![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/The-Bovadium-Fragments-cover-644x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cThe first-ever publication of a previously unknown short satirical fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien.\u201d \u2013 Harper Collins Publishers<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Edited by Christopher Tolkien, this book will feature Tolkien\u2019s The End of Bovadium, a story that has never been published before, and Tolkien\u2019s illustrations for it. Tolkien worked on the tale from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. Also included will be the essay \u201cThe Origin of Bovadium\u201d by Richard Ovenden OBE.<\/p>\n
The story reflects Tolkien\u2019s disdain of industrialism. This is represented in The Lord of the Rings by the scenes in Isengard and the \u201cScouring of the Shire\u201d where the destruction of trees is a central focus. Tolkien, a lover of nature, and trees in particular, wanted the earth\u2019s natural resources to be preserved, and he saw the lack of regard the burgeoning industrial complex held for them. \u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
His desire to balance preservation with progress can also be seen in the story of Yavanna and Aul\u00eb. When Aul\u00eb reveals to his wife, Yavanna, that he created the Dwarves, she fears they will destroy her own creations, the olvar (plants) and kelvar (animals), but mostly the trees, because they could not fight back or escape Dwarven axes. When she asks Manw\u00eb what will happen to her creations, he tells her that it was written in the Song that spirits will enter some of the trees, and they will become protectors of the others. These chosen trees are the Ents, and their purpose is fulfilled in the destruction of Isengard, a center of \u201cindustrialization\u201d in Middle-earth.<\/p>\n
Humphrey Carpenter mentions Tolkien\u2019s unpublished story in his book J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. \u201cThe Bovadium Fragments\u2026is a parable of the destruction of Oxford (Bovadium) by the motores [automobiles]\u2026which block the streets, asphyxiate the inhabitants, and finally explode.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is exciting to have a previously unpublished work of J.R.R. Tolkien released, and a satirical comedy about the potential dangers of industry seems timely, even decades after its writing.<\/p>\n
![\"Divide](\"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/themes\/The-One-Ring-2020\/img\/hr-one-ring.svg\")
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