--- description: A new book JRR Tolkien Beren and Lúthien was just published. title: JRR Tolkien Released a Book 100 Years After It Was Conceived image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # You Can Now Buy a J.R.R. Tolkien Book 100 Years After It Was Conceived by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 1, 2017 3:22 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 1, 2017 3:22 PM CUT _Game of Thrones_ fans, or rather fans of [George R.R. Martin’s](http://time.com/3774280/george-r-r-martin-tolkien/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") _A Song of Ice and Fire_ series on which the television show is based, may feel like they’ve waited far too long for him to finish _The Winds of Winter,_ the next chapter in the long and winding series. They have nothing on [J.R.R. Tolkien](http://time.com/4620477/tolkien-125-birthday-bilbo/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") fans though. _Beren and Lúthien_ is a [new book](http://time.com/4407241/jrr-tolkien-galadriel-poem/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined") from the _Lord of the Rings_ author and it is on sale today—100 years after it was originally conceived. The book, which was edited by his son Christopher Tolkien, returns readers to the world of Middle Earth and, according to the [_BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-40109396 "undefined") it’s a “very personal story” written after [Tolkien](http://time.com/4079939/tolkien-letter-auction/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") returned from the Battle of the Somme and had to convalesce and grieve over the tragedies of war with the help of his wife, Edith. The book tells the fate of lovers Beren, a mortal man, and Lúthien, an immortal elf, two names that may sound familiar to anyone who has read _The Silmarillion,_ Tolkien’s collection of stories about the First Age of Middle Earth. Tolkien must have felt very close to the characters, as the BBC notes, the names Beren and Lúthien are carved on the gravestone Tolkien and his wife share in Wolvercote cemetery in Oxford. The book was published on Thursday by HarperCollins a decade after the last [Middle Earth](http://time.com/4087650/tolkien-annotated-middle-earth-map-discovered/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined") book, _The Children of Húrin_ and features illustrations by Alan Lee, who won an Academy Award for his work on Peter Jackson’s film version of _The Lord of the Rings_. > [](https://twitter.com/HarperCollinsUK/status/788699012811612160) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4801203/jrr-tolkien-book-beren-luthien/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4801203/jrr-tolkien-book-beren-luthien/"},"headline":"You Can Now Buy a J.R.R. Tolkien Book 100 Years After It Was Conceived","datePublished":"2017-06-01T15:22:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:44:06.136Z","description":"The book was originally conceived almost 100 years ago","url":"https://time.com/4801203/jrr-tolkien-book-beren-luthien/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4801203/jrr-tolkien-book-beren-luthien/","name":"You Can Now Buy a J.R.R. Tolkien Book 100 Years After It Was Conceived"}}]}] ```