THE WANDERER: ELEGIES, EPICS, RIDDLES. POEMS FROM ENGLAND'S ANCIENT ORIGINS. by Alexander, Michael, translator/editor - 2008

London: Penguin, 2008. 148 pp, 7 3/4" H. "These are the great epic stories that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit'. Conjuring up a twilight world of quests, treachery, magic, evil and fellowship, they are the most ancient narratives from Northern Europe and bring us as near as we will ever get to the origins of Tolkien's Middle Earth." Contents: Introduction; Note on the Translation; Preface to the Second Edition; Preface to the Third Edition; The Ruin; Caedmon's Hymn; Bede's Death Song; Heroic Poems (Deor and Widsith / Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg / Waldere); Elegies (The Wanderer and The Seafarer / The Wife's Complaint, The Husband's Message and Wulf and Eadwacer); Gnomic Verses; Riddles; The Dream of the Rood; The Phoenix; Brunanburh, The Battle of Maldon; Map of the Site of the Battle of Maldon; Notes; Appendixes (A. The Runes / B. Suggested Solutions to the Riddles / C. Anglo-Saxon Metric); Glossary of Proper Names; Further Reading. Interior - light foxing on the first and last page, bump to the top corner of the pages, slight bump at the bottom corner of the preliminary page and up to approx. page 20, otherwise clean and tight. Exterior - light browning to the edges of the text block, creases/bumps to the corners of the covers, a few very small scuffs on the the rear cover, publisher's promotional sticker on the front cover.. Not Signed. Soft Cover. Good.