Review of "The Battle of Maldon" by Narya

In the last entry in this series, Lyra described Tolkien's legacy as "the gift that keeps on giving"¹—and so it certainly seems. Less than a year after the publication of The Fall of Númenor, here we are with another posthumous Tolkien title to add to our collections. This time, however, rather than revisiting Middle-earth, we are invited to explore the language, literature, and history of tenth-century England.

J. R. R. Tolkien called The Battle of Maldon "the last surviving fragment of ancient English heroic minstrelsy".² This latest publication from his literary and academic back catalogue brings together his prose translation of the poem (or rather, of the 325 lines that survive) with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son, the verse play it inspired. Also included is Tolkien's lecture "The Tradition of Versification in Old English", along with essays, commentaries, and reflections by the book's editor, Tolkien scholar Peter Grybauskas. 

The titular battle took place in 991 CE beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, and ended in Anglo-Saxon defeat. The death of the Ealdorman Byrhtnoth—rendered Beorhtnoth by Tolkien in Homecoming, who noted Byrht as "a Late West Saxon change"³—is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The poem memorialising these events was a subject of scholarship for Tolkien across many decades, and, as Grybauskas explores, exerted notable influence on his Middle-earth legendarium.

Part One: The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son

Tolkien fans may well have a copy of Homecoming on their shelves already. Following its 1953 publication in Essays and Studies by Members of the English Association, it was reprinted in 1966 in The Tolkien Reader and again in later editions of Tree and Leaf. In all instances it was published with its accompanying essay "Ofermod", which also appears here and says much about Tolkien's views on heroism, chivalry, honour, and the Northern spirit .

For the uninitiated, Homecoming is a piece of alliterative verse drama set after the disastrous (for the English) Battle of Maldon. It recounts the fictional quest of Torthelm (Totta) and Tdwald (Tda) to retrieve Beorhtnoth's body. Totta is a "gleeman", a young minstrel with a head "full of old lays".⁴ Tda is a farmer, an older and altogether more practical character. The play explores their differing worldviews, the horrors of battle, and the terrors of the supernatural, and ends by suggesting the identity of the lost Maldon poet.

The book's dust jacket calls this the "definitive" edition of the play,⁵ and Grybauskas's editorial treatment is certainly insightful. His notes shed light on Tolkien's linguistic decisions and call out links with the Middle-earth texts (cf. "new weapon of the old metal" with the familiar Tolkien trope of a sword reforged, and Totta's wish to be "left with the luggage" with Pippin's complaint at the same treatment)⁶ and Tolkien's past (for example, the suggestions of influence by Tolkien's school friend Geoffrey Bache Smith, a victim of the First World War).⁷ The introductory essay, meanwhile, gives a new and helpful overview of the composition and publication history of Homecoming, and Tolkien's engagement with the poem that inspired it.

Part Two: The Battle of Maldon

This section comprises a short overview of the text drawn from Tolkien's own introductory comments, a brief editorial note by Grybauskas, and then a prose translation—albeit the line markers are indicated for readers who wish to refer to the Old English. The treatment may initially be jarring to readers expecting something akin to Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (verse), or Beowulf (prose, but deliberately rhythmic and often alliterative).  Grybauskas argues that Tolkien here was "not concerned with poetic effect, but with the struggle to pin down with some precision the poet's narrative."⁸ Scholars of Old English literature will no doubt have their own views on whether he succeeded. For this reader, Tolkien's translation brings an aching sharpness and clarity that evokes his battle scenes in The Lord of the Rings—and it is hard not to be struck anew by the similarities between Byrhtnoth riding "point to point",⁹ urging on his men, and Jackson's staging of the Ride of the Rohirrim in the 2003 film of The Return of the King.

Also presented is a selection of Tolkien's notes on the poem, chosen from the Bodleian manuscripts to highlight "the range of Tolkien's interests in the history, language and narrative of the poem".¹⁰ The notes cite Tolkien's translation followed by the line number and the Old English text, again making this a useful resource for readers who wish to refer back to the source material and perhaps compare with other translations.

Part Three: The Tradition of Versification in Old English

The third part of the book takes us deeper into academic territory. This is the longest of the texts included in this volume—the first publication of a lecture Tolkien delivered at Oxford in the 1920s or '30s. The lecture touches on the "kinds" of Old English poetry and goes on to explore the relationship between meter and language, "minstrelsy and letters", and the idea of a poetic tradition.¹¹

This section is likely to be of at least as much interest to students of medieval languages as it is to those focused on Tolkien's more famous texts—though admittedly there is significant overlap between those two groups! It is likely to be of particular interest to scholars of Tolkien's invented languages, since linguistic development and the cultural clues it leaves behind were the foundations upon which he built his imaginary worlds. The material is, however, fairly technical—far more so than, for example, his more famous essay On Fairy-stories. The lecture is a significant proportion of the book's page count, so this is something to bear in mind when deciding whether to invest in a copy.

Appendices

The appendices contain further reference/technical material to support Versification, as well as an early, rhyming version of Homecoming; elaboration on the development of the play; and an essay further exploring the influence of Maldon on the Middle-earth texts. Grybauskas openly acknowledges his debt to other scholars who have traversed this territory, in particular the exploration of ofermod in relation to Túrin and Boromir, and concludes with reflections on the respective roles of poet/chronicler and reader.

Conclusion

The Battle of Maldon, together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth may not have obvious appeal for casual fans, but it is certainly a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Tolkien's work on Old English poetry and its influence on his legendarium. The critical commentary is insightful and engaging, if not revolutionary, and forms a persuasive whole. The hardback volume is sturdy and handsome, and, as a bonus, contains a plate showing part of the original manuscript of Homecoming. The folio edition is a thing of beauty, with a price tag to match. Whether either volume is an essential purchase for your collection will depend on which facet(s) of Tolkien's work appeal to you the most.

Works Cited

1. Lyra, "Read & Review: The Fall of Númenor," Silmarillion Writers' Guild, February 16, 2023, accessed May 23, 2023
2. The Battle of Maldon, together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, dust jacket.
3. Ibid., 36.
4. Ibid., 5.
5. Ibid., dust jacket.
6. Ibid., 42.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid., 56.
9. Ibid., 57.
10. Ibid., 68.
11. Ibid., 85-126.