[.ca] The Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader: Versions in Modern Prose (ISBN 1593600119)

Legends:
Any die-hard "Lord of the Rings" fan with functioning brain cells to rub together knows that fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien drew extensively on old myths and legends. But the "Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader," compiled by Turgon, lets Tolkien fans get their eager hands on some of the legends and poetry that inspired his works. Tolkien's love of medieval literature was especially strong for epics like "Beowulf" and the Norse Eddas, which were sprawling mythologic poems and legends. (Try to see how many Tolkien dwarf names you can find in the Poetic Edda) But Turgon -- who is one of the sweet folks on exceptional Tolkien site TheOneRing.net -- doesn't stop there. He includes other old English tales, and some Middle-English stories like "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and parts of "The Canterbury Tales." He also includes an excerpted story from the Kalevala, an ancient Finnish text credited with part of the inspiration behind "Lord of the Rings." And to round it out are some Celtic stories, such as the Welsh Mabinogion, and the early story of "Kilhwch and Olwen," which was also the first Arthurian story. Okay, all these stories are in the public domain -- obviously something written in the thirteenth century can't pull in royalties. But Turgon's compilation does serve a purpose: bringing together a bunch of old texts that fans may have heard of, but probably have never actually read. It's not a replacement for the real thing, but serves as an introduction. Since language changes over time, and some translations are a bit rough, Turgon has smoothed out the old linguistic wrinkles. Nothing that really changes the meaning, but enough to keep readers from going "Huh? What's that word mean?" Small introductions to each story or excerpt are included, describing how these stories were important to Tolkien's work, and how they inspired his world of dragons, dwarves, elves and human heroes. In a nutshell, Turgon has compiled and edited a solid introduction to the works that inspired Middle-Earth. Fans of the legendary trilogy will love the splendor and richness of these old books -- and might just learn something about J.R.R. Tolkien's writing in the process.