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The '''Song of Eärendel''' (so named in the index of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'') was song written by [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]] and [[Aragorn]], and song by Bilbo when the [[hobbits]] reached [[Rivendell]].
[[File:Anke Eißmann - Frodo's dream of Eärendil.jpg|thumb|''Frodo's dream of Eärendil'' by [[Anke Eißmann]]]]
==Division of the Poem==
The '''Song of Eärendil'''<ref>{{RK|I1a}}</ref>, or '''Eärendil was a mariner'''<ref>{{RK|I1b}}</ref>, was a song written by [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]] and [[Aragorn]], and sung by Bilbo when the [[hobbits]] reached [[Rivendell]].<ref>{{FR|Meetings}}</ref>
 
It is believed that the ''Song'' is a reworking of an earlier nonsensical poem ''[[Errantry]]'', most probably also composed by Bilbo after his return from the [[Quest for Erebor]], lightheartedly incorporating Elvish elements. Perhaps because Bilbo was proud of ''Errantry'''s metrical devices, he transformed and (incongruously) applied that poem to the legends of the [[First Age]].<ref>{{ATB|Foreword}}</ref>
==Structure==
# An introduction to him and the building of his [[Vingilot|ship]]
# An introduction to him and the building of his [[Vingilot|ship]]
# A detailed description of him, whose final line was supposedly influenced by [[Aragorn]]
# A detailed description of him, whose final line was supposedly influenced by [[Aragorn]]
Line 10: Line 13:
# How he left Valinor
# How he left Valinor
# How he passed over [[Middle-earth]] and became as a [[Star of Eärendil|star]]
# How he passed over [[Middle-earth]] and became as a [[Star of Eärendil|star]]
==The Poem==
 
{{quote|[[Eärendil]] was a mariner<br>that tarried in [[Arvernien]];<br>he built a boat of timber felled<br>in [[Nimbrethil]] to journey in;<br>her sails he wove of silver fair,<br>of silver were her lanterns made,<br>her prow was fashioned like a swan,<br>and light upon her banners laid.<br><br>In panoply of ancient kings,<br>in chainéd rings he armoured him;<br>his shining shield was scored with runes<br>to ward all wounds and harm from him;<br>his bow was made of dragon-horn,<br>his arrows shorn of ebony;<br>of silver was his habergeon,<br>his scabbard of chalcedony;<br>his sword of steel was valiant,<br>of adamant his helmet tall,<br>an eagle-plume upon his crest,<br>upon his breast an emerald.<br><br>Beneath the Moon and under star<br>he wandered far from northern strands,<br>bewildered on enchanted ways<br>beyond the days of mortal lands.<br>From gnashing of the [[Narrow Ice]]<br>where shadow lies on frozen hills,<br>from nether heats and burning waste<br>he turned in haste, and roving still<br>on starless waters far astray<br>at last he came to Night of Naught,<br>and passed, and never sight he saw<br>of shining shore nor light he sought.<br>The winds of wrath came driving him,<br>and blindly in the foam he fled<br>from west to east and errandless,<br>unheralded he homeward sped.<br><br>There flying [[Elwing]] came to him,<br>and flame was in the darkness lit;<br>more bright than light of diamond<br>the fire on her carcanet.<br>The [[Silmaril]] she bound on him<br>and crowned him with the living light<br>and dauntless then with burning brow<br>he turned his prow; and in the night<br>from Otherworld beyond the Sea<br>there strong and free a storm arose,<br>a wind of power in [[Tarmenel]];<br>by paths that seldom mortal goes<br>his boat it bore with biting breath<br>as might of death across the grey<br>and long forsaken seas distressed;<br>from east to west he passed away.<br><br>Through Evernight he back was borne<br>on black and roaring waves that ran<br>o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores<br>that drowned before the Days began,<br>until he heard on strands of pearl<br>where ends the world the music long,<br>where ever-foaming billows roll<br>the yellow gold and jewels wan.<br>He saw the Mountain silent rise<br>where twilight lies upon the knees<br>of [[Valinor]], and [[Eldamar]]<br>beheld afar beyond the seas.<br>A wanderer escaped from night<br>to haven white he came at last,<br>to Elvenhome the green and fair<br>where keen the air, where pale as glass<br>beneath the Hill of [[Ilmarin]]<br>a-glimmer in a valley sheer<br>the lamplit towers of [[Tirion]]<br>are mirrored on the Shadowmere.<br><br>He tarried there from errantry,<br>and melodies they taught to him,<br>and sages old him marvels told,<br>and harps of gold they brought to him.<br>They clothed him then in elven-white,<br>and seven lights before him sent,<br>as through the [[Calacirian]]<br>to hidden land forlorn he went.<br>He came unto the timeless halls<br>where shining fall the countless years,<br>and endless reigns the [[Elder King]]<br>in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer;<br>and words unheard were spoken then<br>of folk and [[Men]] and [[elves|Elven-kin]],<br>beyond the world were visions showed<br>forbid to those that dwell therein.<br><br>A ship then new they built for him<br>of mithril and of elven-glass<br>with shining prow; no shaven oar<br>nor sail she bore on silver mast:<br>the Silmaril as lantern light<br>and banner bright with living flame<br>to gleam thereon by [[Varda|Elbereth]]<br>herself was set, who thither came<br>and wings immortal made for him,<br>and laid on him undying doom,<br>to sail the shoreless skies and come<br>behind the [[Sun]] and light of [[Moon]].<br><br>From [[Evereven|Evereven's]] lofty hills<br>where softly silver fountains fall<br>his wings him bore, a wandering light,<br>beyond the mighty [[Mountain Wall]].<br>From a World's End there he turned away,<br>and yearned again to find afar<br>his home through shadows journeying,<br>and burning as an island star<br>on high above the mists he came,<br>a distant flame before the Sun,<br>a wonder ere the waking dawn<br>where grey the Norland waters run.<br><br>And over [[Middle-earth]] he passed<br>and heard at last the weeping sore<br>of women and of elven-maids<br>in [[Elder Days]], in years of yore.<br>But on him mighty doom was laid,<br>till Moon should fade, an orbéd star<br>to pass, and tarry never more<br>on [[Hither Shore|Hither Shores]] where [[Mortals]] are;<br>for ever still a herald on<br>an errand that should never rest<br>to bear his shining lamp afar,<br>the Flammifer of [[Westernesse]].|[[The Fellowship of the Ring]], [[Many Meetings]]}}
==The poem==
<poem style="font-style:italic; margin-left:20px;">
[[Eärendil]] was a mariner<br>that tarried in [[Arvernien]];<br>he built a boat of timber felled<br>in [[Nimbrethil]] to journey in;<br>her sails he wove of silver fair,<br>of silver were her lanterns made,<br>her prow was fashioned like a swan,<br>and light upon her banners laid.<br><br>In panoply of ancient kings,<br>in chainéd rings he armoured him;<br>his shining shield was scored with runes<br>to ward all wounds and harm from him;<br>his bow was made of dragon-horn,<br>his arrows shorn of ebony;<br>of silver was his habergeon,<br>his scabbard of chalcedony;<br>his sword of steel was valiant,<br>of adamant his helmet tall,<br>an eagle-plume upon his crest,<br>upon his breast an emerald.<br><br>Beneath the Moon and under star<br>he wandered far from northern strands,<br>bewildered on enchanted ways<br>beyond the days of mortal lands.<br>From gnashing of the [[Narrow Ice]]<br>where shadow lies on frozen hills,<br>from nether heats and burning waste<br>he turned in haste, and roving still<br>on starless waters far astray<br>at last he came to Night of Naught,<br>and passed, and never sight he saw<br>of shining shore nor light he sought.<br>The winds of wrath came driving him,<br>and blindly in the foam he fled<br>from west to east and errandless,<br>unheralded he homeward sped.<br><br>There flying [[Elwing]] came to him,<br>and flame was in the darkness lit;<br>more bright than light of diamond<br>the fire upon her carcanet.<br>The [[Silmaril]] she bound on him<br>and crowned him with the living light<br>and dauntless then with burning brow<br>he turned his prow; and in the night<br>from Otherworld beyond the Sea<br>there strong and free a storm arose,<br>a wind of power in [[Tarmenel]];<br>by paths that seldom mortal goes<br>his boat it bore with biting breath<br>as might of death across the grey<br>and long forsaken seas distressed;<br>from east to west he passed away.<br><br>Through Evernight he back was borne<br>on black and roaring waves that ran<br>o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores<br>that drowned before the Days began,<br>until he heard on strands of pearl<br>where ends the world the music long,<br>where ever-foaming billows roll<br>the yellow gold and jewels wan.<br>He saw the Mountain silent rise<br>where twilight lies upon the knees<br>of [[Valinor]], and [[Eldamar]]<br>beheld afar beyond the seas.<br>A wanderer escaped from night<br>to haven white he came at last,<br>to Elvenhome the green and fair<br>where keen the air, where pale as glass<br>beneath the Hill of [[Ilmarin]]<br>a-glimmer in a valley sheer<br>the lamplit towers of [[Tirion]]<br>are mirrored on the Shadowmere.<br><br>He tarried there from errantry,<br>and melodies they taught to him,<br>and sages old him marvels told,<br>and harps of gold they brought to him.<br>They clothed him then in elven-white,<br>and seven lights before him sent,<br>as through the [[Calacirian]]<br>to hidden land forlorn he went.<br>He came unto the timeless halls<br>where shining fall the countless years,<br>and endless reigns the [[Elder King]]<br>in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer;<br>and words unheard were spoken then<br>of folk of [[Men]] and [[elves|Elven-kin]],<br>beyond the world were visions showed<br>forbid to those that dwell therein.<br><br>A ship then new they built for him<br>of mithril and of elven-glass<br>with shining prow; no shaven oar<br>nor sail she bore on silver mast:<br>the Silmaril as lantern light<br>and banner bright with living flame<br>to gleam thereon by [[Varda|Elbereth]]<br>herself was set, who thither came<br>and wings immortal made for him,<br>and laid on him undying doom,<br>to sail the shoreless skies and come<br>behind the [[Sun]] and light of [[Moon]].<br><br>From [[Evereven|Evereven's]] lofty hills<br>where softly silver fountains fall<br>his wings him bore, a wandering light,<br>beyond the mighty [[Mountain Wall]].<br>From World's End there he turned away,<br>and yearned again to find afar<br>his home through shadows journeying,<br>and burning as an island star<br>on high above the mists he came,<br>a distant flame before the Sun,<br>a wonder ere the waking dawn<br>where grey the Norland waters run.<br><br>And over [[Middle-earth]] he passed<br>and heard at last the weeping sore<br>of women and of elven-maids<br>in [[Elder Days]], in years of yore.<br>But on him mighty doom was laid,<br>till Moon should fade, an orbéd star<br>to pass, and tarry never more<br>on [[Hither Shore|Hither Shores]] where [[Mortals]] are;<br>for ever still a herald on<br>an errand that should never rest<br>to bear his shining lamp afar,<br>the Flammifer of [[Westernesse]].</poem>


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Errantry]]
* [[Errantry]]
[[Category:Poems]]
* [[The Lay of Eärendel]]
* [[Poems in The Lord of the Rings|Poems in ''The Lord of the Rings'']]
{{references}}
==External links==
*[http://www.councilofelrond.com/poem/the-short-lay-of-earendel-earendillinwe/ Eärendillinwë], the latest form of the Song of Eärendil, which was not published in ''Fellowship''
[[Category:Poems in The Fellowship of the Ring]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[de:Lied über Earendil]]
[[de:Lied über Earendil]]
[[fi:Eärendil, kyntäjä merien]]

Revision as of 18:39, 3 March 2021

Frodo's dream of Eärendil by Anke Eißmann

The Song of Eärendil[1], or Eärendil was a mariner[2], was a song written by Bilbo and Aragorn, and sung by Bilbo when the hobbits reached Rivendell.[3]

It is believed that the Song is a reworking of an earlier nonsensical poem Errantry, most probably also composed by Bilbo after his return from the Quest for Erebor, lightheartedly incorporating Elvish elements. Perhaps because Bilbo was proud of Errantry's metrical devices, he transformed and (incongruously) applied that poem to the legends of the First Age.[4]

Structure

  1. An introduction to him and the building of his ship
  2. A detailed description of him, whose final line was supposedly influenced by Aragorn
  3. A description of his fruitless wanderings in search of Valinor
  4. How Elwing his wife flew to him in the form of a bird and bound the jewel to his forehead
  5. How he found Valinor
  6. Concerning his stay there
  7. How they built a new ship for him, and how Elbereth gave him wings
  8. How he left Valinor
  9. How he passed over Middle-earth and became as a star

The poem

Eärendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow was fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.

In panoply of ancient kings,
in chainéd rings he armoured him;
his shining shield was scored with runes
to ward all wounds and harm from him;
his bow was made of dragon-horn,
his arrows shorn of ebony;
of silver was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
his sword of steel was valiant,
of adamant his helmet tall,
an eagle-plume upon his crest,
upon his breast an emerald.

Beneath the Moon and under star
he wandered far from northern strands,
bewildered on enchanted ways
beyond the days of mortal lands.
From gnashing of the Narrow Ice
where shadow lies on frozen hills,
from nether heats and burning waste
he turned in haste, and roving still
on starless waters far astray
at last he came to Night of Naught,
and passed, and never sight he saw
of shining shore nor light he sought.
The winds of wrath came driving him,
and blindly in the foam he fled
from west to east and errandless,
unheralded he homeward sped.

There flying Elwing came to him,
and flame was in the darkness lit;
more bright than light of diamond
the fire upon her carcanet.
The Silmaril she bound on him
and crowned him with the living light
and dauntless then with burning brow
he turned his prow; and in the night
from Otherworld beyond the Sea
there strong and free a storm arose,
a wind of power in Tarmenel;
by paths that seldom mortal goes
his boat it bore with biting breath
as might of death across the grey
and long forsaken seas distressed;
from east to west he passed away.

Through Evernight he back was borne
on black and roaring waves that ran
o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores
that drowned before the Days began,
until he heard on strands of pearl
where ends the world the music long,
where ever-foaming billows roll
the yellow gold and jewels wan.
He saw the Mountain silent rise
where twilight lies upon the knees
of Valinor, and Eldamar
beheld afar beyond the seas.
A wanderer escaped from night
to haven white he came at last,
to Elvenhome the green and fair
where keen the air, where pale as glass
beneath the Hill of Ilmarin
a-glimmer in a valley sheer
the lamplit towers of Tirion
are mirrored on the Shadowmere.

He tarried there from errantry,
and melodies they taught to him,
and sages old him marvels told,
and harps of gold they brought to him.
They clothed him then in elven-white,
and seven lights before him sent,
as through the Calacirian
to hidden land forlorn he went.
He came unto the timeless halls
where shining fall the countless years,
and endless reigns the Elder King
in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer;
and words unheard were spoken then
of folk of Men and Elven-kin,
beyond the world were visions showed
forbid to those that dwell therein.

A ship then new they built for him
of mithril and of elven-glass
with shining prow; no shaven oar
nor sail she bore on silver mast:
the Silmaril as lantern light
and banner bright with living flame
to gleam thereon by Elbereth
herself was set, who thither came
and wings immortal made for him,
and laid on him undying doom,
to sail the shoreless skies and come
behind the Sun and light of Moon.

From Evereven's lofty hills
where softly silver fountains fall
his wings him bore, a wandering light,
beyond the mighty Mountain Wall.
From World's End there he turned away,
and yearned again to find afar
his home through shadows journeying,
and burning as an island star
on high above the mists he came,
a distant flame before the Sun,
a wonder ere the waking dawn
where grey the Norland waters run.

And over Middle-earth he passed
and heard at last the weeping sore
of women and of elven-maids
in Elder Days, in years of yore.
But on him mighty doom was laid,
till Moon should fade, an orbéd star
to pass, and tarry never more
on Hither Shores where Mortals are;
for ever still a herald on
an errand that should never rest
to bear his shining lamp afar,
the Flammifer of Westernesse.

See also

References

External links

  • Eärendillinwë, the latest form of the Song of Eärendil, which was not published in Fellowship