Susan's Musings

The Fall of Arthur
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Release Date: May 23, 2013

J.R.R. Tolkien’s previously unpublished epic poem tells the story of Arthur King of Britain’s expedition overseas to distant lands, Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, the sea-battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, the traitor Mordred, and the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle. Manuscript pages show Tolkien’s plans to complete the poem and suggest connections to his other work.

Book Description:

The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skillful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative metre, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur’s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, of the great sea-battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle. Continue reading »