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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. 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 Earendil version of this poem.[2]

While it referred to original Elvish names, they were probably fictitious.

Contents

[edit] 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 assonances 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]

[edit] List of words

Below is a partial list of rare and/or obsolete words used in the poem.[3]

[edit] Inspiration

It is a three-page long poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, first published on 9 November 1933 in The Oxford Magazine. Tolkien himself considered it his most attractive poem. The meter is his own invention (using trisyllabic assonances or near-assonances) and never wrote another in this style.[4]

[edit] Usage outside the legendarium

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.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Preface"
  3. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Errantry"
  4. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 133, (dated 22 June 1952)
  5. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Donald Swann, The Road Goes Ever On, "Errantry"
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