I’m pleased to say that my “big Tolkien book” has been finished after many years, and is now available to buy on Gumroad as an ebook or at Lulu.com as a paperback.

The title is Tree & Star: Tolkien and the quest for Earendel

200,000 words. 472 pages. Delivered as a DRM-free printable .PDF file, suitable for reading on a 10″ digital tablet.

CONTENTS:

Introduction: 24th September 1914.

1. J.R.R. Tolkien’s discovery of Cynewulf’s earendel and its key variants.

2. Down the little rivers and bright streams.

3. Earendel variants: of magic horses, flaming arrows and sea-wargs.

4. Earendel and the early Christian north: the solstice chanter-songs.

5. Earendel and the early Christian north: a glitter of eagle wings?

6. Earendel and the early Christian north: an imposition or a recovery?

7. A Christmas interlude: of the curious Earendel of Charles William Stubbs, some poems, and party-trees.

8. Before Cynewulf: ‘dipping a toe’ in ancient star-lore.

9. Earendel’s earthly voyage, ‘there and back again’.

10. In Cornwall: Tolkien’s holiday with Fr. Vincent on The Lizard.

Selected bibliography.

Index.

Note: Yes, I am well aware that modern academics claim Cynewulf was not the author of the earendel lines, but I largely worked with the scholarly assumptions current during Tolkien’s time. Hence Chapter One is titled “.. discovery of Cynewulf’s earendel and its key variants.”

PDF Samples: tolk_earendel_sample.pdf and tree_and_star_index.pdf

I think $36 (around £30) is about the right price for something of this size and scholarly weight, in ebook. I’ve also tried to keep the paperback at Lulu.com at a similar price, and have managed to price it there at around $45.

Not all potential buyers will immediately know how Gumroad works, for the ebook version. You input the price you want to pay and click on “I Want This”. In this case there is a minimum, though I believe the nice thing about Gumroad is that generous people you can input a higher price if they wish. Your purchase is then placed in your Library at Gumroad, and you should also get a link sent by email, from where you can download it. I believe you can also “Send to Kindle” (Amazon’s tablet), if you have that set up at Gumroad, though I’ve not tested the resulting formatting.

Gumroad does not require a sign-up to purchase, and can accept PayPal and cards.