Oliphaunt (poem)
Oliphaunt is the title of a short comic poem about the beast quoted by the hobbit Samwise Gamgee to Gollum as they and Frodo Baggins rested in the dell before the Morannon.[1] It was based on traditional bestiary lore.
The poem
Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Trees crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie.[2]
Other versions
An early version of the poem was published as "Iumbo, or ye Kinde of ye Oliphaunt" in The Stapeldon Magazine (June 1927).[3]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Black Gate is Closed"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Oliphaunt"
- ↑ "Stapeldon Magazine. 1927", TolkienBooks.net (accessed 6 April 2014)
