Exciting news, fantasy and J. R. R. Tolkien fans! Soon you’ll be able to add The Story of Kullervo to your bookshelf, a work that was previously unknown and unpublished (save for the scholarly 7th volume of Tolkien Studies).
Tolkien called the story “the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own,” and “a major matter in the legends of the First Age,” which means it ties in with the Lord of the Rings world. The story’s protagonist, Kullervo, is the ancestor of Túrin Turambar from The Silmarillion.
The story is heavily based on the Finnish epic poem Kalevala. This is Amazon’s synopsis:
Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters. ‘Hapless Kullervo’, as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.
Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and who tries three times to kill him when still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and guarded by the magical powers of the black dog, Musti. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruellest of fates.
The publication will also include Tolkien’s notes and drafts as well as lecture-essays. Since Tolkien never completed the story, I think the decision to incorporate these texts with the guidance of editor and Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger will make for a great story and an interesting read for Tolkien fans in general.
The Story of Kullervo will hit shelves October 27th for those of us in the US, will you be picking up a copy?.
(via The Daily Dot)
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