Rec List: Tolkien Poetry, by Zdenka

[zdenka]

B2MeM Prompt and Category: Comment prompt: Tinfang Warble: Comment on a fanwork that is a poem, playlist, or song, or that includes poetry or music (e.g., a fanwork with a song or playlist).

Format: Rec list, poetry
Genre: various
Rating: (see individual entries)
Warnings: (see individual entries)
Characters: Too many to list; see individual entries
Pairings: Denethor/Finduilas, Éowyn/Faramir, Aragorn/Arwen, Goldberry/Tom Bombadil, Lúthien/Thuringwethil, Fingon/Maedhros, Aulë/Yavanna, Ancalimë/OFC, Turgon/Elenwë (and others)
Creator’s Notes (optional): I've quoted a couple lines I like from each one as a sample, to give a more complete impression of the poem.
Summary: A rec list of twenty poems based on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

The Hobbit

Zirkh, Zirikhab, Mezêr (To Wish, To Hope, To Work) (91 words) by lferion
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dwarves of Erebor
Additional Tags: Poetry, Structured Form, Challenge Response, Dwarves In Exile, Khuzdul, Community: fan_flashworks
Summary: A song of exile

Sample:
Wish for caverns, hope for stone
Work to shape, to carve and hone

Notes: I like the way this poem conveys the Dwarves' determination and endurance and their wish to have a permanent home again. I could imagine the Dwarves singing this at their work. The deliberately simpler language works well here and makes it feel like it could be a folk song or something passed down by oral tradition.

The Lord of the Rings

Canon Couple Dribbles by Dreamflower

This includes twelve canon couples from both LOTR and the Silmarillion. I'm linking the whole series because they're each so short. All of these are rated G, with no archive warnings (the Underage warning on the Melian/Thingol one is evidently a mistake). The link goes to the series page on AO3 where you can see the list of pairings and summaries.

Sample: (from "We Call a Man Cold When He Is Only Sad," Denethor/Finduilas)
He was so solemn, so serious, so sad, so unsmiling;
something made her eager to coax just one smile,
and then only one seemed a small victory
in the light of his glad face.

Notes: The "dribble" is a short and simple poetic form, but Dreamflower uses it very effectively and brings a lot of emotion or humor into a brief space. These little poems range from sweet and funny to bittersweet and moving, but they all convey something significant about the couple.

Allegro con periain (761 words) by lirin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Frodo Baggins
Additional Tags: Iambic Pentameter, Music
Summary: Rhythm and music: The tale of Frodo Baggins, in twenty-five musical terms and iambic pentameter.

Sample:
In Bree they met a man who moved andante
With long, skilled legs: a Ranger of the North;
Though doubtful, in the end the hobbits joined him,
And through the wilderness they headed forth.

Notes: This is from this year's B2MeM, so I'm sure many of you have seen it, but I wanted to include it on the list. This poem works in every single square from the musical terms bingo card. It's a fun retelling of the Fellowship's adventures and tribulations, and it made me smile all the way through. As an amateur musician myself, I really appreciate the clever use of the musical terms.

Gacela of the stolen sun (268 words) by losselen
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Éowyn/Faramir
Characters: Éowyn, Faramir
Additional Tags: poem
Summary: Faramir for his lady. Poem.

Sample:
Before the Dread Beast you unfurled
your hair, cold and bright,
glittering when the Sun had gone out.

Notes: A beautifully written love poem from Faramir to Éowyn. I like how the poem isn't too structured; it feels like a natural outpouring of emotion. Faramir is obviously smitten, and his love and admiration for Éowyn come through in every line. I like how his love for her is bound up with his love for his land.

Contrapposto (399 words) by Marta
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lord of the Rings (Novel)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Faramir
Additional Tags: Poetry
Summary: Where now the horse and the rider? Faramir remembers a statue from his youth.

Sample:
Still, he loved also the quiet archives, and the stone men from ages past,
Loved them almost as kin.

Notes: This poem feels very in-character for Faramir: his thoughtfulness and loyalty and quiet endurance, his love of both nature and books, and how he never loses sight of the human costs of war even in victory. The melancholy tone feels very appropriate to Minas Tirith and The Lord of the Rings in general. The mentions of past defeats are quietly wrenching.

Always to me my time has seemed too brief (107 words) by merripestin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Aragorn/Arwen
Characters: Aragorn, Arwen
Additional Tags: Pantoum, poem, Mortality
Summary: Autumn flies too fast, and war prepares.

Sample: - (I don't think quoting lines out of context works for this one, since its effect depends so much on the structure, but it's only three stanzas and I highly recommend it.)

Notes: A beautiful and bittersweet poem about time and mortality, from Aragorn's POV. The author uses the repeating lines of this verse form very effectively. The ending gives me the shivers.

Eomer (326 words) by primsong
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lord of the Rings - Fandom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Éomer, Gríma Wormtongue, Théoden
Additional Tags: Poetry, Rohan
Summary: Poetry. Eomer reflects as he approaches Meduseld, seeking aid of a Liege who has fallen into a darkness.

Sample:
My liege fades under his counselor's hand
Like an old parchment slowly losing its words . . .

Notes: This feels very in-character for Éomer, with his straightforwardness and loyalty and disdain for lies, and gives an understandable motivation for his confrontation of Gríma. I like how his love for Rohan (as well as his sister and his uncle) comes through. I also like how the poem includes so many sensory details, sights and scents and the weight of the helmet in his hand.

Pippin in Gondor (594 words) by primsong
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lord of the Rings - Fandom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Pippin Took
Additional Tags: Poetry, Drama, Wars, Hobbits, Pelennor, Gondor
Summary: A longer, serious piece. Pippin's thoughts as he finds himself in a besieged city of stone, far from home.

Sample:
Behind the dark walls there are soldiers out of sight,
Beyond them, a lantern's broken glare and shadow
On the debris of war -

Notes: Another poem by the same author. This poem gives a vivid sense of Pippin feeling small and isolated in a great city at war. I like how Pippin's Hobbit irreverence keeps breaking through in the midst of all the bare stone and grandeur, as well as his concern for Merry.

Nainie, the Lament of Endore (100 words) by SheBit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Additional Tags: Fourth Age, Poetry, Plot - Bittersweet, Subjects - Geography, Subjects - Legends/Myth/History, Writing - Clear prose, Writing - Evocative, Writing - Mythic/Poetic, Writing - Well-handled PoV(s)
Summary: A hundred word poem from the perspective of the land itself, upon the departure of the elves.

Sample:
Where are the old ones gone, who loved us always?
They are gone over sea, in tall grey ships.

Notes: Beautiful and sad, and with an unusual choice of perspective. (I'm also impressed by the author writing a poem that's a true drabble -- it's difficult!)

Goldberry's Song (409 words) by Vulgarweed
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lord of the Rings - Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Goldberry/Tom Bombadil
Additional Tags: Poetry
Summary: Verse: the smitten River-daughter tries to get a rhyme in edgewise. (Written for the "How Do I Love Thee" poetry challenge at HASA, 2003). Bit of a pastiche of 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' - from the nymph's point of view for a change.

Sample:
Ossë's lost child, by sunlight guiled, the River is my mother,
And I have travelled far enough to know there is no other -

Notes: This poem is light-hearted and delightful. I like how Goldberry is so playful and adventurous, that she wanders freely at her own will, and that marrying Tom is very much her choice.

The Silmarillion

The Creation of the Silmarils (356 words) by amyfortuna
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Fëanor | Curufinwë
Additional Tags: Poetry, Sestina, Silmarils
Series: Part 8 of Silmarillion40
Summary: Fëanor's creation of the Silmarils, in the form of a sestina.

Also on SWG

Sample:
You are my star, you are the earth's jewel, you are the sea's light
You are the song ringing down the years that shall carry my name

Notes: First, I want to say that I'm impressed with anyone who writes a sestina, because I've tried them myself and they're really difficult! But this one flows naturally and feels completely unforced. The imagery is vivid and beautiful. The poem conveys Feanor's brilliance and passion for his crafting, and also his growing obsession with the Silmarils.

What We Learn in Shadows and Blood (161 words) by cereus
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lúthien Tinúviel/Thuringwethil
Characters: Lúthien, Lúthien Tinúviel, Thuringwethil (Tolkien)
Additional Tags: Poetry, Vampirism
Summary: "Come speak to me, you, Who wove safety out of the shadows in her dark hair."

Thuringwethil and Luthien discuss a truce... and a meeting.

Sample:
Come, let me embrace you
Let my hair and your wings fall around us

Notes: This poem is very beautiful and sensual. It makes me believe that Lúthien and Thuringwethil can find something in common, even if only for a moment.

Lullaby For The Dior Twins (175 words) by Fernstrike
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Eluréd (Tolkien), Elurín (Tolkien)
Additional Tags: Second Kinslaying | Sack of Doriath, Poetry
Summary: A poem about Eluréd and Elurín's tragic fate.

Also on SWG

Sample:
The woods are lovely -
Dark, deep -
Made for home,
And made for sleep.

Notes: This poem is excellently creepy and gave me the shivers! It feels like the woods themselves are singing the children into the sleep of death.

The Open Door the Dead Walked In (169 words) by Himring
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Turgon
Additional Tags: Poetry, Gondolin
Summary: The ruins of Gondolin collapse at the end of the War of Wrath.
(Elegy, verse)

Sample:
A flight of stairs leads to an open door
from nowhere to nowhere, for no one to pass.

Notes: I feel like I can picture the setting of the poem very vividly. There's something eerie and sad and lonely about this scene, the ruins of the city completely abandoned and even those ruins soon to be destroyed. Especially when combined with the references to the death of Turgon, who wouldn't leave his city because he loved it too much.

"Utulie n'aure!" & Other Poems (142 words) by Himring
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Fingon/Maedhros
Characters: Maedhros, Fingon, Maglor, Elwing
Additional Tags: Poetry, Sonnet, Quatorzain, tanka, Haiku, B2MEM, Grief/Mourning, Nirnaeth Arnoediad
Series: Part 61 of Gloom, Doom and Maedhros
Summary: Three poems written about the Sons of Feanor for Poetic Forms prompts during B2MeM 2012

"Utulie n'aure": Maedhros on the Nirnaeth and the death of Fingon (non-classical sonnet or quatorzain). Also a haiku (Maglor) and a tanka (Maedhros to Elwing).

Also on SWG

Sample:
You raised your voice—the dawn was bright—
to greet the coming of the light . . .

Notes: All three of these poems are simple and devastating. The sorrow and despair and desperation really come through.

Black and White (162 words) by Lingwiloke
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning: Major Character Death
Category: Gen
Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Character: Maeglin | Lómion
Additional Tags: Poetry, Drama, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Freeverse
Summary: Maeglin realizes that during his visits to the dwarves he felt less of a stranger than during his time in Gondolin.

Also on SWG

Sample:
A frigid city, frozen in time,
your people never truly left the ice behind.

Notes: This poem makes me really sad for Maeglin! It effectively shows his alienation and in Gondolin, with the contrast between finding "brothers and sisters" among the Dwarves, and feeling like a stranger with his own kin.

For which we were created (135 words) by LiveOakWithMoss
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Aulë/Yavanna
Characters: Aulë, Yavanna
Additional Tags: Poetry, Experimental Style
Series: Part 18 of Silmarillion Prompts
Summary: Prompt: Aule/Yavanna, "Love me"

Sample:
She comes of growth and green; I of iron and shadow

Notes: I'm fond of Aulë and Yavanna's relationship in the Silmarillion, and I really like the way this poem describes it. The poem focuses mostly on the differences between them, but it feels to me like Aulë is speaking with warm affection. I also like the descriptions of their nature and powers.

Fragment: In the long days of Darkness (263 words) by losselen
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tar-Ancalimë/Original Character
Characters: Original Character, Tar-Ancalimë
Additional Tags: Poetry, Sappho - Freeform
Summary: A fragment of a poem for Ancalimë, from a poetess who loved her.

Also on SWG

Sample:
O they say,
the hands of the Valar are in the wind and meadows
the rain and the years . . .

Notes: This is a beautiful poem. I love both the echoes of Sappho and the way the author uses references to Middle-earth events that the poet would have known about. It feels appropriate for court poetry to be complex and allusive.

One-Handed (185 words) by margdean56
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Maedhros
Additional Tags: Poetry
Series: Part 2 of Tolkien-inspired poetry
Summary: The eldest son of Fëanor reflects on his past and present.

Sample:
A red stone flashes the fire of the forges;
As the son watches, the father fashions . . .

Notes: This is a well-crafted poem, if that makes sense to say, and very satisfying to read. I love the imagery -- the author does a lot here with a few words, as in the alliterative verse which is their model. The alliteration is also used very effectively here. I like the contrasts: Fëanor's former generosity and joy in crafting and young Maedhros's wide-eyed innocence set against death and kinslaying.

Hope Across Helcaraxe (175 words) by orphan_account
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Turgon of Gondolin
Additional Tags: First Age, Poetry
Summary: Even as Turgon mourns Elenwe, he remembers her unwavering hope.

Sample:
You and I: together we turned from flame,
To face the mists that like flowers bloomed
Before us . . .

Notes: This fic is archive-locked (so it can only be read when logged in) and orphaned, but I liked it enough that I wanted to include it on the list. I like how the author shows the two of them giving each other courage and hope. I also really like the ending, which makes them feel united even after Elenwë's death.

Comments

[dreamflower]

Thank you so much for the rec! I loved doing the Canon Couples so much! It's always nice to hear more feedback about something from a few years ago!

[zdenka]

You're very welcome! I enjoyed (re)reading those poems.

[primsong]

I've always enjoyed your works as well, Dreamflower, still good stuff! And thank you for the recs, Zdenka, it's sweet to know they haven't all entirely drifted off into forgetfulness as time has gone by.

[zdenka]

You're welcome! I enjoyed reading them.