Kullervo, son of Kalervo, is perhaps one of J.R.R. Tolkien's darkest and most irresistibly attractive heroes. The "hapless Kullervo," as Tolkien called him, was an orphaned boy with supernatural powers and a tragic fate. Raised in the dreadful mansion of the powerful and ruthless Untamo, who had killed his father, captured his mother, and tried to kill him three times when he was still a small boy, Kullervo would have journeyed through life alone if it weren't for the love and support of his twin sister, Wanona, and the protection offered by the spells of the dog Musti. When he was eventually sold as a slave, he vowed to take revenge on Untamo. However, before he could exact the revenge he had planned, he realized in the most painful way that no one can escape relentless fate...

"The Story of Kullervo," which is being published for the first time along with Tolkien's drafts, notes, and essay on the Kalevala, which inspired him to write this particular work, can be considered the archetypal source of his "mythology for England."