The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun Together with the Corrigan Poems

<p><b>Unavailable for more than seventy years, this early but important work is published for the first time with Tolkien's "Corrigan" poems and other supporting material, including a prefatory note by Christopher Tolkien.</b> <p> Set 'In Britain's land beyond the seas' during the Age of Chivalry, <i>The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun</i> tells of a childless Breton Lord and Lady (the 'Aotrou' and 'Itroun' of the title) and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to remedy their situation with the aid of a magic potion obtained from a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and Itroun bears twins, the corrigan returns seeking her fee, and Aotrou is forced to choose between betraying his marriage and losing his life.</p><p>Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination, <i>The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun</i>, together with the two shorter 'Corrigan' poems (which lead up to it and are also included in this volume), were the outcome of a comparatively short but intense period in Tolkien's life when he was deeply engaged with Celtic, and particularly Breton, myth and legend.</p><p>Originally written in 1930 and long out of print, this early but seminal work is an important addition to the non-Middle-earth portion of his canon and should be set alongside <i>The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún</i>, <i>The Fall of Arthur</i> and <i>The Story of Kullervo</i>. Like these works, it belongs to a small but important corpus of his ventures into 'real-world' mythologies, each of which in its own way would be a formative influence on his own legendarium. <p> Edited with notes and commentary by Verlyn Flieger and a prefatory note on the text by Christopher Tolkien.</p>