J.R.R. Tolkien - The Story of Kullervo

 

Títle: The Story of Kullervo

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Publisher: Harper Collins

Year: 2015

Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9780008131364

PVP: 9,45€ (Hardcover) Amazon

Mark: 9/10

SYNOPSIS

Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. Hapless Kullervo', as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.

Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and who tries three times to kill him when still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and guarded by the magical powers of the black dog, Musti. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruellest of fates.

Tolkien wrote that The Story of Kullervo was the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own', and was a major matter in the legends of the First Age'; his Kullervo was the ancestor of Trin Turambar, tragic incestuous hero of The Silmarillion. In addition to being a powerful story in its own right, The Story of Kullervo published here for the first time with the author's drafts, notes and lecture-essays on its source-work, The Kalevala, is a foundation stone in the structure of Tolkien's invented world.

 PERSONAL ASSESSMENT

I felt the urge to read this book since I knew Tolkien had written it. I am a huge fan of Finnish mythology and, since I am studying this degree, of epic poetry / old texts. Thanks to reading this book -which is not only Tolkien’s version of Kullvero, it also includes two quite similar essays written by him and another written by the editor, Verlyn Flieger- I have discovered that my passion for the Finnish language and culture was nothing new, that Tolkien had it before. He dismissed all the former translations of the Kalevala and took a Finnish grammar manual and God, he learnt Finnish just to translate it! If you have read any Tolkien book about the Middle Earth you are then familiar with Quenya, well, what if I tell you that Quenya is largely based on Finnish?

Well, if I have arisen your interest, let’s continue.

Kullervo is the “son” of Kalervo, or in Finnish “Kullervo Kalervonpoika”. Untamo, brother of Kalervo, kills him (Kalervo). Then, Kullervo thinks that all his family is dead as well. A few time after, he is sold into slavery to Ilmarinen, there he is tormented by her wife, whose name we never know. There he discovers that he has magic powers and he starts to plot his vengeance…

 Well, I have a few problems reading this version, although it has just 40 pages. Last year I read Kalevala (I hope I will be able to upload a review soon) and I knew the former story -even though Tolkien said that there was a lot lost in translation-, I knew the former characters, the former happenings… So, I was a bit lost when Tolkien started to talk about Sutse instead of Suomi, Mauri instead of Musti, Ilu/Iluko instead of Ukko (Finnish god of the sky), or Āsemo instead of Ilmarinen. Besides that, during that 40 pages, he changes the names of some of the characters, making it a bit more confusing.

In addition to that, the book also includes two Tolkien unfinished essays (quite identical) about the writing of The story of Kullervo, where he talks about how he learned Finnish because he thought that all the translations of Kalevala were so poor. He also talks about the Finnish language, that unknown and hard language that only brave people dare to learn, and god, I totally agree with him, just that I’d change ‘brave’ for ‘crazy’, because you have to be SO crazy to try to learn Finnish.

I have recently read that this story laid the grounds for Shakespeare’s play Hamlet: a man, whose uncle has killed his father, seeks vengeance. I have never heard about it as the source of its inspiration but, who have heard about anything Finnish anyway?

This edition is very beautiful and aesthetic. We have some photos of the manuscripts and the paint that Tolkien did inspired by this story. It is lovely.

What I don’t like about this edition is that it has notes and commentaries in the end of the sections, but they are not marked on the text, so I didn’t realize it until I finished reading the story. Then, it was pointless to read it. The editor, Verlyn Flieger, says that she put it thus so the reader’s attention doesn’t get distracted from the reading but, man, if you think that there’s something worth explaining to the understanding of the story, I am fully capable of going forwards to read the four/five-lines-note, go then backwards and still keep track of the story.

Anyway, I recommend you read first this book (once you’re so into Tolkien’s universe) and then, if you have liked it or you’re interested, read the Kalevala. Don’t do it in the other way because you will be a bit disappointed.

I hope you like the review!

Nauti lukemistasi!

Saru.