| Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien | |
| The New Lemminkainen | |
|---|---|
| Poem Information | |
| Other names | Lemmincaignen færeþ to bróþar sínum on Súþlanden |
| Written | September of 1911 |
| Published | The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Subject(s) | Lemminkäinen |
The New Lemminkainen,[1] also known as Lemmincaignen færeþ to bróþar sínum on Súþlanden,[2] is a parodic[3] poem of a train[3] journey[3] written by J.R.R. Tolkien in September of 1911.[4]
Poem excerpt
Runo I
Argument: Lemminkainen boards the fire-consumer, known as Puffpuff the million-footed.
Then the skittish Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Grecian hero,
He whose other name was Hermes,
Thus did speak and burbled thiswise,
Thus endeavoured to express him,
To express his grief and anger
To address the iron dragon.[1]
Background
Sometime soon after reading Kirby's translation of the Kalevala,[1] J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the poem The New Lemminkainen[1] as a parody of the translation.[4] Tolkien wrote "Lemminkainen goeth to his brother in the Southlands" as the poem's general argument "on the first page of" the poem's manuscript.[1] In a poetry notebook,[1] Tolkien described the poem as "Lemminkainen goeth to the Lands of Ilma the Smith and Kemi the Brook (being some lost runos of the Kálevalá) (parody on Kirby's translation in "Everyman" series)"[1] and "dated the poem to"[1] September of 1911.[4] After the abrupt end of the poem, Tolkien wrote the partially legible line "His brother with the" before heavily striking it through, and the words "see scrap for end" despite there being no scrap.[1]
In October of 1911, Tolkien wrote Lemminkainen Goeth to the Fords of Oxen,[2] a second poem about Lemminkainen going on a train journey.[5] In a list of poems marked "Ungefeged inne" that were probably "contemporary with" another list labeled "Attempts at Verse", Tolkien included The New Lemminkainen and named it Lemmincaignen færeþ to bróþar sínum on Súþlanden in Old English.[2]
In 2006, the poem was first mentioned by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide as The New Lemminkäinen.[6] In September of 2024, the poem was published for the first time as entry 8 in The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, where its spelling was corrected.[1] In a note to Runo I, Hammond and Scull explain that "a runo (rune) is a poem, or part of a longer poem" and that "Puffpuff is slang…for a locomotive".[7]
Inspiration
In a 1914 paper, Tolkien referred to Lemminkäinen as "a confirmed villain of loose morals and wife-beating propensities as the lively Lemminkainen (as he is always called) shows only his best and most affectionate feeling for his mother".[8] In their commentary in The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, Hammond and Scull explain that while Tolkien's version of Lemminkäinen is also lively, he is skittish,[9] lacks "the loose morals of his namesake", and the spelling of his name lacks an unlaut.[1] In a note on their "Addenda and Corrigenda to The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien", Hammond and Scull stated that by "unlaut", they had meant "diaeresis".[10] The mention of Lemminkainen being a "Grecian hero…whose name was Hermes" is likely an allusion "to Tolkien's performance as the Greek god Hermes in Aristophanes' play Peace at King Edward's School on 26 July 1911".[11]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "8. The New Lemminkainen (1911)", pp. 38-48
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "Appendix III. Poem Lists", pg. 1378 (list "A")
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "Introduction", p. xvi
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 28 (entry "September 1911")
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "9. Lemminkainen Goeth to the Ford of Oxen (1911)", p. 49
- ↑ 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. 852 (entry "The New Lemminkäinen. Unpublished.")
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "8. The New Lemminkainen (1911)", note "Runo I, Argument:"
- ↑ The Story of Kullervo, "On 'The Kalevala' or Land of Heroes"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "8. The New Lemminkainen (1911)", note "1:"
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, "Addenda and Corrigenda to The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien (2024) Arranged by Date" 24 December 2024, Hammond&Scull.com, accessed 31 December 2025 , "p. 45, l. 15 from bottom: For 'umlaut' read 'diaeresis'."
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "8. The New Lemminkainen (1911)", note "2-3:"