Son completes unfinished Tolkien epic

An unfinished work by JRR Tolkien will be published next spring after being completed by the writer's son.

Lord Of The Rings author Tolkien began working on The Children Of Hurin in 1918 but later abandoned the work.

Christopher Tolkien spent 30 years editing the epic story, reconstructing the complete work from his father's many drafts.

Although extracts have previously been published, it will be the first time that the full work, featuring the elves and dwarves from Middle Earth, has appeared.

Christopher has dedicated his life to the analysis and publication of his father's posthumous works.

He drew the distinctive maps for the Lord Of The Rings more than 50 years ago and previously published and edited The Silmarillion.

One of the late author's three surviving children, he was opposed to Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Lord Of The Rings movies.

He said: "It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for presenting my father's long version of the legend of The Children Of Hurin as an independent work, between its own covers."

Victoria Barnsley, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said: "This epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism stands as one of the finest expressions of JRR Tolkien's skills as a storyteller.

"With a narrative as dramatic and powerful as anything contained within The Lord Of The Rings, it can now be read and enjoyed as Tolkien originally intended, and will doubtless be a revelation for millions of fans around the world."

More than 50 million copies of The Lord Of The Rings have been sold around the world. The Children Of Hurin will be published by HarperCollins in the UK and Houghton Mifflin in the US.