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Tolkien, J.R.R.; Flieger, Verlyn (Editor).
The Story of Kullervo.
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, London;
Date of Publication: 2015
Stock Code: 12772
First Edition, octavo, pp. xxiii 168. Publisher’s maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine, in an unclipped, pictorial dust-jacket. A fine copy. Written while Tolkien was still an undergraduate at Oxford and considered his first attempt at tragedy, “The Story of Kullervo” is a prose retelling of “Kalevala”, the Finnish epic poem by Elias Lönnrot. It also marks Tolkien’s first venture in writing prose, having previously been known as a poet. The subject matter is much darker than classic Tolkien fans will have come to expect, but is perhaps reflective of the unsettled period in which he was writing it (1914-1915) and now thought to be a precursor to his entire canon. Introduced by Verlyn Flieger, Professor of English and Tolkien specialist. £45.00