriting his books on a whim. Nothing was ever perfect for him.
 
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