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A review by bedneyauthor
The Lays of Beleriand by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien
4.0
This is probably my favourite volume of the History of Middle-earth because it's the one with the poetry, and especially the Lay of Lethian, which is my favorite among Tolkien's stories. It's true that it's largely a re-hash of the famous stories from [b:The Silmarillion|7332|The Silmarillion (Middle-Earth Universe)|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336502583s/7332.jpg|4733799], but they're told differently (in beautiful rhyming couplets for the Lay of Lethian and alliterative verse for the Narn i hin Hurin) and in significantly more detail. As such, I highly recommend this.
That having been said, it is necessary to read The Silmarillion first, because the poems are incomplete and out of context. As such, it might not make much sense to people who don't already know the story as a whole.
That having been said, it is necessary to read The Silmarillion first, because the poems are incomplete and out of context. As such, it might not make much sense to people who don't already know the story as a whole.