The Story of Kullervo
 Front cover of the 2015 hardback edition; detail from painting "The Land of Pohja" by Tolkien. | |
| Editor | Verlyn Flieger |
|---|---|
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Cover artist | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Finnish mythology |
| Published | 27 August 2015 (U.K.) |
| Publisher |
HarperCollins Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
| ISBN | 978-0-00-813136-4 |
| Preceded by | Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary |
| Followed by | A Secret Vice |
"The Story of Kullervo" is a prose version of the Kullervo cycle in the Karelian and Finnish epic poem Kalevala, written by J. R. R. Tolkien when he was an undergraduate at Exeter College, Oxford, from 1914 to 1915. That was an unsettled period for the author and this is thought to be reflected in the story's dark subject matter.[1] It also marks "the first time that J. R. R. Tolkien, who had been a poet until then, began writing prose".[2] Known as a source (among others) for Túrin Turambar, "The Story of Kullervo" was the centre of Tolkien's efforts in 1914, as he was "trying to turn one of the stories [of the Kalevala] — which is really a very great story and most tragic – into a short story" (Letters, October 1914, #1).
"The Story of Kullervo" was edited by Verlyn Flieger, published in 2010 in Tolkien Studies, and republished in book form in August 2015 by HarperCollins.[3]
References
- Citations
- ↑ "The Story of Kullervo | Quadrapheme". www.quadrapheme.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ↑ Vincent Ferre, quoted in "JRR Tolkien's first story is 'undeniably his darkest work' say experts". The Telegraph. 26 August 2015.
- ↑ Oliveira Ferreira, Eduardo (28 July 2015). "The Story of Kullervo and the Brazilian contribution to its publication". Tolkien Society. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- Works cited
- Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-31555-7