Unfinished Tales was published posthumously in 1980 and presents stories from different periods of Middle-earth’s history.
Christopher Tolkien edited the collection from his father’s papers. The book contains narratives and essays concerning the First Age, the Second Age, and the Third Age, including material about Númenor, the Istari, and the history of Galadriel and Celeborn.
The title is important because the texts are not presented as a single finished novel. Christopher Tolkien supplied editorial introductions, notes, and commentary to explain variants and incomplete passages. Unfinished Tales is distinct from The Silmarillion, published in 1977, and from The Children of Húrin, which appeared as a standalone edited volume in 2007.