The Legend Of Sigurd & Gudrun

The world’s first publication of a previously unknown work by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the epic story of the Norse hero Sigurd, the dragon-slayer, the revenge of his wife Gudrun, and the Fall of the Nibelungs. Many years ago, Tolkien composed his own version, now published for the first time, of the great legend of Northern antiquity, in two closely related poems titled The New Lay of the Volsungs and The New Lay of Gudrun. It recounts Sigurd's ancestry, his slaying of Fafnir, and his love story with Brynhild, culminating in tragedy and revenge, with further narrative about Gudrun’s life after Sigurd’s death, including her marriage to Atli and her revenge. Derived from the Poetic Edda and the Volsunga Saga, Tolkien employed a verse form that captures the alliterative rhythms and energetic style of Old Norse poetry.