Sellic Spell Promo Post

[narya_flame]

Summary:  Sellic Spell ('strange tale', 'wondrous tale') is a short prose tale which attempts to reconstruct the folk story behind Beowulf, and also draws inspiration from the Norse Hrólfs saga kraka.  It mostly follows the plot of Beowulf, up to the death of Grendel's mother.

Why should I check out this canon?
If you're a fan of folk tales and fairy stories, and/or you're interested in Beowulf and Tolkien's responses to that text, this one is for you!  It has magic and horror, heroism and treachery, treasure and monsters, and can be read and enjoyed on its own merits, whether you're familiar with the source material or not.  For the linguistically minded, the 2016 edition of Tolkien's Beowulf also includes the Old English version of the tale - and if your comfort zone is the Middle-earth legendarium, there are plenty of little links you'll pick up on as you read.

Where can I get this?
The manuscript is held at the Bodleian library, but for those of us who can't access the Oxford special collections, it was published in 2016 alongside Tolkien's translation of Beowulf.  It's also available as a free PDF courtesy of the Internet Archive.

What fanworks already exist?
At the moment there are two fanworks on AO3 - a drabble from the point of view of the Queen of the Golden Hall, and a crossover with The Hobbit which blends the tale with the history of the Beornings.

Roverandom Promo Post

[independence1776]

Summary:
Rover is a small dog who is a bit inquisitive and a bit rude, who gets turned into a toy dog by an annoyed wizard. He's turned back into a real but tiny dog by another wizard and then gets to visit the Moon (flying on the back of a seagull named Mew), where he meets the moon-Rover, receives the name Roverandom, and goes on adventures on the Moon. He ends up in the Sea after that, where he meets the sea-Rover and goes on further adventures. It all ends happily and a full-sized Roverandom reunites with the Tolkien family.

Why should I check out this canon?
If you like dogs, cranky wizards, whimsical adventures, and happy endings, this is the book for you. If you want a story unconnected with Middle-earth but with a nod or two to the Legendarium as it stood in the mid 1920s, this book is for you. If you like wordplay, this is definitely a story for you. There are also a handful of Tolkien's illustrations included with the book. It was written as a tale to comfort a young Michael Tolkien after he lost a toy dog on the beach and is about 90 pages or about 25,000 words long.

Where can I get this?
Anywhere books are sold, plus your library may have a copy. It's included in the Internet Archive's copy of the "Tales from the Perilous Realm" collection.

What fanworks already exist?
There are 12 fanworks on AO3, many (but not all) of which are crossovers with Tolkien's other books. There are also some artworks in the Tumblr tag, though they're mixed in with pictures of the book, quotes, and occasional random material.