This, 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 Trin and Lthien. The first of the poems is the unpublished Lay of the Children of Hrin, narrating on a grand scale the tragedy of Trin Turambar. The second is the moving Lay of Leithian, the chief source of the tale of Beren and Lthien in The Silmarillion, telling of the Quest of the Silmaril and the encounter with Morgoth in his subterranean fortress. Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days. Also included is the notable criticism of The Lay of Leithian by CS Lewis, who read the poem in 1929.