The Bovadium Fragments

English language

Published Oct. 9, 2025 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-878280-1
ISFDB ID:: 3520503

World first 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 such things as 'the pomposities 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 and 'machine-worship' that was overwhelming the tranquillity of his beloved city. Enriched by a selection of …

World first 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 such things as 'the pomposities 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 and 'machine-worship' that was overwhelming the tranquillity of his beloved city. Enriched by a selection of illustrations by the author, and enhanced by Christopher Tolkien's notes and commentary, readers can enjoy at last this tale of an imagined Oxford viewed through the lens of future (and not wholly reliable) academic study. Richard Ovenden's accompanying essay paints a vivid portrait of Oxford during that time. He also provides rich background to the casus belli which led to the furore that Tolkien witnessed first-hand, as the embers of debate between town planners and the university colleges were fanned into flame. Playful, 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 that 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.

2 editions

Soh Kam Yung reviewed The Bovadium Fragments

A Tolkien fable about the devilish car

3 stars

An interesting satirical fantasy story about archaeologists looking at fragments of a story about an abandoned city called Bovadium, which turns out to be Oxford, and how it fell due to the devilish motorcars that gradually enslave the inhabitants of the city, eventually causing its downfall.

J. R. R. Tolkien initially intended to publish the story but put it aside when comments by friends indicated that the language used and satire might go over the head of readers. It was finally published by his son, along with notes and background information that lead to the writing of the story.

It was written at a time when Tolkien was at Oxford, and Oxford itself became a centre of car manufacturing for Morris cars. As the car population at Oxford grew, congestion became a fact of life. One solution was to build a road across a green area in Oxford, …

An interesting satirical fantasy story about archaeologists looking at fragments of a story about an abandoned city called Bovadium, which turns out to be Oxford, and how it fell due to the devilish motorcars that gradually enslave the inhabitants of the city, eventually causing its downfall.

J. R. R. Tolkien initially intended to publish the story but put it aside when comments by friends indicated that the language used and satire might go over the head of readers. It was finally published by his son, along with notes and background information that lead to the writing of the story.

It was written at a time when Tolkien was at Oxford, and Oxford itself became a centre of car manufacturing for Morris cars. As the car population at Oxford grew, congestion became a fact of life. One solution was to build a road across a green area in Oxford, a controversial solution which became a battle between those advocating and opposed to the idea, which Tolkien was aware of.

The story itself has the feel of a fable, one that people who own and drive cars in congested areas will be familiar with. Whether we will all end up as Bovadium in the end is up to the reader to decide.