The fans of J.R.R. Tolkien queued outside the book shops to buy the special editions of a “new” book by him, 34 years after his death. ‘The Children of Hurin’ may be the last Tolkien story to be published. The copies of the book were signed by Tolkien’s son and literary executor Christopher and illustrator Alan Lee, who had also won an Oscar for his work on the film, “The Lord of the Rings”. The initial print run of this edition worldwide is around 500,000.
J.R.R Tolkien whose real name is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 and died on September 2, 1973. He is best known for his works such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He apart from being a writer was an English philologist university professor of Anglo-Saxon language and English language and literature. A devout Roman Catholic, he was a good friend of C. S. Lewis. However, after his death writers like Morris, Howard preceded Tolkien, but the success of his work have led him to be known as the “father of modern fantasy literature”. Tolkien works show his influence of the history and legends of England, Celtic, Scottish and Welsh as well as countries such as Scandinavia and Germany. He was also influenced by the Anglo-Saxon literature, Germanic and Norse mythologies, Finnish mythology and even the Bible.
His posthumously published books are edited by his son Christopher Tolkien.
Source: CNN
Image Credit: Isd77
