The Lay of Leithian

The remainder of the third book of The History of Middle-earth focuses on one large poem by J.R.R. Tolkien. Between the poem and commentaries over 200 pages are devoted to the poem of Beren and Lúthien. It also includes a very interesting critique of the poem by C.S. Lewis. It is an immense and fascinating work written in octosyllabic couplets--I've learned a thing or two about poetry in this book with the help of my neighbor (A Shakespearean who hales from England) and Christopher Tolkien's commentaries--though I am no expert. It rhymes, which makes it somewhat easier for me to read although it can get a little singsongy if one is not careful.

Uncharacteristically Tolkien dated his work throughout the creation of the this particular lay and wrote it between 1925-1931. It reaches a massive 4200+ lines written in 14 cantos. And perhaps most mind boggling is: it was not completed. The poem peters out just after the great Hell-wolf Carcharoth snapped off Beren's hand holding the Silmaril. And for those that know Beren and Lúthien's tale there is was much to come after this point.

Perhaps a unique way to show the massiveness of this poem is to simply quote it's title from the "B" text"

"The

GEST

of

BEREN son of BARAHIR

and 

LÚTHIEN the FAY

called

TINÚVIEL the NIGHTINGALE

or the

LAY OF LEITHIAN

Release from Bondage" (p. 153, The Lays of Beleriand).

While Christopher Tolkien does an excellent job of commenting on the textual history of the Lay and how it advances the big mythological picture I will not be focused on such things. Rather in my next several (14 to be exact) posts I will simply highlight a stanza from the Lay that I find moving, interesting, informative, etc.