La, Huru is an Old English song by J.R.R. Tolkien, to be sung to the tune of Are You the O'Reilly Who Keeps This Hotel?, written around 1924.[1] It is published as the 17th song in Songs for the Philologists in 1936.
The manuscript of the poem was rendered in pen and ink, together with another Tolkien's poem Syx Mynet, on one leaf. The manuscript is kept in the Tolkien-Gordon Collection at the Library of the University of Leeds.[1]
Poem excerpt
La, Huru
Eala hu is wynsum þeos woruld to-niht,
And medu and myrgu, þeos deore gedriht;
Her is blæd, her is bliss, her hroþor and hyht;
Nis her nænig pæca, ne prattas, ne pliht.
La huru, la huru, la leofa, la hu! (four times)
Translation excerpt
Oh, how joyful is this world tonight,
Pride and pleasure, this dear gathering;
Here is splendour, here is bliss, here is solace and hope;
Here are no deceits, tricks, or risks.
Oh truly, oh truly, oh beloved, oh how! (4 times)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Archive File: Syx Mynet and Lá Húru", library.leeds.ac.uk, accessed 9 May 2017