Synopses & Reviews
The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur, king of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skillful achievement in the use of Old English alliterative meter, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthurs expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guineveres flight from Camelot, of the great sea battle on Arthurs return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle. Unhappily, The Fall of Arthur was one of several long narrative poems that Tolkien abandoned. He evidently began it in the 1930s, and it was sufficiently advanced for him to send it to a very perceptive friend who read it with great enthusiasm at the end of 1934 and urgently pressed him, "You simply must finish it!" But in vain: he abandoned it at some unknown date, though there is evidence that it may have been in 1937, the year of publication of The Hobbit and the first stirrings of The Lord of the Rings. Years later, in a letter of 1955, he said that he "hoped to finish a long poem on The Fall of Arthur," but that day never came. Associated with the text of the poem, however, are many manuscript pages: a great quantity of drafting and experimentation in verse, in which the strange evolution of the poems structure is revealed, together with narrative synopses and significant tantalizing notes. In these notes can be discerned clear if mysterious associations of the Arthurian conclusion with The Silmarillion, and the bitter ending of the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, which was never written.
Synopsis
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
Pearl, and
Sir Orfeo are masterpieces of a remote and exotic age the age of chivalry and wizards, knights and holy quests.
Yet it is only in the unique artistry and imagination of J.R.R. Tolken that the language, romance, and power of these great stories comes to life for modern readers, in this masterful and compelling translation.
Synopsis
Three masterpieces of medieval poetry, translated by the author of The Lord of the Rings Comparable to the works of Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo weave a bright tapestry of stories from a remote age of chivalry and wizards, knights and holy quests--but unlike The Canterbury Tales, the name of the poet who wrote them is lost to time. Masterfully translated from the original Middle English by J.R.R. Tolkien, the language of these great poems comes to life for modern readers.
At the center of this collection is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a tale as lush and dark as England's medieval forests. Mixing romance and adventure, Sir Gawain follows King Arthur's most noble knight on an adventure of epic enchantment, temptation, and destiny.
Synopsis
Three masterpieces of medieval poetry, translated by the author of The Lord of the Rings--including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the poem that inspired the major motion picture The Green Knight Comparable to the works of Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo weave a bright tapestry of stories from a remote age of chivalry and wizards, knights and holy quests--but unlike The Canterbury Tales, the name of the poet who wrote them is lost to time. Masterfully translated from the original Middle English by J.R.R. Tolkien, the language of these great poems comes to life for modern readers.
At the center of this collection is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a tale as lush and dark as England's medieval forests. Mixing romance and adventure, Sir Gawain follows King Arthur's most noble knight on an adventure of epic enchantment, temptation, and destiny.
Synopsis
The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skillful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative meter, but it depicts drama and adventure in language only Tolkien could have written. Edited by his son Christopher Tolkien, who also provides detailed commentary and notes.
About the Author
J.R.R. TOLKIEN (1892–1973) is the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.
CHRISTOPHER TOLKIEN is the third son of J.R.R. Tolkien. Appointed by Tolkien to be his literary executor, he has devoted himself to the editing and publication of unpublished writings, notably The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The History of Middle-earth.