A new book by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien is going on sale – 100 years after it was first conceived.
Beren and Lúthien has been described as a “very personal story” that the Oxford professor thought up after returning from the WWI Battle of the Somme.
It was edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and contains versions of a tale that became part of The Silmarillion.
The book features illustrations by Alan Lee, who won an Academy Award for his work on Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.
The story is about the fate of lovers Beren and Lúthien, a mortal man and an immortal elf who together try to steal from the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor.
For the new book Christopher Tolkien, now aged 92, has kept his father’s story in the original form in which it was written and has also shown how the narrative changed to become part of The Silmarillion.
Published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings was the sequel to The Hobbit and is one of the most successful novels ever written, having sold more than 150 million copies.
The film adaptation, released from 2001 to 2003, is one of the highest-grossing series of all time, with the final movie also winning 11 Academy Awards, tied for the most ever with Ben Hur.
source: bbc.com