The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
by J R R Tolkien
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: May 5th, 2009
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About The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
Legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien has posthumously presented another work for his avid readership, edited and brought to light by his son Christopher Tolkien. The book entitled “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” was written before Tolkien’s hobbit and middle-earth days, but there is a certain undeniable familiarity in the tone, atmosphere and imaginative essence of the two. While his “Lord of the Rings” books have found incredible success worldwide, this earlier work is one that may never be as well-known or popular, but will delight a more intellectual and complex crowd of readers.
The book is actually a compilation of two full poems focused on ancient Norse legends and poems from around the 13th century. Tolkien’s passion for this era and mythology was a lifelong passion, as he taught Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. Some of his own lectures on the subject have been cleverly incorporated into these poems. His fascinations with this period heavily influenced his writing and opened the minds of readers worldwide to this fairly unknown mythological system.
This work should be considered a more complicated and highly intellectual read, and some may find it to be a bit difficult to understand without a bit of assistance. The characters, history and even poetic uses of alliteration and meter are incredibly complex to the average reader. Christopher Tolkien has graciously included several fascinating commentaries in the book to give a clearer picture on how the texts should be interpreted. His insights reveal and add much to the work. Reading these commentaries is suggested to get a full understanding of the poems
The individual poems are called, “The Lay of the Volsungs” and “The Lay of Gudrun.” The subject matter of the poetry is not what one would expect, even from Tolkien. Though his works always leaned towards the dark side of imagination, “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” is even deeper and darker than the average Tolkien, with much to do about murder, betrayal and even suicide. Again, much is taken from Norse legend. Tolkien did not invent all of his characters from scratch, but re-designed and re-shaped ancient dark characters, making them his own.
While these poems are a challenge to read, even for the most scholarly of Tolkien fans, they are an excellent addition to the Tolkien family and ones that should not be left out. Readers will be plunged into the dark recesses of Tolkien’s imagination, just as with his more popular works, and will be gripped by suspense. Fans of Tolkien’s other works will enjoy the familiar overtones and the detailed characters. This book is highly recommended and is necessary to complete the Tolkien collection.
Synopsis/Review
From AmazonThe world first publication of a previously unknown work by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the epic story of the Norse hero, Sigurd, the dragon-slayer, the revenge of his wife, Gudrun, and the Fall of the Nibelungs.
