Errantry

Errantry is a three-page long poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, first published in 1933. Tolkien himself considered it his most attractive poem.

Errantry was, within the Legendarium, envisioned as a song of Hobbit folklore, attributed to Bilbo Baggins. While it referred to original Elvish names, they were probably fictitious.

Metre

The poem has complex trisyllabic assonances with a metre that Tolkien invented, and was difficult enough that he never wrote another poem again in this style. A much shorter version would be included in The Fellowship of the Ring: the Song of Eärendil.

Melody

This poem was set to music by Donald Swann. The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the song-cycle The Road Goes Ever On.

List of words

Below is a partial list of rare and/or obsolete words used in the poem.

• Aerie, or an invention that rhymes on Faerie.
• Argosies
• Belmarie - unknown, possibly an invention.
• Cardamom
• Chalcedony
• Derrilyn - unknown, possibly a invention.
• Dumbledors, see also Dumbledors.
• Errantry
• Faerie
• Filament
• Foraying
• Furbished
• Gondola
• Gossamer
• Habergeon
• Honeycomb
• Hummerhorns - see Dumbledors.
• Malachite
• Marigold
• Marjoram
• Morion
• Paladins, see also Paladin Took II.
• Panoply
• Plenilune
• Provender
• Roving
• Sigaldry
• Stalactite
• Thellamie - unknown, possibly an invention.
• Tourneying

References

• The Fellowship of the Ring, Many Meetings
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
• The Road Goes Ever On