{"product_id":"9781328834515","title":"The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUnavailable 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.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Set ‘In Britain’s land beyond the seas’ during the Age of Chivalry, \u003ci\u003eThe Lay of Aotrou and Itroun\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComing from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination, \u003ci\u003eThe Lay of Aotrou and Itroun\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Fall of Arthur\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Story of Kullervo\u003c\/i\u003e. 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Edited with notes and commentary by Verlyn Flieger and a prefatory note on the text by Christopher Tolkien.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47131131216112,"sku":"9781328834515","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781328834515_p0.jpg?v=1763708182","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781328834515","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}