New Tolkien novel to be published this summer

The Fall of Gondolin, which has not been published as a stand-alone volume before, will hit shelves in August.

Dubbed 'the first real story' of Middle Earth, the tale was penned in 1917 when the Oxford author was recovering from trench fever after the Battle of the Somme.

It appeared in print once before as part of the 1984, 12-volume History of Middle Earth.

The new edition has been edited by Tolkien's son Christopher and illustrated by Alan Lee, the artist who did the original drawings for both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien expert John Garth has called The Fall of Gondolin 'Tolkien's attempt at an epic', akin to Homer's Iliad.

The book's publishers HarperCollins have described The Fall of Gondolin as a clash between 'two of the greatest powers in the world'; elf god Ulmo and 'Morgoth of the uttermost evil', who uses his military power in an attempt to destroy the beautiful Elven city of Gondolin.

The Fall of Gondolin is the latest in a series of posthumous Tolkien publications, including 2015's The Story of Kullervo, 2016's The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, and last year's Beren and Lúthien.

The Bodleian Library announced in January it was preparing a major new exhibition to launch this summer of Tolkien's original Middle Earth manuscripts and drawings.

A new book, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, will be published on May 25, while a new Tolkien biopic is now being filmed, starring Nicholas Hoult as the author.