The Fall of Arthur

by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien

Genres: Arthurian

Synopsis

New York Times bestseller “An incomplete but highly compelling retelling . . . An action-packed, doom-haunted saga, full of vivid natural description.”—New York Times Book Review

The Fall of Arthur recounts in verse the last campaign of King Arthur, who, even as he stands at the threshold of Mirkwood, is summoned back to Britain by news of the treachery of Mordred. Already weakened in spirit by Guinevere's infidelity with the now-exiled Lancelot, Arthur must rouse his knights to battle one last time against Mordred's rebels and foreign mercenaries. Powerful, passionate, and filled with vivid imagery, this unfinished poem reveals Tolkien's gift for storytelling at its brilliant best. Christopher Tolkien, editor, contributes three illuminating essays that explore the literary world of King Arthur, reveal the deeper meaning of the verses and the painstaking work his father applied to bring the poem to a finished form, and investigate the intriguing links between The Fall of Arthur and Tolkien's Middle-earth.

“Compelling in pace, haunted by loss, it lives up to expectations.”—Daily Beast

“Erudite and beautiful.” – NPR.org

Release date: May 23, 2013

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Print pages: 241

Sample

Mordred was waking.   His mind wandered
in dark counsels   deep and secret.
From a window looked he   in western tower:
drear and doubtful   day was breaking,
grey light glimmered   behind gates of cloud.
About the walls of stone   wind was flowing;
sea sighed below,   surging, grinding.
He heard nor heeded:   his heart returned
to its long thralldom   lust-tormented,
to Guinever the golden   with gleaming limbs,
as fair and fell    as fay-woman
in the world walking   for the woe of men
no tear shedding.   Towers might he conquer,
and thrones o’erthrow   yet the thought quench not.