| Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien | |
| Ferrum et Sanguis: 1914 | |
|---|---|
| Poem Information | |
| Other names | 1914, Ferrum et Sanguis |
| Written | 22 December, 1914 |
| Revised | 22 December, 1914 |
| Published | The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Subject(s) | World War I |
Ferrum et Sanguis: 1914, or simply Ferrum et Sanguis,[1] is a poem with a "theme of darkness"[2] written by J.R.R. Tolkien on 22 December of 1914.[3]
Poem excerpt
The earth and all that dwell thereon are dark in a great gloom:
A frightful hand has dared its shade across the blackened sun,
And, lest the stars come out and still do light us in its room,
Has fouled the heavens with his touch, or plucked them one by one[4]
Background
On 22 December of 1914, probably[4] a day after writing the poem Dark,[5] J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the poem, 1914,[4] the earliest[4] draft of Ferrum et Sanguis: 1914.[3] Tolkien inscribed the poem's first manuscript with the Latin phrases "Ex umbris et loco tenebroso" ("out of the shadows and the dark place") and "De Profundis" ("out of the depths").[4] Later, Tolkien made a "slightly revised version" in which he separated many of the lines in two and renamed the poem to Ferrum et Sanguis[1] ("iron and blood")[3] in Latin.[4] Even later, Tolkien rewrote the poem in pencil on two new manuscripts, naming it Ferrum et Sanguis: 1914[3] on both and making minor revisions.[4]
In 2014, Raymond Edwards suggested in his biography of Tolkien that Tolkien's poem is related "to the political situation of World War I".[6] In September of 2024, the poem was published for the first time as entry 21 in The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien.[4] In their commentary, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull explain that Tolkien's poem, like Dark,[4] had a "theme of darkness"[2] concerning the Great War but, unlike the earlier poem,[4] Ferrum et Sanguis: 1914[3] reflected the "sinking of spirits which he projected onto the whole of the Earth and even the heavens".[7] They also explain that the phrase "iron and blood" is "from a speech by the nineteenth-century German leader Otto von Bismarck" referring "to the use of military power to unify Germany and extend its territory" and that the Latin phrase "De Profundis…are the first words of one of the penitential psalms ('Out of the depths I call to you, Lord; Lord, hear my cry!'), a prayer for the dead".[4] Hammond and Scull further suggest that, in using the Latin phrase "ex umbris et loco tenebroso", Tolkien might have been thinking of the "Tenebrae" ("service of shadows"), a service "conducted by the Catholic Church in Holy Week, in which candles are gradually extinguished until the room is in total darkness".[4] In an article in an issue from the Journal of Tolkien Research, Patrick J. Lyon suggested that the poem references the "O Antiphon" for 21 December from "the Catholic Advent Vespers" instead of, "or in addition to"[8], the "Tenebrae".[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, "Poetry by J.R.R. Tolkien", "By Title", p. 845 (entry "Ferrum et Sanguis. Unpublished.")
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 59 (entry "27 December 1914")
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 58 (entry "22 December 1914")
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "21. Ferrum et Sanguis (1914)", pp. 120-2
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 58 (entry "21 December 1914")
- ↑ Thoughts on Tolkien, "#18
On December 22, 1914, Tolkien wrote a poem called "Ferrum et Sanguis," Latin for "Iron and Blood." Raymond Edwards speculates that the poem relates to the political situation of World War I, and Scull & Hammond describe the poem as having a theme of "darkness."" 1 August 2024, X. It's what's happening, accessed 5 January 2026 - ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "Introduction", p. xix
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, "Addenda and Corrigenda to The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien (2024) Arranged by Date" 4 September 2024, Hammond&Scull.com, accessed 5 January 2026 , "pp. 120-2: Patrick J. Lyon has suggested that Tolkien’s inspiration for Ferrum et Sanguis lay in the Advent Vespers sung at the time he wrote the poem, particularly the ‘O Antiphon’ for 21 December – ‘O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis’ (‘O Light of the East, splendour of light eternal, and sun of righteousness: come, and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death’) – rather than, or in addition to, the Tenebrae service we mention as a possibility. Lyon also suggests that the darkness of the poem is related to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year (22 December in 1914), and that Tolkien was more broadly influenced by the Antiphons sung earlier in Vespers, one of which lay behind the Old English Crist which inspired The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star."
- ↑ Patrick J. Lyon, "Antiphons of Iron and Blood: The Inspirations of Tolkien's Poetry" 2024, ValpoScholar - Valparaiso University, accessed 5 January 2026 , Journal of Tolkien Research: Volume 20, Issue 2, Article 7