The Bovadium Fragments: Together with The Origins of Bovadium

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 The text is accompanied by a small selection of illustrations by the author, some of them previously unpublished, which while not created specifically for this work, convey something of the tone and setting of the story, thereby enriching the tale.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.