1992 The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth (JRR & Christopher Tolkien)

Release Date: 1992.08.16
Reader: JRR Tolkien
Language: English
Translator: JRR & Christopher Tolkien
Organisation: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: n/a
Duration: 57 minutes
Unabridged: No
Country: UK
Licenced: Yes
Formats: Cassette, CD, Digital

The heart of this release is a private recording J.R.R. Tolkien made in early 1954. He had recently acquired a reel-to-reel tape recorder and wanted to “test” the performative quality of his verse drama in advance of the radio dramatisation on The BBC Third Programme.

In this recording, Tolkien performs both roles himself. He used a slow, deep voice for the older Tídwald (which some listeners compare to how he imagined Gandalf) and a lighter, more spirited tone for the younger Torhthelm. Tolkien famously created his own sound effects during the recording. To simulate the “creaking and bumping of the wagon wheels” on the battlefield, he pushed a piece of furniture around his study.

This was a specialized release, not initially intended for wide commercial retail. It was presented as a gift to the participants of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference held at Keble College, Oxford, in August 1992. It also included readings by Christopher Tolkien, who narrated the introductory and concluding essays (Beorhtnoth’s Death and Ofermod).

HarperCollins officially remastered and released the 1992 Centenary audio as a standalone digital audiobook on March 30, 2023. It was also included on a CD tucked into the Deluxe Edition of the 2023 book The Battle of Maldon: Together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth.