100-year-old unfinished story by J.R.R. Tolkien to be released this summer

It is time for Tolkien fans to rejoice! One of his first novels, The Story of Kullervo, is all set to be released in August. The author of the best-selling Lord of the Rings magical fantasy series and The Hobbit had written the original first draft of the book reportedly in 1914, whilst he was studying poetry at college.

The unfinished draft along with the Tolkien’s original notes will be published in August for the time as a stand-alone book after a century, reports The Verge. Fans will be thrilled to know that it is in fact The Story of Kullervo, which was Tolkien’s first attempt at writing fantasy and would be an interesting way to understand his journey as he went on to produce works of literature that have won the hearts of several generations of readers.

A retelling of the Kullervo Cycle, which is a section of the 19-century Finnish epic The Kalevala, this story had also influenced Tolkien’s The Silmarillian and even The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Both the characters, Silmarillian’s Turin and Kullervo, were unjustly tormentors until they set out on a blood-thirsty quest for revenge and commit suicide towards the end.