Errantry
Errantry is a Hobbit poem which was probably composed by Bilbo Baggins, shortly after his return from the Lonely Mountain in T.A. 2941,[1] and probably having heard Elvish tales of the First Age, but without treating them seriously. The attribution to Bilbo is made because of its similarity to the Song of Eärendil, believed to be a transformed and applied to the legend of Eärendil version of this poem.[2]
While it referred to original Elvish names, they were probably fictitious.
Structure
Errantry was actually one of the cyclical nonsense poems which amused Hobbits, although this one is the longest and most elaborate of the kind found in the Red Book.[2]
The poem has complex trisyllabic (near-)assonances[3] with an original metre invented by Bilbo, and was obviously proud of them. Such do not appear in other pieces in the Red Book.[2]
Each stanza is supposed to be read first at speed and then slow down to pronounce words with clarity, with the exception of the last stanza that must begin slowly.[4]
List of rare 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
- Cardamom
- Chalcedony
- Derrilyn
- Dumbledors.
- Errantry
- Faerie
- Filament
- Foraying
- Furbished
- Gondola
- Gossamer
- Habergeon
- Honeycomb
- Hummerhorns
- Malachite
- Marigold
- Marjoram
- Morion
- Paladins, see also Paladin Took II#Etymology.
- Panoply
- Plenilune
- Provender
- Roving
- Sigaldry]
- Stalactite
- Thellamie
- Tourneying
Inspiration
Tolkien felt the need to compose the poem in an attempt to use the model of the nursery rhyme What is the rhyme to porringer?[4][5] The meter is his own invention (using trisyllabic assonances or near-assonances) and never wrote another in this style.[3] This fact passed into the legendarium, as the Preface to the Adventures of Tom Bombadil says that Bilbo was probably proud of his meter and used it as a model for Earendil.
It is a three-page long poem first published on 9 November 1933 in The Oxford Magazine. Tolkien himself considered it his most attractive poem.
Usage outside the legendarium
By 1950 the poem became famous outside Tolkien's environment and circulated anonymously in print and "folklore": a lady unknown to Tolkien heard it somewhere and was so taken by the words that traced its origin to the English Universities and ultimately to Tolkien, surprising him. Comparing the version the lady knew against the original, Tolkien noticed that the "hard words" are preserved more in the "oral tradition".[3]
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.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Preface"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 133, (dated 22 June 1952)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Treason of Isengard, "V. Bilbo's Song at Rivendell: Errantry and Eärendillinwë"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (eds), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Commentary"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Donald Swann, The Road Goes Ever On, "Errantry"
