J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Story of Kullervo to Finally be Published this Month
David Gelmini
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The father of modern fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien, will have one of his first stories published this month. The Hollywood Reporter reports that The Story of Kullervo, an unfinished manuscript written in 1914, will finally see the light of day.
The story follows young Kullervo, who, after having his tribe slaughtered, is made a slave of the dark magician Untamo. He then carries out his brutal revenge before committing suicide. Along the way he also attempts to seduce his own sister, who commits suicide.
The story would serve as a stepping stone leading to Tolkien’s creation of Middle-Earth.
It’s loosely based on Kalevala, The Story of Kullervo, one of the grimmest tales in Finnish mythology, and was made available once before in a journal; but this will be the first time that it has been widely available to the public.
Verlyn Flieger will edit the unfinished manuscript to bring it closer to what Tolkien hopefully had intended.
The Story of Kullervo will be released in the UK on August 27 and in the US on October 27.
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