"Ere iron was found or tree was hewn" is the first line of a short poem recited by Gandalf to King Théoden, when asked about what caused the summoning of the Huorns during the Battle of the Hornburg. Could it have been an act of "wizardry?", asked Théoden. Gandalf said that it was "a power far older", and went on to recite the poem. Théoden identified Gandalf's lines of verse as a riddle.[1]
The poem
Ere iron was found or tree was hewn,
When young was mountain under moon;
Ere ring was made, or wrought was woe,
It walked the forests long ago.[1]
Composition
The poem contains four iambs in each line, and the lines rhyme in pairs.[2] Verlyn Flieger has described the poem as a piece of "folk verse".[3]
Name
Among fans, the poem is commonly called Gandalf's Riddle of the Ents.[2][4][5][6]
Inspiration
It has been noted that Tolkien re-used a phrase from The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun:[7]
ere fire was found or iron hewn,
when young was mountain under moon.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Road to Isengard"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 'Kamelen' (alias), "Gandalf's Riddle of the Ents/Gandalfs gåta om enterna [Swedish-language]" 17 October 2016, tolkien.mbor.se, accessed 5 December 2016
- ↑ Verlyn Flieger, "Poems by Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings", in Michael D.C. Drout (ed), J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment
- ↑ 'NenyaGold' (alias), "Gandalf's Riddle of the Ents", www.councilofelrond.com, accessed 5 December 2016
- ↑ "Gandalf's Riddle of the Ents" 29 September 2003, www.henneth-annun.net, accessed 5 December 2016
- ↑ "Gandalf's Riddle to the Ents" 9 August 2016, lotr.wikia.com, accessed 5 December 2016
- ↑ Alan Reynolds, "Tolkien Society Facebook group post" 5 December 2016, Facebook, accessed 5 December 2016
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Verlyn Flieger (ed.), The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, together with the Corrigan Poems, Part One: The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun", p. 14