The Tolkien scholar Don Anger speculated that Glorfindel's unequivocal death in "The Fall of Gondolin" may have prevented Tolkien from making an explicit connection between this character and the one with the same name in the published version of "The Lord of the Rings". Anger took the view that Tolkien's idea of an improved story for the character was only "possibly realized" with the complete publication of the 12-volume book series "The History of Middle-earth" by 1996. He explained that as much of the background material for Glorfindel was unpublished when "The Silmarillion" was posthumously released, various Tolkien compendiums were "forced" into speculation to sate the curiosity of readers concerning the mystery of the character's death and sudden "reappearance" in "The Lord of the Rings", citing "The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: from The Hobbit to The Silmarillion" as an example.