The Tolkien Reader

A classic collection of stories, poems, and critical essays by J.R.R. Tolkien.

An invitation to Tolkien's world. This rich treasury includes Tolkien's most beloved short fiction plus his essay on fantasy. FARMER GILES OF HAM. An imaginative history of the distant and marvelous past that introduces the rather unheroic Farmer Giles, whose efforts to capture a somewhat untrustworthy dragon will delight readers everywhere. THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL. A collection of verse in praise of Tom Bombadil, that staunch friend of the Hobbits in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. ON FAIRY-STORIES. Professor Tolkien's now-famous essy on the form of the fairy story and the treatment of fantasy. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Contains four volumes of stories, poems, commentaries, unpublished manuscripts, and translations of medieval poems by Tolkien, including tales of Middle-earth, the setting of his Lord of the Rings novels.

An absorbing collection of stories, poems, and commentaries by the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Renowned around the world as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien was also a distinguished academic and professor whose writings and lectures expand beyond the scope of his beloved Middle-earth. From short stories of fantastical adventures to essays on imagination and the narrative form, The Tolkien Reader gathers some of these fascinating and hard-to-find works into one volume. Tree and Leaf: Professor Tolkien’s now-famous essay “On Fairy-stories” and the short story “Leaf by Niggle” examine and illustrate the form and treatment of fantasy narratives. The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son: A short play inspired by The Battle of Malden, an Old English poem with no ending and no beginning that describes a historical tenth-century battle between the English and Viking invaders. Farmer Giles of Ham: An imaginative history of the distant past that follows the unheroic Farmer Giles as he attempts to capture a somewhat untrustworthy dragon. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil: A delightful collection of verse in praise of Tom Bombadil, staunch friend of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.

Short stories by the author of The Hobbit are presented along with his poems, songs, and a critical essay on fairy tales, in a collection that includes, for the first time, the dramatic poem The Homecoming of Boerhtnoth.

This selection of the earliest poems in English comprises works from an age in which verse was not written down, but recited aloud and remembered. Heroic poems celebrate courage, loyalty and strength, in excerpts from Beowulf and in The Battle of Brunanburgh, depicting King Athelstan’s defeat of his northern enemies in 937 AD, while The Wanderer and The Seafarer reflect on exile, loss and destiny. The Gnomic Verses are proverbs on the natural order of life, and the Exeter Riddles are witty linguistic puzzles. Love elegies include emotional speeches from an abandoned wife and separated lovers, and devotional poems include a vision of Christ’s cross in The Dream of the Rood, and Caedmon’s Hymn, perhaps the oldest poem in English, speaking in praise of God.