Once upon a Time was the third Tom Bombadil poem in "Hobbit verse", written by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in October 1965 within Caroline Hillier's Winter's Tales for Children 1 and again in Lin Carter's collection The Young Magicians in 1969. It has also been reprinted in the appendix to 2014 edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book along with "Tom Bombadil: A Prose Fragment" and an earlier version, "An Evening in Tavrobel".
First stanza[]
- Once upon a day on the fields of May
- there was snow in summer where the blossom lay:
- the buttercups tall sent up their light
- in a stream of gold, and wide and white
- there opened in the green-grass skies
- the earth-stars with their steady eyes
- watching the Sun climb up and down.
- Goldberry was there with a wild-rose crown,
- Goldberry was there in a lady-smock
- blowing away a dandelion clock,
- stooping over a lily-pool
- and twiddling the water green and cool
- to see it sparkle round her hand:
- once upon a time in elvish land.
In other versions[]
A Dream of Coming Home[]
Note: This is a section stub. Expand it by clicking 
Edit to right of the section title.A Memory of July in England[]
Note: This is a section stub. Expand it by clicking Edit to right of the section title.July[]
Note: This is a section stub. Expand it by clicking Edit to right of the section title.Two Eves in Tavrobel[]
Note: This is a section stub. Expand it by clicking Edit to right of the section title.An Evening in Tavrobel[]
The fifth version of the poem was titled An Evening in Tavrobel in 1924. It was published in Leeds University Verse 1914-24 and is printed in Appendix II of the 2014 edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book.
- 'Tis the time when May first looks toward June,
- With almond-scented hawthorn strewn.
- The tremulous day at last has run
- Down the gold stairways of the Sun,
- Who brimmed the buttercups with light
- Like a clear wine she spillèd bright;
- And gleaming spirits there did dance
- And sip those goblets' radiance.[1]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Eens op 'n tyd |
| Albanian | Njëherë e një kohë |
| Arabic | كان ياما كان |
| Armenian | Մի անգամ հեքիաթում |
| Azerbaijani | Biri var idi, biri yox idi |
| Basque | Bazen behin |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Аднойчы ў казцы |
| Bengali | একসময় |
| Bosnian | Jednom davno |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Имало едно време |
| Catalan | Hi havia una vegada |
| Chinese | 在很久很久以前 |
| Croatian | Jednom davno |
| Czech | Kdysi dávno |
| Dari | روزگاری بود |
| Dutch | Er was eens |
| Estonian | Kunagi ammu |
| Filipino | Noong unang panahon |
| French | Il était une fois |
| Friulian | Une volte une volte |
| Japanese | ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム |
| Galician | Érase unha vez |
| Georgian | ოდესღაც |
| German | Es war einmal |
| Greek | Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό |
| Hebrew | פעם, לפני שנים רבות |
| Hindi | एक समय की बात है |
| Hungarian | Egyszer régen |
| Icelandic | Einu sinni var |
| Italian | C'era una volta |
| Kannada | ಒಂದಾನೊಂದು ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ |
| Korean | 원스 어폰 어 타임 |
| Kurdish | Rojekê (Kurmanji) (Sorani) سەردەمانێک |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Качандыр бир кезде |
| Laotian | ມີຄັ້ງນຶ່ງ |
| Latvian | Reiz sensenos laikos |
| Lithuanian | Kažkada seniai |
| Luxembourgish | Eemol op enger Zäit |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Еднаш одамна |
| Malayalam | ഒരു കാലത്ത് |
| Maltese | Darba darba |
| Manx | Keayrt dy row |
| Marathi | एके काळी |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Нэгэн цагт |
| Norwegian | En gang i tiden |
| Occitan | Un còp èra |
| Pashto | یو ځل په یو وخت کې |
| Persian | روزی روزگاری |
| Polish | Dawno, dawno temu |
| Portuguese | Era uma vez |
| Punjabi | ਇਕ ਵਾਰ ਦੀ ਗੱਲ ਹੋ |
| Romanian | A fost odată ca niciodată |
| Scottish Gaelic | Uair dhe na h-uairean |
| Serbian | Једном давно (Cyrillic) Jednom davno (Latin) |
| Sicilian | Na vota c'era |
| Sindhi | هڪ پيرو |
| Sinhalese | එකමත් එක කලෙක |
| Slovak | Kedysi dávno |
| Slovenian | Nekoč pred davnimi časi |
| Somali | Mar baa |
| Spanish | Había una vez |
| Swedish | En gång i tiden |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Боре дар як замоне |
| Tamil | ஒரு காலத்தில் |
| Tatar | Бервакыт |
| Telugu | ఎప్పుడో ఒకప్పుడు |
| Thai | เมื่อกาลครั้งหนึ่ง |
| Turkish | Bir varmış |
| Turkmen | Bir Wagtlar |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Колись давно |
| Uzbek | Бир Пайтлар (Cyrillic) Bir Paytlar (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Ngày xửa ngày xưa |
| Yiddish | אַמאָל אַ מאָל |
| Yoruba | Ni akoko kan sẹyin |