Dragon's Journeys by DrummerWench

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Fanwork Notes

Inspired by Tolkien's "Fall of Arthur" and 'Sigurd and Gudrun".

Fanwork Information

Summary:

An addition to the Fairy Tales series that also fits on SWG.

Major Characters:

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Adventure, Poetry

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Fairy Tales of Middle-earth
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 266
Posted on 20 November 2015 Updated on 20 November 2015

This fanwork is complete.

Dragon's Journeys

Read Dragon's Journeys

Morgoth's downfall      dragon flees,

Escapes the aftermath      of Angband's wreckage.

In strength came Valar,       victors in arms.

Spears shaking,       smiting all foes.

Enemies evading,       arrowing sunward

Then south she flies      to steep mountains.

In riven valley      is refuge found.

Cavern close-guarded      creatures abandon

When dragon arrives.       Dread goes before.

Soon black and sere      is burnt valley;

Empty and bleak      is bare cavern.

Longing for treasure      left and scattered,

Hoard to rebuild      she hunts and searches.

The scent of gold,       the sound of gems

She follows ever      to find them hidden.

Little by little      her lair fills.

Years to yeni      yeni to ages,

Now slumbers she      on shining bed

Where gold gleams,       where glitter gems,

And jewels shimmer.       She sleeps soundly

Till old master rouses.       His minions abroad

She senses in dreams,       stirs in her cave.

Though Morgoth is gone      yet Gorthaur remains,

His will compelling      winds around hers.

Waking she knows      he wants her might

And flight and fire      fighting for him.

No rest will he grant      Gorthaur the cruel.

But now is she older,       needs she no master.

Bolder and wiser,       built she one hoard

Long ago and      long abandoned.

Another treasure      now she deserts,

Fleeing the dark      dread of Mordor.

Fear behind her,       flying northward

Clutching a pittance      of precious trove.

Gold to breed gold      she'll gather once more.

In icy mountains      ever snow-bound

Is valley narrow,       nearly hidden.

A cavern deep-      delved and remote.

More ages passed      ever more swift.

New hoard and better      brought she for slumber.

On heaps of gems      and jewels she drowsed.

Perhaps she still      sleeps there today.

 

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed it!

 

Comments

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Lovely poem! I can imagine this as a part of a Numenorean history.

(Completely spurious question: how did you get the format to work? I can't seem to get even simple line-spacing right, even with HTML, and as for indentation *shudders*. I'm curious as to how you've managed to fix the formatting, and completely in awe of your skils!)

*Applauds* 

This is fantastic, DW!  I can "hear" the Middle-earth equivalent of a skäld reciting these verses, and the entirety of the poem is very immersive, eliciting that frisson when you feel like you've entered another time and place, e.g., in a smoky hall of the Men of Westernesse in the Angle, for example, during their waning years in the Third Age. Hence, very Tolkienian!

 

Thank you, Pandë!  I'm so glad it works--that was exactly my intention!  In my framework of "Sam's Book of Tales", he collected it either in Rohan, as a tale brought south, and handed down, or in some little village he passed through during his travels.

It certainly did not appear the way the bards of old are said to have composed, extemporaneously, but little by little, a couple words at a time over several months.  So that part was not very Tolkien-like, as he seems to have been much more like those old bards in his abilities!  I'm thinking of his "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorthelm's Son" (for example), the short play in alliterative verse, which he apparently just dashed off!

This came out wonderfully well. I'm not familiar with this poetic format but it looks and sounds great, and that could not have been an easy task to accomplish. I'm a sucker for dragon stories and I could picture this ancient dragon collecting and guarding her treasure over time too vast to comprehend, then having to start all over again. I especially like the last line that she might still be out there somewhere sleeping on her hoard, ready to rise again to protect it.

Oh gosh, Bard, I just now noticed your review!

Thanks so much!  You are right, I found this difficult and time-consuming.  Although I am fairly pleased with the result (except I wish it were longer!), I think I'll stick with prose, and maybe a little rhyming verse.

I have wanted to add a dragon story for the longest time (I love dragons too, as you know), and this style seemed perfectly apt for one.  Also, I didn't want to make her an out-and-out villain, but for her to maaaaybe still be hibernating with her treasure in some remote snowy mountain.

So glad you liked it!