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J. R. R. Tolkien

Verlyn Flieger

The Story of Kullervo Hardcover – International Edition, August 27, 2015

by J. R. R. Tolkien (Author), Verlyn Flieger (Editor)

295 ratings

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The world first publication of a previously unknown work of fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the powerful story of a doomed young man who is sold into slavery and who swears revenge on the magician who killed his father.

Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters. ‘Hapless Kullervo’, as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.

Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and who tries three times to kill him when still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and guarded by the magical powers of the black dog, Musti. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruellest of fates.

Tolkien wrote that The Story of Kullervo was ‘the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own’, and was ‘a major matter in the legends of the First Age’; his Kullervo was the ancestor of Túrin Turambar, tragic incestuous hero of The Silmarillion. In addition to being a powerful story in its own right, The Story of Kullervo – published here for the first time with the author’s drafts, notes and lecture-essays on its source-work, The Kalevala, is a foundation stone in the structure of Tolkien’s invented world.

Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins
Publication date

August 27, 2015
Dimensions

5.87 x 0.91 x 8.98 inches
ISBN-10

0008131368
ISBN-13

978-0008131364
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for J.R.R. Tolkien:
‘One marvels anew at the depth, breadth and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s labour. No one sympathetic to his aims – the invention of a secondary universe – will want to miss this chance to be present at the creation.’
Publishers Weekly

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; edition (August 27, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0008131368
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008131364
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.87 x 0.91 x 8.98 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,948,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,538 in Epic Poetry (Books)
- #1,726 in Norse & Viking Myth & Legend
- #30,934 in Epic Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
295 ratings

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Maria Haskins

An exploration of Tolkien's writing, rather than a stand-alone story

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2015

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Disclaimer: I love Tolkien, as in: I've read The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and the Silmarillion more times than I can remember. I also read The Children of Hurin and enjoyed that story.

If you're looking for a book that will shed light on how Tolkien developed his literary world, what his influences were, and if you want to find out more about how he began shaping the characters and storylines that would appear in later works, then this is a great book. If you're looking for a completed book by Tolkien, then this is not it. The Story of Kullervo reads more like Tolkien's outline of a story (it was one of his first attempts at "fantasy", or mythological fiction and was never completed by the author). It is accompanied by Tolkien's thoughts on Kalevala (which inspired The Story of Kullervo), and a more scholarly discussion of how Kalevala influenced Tolkien, and the importance of 'The Story of Kullervo' for Tolkien's later writings. As a stand-alone story, though, this just feels too incomplete and slight. It is by now means "bad", but I wish it had been marketed as an exploration of Tolkien's writing, rather than a stand-alone story.

118 people found this helpful

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Fflbrgst

For the Tolkien Scholar

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2016

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Preface: I have read all of Tolkien's work, including the multi-volume History of Middle-earth.

The Story of Kullervo was a work started by Tolkien based on the Finnish story from the Kavela. There had been a couple of translations based on multiple sources, so they did not read as a complete story.
As a work it is incomplete, as as described in the introductions, was hand-written and comes to an abrupt in complete conclusion. For those who have read the 'Histories of Middle-Earth', you will know how Tolkien was often changing names and happenings as he continued writing, this story was no different.
Besides the main story there is an essay by JRRT written to be given as a speech or lecture, in two forms, the first was his handwritten version, thne there was a typewritten version, they barely differ.
There is also some analysis by the editor, Verlyn Flieger, of Tolkien's story.
I would not recommend this to anyone but Tolkien scholars - those who have read all of HoME and are interested in the earliest roots of JRRT's writing, before he started the true creation of the Elvish languages and of Arda and Middle-Earth

23 people found this helpful

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Dan'l Danehy-Oakes

Tolkien's ur-story

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2019

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In this edition of what noted Tolkien scholar David Bratman once called "Tolkien's laundry lists," we have something fairly precious: in both senses of the word. "The Story of Kullervo" is (as far as can be told) Tolkien's first serious attempt at telling a story with serious mythic intent. That it is not an original story with Tolkien (but see below) scarcely matters; what does matter is that this tale shows, in several ways, that the Matter of Middle-earth did not spring fully formed from Tolkien's cranium, but had (at least one) predecessor.

(Your reviewer humbly observes that he has not -yet! - read the "Sigurd & Gudrun" or "Aotrou and Itroun" volulmes of the TLL.)

The volume contains the nearly-complete "Tale", with Tolkien's notes for the ending. Next, we have two drafts of a talk on the Kalevala Tolkien gave at least once, possibly as many as three times. All of these have detailed Notes by Flieger.

Finally, there is an essay by Flieger, which helps to establish how deeply "Kullervo" affected at least two of Tolkien's "Great Tales", that of Beren and Lúthien, and, more profoundly, that of Túrin Turambar (a/k/a the Children of Húrin). The most blatant example of this would be Kullervo/Túrin's unknowing incest with his sister; her suicide at a waterfall when she realizes what has happened; and Kullervo/Túrin's finally asking his sword to slay him, which it does after a swordly speech.

The essay also shows in some detail how Tolkien made the "Tale" his own even at this early date (this was before the World War, while Tolkien was an undergraduate). Tolkien, showing the instinct that would haunt his Middle-earth writings to his dying day, sought to rationalize and explain inconsistent and/or mysterious details in the original: an instinct that, in the end, made it impossible for Tolkien to ever complete a satisfactory (to him) draft of the Quenta Silmarillion.

Recommended, to people who like this sort of thing.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Modern Viking

A worthy complement to 'On Fairy-Stories'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2015

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What you get if you buy this book:
- Introduction by editor Verlyn Flieger (15 pages).
- The latest edition of JRR Tolkien's previously published unfinished manuscript 'The Story of Kullervo' (46 pages + 14 pages of Flieger's notes), written some time between 1912 and 1916.
- Two unfinished drafts of the text of Tolkien's talk 'On “The Kalevala” or Land of Heroes' (24 and 27 pages respectively + 13 pages of Flieger's notes).
- Flieger's own essay 'Tolkien, Kalevala, and “The Story of Kullervo”' (31 pages).

As something of a Tolkien completist (and most definitely a Tolkien enthusiast of the deepest dye) _and_ as someone very fond of Finnish mythology, I was delighted to discover that Tolkien had written an unfinished treatment of the story of Kullervo, a tragic anti-hero from the Kalevala, the nineteenth-century compilation of Finnish mythology, who was himself part of the stuff that later inspired Tolkien to create the memorable character of Túrin Turambar. I pre-ordered this book without hesitation and plunged straight into the Master's 'The Story of Kullervo'...

...which proved such a hard slog that after 11 pages (of 46) I actually gave up. The thing about challenging mythological texts is that I am quite fond of them (to say the least), and more than willing to put in the effort required to immerse myself in them, whether we're talking about Homer, or Ovid's Metamorphoses, or the Kalevala, or Snorri Sturluson's Edda, to name just a few. But reading a modern author trying to imitate the style of an old mythological text (of which the most repulsive example must surely be Lord Dunsany's 'The Gods of Pegana') strikes me as rather pointless, not least as I could more usefully divert the energy I was initially prepared to expend on digging into Tolkien's pastiche into making a renewed attempt at the real Kalevala. In Tolkien's defence I would however quote from Flieger's otherwise rather superfluous concluding essay: 'we can see The Story of Kullervo as the work of a beginning writer. ... it is best understood ... as a trial piece, that of someone learning his craft and consciously imitating existing material. ... The Story of Kullervo was written by a very young man' – and was very obviously not intended for publication!

Nevertheless, what _is_ rewarding about this volume is the two highly readable (and, despite many similarities, different enough to warrant the inclusion of both) drafts of the text of a talk Tolkien gave at least twice about the appeal of the Kalevala. I myself remember how, as a child or teenager, I discovered that there was even such a thing as Finnish mythology (wildly distinct and separate from Norse mythology, to which it is wholly unrelated) – how wonderful then to suddenly read the Master articulating his own feelings following his own, similar, discovery: 'you are at once in a new world; and can revel in an amazing new excitement. You feel like Columbus on a new Continent or Thorfinn in Vinland ... it is more likely to be the often almost indefinable sense of newness and strangeness that will either perturb or delight you.'

In fact I could easily just quote the whole of pages 68-74 of this text, they're that good, and they absolutely and unequivocally make this book worth getting just for the sheer and highly incisive delight they convey. Worth getting, that is, if you are a Tolkien completist, or enamoured of all things Kalevala, or, if like me, you think Tolkien's masterly 'On Fairy-Stories' is one of the greatest things ever written.

47 people found this helpful

Dr. Lynn E. Forest-hill

One for the enthusiast

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2017

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Delight depends on what you want as an approach to Tolkien. I'd rather read the story of Kullervo in the Kalavala itself, but this book is fascinating as an insight into Tolkien's development of his version of the story, which is the basis for his story of Turin. This book is probably one for the specialist Tolkien enthusiast. Beginners might be better reading the Turin story in The Silmarillion first, then The Children of Hurin, and then Kullervo.

3 people found this helpful

Carol Bradford

THE STORY OF KULLERVO

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2019

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This Deluxe Edition is for the devotees of Tolkien's work, scholars' of the master. It is beautifully printed and annotated and uses fine materials. It is for the purists' and the collector and not the beach reader.

2 people found this helpful

Tristan Sherwin

A perfect little gift for the enthusiast

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2021

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You can’t beat a bit of Tolkien!

For those who enjoy reading about how Tolkien’s mind worked, and how his stories evolved, then The Story of Kullervo is an absolute, fascinating must.

For those who just want to read a story, then this probably isn’t what you’re looking for.

Kindle Customer

Arrived on time

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2020

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Book was as expected - a book! Arrived on time,which is the important thing.

One person found this helpful

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