{"id":1762,"date":"2018-05-08T19:23:32","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T19:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/?p=1762"},"modified":"2018-05-08T19:23:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T19:23:32","slug":"the-music-of-iluvatar-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/05\/08\/the-music-of-iluvatar-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Music of Iluvatar – part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cover,
Cover, The Two Towers (Goodreads)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week I talked about one of the “standard patterns” of poetry that JRR Tolkien uses in The Lord of the Rings<\/em>. That was where the poem was written in successive pairs of lines each with 4 metrical beats – stressed syllables. That form is used by elves of Rivendell, and also hobbits, men, and even barrow wights, with varying levels of irregular straying from the basic pulse. The rhyming schemes vary a little, and seem less fundamental in Tolkien’s thought than the metre. My belief is that Tolkien used this commonality of pattern as a tangible outworking of his mythological position that the world was created by musical harmony.<\/p>\n

But not all poems – not even all elvish poems – use this 4+4 pattern. The second common form is 4+3, where the second line of each couplet has one less stressed syllable than the first. Some of my absolute favourite poems of the entire trilogy are built on this pattern. It comes into full flower with the elves of Lorien, but in fact we first meet it in Sauron’s ring poem (albeit quite irregular):<\/p>\n

One<\/em><\/strong> Ring<\/em><\/strong> to rule<\/em><\/strong> them all<\/em><\/strong>
\nOne<\/em><\/strong> Ring<\/em><\/strong> to find<\/em><\/strong> them
\nOne<\/em><\/strong> Ring<\/em><\/strong> to bring<\/em><\/strong> them all<\/em><\/strong>
\nand in<\/em><\/strong> the dark<\/em><\/strong>ness bind<\/em><\/strong> them<\/p>\n

And also with Tom Bombadil, who amongst all his apparently nonsense rhyming actually turns out a lot of metrical regularity:<\/p>\n

Hop<\/em><\/strong> along<\/em><\/strong> my lit<\/em><\/strong>tle friends<\/em><\/strong>
\nUp<\/em><\/strong> the With<\/em><\/strong>ywin<\/em><\/strong>dle
\nTom’s<\/em><\/strong> go<\/em><\/strong>ing on<\/em><\/strong> ahead<\/em><\/strong>
\ncan<\/em><\/strong>dles for<\/em><\/strong> to kin<\/em><\/strong>dle<\/p>\n

\"The
The Forest of Lothlorien in Spring (Tolkien Estate, via The Tolkien Gateway)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But it is after we leave Rivendell, and especially when we start to cross the Misty Mountains that this pattern comes into its own. A whole string of poems, sung by different people from different cultures, use the 4+3 pattern to build their poetry.<\/p>\n

For example, Legolas sings of Nimrodel on the borders of Lothlorien:<\/p>\n

An El<\/em><\/strong>ven-maid<\/em><\/strong> there was<\/em><\/strong> of old<\/em><\/strong>,
\nA shi<\/em><\/strong>ning star<\/em><\/strong> by day<\/em><\/strong>:
\nHer man<\/em><\/strong>tle white<\/em><\/strong> was hem<\/em><\/strong>med with gold<\/em><\/strong>,
\nHer shoes<\/em><\/strong> of sil<\/em><\/strong>ver-grey<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And, perhaps preeminently, it appears in Galadriel’s song:<\/p>\n

I sang<\/em><\/strong> of leaves<\/em><\/strong>, of leaves<\/em><\/strong> of gold<\/em><\/strong>,
\nand leaves<\/em><\/strong> of gold<\/em><\/strong> there grew<\/em><\/strong>:
\nOf wind<\/em><\/strong> I sang<\/em><\/strong>, a wind<\/em><\/strong> there came<\/em><\/strong>,
\nand in<\/em><\/strong> the bran<\/em><\/strong>ches blew<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Lament sung for Boromir, partly each by Aragorn and Legolas, is based on 4+3 with occasional unstressed syllables thrown in:<\/p>\n

Through Ro<\/em><\/strong>han o<\/em><\/strong>ver fen<\/em><\/strong> and field<\/em><\/strong>
\nwhere<\/em><\/strong> the long<\/em><\/strong> grass grows<\/em><\/strong>…
\nFrom the mouths<\/em><\/strong> of the Sea<\/em><\/strong> the South<\/em><\/strong> Wind blows<\/em><\/strong>
\nfrom the sand<\/em><\/strong>hills and<\/em><\/strong> the stones<\/em><\/strong>…
\nFrom the cra<\/em><\/strong>dle of Kings<\/em><\/strong> the North<\/em><\/strong> Wind blows<\/em><\/strong>
\nand past<\/em><\/strong> the roa<\/em><\/strong>ring falls<\/em><\/strong>…<\/p>\n

And when we move across to the forest of Fangorn, we find that the Ents are also adept at 4+3:<\/p>\n

When Spring<\/em><\/strong> unfolds<\/em><\/strong> the beechen leaf<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>,
\nand sap<\/em><\/strong> is in<\/em><\/strong> the bough<\/em><\/strong>;
\nWhen light<\/em><\/strong> is on<\/em><\/strong> the wild<\/em><\/strong> wood stream<\/em><\/strong>,
\nand wind<\/em><\/strong> is on<\/em><\/strong> the brow<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

or<\/p>\n

O ro<\/em><\/strong>wan fair<\/em><\/strong>, upon<\/em><\/strong> your hair<\/em><\/strong>
\nhow white<\/em><\/strong> the blos<\/em><\/strong>som lay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Both of these are laments, or at least sad songs, and the Ents certainly could create 4+4 songs as well:<\/p>\n

To I<\/em><\/strong>sengard<\/em><\/strong>, though I<\/em><\/strong>sengard<\/em><\/strong>
\nbe ringed<\/em><\/strong> and barred<\/em><\/strong> with doors<\/em><\/strong> of stone<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

– of course, this is a marching song so pretty much has to have an even pulse.<\/p>\n

But others on the eastern side of the mountains use 4+4 as well: Gimli’s song at the start of the journey through Moria is like this:<\/p>\n

The world<\/em><\/strong> was young<\/em><\/strong>, the moun<\/em><\/strong>tains green<\/em><\/strong>
\nno stain<\/em><\/strong> yet on<\/em><\/strong> the Moon<\/em><\/strong> was seen<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Others too, including Gandalf and Galadriel, turn out 4+4 when the occasion requires.<\/p>\n

So, although I was originally speculating that Tolkien had intended the change in Elvish poetry patterns to be geographical – West and East of the Misty Mountains using different rhythms – this does not seem to be systematically followed through. It seems to me that it is more likely to be related to mood or subject matter. Many of the 4+3 examples are laments, or describing the decline of the old ways, whereas the 4+4 are more historical or didactic in nature. Either way, we have two clear root metrical patterns for the various ancient inhabitants of Middle Earth. Are these the first two themes of the Music of Iluvatar?<\/p>\n

Which all brings us to human poetry,\u00a0 especially as our slow read has just brought us to Edoras, and the poetry of the Rohirrim. As I hope I have convinced you by now, the 4+4 and 4+3 metrical patterns dominate the poetry we have seen up until now. But you’ll have to wait a while to find out what will happen next. I’m going to leave human material for another post when our slow read through the book has got further into the kingdoms of men…<\/p>\n

\"The
The East Gate of Moria (The Tolkien Estate, via The Tolkien Gateway)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I talked about one of the “standard patterns” of poetry that JRR Tolkien uses in The Lord of the Rings. That was where the poem was written in successive pairs of lines each with 4 metrical beats – stressed syllables. That form is used by elves of Rivendell, and also hobbits, men, and … Continue reading The Music of Iluvatar – part 2<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,25,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","category-writing","category-writing-form"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1762"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1765,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions\/1765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}