FINN AND HENGEST. The Fragment and the Episode.

First edition, first printing. Original brown paper-covered boards, in dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with slight bumping to the spine tips and top corners. The contents, with a faint mark to the front free endpaper, are otherwise clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed, nicked and creased dustwrapper that has a few tiny closed tears to the head of the spine, and an indentation to the rear panel. An uncommon title.

A reconstruction and analysis of the story of the legendary Anglo-Saxon heroes Finn and Hengest, which is told in the Old English poems 'Beowulf' and 'The Fight at Finnesburg'. Posthumously prepared by J. R. R. Tolkien's former student Alan Bliss, according to Tolkien's wishes, from lecture notes that span five decades. In his analysis Tolkien argues that Hengest was a historical figure rather than a purely legendary character, a viewpoint which has gained support from a number of historians.