Christmas Came A Little Early This Year!

No sooner had I revealed the existence of and my desire for the latest Tolkien publication, The Bovadium Fragments, but my brother John knew what he could get me for a Christmas present. Yesterday evening, a mere two days after I knew that there was such a thing, John delivered it to my eager hands, still wrapped in its Amazon shipping package. He cautioned me not to read it all at once. A warning I promptly ignored.

Which was not hard to do, as the original writing by Tolkien only took up about 53 pages, and those were plumped out by editor’s notes and some variorum versions. Most of the rest is a publisher’s note, an introduction by Christopher Tolkien, and a section by scholar Richard Ovenden on ‘The Origin of Bovadium,’ which takes up from pages 55 to 124, in which he undertakes to explain Tolkien’s satirical intent and the controversy in Oxford (the production and proliferation of cars in the bucolic college area) that gave it rise. Like most efforts to explain a joke, it is rather ‘like dissecting a rubber ball in search of it bounce.’

The Tolkien section is illustrated by artwork from Tolkien himself, not produced for the work but felt to be appropriate to the subject, some of which pictures have never been published before. The Ovenden section is illustrated by photos and diagrams of the time. These do a job of plumping out this slight offering, which was never intended as a book, but rather as a magazine article. Although titled as 'Fragments' the writing is itself a finished work.

All of which is gratifying to a Tolkien fan but may be a bit of a shock to a Middle-earth fan, with its lack of hobbits or elves. It does emphasize Tolkien’s ‘ecological’ or ‘environmental’ concerns (to use rather cold terms; perhaps emotional or aesthetic would be closer to the mark), concerns obvious throughout most of his fictional work and in his personal opinions. Ovenden does his best to connect this with Middle-earth, but these connections feel rather tenuous, if expected.

The book itself is beautiful, bound underneath the jacket in what I’ve come to consider a ‘Tolkien Green,’ and supplied with a bookmark. A must-have, in fact, for anyone having an interest in Tolkien or any pretensions to being a Tolkien scholar, but (I would imagine) a rather puzzling artifact to a casual reader. But I love getting a new Tolkien book at Christmas; it's getting to be quite a tradition.

Whu-whu-WHAT?

The Bovadium Fragments: Together with The Origins of Bovadium Hardcover – November 18, 2025

by J. R. R. Tolkien (Author)

The first-ever publication of a previously unknown short satirical fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien, and accompanied by illustrations from the author together with an essay, "The Origin of Bovadium," by Richard Ovenden OBE.

As Christopher Tolkien notes in his Introduction, The Bovadium Fragments was a "satirical fantasy" written by his father, which grew out of a planning controversy that erupted in Oxford in the late 1940s, when J.R.R. Tolkien was the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature.

Written initially for his own amusement, Tolkien’s tale was a private academic jest that poked gentle fun at the pomposity of archaeologists and the hideousness of college crockery. However, it was at the same time expressing a barbed cri de coeur against the inexorable rise of motor transport that was overwhelming the tranquility of his beloved city. Interest in publishing it in the 1960s ultimately foundered, and the text remained hidden for 60 years.

In this new edition, Christopher Tolkien provides notes and commentary that will enable the reader to enjoy at last this tale of an imagined Oxford viewed through the lens of future (and not wholly reliable) academic study. The text is accompanied by a small selection of illustrations by the author, some of them previously unpublished, which while not created specifically for this work, convey something of the tone and setting of the story, thereby enriching the tale.

Richard Ovenden's accompanying essay, "The Origin of Bovadium," paints a vivid portrait of Oxford during that time. Its text is illustrated with contemporary photos of the period, together with the actual plans that sparked the controversy. He also provides rich background to the casus belli which led to the furor that Tolkien witnessed firsthand, as the embers of debate between town planners and the university colleges were fanned into flame.

Playful, arch, erudite, and ultimately tragically moving, The Bovadium Fragments is like nothing else that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, and its themes remain both provocative and timely. Within its lines may be found a concern for the fragility of our natural world, a love of which was shared by both father and son. As Christopher Tolkien’s final presentation of his father’s work, it is therefore perhaps fitting that The Bovadium Fragments should be their coda. - Amazon

This has been out since November 15, and this is the first time I've heard of it! I could be reading it right now! Sure, it's not Middle-earth, but it's Tolkien! The great Tolkien! And 'the final presentation' by Christopher. I know the first thing I'll be ordering come January! 144 pages.