The Fireside

The details of the forthcoming deluxe edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (which also includes Pearl and Sir Orfeo ) have been revealed. Publication date: April 20 ISBN: 9780008393625 " This elegant deluxe slipcased edition of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour, features a beautifully decorated text and includes as a bonus the complete text of Tolkien’s acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain. 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; but it is also much more than this, being at the same time a powerful moral tale which examines religious and social values. Pearl is apparently an elegy on the death of a child, a poem pervaded with a sense of great personal loss: but, like Gawain it is also a sophisticated and moving debate on much less t...

Currently, I'm reading The Saga of the Volsungs , published by Penguin as part of their Legends From the Ancient North series (other titles include Beowulf, The Elder Edda, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wanderer . I am quite enjoying it so far, as well as some similar books I've read lately. However I've yet to read any of these sagas. There a few different versions from a few publishers. There are 49 Sagas total, so I'm going to look at which editions of the Sagas offer what. First up is Penguin's Sagas of Icelanders . (ISBN: 9780141000039) This collection offers some of the Sagas and Tales, and is a great 'best of' in that sense, or greatest hits. This edition also 'matches' some of their other deluxe paperback editions, such as Robert Fagles' translations of The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Aeneid ; as well as some other titles (like Anna Karenina ). Please note that the pages are 'deckle edge', so they're supposed to loo...

This is the first in my series of 'what ifs' in regards to J.R.R. Tolkien, and his writing. In this first installment, I will examine, in speculative fashion, if Tolkien did not write The Hobbit, but opted to finish and publish The Fall of Arthur  in its place.....

There is something I have noticed lately - some big (as in famous, high profile) authors that I follow have been writing smaller works lately. No, this is not a complaint but a trend I have noticed recently, which is most likely coincidence. I am most likely (literally) reading too much into it.  Some of these works are a part of the world of their more famous writings, other times it is unrelated. Here are some examples. The Ocean at the End of the Lane  by Neil Gaiman Great book. My paperback copy clocks in at...178 pages of story, and it begins on page 3. The Wind Through the Keyhole  by Stephen King This is basically The Dark Tower  Book 4.5, but it was written after the seventh book, which is where the story ends. Making this book the 8th one published. my paperback begins on page 3, and is 384 pages. This title is longer than The Gunslinger , though that one is the first book in the series. The rest of the  Dark Tower  books have are longe...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow       Between the crosses, row on row,    That mark our place; and in the sky    The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,    Loved and were loved, and now we lie          In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw    The torch; be yours to hold it high.    If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow          In Flanders fields.

Shortly, there will be a new edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil  arriving, for those who like Tolkien's more light-hearted side, younger readers, those who read to the young before bed time, or if you're a fan of Tom Bombadil and Tolkien's poems.  This version has been expanded to include some of Tolkien's earliest poems, a prose story with Tom, as well as in-depth notes by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, both of whom have made some outstanding contributions and notes to some of Tolkien's works over the years. Their introductions and comments found here will be akin to those they included in Roverandom  and Farmer Giles of Ham.   There will be the 16 poems published back in 1962, as well as the original artwork by Pauline Baynes, famous for her artwork for The Chronicles of Narnia . The poem 'Once Upon a Time' will also be reprinted.  In this edition, Scull and Hammond were also allowed to include to predecessor to Perry-the-Winkle cal...

[all text copyright of Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson. All rights reserved.] The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.  What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow

Yesterday's post got out of my hands. There are some tales and stories that I was interested in, and wanted to share with you, so I did.  Today, however, I would like to tell you about two collections (both by Penguin) that belong in that post. Since they are collections, I thought it best to give them their own spot here. THE SAGAS OF THE ICELANDERS In Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world’s great literary treasures – as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written...

It is neat how influence and inspiration work, and how an interest in one thing can lead to an interest in another.  As I said many times before (and will do so here again, although very briefly) I have Peter Jackson to thank for discovering, reading, and appreciate Tolkien and his works.  However, in doing so, I have to appreciate something else because of Tolkien: poems. 

There was a lot more to Professor J.R.R. Tolkien than just The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , as evident in my most recent post which showcases The Children of Hurin . Even, there was a lot more to him than the realms he created. Tolkien was a great lover of poetry, and old myths (Anglo-Saxon, Old English, Norse, Icelandic, etc...)  This post I shall talk a bit about something different from his usual material : The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun . 

We all know the tales J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings many times, over many years. There is even more detailed accounts of his creation in The Silmarillion , Unfinished Tales, and Children of Hurin . He created his own world - language, culture, history, myth...everything. Unknown to the common reader who may be more (or only) familiar with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , he was also a Professor at Oxford, and gave many lectures on subjects of Old English, Anglo Saxon, and others. He also translated and gave his own accounts on various poems over during his academic career. Some of these were abandoned in favor of writing The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings , and is entirely possible that he may not have created those works in favour of more poems. For instance, The Fall of Arthur could have been fully completed if he had not been so busy at the time preparing The Hobbit for publication. Suppose Tolkien never wrote The Hobbit : instead, ...