Tags:folk tales
The Monsters and the Critics
The complete collection of Tolkien’s essays, including two on Beowulf, which span three decades beginning six years before The Hobbit to five years after The Lord of the Rings. The seven essays by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953. Also included in this volume is the lecture ‘English and Welsh’; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is ‘On Fairy-Stories’, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien’s approach to the whole genre. The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique ‘academic’ lecture on his invention (calling it ‘A Secret Vice’) and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.
The History of the Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End
This revised and updated examination of how J.R.R.Tolkien came to write his original masterpiece The Hobbit includes his complete unpublished draft version of the story, together with notes and illustrations by Tolkien himself. The Hobbit was first published on 21 September 1937. Like its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, it is a story that ‘grew in the telling’, and many characters and plot threads in the published text are quite different from the story J.R.R. Tolkien first wrote to read aloud to his young sons as one of their ‘fireside reads’. Together in one volume, The History of the Hobbit presents the complete text of the unpublished manuscript of The Hobbit, accompanied by John Rateliff’s lively and informative account of how the book came to be written and published. Recording the numerous changes made to the story both before and after publication, he examines – chapter by chapter – why those changes were made and how they reflect Tolkien’s ever-growing concept of Middle-earth. As well as reproducing the original version of one of the world’s most popular novels – both on its own merits and as the foundation for The Lord of the Rings– this book includes extensive commentaries on the dates of composition, how Tolkien’s professional and early mythological writings influenced the story, the imaginary geography he created, and how Tolkien came to revise the book years after publication to accommodate events in The Lord of the Rings. Endorsed by Christopher Tolkien as a companion to his essential 12-volume The History of Middle-earth, this thoughtful and exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale, and will delight any who are about to enter Bilbo’s round door for the first time.
Beowulf
A beautifully designed hardcover box set containing four classic myths and legends composed or translated by J.R.R. Tolkien — Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur, and Beowulf. The fifth set in a series of affordable hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dust jackets. Set 5 contains Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur, and Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; Pearl is apparently an elegy on the death of a child but, like Gawain, it is also a sophisticated and moving debate on much less tangible matters. Sir Orfeo is a slighter romance, belonging to an earlier and different tradition. It was a special favourite of Tolkien's. The three translations are here uniquely accompanied with the complete text of Tolkien's acclaimed 1953 W.P. Ker Memorial Lecture that he delivered on Sir Gawain.The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún tells the epic story of the Norse hero, Sigurd, the dragon-slayer, during a time of gods, betrayal and fierce battles; the revenge of his wife, Gudrún; and the Fall of the Nibelungs. Told in verse composed by J.R.R. Tolkien derived from the ancient poetry of the Poetic Edda and the prose Völsunga Saga, this masterful fusion of myth and poetry is accompanied by notes and commentary by Christopher Tolkien.The Fall of Arthur tells the extraordinary story of the final days of England's legendary hero, King Arthur. It is the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, and may well be regarded as his finest and most skilful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative metre. The long narrative poem is accompanied by significant if tantalising notes, in which can be discerned clear if mysterious associations of the Arthurian conclusion with The Silmarillion.The translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was completed in 1926: he returned to it later but seems never to have considered its publication. This edition is twofold, for the translation is here paired with an illuminating written commentary on the poem by the translator himself, prepared for a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s. From these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if Tolkien entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.These are accompanied by Sellic spell, a "marvellous tale" written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the "historical legends" of the Northern kingdoms.Published together for the first time, these four books—all edited by the author's son and literary executor—collect a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien's forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien's scholarly writings on the myths and legends of northern Europe, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the academic brilliance and storytelling genius of one of the twentieth century's finest literary pioneers.
The Battle of Maldon
The first-ever standalone edition of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most important poetic dramas, that explores timely themes such as the nature of heroism and chivalry during war, featuring previously unpublished and never-before-seen texts and drafts.In 991 AD, Vikings attacked an Anglo-Saxon defense-force led by their duke, Beorhtnoth, resulting in brutal fighting along the banks of the river Blackwater, near Maldon in Essex. The attack is widely considered one of the defining conflicts of tenth-century England, due to it being immortalized in the poem, The Battle of Maldon.Written shortly after the battle, the poem now survives only as a 325-line fragment, but its value to today is incalculable, not just as a heroic tale but in vividly expressing the lost language of our ancestors and celebrating ideals of loyalty and friendship.J.R.R. Tolkien considered The Battle of Maldon “the last surviving fragment of ancient English heroic minstrelsy.” It would inspire him to compose, during the 1930s, his own dramatic verse-dialogue, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son, which imagines the aftermath of the great battle when two of Beorhtnoth’s retainers come to retrieve their duke’s body.Leading Tolkien scholar, Peter Grybauskas, presents for the very first time J.R.R. Tolkien’s own prose translation of The Battle of Maldon together with the definitive treatment of The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth and its accompanying essays; also included and never before published is Tolkien’s bravura lecture, “The Tradition of Versification in Old English,” a wide-ranging essay on the nature of poetic tradition. Illuminated with insightful notes and commentary, he has produced a definitive critical edition of these works, and argues compellingly that, Beowulf excepted, The Battle of Maldon may well have been “the Old English poem that most influenced Tolkien’s fiction,” most dramatically within the pages of The Lord of the Rings.
The Fall Of Arthur
New York Times bestseller “An incomplete but highly compelling retelling . . . An action-packed, doom-haunted saga, full of vivid natural description.”—New York Times Book ReviewThe Fall of Arthur recounts in verse the last campaign of King Arthur, who, even as he stands at the threshold of Mirkwood, is summoned back to Britain by news of the treachery of Mordred. Already weakened in spirit by Guinevere’s infidelity with the now-exiled Lancelot, Arthur must rouse his knights to battle one last time against Mordred’s rebels and foreign mercenaries. Powerful, passionate, and filled with vivid imagery, this unfinished poem reveals Tolkien’s gift for storytelling at its brilliant best. Christopher Tolkien, editor, contributes three illuminating essays that explore the literary world of King Arthur, reveal the deeper meaning of the verses and the painstaking work his father applied to bring the poem to a finished form, and investigate the intriguing links between The Fall of Arthur and Tolkien’s Middle-earth.“Compelling in pace, haunted by loss, it lives up to expectations.”—Daily Beast“Erudite and beautiful.” – NPR.org
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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2)
Darkness Will Bind Them... watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 on Prime Video The second part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century.’ Sunday Telegraph The company of the Ring is torn asunder. Frodo and Sam continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin – alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go. This continues the classic tale begun in The Fellowship of the Ring, which reaches its awesome climax in The Return of the King.
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3)
Darkness Will Bind Them... watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 on Prime Video The third part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘Extraordinarily imaginative, and wholly exciting’ The Times The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads even wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to battle against the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring. The devastating conclusion of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale of adventure, begun in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1)
Magic and malice abound in the Land of Faerie.A chance meeting with a powerful Teleen faery warrior throws Shade into a treacherous mission across the malevolent land of Faerie. Nefarious enemies sabotage her efforts to help the Seelie court at every turn. Luckily, with the help of a magical entourage of warriors, Shade discovers powerful fledgling magic already inside of her. The struggle to survive the never-ending trickery of Faerie threatens to crush her spirit and leave her in a forgotten realm, broken and weak. She must figure out how to use her powers before the Unseelie find her and she loses everything she holds dear.Books in this series & Reading order:The Withering PalaceEvangelineBook 1: Ever ShadeBook 2: Ever FireBook 3: Ever WinterBook 3.5: The CursedBook 4: Ever WrathBook 5: History of FireBook 5.5: Without ArmorBook 6: Ever Dead Book 7: Legends of FireBook 8: Guardians of FireBook 9: Ever FadeFirst Snow short storyBook 10: Ever Lost ~ Coming October 2023
Vessel of Destruction
If there is one truth that I hold to in my life, it is that when it rains, it pours.Perhaps that is why I built myself not for the everyday storms most experience.But for the hurricanes I have had to learn to withstand.I know what it is like to feel your heart crack in half like a tree that snaps under too much pressure.I know the bone-deep, all-consuming, numbness that sets in when the wind and the cold and the water become too much.I know the desperation that claws under the surface as you try to wait through the night, and hope that come the dawn, the storm has passed.But perhaps, most importantly, I know how to survive.Or really, I am too spiteful to die.Either way, my world is falling apart around me. Death and destruction are knocking on my door. And a storm is coming. One unlike anything we have ever encountered before.This time it is not Anastasia I will face on the battlefield, but the one who calls to me. The one I cannot face.This is one storm I don’t know if I will survive . . . or if the price of living is too high.*As the characters mature, so does the story. Recommended for readers 16+ in age. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Trisha Levenseller, and Tahereh Mafi.*
Gods of Jade and Shadow
The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore.“A spellbinding fairy tale rooted in Mexican mythology . . . Gods of Jade and Shadow is a magical fairy tale about identity, freedom, and love, and it's like nothing you've read before.”—BustleNEBULA AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Tordotcom • The New York Public Library • BookRiot The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true. In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.Praise for Gods of Jade and Shadow“A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic.”—NPR“Snappy dialog, stellar worldbuilding, lyrical prose, and a slow-burn romance make this a standout. . . . Purchase where Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, and N. K. Jemisin are popular.”—Library Journal (starred review)“A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia’s seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea’s stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia’s rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relationships.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Neverwhere
THE EXTRAORDINARY FIRST NOVEL BY THE MASTER OF STORYTELLING'Prose that dances and dazzles . . . Gaiman describes the indescribable' SUSANNA CLARKE'It's virtually impossible to read more than ten words by Neil Gaiman and not wish he would tell you the rest of the story' OBSERVER'Much too clever to be caught in the net of a single interpretation' PHILIP PULLMANACCLAIMED BBC RADIO 4 DRAMATISATION WITH ALL-STAR CAST INCLUDING JAMES MCAVOY, NATALIE DORMER, DAVID HAREWOOD, SOPHIE OKONEDO AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH---'I love doors. Anything that leads to possibilities' NEIL GAIMAN---Under the streets of London lies a world most people could never dream of.When Richard Mayhew stops to help a girl he finds bleeding in the street, his unremarkable life changes in an instant.This act of kindness leads him to a place filled with murderers and angels, pale girls in black velvet, a Beast in a labyrinth and an Earl who holds Court in a tube train. It is strangely familiar yet utterly bizarre.Here is London Below, the city of people who have fallen between the cracks. And for Richard Mayhew, it's just the beginning.NEIL GAIMAN. WITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES.