Even if you haven’t read the books, most people are familiar with The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.  The success of the films as pushed these two works of art, and J.R.R Tolkien, into common knowledge, which might help with the sale of J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf.  But how is this possible, J.R.R. Tolkien has been dead for years?  Because, this translation was completed 90 years ago, but was never published, until now.  Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien, has taken the original manuscript of his father’s translation, edited it, and now plans on publishing it and releasing it to the public for our viewing pleasure.  This is something that Christopher Tolkien has does many times before.  The first account of this was just four years after his father’s death, when The Silmarillion was released.  Another example is the 2007 release of The Children of Hurin.  The translation of the epic poem is planned for May 22, 2014.