New JRR Tolkien story to be published this fall

J.R.R. Tolkien may have written The Silmarillion as a precursor for many things Middle Earthen – supposedly corresponding with Bilbo Baggins’ (the minuscule protagonist of The Hobbit’s) Translations from the Elvish, which he wrote while staying with the elves in Rivendell. “The publisher said: “‘Hapless Kullervo’, as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.

The Story of Kullervo is Tolkien’s reimagining of the Kullervo cycle from the Karelian and Finnish epic poem Kalevala. The story is a retelling of a Finnish myth, but one that Tolkien incorporated into the “legends of the First Age” of Middle-earth, with Kullervo being an acestor to Túrin Turambar from The Silmarillion.

“The Story of Kullervo” is about the titular Kullervo, a boy sold into slavery who vows revenge on a cruel wizard who killed his father.

J.R.R. Tolkien is the latest author to have an uncovered manuscript to be published posthumously.

It’s called The Story of Kullervo, and, as one of the first works of prose by the author, is now 100 years old. “It remains a majore matter in the legends of the First Age (which I hope to publish as The Silmarillion)”, wrote the English author.

Harper Collins is bringing J.R.R. Tolkien back all the way to the “First Age” of the Lord of the Rings universe, according to the Daily Dot.

It’s worth noting this isn’t technically the first time the piece has been published.

Tolkien began writing The Story of Kullervo in 1914 while studying at Oxford University but never finished it. The newly published story, however, features commentary by Flieger, a comparative mythology specialist with a focus on Tolkien. So this book is key to him inventing languages of his own for later works. HarperCollins is publishing the story as a package that will include Tolkien’s original draft as well as nonfiction about the source material.