View source for The Horns of Ylmir

{{short description|1914 poem by J.R.R. Tolkien}}
{{poem infobox
| title=The Horns of Ylmir
| image=J.R.R. Tolkien - Water Wind & Sand.jpg
| caption=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]] - ''Water Wind & Sand''
| imageWidth=
| imageHeight=
| other names=
| written=[[1914]]
| revised=
| published=[[1986]], within ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]''
| subject=[[Ulmo]]
}}
'''''The Horns of Ylmir''''' is a poem first written by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] in [[1914]], and published in ''[[The Shaping of Middle-earth]]'', as an appendix to "[[The Quenta]]".<ref name=Horns>{{SM|QA2}}, pp. 213-218</ref>

The title refers to the [[Ulumúri]], the conches of [[Ulmo]] that give the sea-music and cause [[sea-longing]].

==History of composition==
[[Image:John Howe - Ulmo, Lord of the Waters.jpg|thumb|250px|[[John Howe]] - ''Ulmo, Lord of the Waters'']]
The first version of the poem was titled ''The Tides'' and dated [[4 December]], [[1914]] together with the note ''On the Cornish Coast'', although notes on subsequent manuscripts suggest it was begun as early as [[1910]] to [[1912]].<ref>{{SM|QA2}}, pp. 214-215</ref> It is thought to be inspired by Tolkien's visit to the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, in the summer of 1914, where the sea left a great impression on him.<ref>{{B|II}}, pp. 70-71</ref>

The second version bears the title ''Sea Chant of an Elder Day'' (''Fyrndaga Sœléoþ'' in [[Old English]]) and the date March [[1915]]. It has some minor emendations, and already has a prose prologue alleging the song was made by [[Tuor]] for his son [[Earendil|Eärendel]] in the [[Land of Willows]].

In the third revision, the title indicated it was a song "from the [[The Fall of Gondolin (chapter)|Fall of Gondolin]]", therefore it should have been published in ''[[The Book of Lost Tales Part Two]]''. Only a few small emendations were made, like changing the name ''Ulmo'' to ''[[Ylmir]]'' (the [[Gnomish]] translation of ''[[Ulmo]]'') and including references to [[Ulmo]] and [[Ossë]] within the poem.<ref name=Horns />

==Poem excerpt==
"Tuor recalleth in a song sung to his son Eärendil the visions that Ylmir's conches once called before him in the twilight in the Land of Willows."
<poem style="font-style:italic; margin-left:20px;">
'Twas in the Land of Willows where the grass is long and green—
I was fingering my harp-strings, for a wind had crept unseen
And was speaking in the tree-tops, while the voices of the reeds
Were whispering reedy whispers as the sunset touched the meads
Inland musics subtly magic that those reeds alone could weave
'Twas in the Land of Willows that once Ylmir came at eve.
In the twilight by the river on a hollow thing of shell
He made immortal music, till my heart beneath his spell
Was broken in the twilight, and the meadows faded dim
To great grey waters heaving round the rocks where sea-birds swim.</poem>

==See also==
*[[Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin]]
*[[Index:Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien|Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien]]

{{References}}

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[[Category:Poems in The History of Middle-earth]]
[[Category:Songs]]