Published for the first time in a standalone volume, Tolkien's remarkable story about a painter and his obsession with detail that prevents him from completing his great work. Niggle is a painter. Not particularly successful, partly because he has so many other things to do. For some time, he is obsessed with a particular canvas - a curious picture of a tree with an endless landscape stretching behind it. The painting continually grows, but Niggle has a journey to make.

In 1939, Tolkien, desperate to complete his great work The Fellowship of the Ring, woke up one day with the story Leaf by Niggle completed in his mind and wrote it down. This moving story, about an artist on a strange journey, is often considered an allegory of the creative process and the author's life. Published to coincide with a new touring theatrical production of the story, it is the first time that the story is published in its own volume, allowing readers to enjoy one of Tolkien's most elegant, haunting, and lesser-known short stories.

Pages: 64, Dimensions: 11.1x11.1cm