Tolkien’s epic, unfinished poem, The Fall of Arthur, was released on Thursday 23rd May 2013. This previously unpublished and largely unknown version of the Arthur story starts with the legendary King Arthur going to war in „Saxon lands” before returning home to confront the treachery of his nephew Mordred.
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Fall of Arthur in the 1930s before he started work on The Hobbit. Its existence was revealed in the 1970s, and its publication has been rumoured for some years, but it had been overtaken by other posthumous releases such as The Children of Húrin and The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún.
The Fall of Arthur is Tolkien’s reimagining of a tale most often associated with 15th century poet Thomas Mallory, from the Middle English period. Tolkien uses the alliterative verse format of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) poetry, which he greatly enjoyed, though it is not normally associated with the Arthur stories.
Tolkien Society Chairman Shaun Gunner said, „We are all used to seeing Tolkien’s stories set in Middle-earth, but this is the first time we’ve seen Tolkien write about legendary Britain. We know Tolkien loved the alliterative verse of Anglo-Saxon, so his own re-imagining of Arthur’s downfall will make for an interesting read. This is fundamentally important in terms of considering Tolkien’s academic career and his wider creative process, but it will also be fascinating to see how The Fall of Arthur – written before The Hobbit – may have parallels in Tolkien’s other stories.„
