The Song of Ælfwine on seeing the uprising of Eärendil is a poem that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The poem was was published in 1987 within The Lost Road and Other Writings.[1] Three of the five stanzas of the latest version were reprinted in David Bratman's article "The Literary Value of The History of Middle-earth" on pages 79–80 within Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth in 2000.[2]
Prose note of the last version[]
Ælfwine (Elf-friend) was a seaman of England of old who, being driven out to sea from the coast of Erin [ancient name of Ireland], passed into the deep waters of the West, and according to legend by some strange chance or grace found the 'straight road' of the Elvenfolk and came at last to the Isle of Eressëa in Elvenhome. Or maybe, as some say, alone in the waters, hungry and athirst, he fell into a trance and was granted a vision of that isle as it once had been, ere a West-wind arose and drove him back to Middle-earth. Of no other man is it reported that he ever beheld Eressëa the fair. Ælfwine was never again able to rest for long on land, and sailed the western seas until his death. Some say that his ship was wrecked upon the west shores of Erin and there his body lies; others say that at the end of his life he went forth alone into the deeps again and never returned.[1]
- It is reported that before he set out on his last voyage he spoke these verses:[1]
þus cwæð Ælfwine Wídlást Éadwines sunu:
Fela bið on Westwegum werum uncúðra,
wundra and wihta, wlitescéne land,
eardgeard ælfa and ésa bliss.
Lýt ænig wát hwylc his langoð síe
þám þe eftsíðes eldo getwæfeð.[3]
There is many a thing in the west of the world unknown to men; marvels and strange beings, [a land lovely to look on,] the dwelling place of the Elves and the bliss of the Gods. Little doth any man know what longing is his whom old age cutteth off from return.[3]
Background[]
The Nameless Land[]
Tolkien first wrote The Nameless Land at a house on Darnley Road in Leeds in May 1924.[4] The poem was first published by the Swan Press; London, Gay and Hancock Ltd. in 1927 within Realities: An Anthology of Verse on pages 24–25. The poem was inspired by the medieval poem Pearl.[1]
The Song of Ælfwine (on seeing the uprising of Eärendel)[]
Sometime during the writing of The Lost Road, Tolkien revised The Nameless Land, changing the title of the poem to Ælfwine's Song calling upon Eärendel and again to The Song of Ælfwine (on seeing the uprising of Eärendel), an "Intermediate Version".[1]
Further revisions[]
The “Intermediate Version” was followed by two more versions and then a final version which was written either in conjunction with The Notion Club Papers and the poem Imrám, or in the period after The Lord of the Rings was published.[1]
See also[]
- Nameless Land, a different poem with a similar name to the earlier version
- The Song of Eriol, a different poem about an earlier version of Ælfwine
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part One: "The Fall of Númenor and The Lost Road", III: The Lost Road, (iii): The unwritten chapters, Note on the poem 'The Nameless Land' and its later form
- ↑ "Tolkien’s Legendarium. 2000" on tolkienbooks.net
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IX: Sauron Defeated, Part Two: The Notion Club Papers, II: "The Notion Club Papers Part Two", "Night 66", pg. 244
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pg. 107