J. R. R. Tolkien - The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun

The Nordic legends of Sigurd (sometimes referred to as Siegfried) and Gudrun (known as Kriemhild in the Germanic epic poem THE SONG OF THE NIBELUNGS) are some of the prototypical tales of Western mythology, ones that have inspired countless retellings. A professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, the beloved author J.R.R. Tolkien had intimate familiarity with such classics of European mythology, and these ancient tales of warriors, gods, goddesses, adventure, and revenge surely inspired his wildly popular high fantasy books such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS (which, since its publication in the 1950s has attained a mythical status of its own). In this posthumously published work, Tolkien adopts the voice and meter of the ancient texts to retell Sigurd's and Gudrun's stories in verse. One of Tolkien's university lectures introduces this edition, which is edited by Tolkien's son Christopher.

Key Information
Authors		J. R. R. Tolkien
Editors		Christopher Tolkien
Professional Reviews
		Wall Street Journal: "A warning to Tolkien fans: The Sigurd myth is a far darker and more primitive story than THE LORD OF THE RINGS (itself no happy tale). There is nothing in Sigurd's life suggestive of hobbits or Elves. And yet this tangled, ancient and powerful legend is the primary inspiration behind Tolkien's own literature.....This in itself makes THE LEGEND OF SIGURD AND GUDRUN an important, valuable book, not just for those already steeped in Old Germanic stories and Old Germanic verse, or for those who wish to know them for the first time, but for all serious readers of Tolkien, students and fans alike."
Book Editions
		Hardcover377May 05, 2009Houghton Mifflin Harcourt8.25"(h) x 5.5"(w) x 1"(d), 1.1 lbs.9780547273426