Myths and Legends (Boxed Set) 2

A stunning hardcover boxed set celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien’s work inspired by the myths and legends of Europe, featuring double-sided dustjackets. This unique set contains Finn and Hengest, The Story of Kullervo, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun and The Battle of Maldon, along with The Old English Exodus, reprinted for the first time in 50 years.

This brand-new boxed set of five hardbacks includes:

The Old English Exodus, a translation of the Old English Exodus poem telling the story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt, appearing in print for the first time since it was first published in the 1980s. Tolkien’s aim with this translation was to interpret the poem, reconstruct what the original may have looked like, and demonstrate how it fits into the broader tradition of Old English poetry. Edited by fellow Old English scholar and former pupil, Joan Turville-Petre, this version gives readers the best sense of Tolkien’s methods and his important contributions to understanding this poem along, and includes a new preface by the editor’s son, Thorlac Turville-Petre.

Finn and Hengest, the tale of two fifth-century heroes in Northern Europe, is told both in Beowulf and in a fragmentary Anglo-Saxon poem known as The Fight at Finnesburg, but so obscurely and allusively that its interpretation had been a matter of controversy for over 100 years. Tolkien reveals a classic tragedy of divided loyalties, vengeance, blood and death.

The Story of Kullervo is a work of fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the powerful story of a doomed young man who is sold into slavery and who swears revenge on the magician who killed his father. ‘Hapless Kullervo’, as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny, and is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters.

Set ‘In Britain’s land beyond the seas’ during the Age of Chivalry, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun tells of a childless Breton Lord and Lady and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to remedy their situation with the aid of a magic potion obtained from a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and Itroun bears twins, the corrigan returns seeking her fee, and Aotrou is forced to choose between...read more...