100 years after it was written, fans of Tolkien’s Middle Earth saga have been gifted a brand new novel brought to life from the works of this celebrated author of fantasy and magic. Published just yesterday, one of the very first works of J.R.R. Tolkien has made its way online for purchase. Beren and Lúthien, a tale that tells the love story between a mortal man and an immortal elf, stands as one of the very first attempts Tolkien made to bring a fanciful, and often dangerous, mystical world to life. The story also appears in one of the author’s most well-known novels, The Silmarillion, after having been reworked from its original draft.

This novel, which had been written posthumously by Tolkien’s son, Christopher, also includes illustrations by Alan Lee. This story is also quite special, in that Tolkien wrote Beren and Lúthien a year after returning home from serving in World War I in 1916. Many of the story’s elements were inspired by his experiences in the war, though his most profound influence was that of his affections towards Edith Mary Bratt, who would later become his wife. “I never called Edith Luthien–but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of The Silmarillion,” he wrote in 1972. “It was first conceived in a small woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire (where I was for a brief time in command of an outpost of the Humber Garrison in 1917, and she was able to live with me for a while).”

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.

Beren and Lúthien is available for purchase on Amazon for about $20 for a hardback copy of the novel. For more news related to Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s world, check out these links below to keep in the know:

• Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Release Date Delayed, Different Region Release Dates Confirmed
• Take a Look at Middle-Earth: Shadow of War’s Nemesis System (VIDEO)
• Head of Xbox Games Marketing Confirms Partnership With Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Thoughts on the release of this new novel? How many Tolkien fans are ready to pick up this new book and read the tale of these two unlikely lovers? Make sure to join in on the discussion in the comments below, and don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for live gaming and entertainment updates 24/7. As always … game on, friends!