Newest Publication: The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

[CosmicBob]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/ ... -the-rings

HarperCollins, which will publish the poem along with Tolkien’s other poems about the Corrigan on 3 November, called it “an important non Middle-earth work to set alongside his other retellings of existing myth and legend”. These include The Story of Kullervo, a teenage Tolkien’s retelling of a Finnish epic poem, and his 200-page poem The Fall of Arthur.

According to Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of the author, the earliest manuscript for The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (Breton for “lord and lady”, explains Carpenter) is dated September 1930.

HarperCollins said: “The sequence shows the Corrigan’s increasingly powerful presence, as she takes an ever more active role in the lives of Aotrou and Itroun … She would finally emerge, changed in motive and character but still recognisable, in The Lord of the Rings as the beautiful and terrible Lady of the Golden Wood, the Elven queen Galadriel.” It added that the poem comes “from the darker side” of Tolkien’s imagination.

I suppose it keeps the estate busy. And I will of course buy it. But is there wide appeal?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I don't know about wide appeal, but it is an important publication, and one well-worth doing.

[Eldy]

I think the Tolkien "brand" is strong enough that publications of more academic interest like this are guaranteed to sell enough to make it economical. Trying to create a widespread hit doesn't seem to have really been a consideration since The Silmarillion. It's questionable to what extent even that volume has "mass appeal".