Description

THE LEGEND OF SIGURD AND GUDRUN.

By J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien.

OVERVIEW: The epic story of the Norse hero, Sigurd, the dragon-slayer, and the revenge of his wife, Gudrún, upon those who betrayed him. J.R.R. Tolkien had been captivated by the epic tales of giants, heroes, dwarves, monsters, magic and dragons, since first encountering as a boy the myths and legends of the mysterious Viking North. When William Morris’ translation of The Story of Sigurd the Volsung was found to be based on incomplete and significantly altered prose, Tolkien decided to attempt to unify the various original lays by re-creating the missing parts of Sigurd’s story, and write them as narrative poems using modern English but in the Old Norse style. These "New Lays" of Sigurd and Gudrún, comprising between them more than 500 stanzas, were completed in the 1930s but have never before been published or quoted from.

 • No part has ever been reproduced or quoted from since it was first written more than 70 years ago

• Appears complete and unaltered, as J.R.R. Tolkien wrote it

• Introducing the work is one of Tolkien’s lectures on Norse literature, so readers get to "hear" the voice of the author as he would have spoken when introducing the legends to students

• Includes commentary and notes on the poems by Christopher Tolkien

• The Norse legends and sagas were the single greatest influence on Tolkien’s writings, and many of the events in Sigurd and Gudrún can be traced through to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Children of Hurin

• The Children of Hurin, published in 2007, sold more than 1 million copies in the English language • The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have sold between them over 150 million copies worldwide • The Hobbit is to be a pair of major films in 2011/2012 directed by Guillermo del Toro.

2009 Harper UK hardcover. This is a bargain copy and is sold as is. List Price: $25.00.