In all honesty this is 3.5 stars for me but due to things I learned about the Arthur's myth I gave it additional 0.5 star.

Book was not what I expected. Actual poem (or better said finished parts of it) make maybe 20 percent of the book. Rest is more academic discussion about the actual myth, variations (and evolution) of it and the way it affected Tolkien's stories from the Lord of the Ring world. I enjoyed these sections, especially parts about old epics in old English. Considering I know some German I enjoyed reading these verses (and figuring the meanings phonetically - some words were really ... strange until you read them out loud) and then checking the footnotes for any meanings that I missed - which was almost always related to the words no longer in use:)

While these parts of the book were great last part is something that only hard-core student of literature can enjoy. I don't shrink from reading materials I am not well versed in but this was too .... academic I guess for me to fully comprehend it. After reading this part I read a few similar analysis (related to my mother tongue) and I have to say I was happy - literature academics talk in their own codes (like every profession I guess) and can be equally impenetrable no matter the language or culture :)

If you aim only to read the poem book is somewhat of an overkill. If you want to learn some more about roots of Arthurian myth and how it evolved and influenced Tolkien's works (I especially liked the idea of the story very similar to Cloud Atlas) then do read the book - I enjoyed this part very much, it got me interested in re-reading some of the books related to the subject. And if you are literature analysis aficionado then this book is definitely for you. You will enjoy the last part of the book. ( )

Not only did I very much enjoy the poem about King Arthur, but the follow up by Christopher Tolkien was informative and interesting. I had never read much of the legend of Arthur as written by the early English writers. It is quite different from the chivalrous stories written by the French. This is a warrior king, not a gallant who sits at the Round Table quaffing mead and listening to tall tales of his other knights. ( )

Few literary figures have been explored so thoroughly as J.R.R. Tolkien. The vein is perhaps running a little thin by now, but we have Tolkien's original Arthur poem, sadly only a fragment, but bolstered considerably in bulk by the critical apparatus marshalled by his son, Christopher. We have the text, and an essay by the original writer himself about the Anglo Saxon poetic form he employs. In addition the volume contains as many footnotes as the text will support, and an extensive analysis of what was completed, along with Christopher's concept of where JRR was going when he was interrupted by the publisher asking for "Another book about hobbits" at the beginning of WWII. The actual poem is quite good, replete with new titles for other plowers in the field of Arthuriana, and the rest of it is perhaps useful for the advanced student. ( )

What a shame that Tolkien didn't finish writing his version of the final battle of King Arthur! Left with only drafts, we are told the story until the point of the siege of Camelot - barely the beginning of the battle - but this taste of the story is enough to show Tolkien's mastery of traditional alliterative verse form and a unique story perspective. I often find when reading the Arthurian myths that the characters are a bit flat due to a focus on events/deeds rather than dialogue or emotion, so I was surprised and pleased that Tolkien provided insight into various characters - especially Mordred, Guenevere, and Lancelot. Guenevere seemed an odd choice for Tolkien to embellish, since he rarely seems to value female characters, but in thise case I'm glad that he broke from his norm. ( )

Enjoyed the background. Wished he had completed it. ( )