Middle-earth Poetry (Silmarillion version) by Zdenka

A Lost Song

Spoken by descendants of the first Men to enter Beleriand (as told in in "The Coming of Men Into the West" from the Silmarillion). (Tanka.)

Read A Lost Song

The song of Finrod
that he sang to our fathers,
does the sea hold it?
When Beleriand was drowned,
did the waves catch its echo?

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Chapter End Notes

Written for Back to Middle-earth Month 2012. Prompts O70: "Poetic Forms: tanka" and "Book Titles: Dead Poets Society."

The Fall

Maeglin at the Fall of Gondolin. (Free verse.)

Warnings: Non-graphic violent death, attempted harm to a child.

Read The Fall

Too late, Maeglin sees his folly:
the Dark One never meant to keep his promises.
You will be spared, and those you favor.
Gondolin will cringe before you, my viceroy;
white-footed Idril
and all you can desire will be yours.
No, not so.
The dragons pour flame from every side,
their fierce jaws gaping.
Through the breached walls, the orcish hordes rush in.
Nothing will be spared, and no one.
Already the gold tree is aflame, and the silver tree follows.
But Idril – not her! She is too fair to perish
in the wrack of this unworthy city.
With Tuor gone, perhaps she might love him, even yet –
Quicker than the thought, he seizes her,
drags her from her dwelling –
the child cries, hinders him.
Son of Tuor! Let him perish. At the least
he’ll not be robbed of his revenge.
The city wall is near – but a moment,
and Tuor’s son will never cry again to vex him.
Calamity! Suddenly returned,
Tuor falls upon him like an eagle.
A moment more, hurled forth –
clutching air, falling –
and he is cast into darkness without a star.

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Chapter End Notes

Written for Back to Middle-earth Month 2012. Prompts B13: "Poetic Forms: free verse" and G59: "Cause of Death: Falling."

Erendis to Aldarion

Erendis has doubts over Aldarion’s courtship. (Sapphics.)

Read Erendis to Aldarion

If the King’s son wishes to wed Erendis,
let not joy be followed by later sorrow.
I would fain, Aldarion, trust your promise,
yet my heart doubts you.

To the kingly line, longer life is given;
you may spend the years as you wish, unthinking.
But to me a far lesser span is granted;
I cannot tarry.

Will you give me all of your heart as husband?
Can you put aside the sea-longing for me?
Will I, half a widow, wait for your coming
through the long seasons?

Love me or do not – I’ll have no half-measures.
I am not a game for your times of leisure.
‘Tis no game to me; if you truly love me,
love me in earnest.

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Chapter End Notes

Written for Back to Middle-earth Month 2012. Prompts O64: "Book Title: The Importance of Being Earnest" and "Poetic Forms: Sapphic."

The Unfinished Poem

Taken from her house in order to wed the King, Inzilbêth tries to express her feelings in poetry to the woman she loves. (Sapphic verse. Also a true drabble, as counted by MS Word.)

Read The Unfinished Poem

Oh my love, my thoughts are in such disorder,
just like ants, their colony broken open,
when the small black bodies run frantic, seeking
hither and thither.

Gimilzôr the King--he would have me wed him.
This must be a bitter charade of marriage;
how can there be gladness between us when my
heart is unwilling?

From the King come jewels I take no joy in;
but to you, since fate did not wish us happy,
one last gift, this necklace of golden amber,
ere I must leave you.

Only moments left--and the poem I started
still is unfinished--

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Chapter End Notes

Written for the Silmarillion Writers' Guild/Silmladylove Tolkien Femslash Week Bingo, for the prompts:

Formats and Genres: Sapphic Stanza (O43)
Four Words: charade, amber, colony, moment (I12)
Opposites Attract: star-crossed lovers (O43)

The Akallabêth in the Silmarillion tells how Ar-Gimilzôr was a king of Númenor who scorned the Valar, and hated and distrusted the Elf-friends. Inzilbêth, who was "renowned for her beauty," was kin to the Lords of Andúnië and secretly one of the Faithful. Ar-Gimilzôr married her against her will, and "No love was there between Ar-Gimilzôr and his queen."