A Fragment of an Epic: Before Jerusalem Richard Makes an End of Speech

A Fragment of an Epic: Before Jerusalem Richard Makes an End of Speech is an eight-paged poem about King Richard I of England and the Third Crusade that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien in June or July 1911.

First stanza

Thus by these words of speeding enhearten'd for the Cross
dight then themselves the riders of the realms of western kings
in grimly gleaming armour; and there mid the tokenings
of olden-founded kindreds, which unrecking of the loss
had sped the gayest blossom of their garland to the strife,
spread glowing its mystic crimson, holy torch of hallow’d war
the sacred cherish'd emblem, living Tree of Death and Life.

Background

In June and July of the year 1911, Tolkien wrote the only version of the poem entitled A Fragment of an Epic: Before Jerusalem Richard Makes an End of Speech. After writing it, he wrote "July 1911" on the same day. Tolkien also gave the poem an alternative name, "Fragment of Epic" (Crusades), and an Old English name, Richeard Englenacyning maþeleþ fore fyrdum ("Richard, King of England, Speaks before the Army"), in a poetry notebook. The words "June and July 1911" were written besides that alternate name.

At some later date, Tolkien wrote "Also in June and July 1910 "A Fragment of an Epic" herein infixed" on the first version of the poem The Dale-lands, but he later deleted the phrase, likely because the date was incorrect.

It is likely that Tolkien intended to nominate his poem for the 1912 Sir Roger Newdigate Prize for English verse at the University of Oxford since "Richard I before Jerusalem" was the theme for submitted poems at the time.

On January 26 of 1914, Tolkien slightly revised line 75 of the poem for untold reasons.

In September 2024, the poem, entitled with a comma between Jerusalem and Richard in the index, was published for the first time as entry 7 in The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien.