Who edited J.R.R. Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales, published after Tolkien’s death?

Christopher Tolkien edited J.R.R. Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales, which was published in 1980 after his father’s death. The book collects incomplete narratives and related material from different periods of Tolkien’s life.

Christopher Tolkien arranged the material, supplied editorial commentary, and explained differences between versions. The collection ranges across the First Age, Second Age, and Third Age of Middle-earth. It includes stories and accounts concerning figures such as Tuor, the Númenóreans, Cirion and Eorl, and the Istari.

Unfinished Tales is not a single completed novel. Some sections are substantial narratives, while others are summaries, drafts, or fragments with editorial links. This distinction matters because readers sometimes treat every passage as if Tolkien had prepared it as a final, unified text. Christopher Tolkien’s editorial work made a large amount of otherwise inaccessible material available, while also showing how frequently his father revised names, events, and chronology.