Keen-eyed Tolkien fans have discovered that some bookseller sites are advertising the release of a new Tolkien book later this year.

Two days ago the book was simply listed as Untitled, so there was some speculation amongst fans as to what the subject matter was, and if indeed it was a genuine new title.

Just as with Beren and Lúthien which was published on 1 June 2017, The Fall of Gondolin, is reported to be written by J.R.R. Tolkien, and edited by Christopher Tolkien.

The news has taken many people by surprise, because in the introduction of Beren and Lúthien, Christopher Tolkien gave a strong hint that that was likely to be his final contribution.

According to Amazon the book is reported (which they still list as Untitled) to be 304 pages in length, and is due to be published on 23 August 2018.  The book is advertised to be published both as a hardback and as a deluxe slipcased version.  Amazon also mentions the simultaneous publication of a large-type version.  However, Book Depository, which does include the name of the book, has 1 August as publication day.

There is bound to be speculation as to just what the book will contain.  The very detailed but uncompleted text published in Unfinished Tales (1980) as ‘Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin’ is a strong possibility followed by the more terse version ‘Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin’ as published  in The Silmarillion (1977).  However, there is always the possibility that associated texts and fragments may also be included.

At the time of writing there has been no official press release from either Tolkien’s official publisher, HarperCollins, or The Tolkien Estate.  Of course the Tolkien Society will provide more details as soon as they become known.

• ISBN-10: 0008302766
• ISBN-13: 978-0008302764