The Lay of Aotrou & Itroun together with the Corrigan Poems

Tolkien, J R R; Flieger, Verlyn (editor); Tolkien, Christopher (notes)

ISBN 10: 0008202133 / ISBN 13: 9780008202132

Published by HarperCollins, London, UK, 2016

About this Item

First edition, first impression. 106pp with occasional illustrations. In blue cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine. Coloured endpapers. 8vo. Crisp, fresh and bright throughout. In its original illustrated dust wrapper, very slightly bumped at spine head. Dust jacket now in a protective Mylar wrapper fitted without the use of tape or glue. Drawn from the darker side of Tolkien's imagination and set during the age of chivalry in Britain's land beyond the seas, this is the tale of a childless Breton Lord and his Lady when tragedy follows when the accept the help of Aotrou and a magical potion from a malevolent fairy.

Seller Inventory # 027564

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Lay of Aotrou & Itroun together with the Corrigan Poems
• Publisher: HarperCollins, London, UK
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0008202133
• ISBN 13: 9780008202132
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Printing: 1st Impression
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Modern Fiction Firsts
  • Fiction - General

About this title

Synopsis

Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination, "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" is an important non Middle-earth work to set alongside his other retellings of existing myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo.

Unavailable for more than 70 years, this early but important work is published for the first time with Tolkien's 'Corrigan' poems and other supporting material, including a prefatory note by Christopher Tolkien.

Set 'In Britain's land beyond the seas' during the Age of Chivalry, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun tells of a childless Breton Lord and Lady (the 'Aotrou' and 'Itroun' of the title) and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to remedy their situation with the aid of a magic potion obtained from a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and Itroun bears twins, the corrigan returns seeking her fee, and Aotrou is forced to choose between betraying his marriage and losing his life.

Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, together with the two shorter 'Corrigan' poems that lead up to it and which are also included, was the outcome of a comparatively short but intense period in Tolkien's life when he was deeply engaged with Celtic, and particularly Breton, myth and legend.

Originally written in 1930 and long out of print, this early but seminal work is an important addition to the non-Middle-earth portion of his canon and should be set alongside Tolkien's other retellings of myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo. Like these works, it belongs to a small but important corpus of his ventures into 'real-world' mythologies, each of which in its own way would be a formative influence on his own legendarium.

About the Author

J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 60 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.