Lúthien's song
|
Ir
Ithil ammen Eruchín |
When the Moon, jewel of the firmament, shines on the watch for us, Children of the One, then flower and tree, listen in silence! O Lady of the West, Starkindler, to thee I sing, Tinúviel myself! |
This poem was written in the 50s or afterwards when Tolkien went back to the Lay of Leithian - published in The Lays of Beleriand. The style is the same as in the hymn of the Elves A Elbereth Gilthoniel, and it is evidently another song of praise to Elbereth. Neither J. R. R. Tolkien nor Christopher his son gave any translation of the poem; yet it is fairly well understood, even if not everything is clear in it: the syntax especially is difficult and probably much bent for the sake of the metre. Our English translation is based on one possible interpretation. It shall be remembered that Tinúviel "Nightingale" is the nickname given by Beren to Lúthien.
Quotations of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Édouard Kloczko, Christopher Gilson, Patrick Wynne, Rhona Beare, Thomas Alan Shippey, Charles Kennedy, Elaine Treharne, André Crépin, Régis Boyer, François-Xavier Dillmann, Gabriel Rebourcet, Keith Bosley, Pierre-Yves Lambert, Gwyn Jones, Thomas Jones are under the copyright of their publishers.
Last update of the site : 2006, August 9th.
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