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| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016 |
This very brief review appeared on Examiner.com on May 14 this year. Since all Examiner content has been removed, I am re-posting here in an ongoing effort to save my writing for posterity.
The Story of Kullervo
If you are a J.R.R. Tolkien fan
looking for a new "Lord of the Rings," or even "The
Silmarillion," "The Story of Kullervo" will probably disappoint
you. But, if you have an interest in the origins of Tolkien's storytelling, and
the underpinnings of his mythology of Middle-earth, "Kullervo" may be
just what you are looking for.
Edited by one of the foremost
authorities on Tolkien, Veryln Flieger, the book includes Tolkien's re-crafting
of the story from the Finnish Kalevala, which roughly translates to "Land
of Heroes." The Kalevala was an anthology of Finnish folk songs complied
by Elias Lönnrot in the mid-nineteenth century. It was a source of national
pride, and is credited as helping to inspire Finland's declaration of
independence from Russia in 1917. [pp.x-xi] Tolkien would eventually use the
character Kullervo as the inspiration for Túrin Turambar, who appears in
"The Silmarillion" and the posthumously published novel "The
Children of Húrin." The earlier iteration based on the Finnish story was
penned by Tolkien before World War I, while a student at Oxford. It was written
mostly in prose, but includes several poems. Although never finished, it does
include a plot synopsis at the end, indicating how he wanted to finish it.
Flieger's edition does not stop with
reproducing the retelling (a "reorganizing" is what Tolkien called
it) of the story. She adds extensive notes, and includes two versions of an
essay Tolkien delivered on the Kalevala, and her essay on Tolkien's Kullervo
and its influence on his later mythology. Professor Flieger's excellent
discussion ties everything together, and corrects much of the old impressions
and inaccurate chronology about The Story.
Until this year, "The Story of
Kullervo" was only available in a British version from HarperCollins, but
is now available from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the United States. The story
itself is certainly not as developed or captivating as his other works, but
many Tolkien devotees will find this early attempt a welcome addition to their
library.
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