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sansael's review against another edition
5.0
Неймовірна книга. Купуючи її, я бачила ім'я "Толкін" і для мене цього було достатньо. Та я не знала, що саме купую. Виявилось, незавершену сагу і "дипломну роботу" до неї. Та і в такому вигляді книга мене не розчарувала. Толкін і тут себе виправдав, і Крістофер просто молодець, виконавши цю дослідницьку роботу і опублікувавши її. Можу лише подякувати йому. Я багато дізналась про традицію Артуріанської саги і англійського вірша як такого.
arathenerd's review against another edition
4.0
Para empezar, no es un libro que recomendaría a cualquiera. Es pesado, y difícil de entender en algunas ocaciones, sin embargo no deje de estar maravillada con la historia que Tolkien escribió más nunca llegó a publicar.
La Caída de Arturo comienza con el poema en verso aliterado. Canto I, Canto II, Canto III, Canto IV y Canto V. En la versión en español tenemos tanto el poema original en la página izquierda (en inglés) como el poema traducido en la derecha. Luego, pasamos a las explicaciones del hijo de Tolkien.
Aprendí muchísimo sobre la leyenda artúrica, de la cual antes sabía nada o muy poco. El poema, a pesar de ser complicado, me encantó.
No tengo mucho más que decir además de que si te interesa la leyenda artúrica y no tienes ningún problema en leer algo pesado, te lo recomiendo.
La Caída de Arturo comienza con el poema en verso aliterado. Canto I, Canto II, Canto III, Canto IV y Canto V. En la versión en español tenemos tanto el poema original en la página izquierda (en inglés) como el poema traducido en la derecha. Luego, pasamos a las explicaciones del hijo de Tolkien.
Aprendí muchísimo sobre la leyenda artúrica, de la cual antes sabía nada o muy poco. El poema, a pesar de ser complicado, me encantó.
No tengo mucho más que decir además de que si te interesa la leyenda artúrica y no tienes ningún problema en leer algo pesado, te lo recomiendo.
freckles's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Der Gedichtsteil war sehr cool und ich mochte die Zitate und Einordnung in ältere Versionen der Artussage. Die Einordnung in ältere Versionen dieser spezifischen Übersetzung hätte ich persönlich jetzt aber nicht unbedingt gebraucht.
kailey_luminouslibro's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
In the 1930s, Tolkien began work on an epic alliterative poem about King Arthur's downfall. It was never finished, but Christopher Tolkien provides notes and explanations about the lines that we do have.
The actual poem only takes up about 45 pages in this book. It is beautiful and haunting and wild. The patterns in the alliteration are woven together in this tapestry of words that powerfully tell the story of Arthur and his knights, of Mordred and Lancelot and Guinevere, and the last days of the Round Table. I read most of it out loud to myself, because the words drip like honey, rich and resonant. It is meant to be read out loud!
The next chapter of the book explores old versions of the Arthur tale from Sir Thomas Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth. We get to learn about the traditions of the legend of King Arthur and his knights, and how the legend changed throughout the centuries. There are some details from old poems that Tolkien chose to include in his own rendition of Arthur's story, but there were also a lot of plot points that he ignored in favor of focusing more on specific characters like Lancelot or Gawain. He also adds a more clear portrait of Guinevere than the older poems did, adding more of her perspective and her feelings.
The next chapter dives into Tolkien's imagination and how his work on the Silmarillion was connected with Arthur's last journey to Avalon. Avalon is mirrored in Tolkien's Lonely Isle of Tol Eressea at the edge of Valinor. There are a lot of parallels between Arthurian legends, legends about Atlantis, and Tolkien's islands of Numenor and Tol Eressea in the Silmarillion. We get to learn some of the little details in these stories that show the way Tolkien's imagination was connecting different threads of ideas.
There is a whole section devoted to explaining the various drafts of Tolkien's unfinished poem and small changes that were added in each draft. There are a few notes outlining the direction the story would have taken if Tolkien could have finished it, with Arthur sailing into the West to find healing in Avalon, and Lancelot following him in despair seeking forgiveness, with neither of them to ever return.
There is also a small appendix talking about the alliterative poetic style and how it developed in the early days of Britain around and before 1066. I found this very interesting, because he analyzes the patterns and meter of the style and gives some examples from ancient poems and then compares those patterns to Tolkien's epic poem here. It was really cool to dive into the poetic structure and realize just how brilliant Tolkien was to construct these complex and beautiful lines, and make it seem so effortless and natural because it flows along so gracefully.
I enjoyed reading this book! It's such a pity that the poem was never finished.
The actual poem only takes up about 45 pages in this book. It is beautiful and haunting and wild. The patterns in the alliteration are woven together in this tapestry of words that powerfully tell the story of Arthur and his knights, of Mordred and Lancelot and Guinevere, and the last days of the Round Table. I read most of it out loud to myself, because the words drip like honey, rich and resonant. It is meant to be read out loud!
The next chapter of the book explores old versions of the Arthur tale from Sir Thomas Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth. We get to learn about the traditions of the legend of King Arthur and his knights, and how the legend changed throughout the centuries. There are some details from old poems that Tolkien chose to include in his own rendition of Arthur's story, but there were also a lot of plot points that he ignored in favor of focusing more on specific characters like Lancelot or Gawain. He also adds a more clear portrait of Guinevere than the older poems did, adding more of her perspective and her feelings.
The next chapter dives into Tolkien's imagination and how his work on the Silmarillion was connected with Arthur's last journey to Avalon. Avalon is mirrored in Tolkien's Lonely Isle of Tol Eressea at the edge of Valinor. There are a lot of parallels between Arthurian legends, legends about Atlantis, and Tolkien's islands of Numenor and Tol Eressea in the Silmarillion. We get to learn some of the little details in these stories that show the way Tolkien's imagination was connecting different threads of ideas.
There is a whole section devoted to explaining the various drafts of Tolkien's unfinished poem and small changes that were added in each draft. There are a few notes outlining the direction the story would have taken if Tolkien could have finished it, with Arthur sailing into the West to find healing in Avalon, and Lancelot following him in despair seeking forgiveness, with neither of them to ever return.
There is also a small appendix talking about the alliterative poetic style and how it developed in the early days of Britain around and before 1066. I found this very interesting, because he analyzes the patterns and meter of the style and gives some examples from ancient poems and then compares those patterns to Tolkien's epic poem here. It was really cool to dive into the poetic structure and realize just how brilliant Tolkien was to construct these complex and beautiful lines, and make it seem so effortless and natural because it flows along so gracefully.
I enjoyed reading this book! It's such a pity that the poem was never finished.
swoody788's review against another edition
4.0
Initially I was disappointed because the poem itself is only like 30 pages long, but I really enjoyed most of the supplemental material. The refresher course on Arthurian legend was nice and although I wasn't as intrigued by the play-by-play of how the poem came to be, all of that information made it even more evident of the genius and skill of J.R.R. Tolkien.
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
4.0
"Thus Arthur in arms eastward journeyed,
and war awoke in the wild regions.
Halls and temples of the heathen kings
his might assailed marching in conquest
from the mouths of the Rhine o'er many kingdoms.
[...]
Foes before them, flames behind them,
ever east and onward eager rode they,
and folk fled them as the face of God,
till earth was empty, and no eyes saw them,
and no ears heard them in the endless hills"
Like many other authors I've heard of, J.R.R. Tolkien had a lot of projects he never finished - "The Fall of Arthur" among them. An alliterative poem about king Arthur started before "The Lord of the Rings" and later abandoned, it's now been edited and published by his son, Christopher Tolkien, based on his father's notes and manuscripts.
"The Fall of Arthur" is nowhere near complete, and while the book itself is over 200 pages, the poem in itself only takes up 40 of them. 40 sonorous pages, with the ring of Anglo-Saxon saga to them, epic and a pleasure to read out loud (especially if you're in the sort of mood in which you'd want to read poetry out loud because it sounds cool).
Christopher Tolkien fills in the blanks: he devotes a fairly long essay to the early history of the Arthurian legend, starting from "Historia regum Britanniae", a pseudohistorical account of British kings written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136, in which King Arthur defeats the Roman Emperor and does other very unlikely feats of might (Apparently, making up stuff and claiming it really happened in history is a very old hobby.), and going through various texts called "The Death of Arthur", both prose and verse (apparently, writing about Arthur's death is also a very old hobby).
It's quite interesting, if you don't know much about the literary development of Arthur and his knights (which indeed I didn't).
He also delves into the connection that "The Fall of Arthur" has with the rest of Tolkien's works - like it being related to the Silmarillion in an early phase. Then there are also a bunch of older variations of the text, and notes J.R.R. Tolkien made for continuing it, as well as a bit of an explanation about alliterative poetry and how it works, in J.R.R. Tolkien's own words.
The poem itself is rather a teaser for a greater work that will never happen, so that can be frustrating, but the book itself is interesting, both for the info about king Arthur's literary evolution, and for the process of creating a poem such as this, which is pieced together by Christopher Tolkien.
and war awoke in the wild regions.
Halls and temples of the heathen kings
his might assailed marching in conquest
from the mouths of the Rhine o'er many kingdoms.
[...]
Foes before them, flames behind them,
ever east and onward eager rode they,
and folk fled them as the face of God,
till earth was empty, and no eyes saw them,
and no ears heard them in the endless hills"
Like many other authors I've heard of, J.R.R. Tolkien had a lot of projects he never finished - "The Fall of Arthur" among them. An alliterative poem about king Arthur started before "The Lord of the Rings" and later abandoned, it's now been edited and published by his son, Christopher Tolkien, based on his father's notes and manuscripts.
"The Fall of Arthur" is nowhere near complete, and while the book itself is over 200 pages, the poem in itself only takes up 40 of them. 40 sonorous pages, with the ring of Anglo-Saxon saga to them, epic and a pleasure to read out loud (especially if you're in the sort of mood in which you'd want to read poetry out loud because it sounds cool).
Christopher Tolkien fills in the blanks: he devotes a fairly long essay to the early history of the Arthurian legend, starting from "Historia regum Britanniae", a pseudohistorical account of British kings written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136, in which King Arthur defeats the Roman Emperor and does other very unlikely feats of might (Apparently, making up stuff and claiming it really happened in history is a very old hobby.), and going through various texts called "The Death of Arthur", both prose and verse (apparently, writing about Arthur's death is also a very old hobby).
It's quite interesting, if you don't know much about the literary development of Arthur and his knights (which indeed I didn't).
He also delves into the connection that "The Fall of Arthur" has with the rest of Tolkien's works - like it being related to the Silmarillion in an early phase. Then there are also a bunch of older variations of the text, and notes J.R.R. Tolkien made for continuing it, as well as a bit of an explanation about alliterative poetry and how it works, in J.R.R. Tolkien's own words.
The poem itself is rather a teaser for a greater work that will never happen, so that can be frustrating, but the book itself is interesting, both for the info about king Arthur's literary evolution, and for the process of creating a poem such as this, which is pieced together by Christopher Tolkien.
debralewi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mimirtells's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 Stars (%78/100)
I have always been a fan of legends and myths about great heroes. King Arthur is one of those heroes. This book is underrated in my opinion. Many people know Tolkien only because of Middle-earth, that's fair but there is so much more to Tolkien than merely Middle-earth.
This is one of those not well-known books of Tolkien just like Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and other folk tales. The Fall of Arthur is an epic poem that mainly talks about the conflict between King Arthur and Mordred the traitor. (Mordred is one of my all-time favourite characters especially in the anime Fate Apocrypha) The book might be difficult for some because of the whole Old English language and style. Yet, it is a wonderful piece that needs recognition.
I have always been a fan of legends and myths about great heroes. King Arthur is one of those heroes. This book is underrated in my opinion. Many people know Tolkien only because of Middle-earth, that's fair but there is so much more to Tolkien than merely Middle-earth.
This is one of those not well-known books of Tolkien just like Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and other folk tales. The Fall of Arthur is an epic poem that mainly talks about the conflict between King Arthur and Mordred the traitor. (Mordred is one of my all-time favourite characters especially in the anime Fate Apocrypha) The book might be difficult for some because of the whole Old English language and style. Yet, it is a wonderful piece that needs recognition.
todl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0