| Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien | |
| Scatha the Worm | |
|---|---|
| Poem Information | |
| Written | Around 1954 |
| Revised | Around 1954 |
| Published | The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Subject(s) | cold-drakes, Dragons, fire-drakes, long-worms, Scatha |
Scatha the Worm is a poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien about the long-worm dragon Scatha.[1]
Poem excerpt
Some have great wings like the wind
Some have fire and fierce wrath,
Some have venom on their long teeth
Some have hides like armour, tails
like steel, tongues like spears, eyes
piercing bright: some are great & golden
Some are green; some are red as
glowing iron. Not so was Scatha.[1]
Background
Around the year 1954, after having written the scene in Book VI of The Lord of the Rings where Éowyn gave the ancient Horn of the Mark to Holdwine of The Shire, Tolkien wrote a short poem "in several styles" below the heading Scatha the Worm, which was only a clear title of the second and third versions of the poem.[1]
It is possible that the detail that some dragons were green might be a reference to a story or poem[2] that Tolkien tried to write about "a great green dragon" at the age of seven.[3][4]
The full poem was published for the first time as entry 177 in The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "177. Scatha the Worm (c. 1954)", pp. 1284-6
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 5 (entry "1898-1899")
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 163, (dated 7 June 1955)
- ↑ Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, "II. 1892-1916: Early years"