The Story of Kullervo - Softcover

Tolkien, J R R; Flieger, Verlyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 054494724X ISBN 13: 9780544947245

Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 2017

Synopsis

"Shows how Finnish mythology and folk tales were instrumental to how Tolkien created his own legendarium."--Boston Globe

Kullervo, son of Kalervo, is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. "Hapless Kullervo," as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.

Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and tried three times to kill him when he was still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and the magical powers of the black dog Musti, who guards him. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruelest of fates.

Tolkien himself said that The Story of Kullervo was "the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own," and was "a major matter in the legends of the First Age." Tolkien's Kullervo is the clear ancestor of Túrin Turambar, the tragic incestuous hero of The Silmarillion. Published with the author's drafts, notes, and lecture essays on its source work, the Kalevala, The Story of Kullervo is a foundation stone in the structure of Tolkien's invented world.

"A fascinating read."--NPR

About this title

About the Author

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 054494724X
• ISBN 13: 9780544947245
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192