This is just to say… by Himring

Paths of Story

I had briefly toyed with the idea of writing "This is just to say..."  (or rather an earlier version of that concept) in verse, as a fill for the tolkienfanworks challenge to write a piece based on any of the verse forms used by Bilbo.

That idea came to nothing, but my eventual fill for that challenge nevertheless is on a related subject. I decided to post this little poem as a second chapter here on this Archive, although I am posting the two pieces independently on other sites.

Summary: 

Walking song for a teller of stories.
(And maybe for readers of stories or listeners to stories, too.)

Adaptation of a familiar song by Bilbo.

My short piece here stays very close to Bilbo's own verse, but I think my adaptation brings out one of Tolkien's central themes (that was perhaps already implied and is also close to my own heart) more clearly and more strongly.

Tales go ever on and on.
Who of us knows when they began?
The winding ways the tales have gone,
I will still follow if I can,
Pursue their paths with eager feet,
Until they join another lay
Where many strands and stories meet.
And whither then? Well, who can say?