The Short Lay of Eärendel: Eärendillinwë

The Short Lay of Eärendel: EärendillinwëThe History of Middle-earth, Vol. VII: The Treason of Isengard, V: "Bilbo's Song at Rivendell: Errantry and Eärendillinwë", pgs. 102-3, note 26, also known as the Eärendillinwë,The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, pgs. 210-4 and "Eärendil was a mariner"The Lord of the Rings, Vol. III: The Return of the King, Index: I, "Poems and Stories", was a song written primarily by Bilbo Baggins, though his friend Aragorn II helped with a few of its lines.The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. I: "Many Meetings", pgs. 246-50 Its name should be pronounced as ay-ah-ren-dil-lin-way.
==History==
The Short Lay of Eärendel: Eärendillinwë was said to have been a transformation of Errantry, an earlier nonsensical poem written by Bilbo likely "in the early days after" the Quest of Erebor. The metrical devices found in Errantry were carried over to the Eärendillinwë, where they were applied incongruously to the legends of Eärendil in the First Age. This was probably done because Bilbo was proud of inventing them.The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, "Preface", pg. 8
Bilbo performed the song in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell after the feast celebrating Frodo Baggins's recovery from the wound that he suffered on Weathertop Hill. Apparently, Bilbo had asked his listeners to guess which parts he wrote and which were Aragorn's work, as the Elves gathered around requested a second recital of the song in order to make their guess, much to Bilbo's dismay. As Lindir commented, speaking on behalf of his people, "It is not easy for us to tell the difference between two mortals".
Bilbo later told Frodo that Aragorn merely insisted on putting in a green stone and that the rest was his own work. Aragorn also commented that "if I had the cheek to make verses about Eärendil in the house of Elrond, it was my affair".
==Text==
Eärendil was a marinerthat tarried in Arvernien;he built a boat of timber felledin Nimbrethil to journey in;her sails he wove of silver fair,with silver were her banners sewn;her prow he fashioned like the swansthat white upon the Falas roam.His coat that came from ancient kings,in chainéd rings was forged of old;his shining shield all wounds defied,with runes entwined of dwarven gold.his bow was made of dragon-horn,his arrows shorn of ebony,of triple-steel his habergeon,his scabbard of chalcedony;his sword was like a flame in sheath,with gems was wreathed his helmet tall,an eagle-plume upon his crest,upon his breast an emerald.Beneath the Moon and under starhe wandered far from northern strands,bewildered on enchanted waysbeyond the days of mortal lands.From gnashing of the Narrow Icewhere shadow lies on frozen hills,from nether heats and burning wastehe turned in haste, and roving stillon starless waters far astrayat last he came to Night of Naught,and passed, and never sight he sawof shining shore nor light he sought.The winds of fear came driving him,and blindly in the foam he fledfrom west to east and errandless,unheralded he homeward sped.In might the Fëanorians that swore the unforgotten oathbrought war into Arvernienwith burning and with broken troth;and Elwing from her fastness dimthen cast her in the waters wide,but like a mew was swiftly borne,uplifted o’er the roaring tide.Through hopeless night she came to him,and flame was in the darkness lit;more bright than light of diamondthe fire upon her carcanet.The Silmaril she bound on himand crowned him with the living lightand dauntless then with burning browhe turned his prow at middle-night.Beyond the world, beyond the Sea,then strong and free a storm arose,a wind of power in Tarmenel;by paths that seldom mortal goesfrom Middle-earth on mighty breathas flying wraith across the greyand long-forsaken seas distressedfrom East to West he passed away.Through Evernight he back was borneon black and roaring waves that rano'er leagues unlit and foundered shoresthat drowned before the Days began,until he hears on strands of pearlwhere ends the world the music long,where ever-foaming billows rollthe yellow gold and jewels wan.He saw the Mountain silent risewhere twilight lies upon its kneesof Valinor, and Eldamarbeheld afar beyond the seas.A wanderer escaped from nightto haven white he came at last,to Elvenhome the green and fairwhere keen the air, where pale as glassbeneath the hill of Ilmarina-glimmer in a valley sheerthe lamplit towers of Tirionare 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 Calacirianto hidden land forlorn he went.He came unto the timeless hallswhere shining fall the countless years,and endless reigns the Elder Kingin Ilmarin on mountain sheer;and words unheard were spoken thenof folk of Men and Elven-kin,beyond the world were visions showedforbid to those that dwell therein.A ship then new they built for himof mithril and of elvenglasswith crystal keel; no shaven oarnor sail she bore, on silver mast:the Silmaril as lantern lightand banner bright with living flameto gleam thereon by Elberethherself was set, who thither cameand wings immortal made for him,and laid on him undying doom,to sail the shoreless skies and comebehind the Sun and light of Moon.From Evereven's lofty hillswhere softly silver fountains fallhis wings him bore, a wandering light,beyond the mighty Mountain Wall.From World's End then he turned away,and yearned again to find afarhis home through shadows journeying,and burning as an island staron high above the mists he came,a distant flame before the Sun,a wonder ere the waking dawnwhere grey the Norland waters run.And over Middle-earth he passedand heard at last the weeping soreof women and of elven-maidsin Elder Days, in years of yore.But on him mighty doom was laid,till Moon should fade, an orbéd starto pass, and tarry never moreon Hither Shores where Mortals are;till end of days on errand high,a herald bright that never rests,to bear his shining lamp afar,the Flammifer of Westernesse.
==In other versions==
Among the various versions of the poem, there is one version which Christopher Tolkien believed that his father most likely intended for publication instead of the one that was published in The Fellowship of the Ring. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull mention that when they were editing the 2004 edition of The Lord of the Rings, they chose not to reinsert the poem that Tolkien intended to include, choosing instead to keep the published version and to just mention the situation in commentary.
In the third chapter of The Lays of Beleriand, there is a fragment of a Lay of Eärendel with no title. It was written around 1918, in time with The Lay of the Children of Húrin.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III, The Lays of Beleriand, Ch. I, "The Lay of the Children of Húrin
==Inspiration==
The Short Lay of Eärendel: Eärendillinwë is derived from the earlier poem Errantry, which was originally published on November 9 in 1933. Years later, when Tolkien was writing the "Many Meetings" chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, he revised Errantry to use it in the book. After fifteen revisions, it reached the form as it was published.The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. xxiii In 1962, Errantry was published as part of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book.The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, No. 3: "Errantry", pg. 8 Both Errantry and the Eärendillinwë use trisyllabic assonances or near-assonances in a meter which Tolkien had invented.The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 133The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, "Commentary" This fact passed into the legendarium, as the Preface says that Bilbo was probably proud of his meter and used it as a model for the Eärendillinwë.
==See also==
* Errantry
* Lay of Eärendil
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Lied van Eärendil
Albanian 	Kënga e Eärendil
Arabic 	نشيد إيرنديل
Armenian 	Երգ Էարենդիլ
Bosnian 	Pjesma Eärendila
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Песен на Еарендил
Catalan 	Càntic de Eàrendil
Czech 	Píseň Eärendilova
Danish 	Eärendils sang
Dutch 	Lied van Eärendil
Finnish 	Eärendilin laulu
French 	Le Chant de Eärendil
Georgian 	ეარენდილი სიმღერა
German 	Lied über Earendil
Hebrew 	שיר איארנדיל
Hungarian 	Eärendil dala
Icelandic 	Söng Eärendil
Indonesian 	Lagu Eärendil
Irish Gaelic 	Amhrán Eärendil
Italian 	Canto a Eärendil
Luxembourgish 	Lidd vun Eärendil
Malagasy 	Tononkiran'i Eärendil
Norwegian 	Eärendils sang
Polish 	Pieśń Eärendil
Portuguese 	Cântico de Eärendil
Romanian 	Cântarea lui Eärendil
Russian 	Песнь Эарендиль
Scottish Gaelic 	Òran Eärendil
Slovak 	Pieseň Eärendil
Slovenian 	Eärendilova pesem
Spanish 	Canción de Eärendil
Swahili 	Wimbo Ulio Eärendil
Swedish 	Eärendils sång
Turkish 	Eärendil'ın Ezgisi
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Пісня Еаренділа
Welsh 	Cân Eärendil
Yiddish 	שיר ײאַרענדיל
Yoruba 	Orin Earendilì
Zulu 	Ingoma kaEärendili
==References==
it:Canto a Eärendil
Category:Poems in The Fellowship of the Ring