AN unfinished book by J.R.R. Tolkien has been completed by his son Christopher 88 years after the story was abandoned.

The Lord of the Rings author, who was an Oxford University professor, wrote The Children of Hurin in 1918, after serving in the First World War.

The story is set in the legendary land of elves, hobbits and dwarves depicted by Tolkien in the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Christopher Tolkien spent 30 years working on the unfinished tale, with the completed new edition to be published next spring by Harper Collins.

Mr Tolkien said: "It seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for presenting my father's long version of the legend of the children of Hurin as an independent work, between its own covers."

Extracts from the original story have previously been published, telling the story of the family of Hurin, and providing early tales of Middle Earth.

After active service in the First World War, Tolkien came to Oxford to work as an assistant lexicographer. At 32 he became a professor at Leeds, but moved back to Oxford in 1925 as Professor of Anglo Saxon. He died in Oxford in 1973.

Christopher Tolkien, who lives in France, has spent decades deciphering, drawing maps and editing his father's work.

J.R.R. Tolkien had three other children. His daughter Priscilla lives in Wolvercote. Her brother, John, who returned to live in Oxford, died three years ago.