The first-ever publication of a previously unknown short satirical fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by the author, with an accompanying essay by Richard Ovenden.
"The Bovadium Fragments" began as a private academic joke inspired by a 1940s Oxford planning dispute, humorously skewering archaeologists, college life, and the rise of motor transport threatening the city’s character. Presented with notes and commentary by Christopher Tolkien and contextualized by Ovenden’s essay, this playful yet poignant work reflects Tolkien’s wit, scholarship, and enduring concern for the natural world.