The Mewlips

The Mewlips was a nonsensical, but eerie poem about a mythicalThe Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, commentary, no. 9: "The Mewlips" race that made a habitat somewhere in Middle-earth. The poem is the only one in the collection that is not referenced in the "Preface", and therefore no background is given about it.The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, Introduction Several locations are mentioned in this poem that do not appear on the known map, while it is possible the Merlock Mountains is the fictitious imagination created by the poet on what little Hobbits knew of the outside world, although it is also possible this references the Misty Mountains.
==First stanza==
:The shadows where the Mewlips dwell
::Are dark and wet as ink,
:And slow and softly rings their bell,
::As in the slime you sink.The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, no. 9: "The Mewlips", pgs. 45-6
==In other versions==
===Knocking at the Door===
In possibly 1927, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a poem entitled Knocking at the Door: Lines Induced by Sensations on Waiting for an Answer at the Door of a Reverend and Academic Person. Tolkien later struck the subtitle through and then restored it. The poem was later first published on February 18 of 1937 under the pseudonym Oxymore as no. 13: Knocking at the Door: Lines Induced by Sensation When Waiting for an Answer at the Door of an Exalted Academic Person on page 403 in issue 55 of the Oxford Magazine.The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, II: "Reader's Guide", pgs. 585-6"Oxford Magazine. February 1937" on tolkienbooks.net
===Further revisions===
In 1962, Tolkien rewrote the poem as The Mewlips for The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book.
==In adaptations==
Richard Svensson released a stop-animation short film of "The Mewlips", with accompanying music by Colin Rudd."The Mewlips" on YouTube, November 11, 2008
Dutch black metal band Walpurgisnacht released their musical interpretation of "The Mewlips", with the poem being the lyrics to their music."Walpurgisnacht - 03 - The Mewlips" on YouTube, October 9, 2014
==Translations==
Translated name 	
Arabic 	القطط اللزجة
Chinese 	缪利普
Dutch 	De Muspels
Finnish 	Naukuhuulet
French 	Les Miaulabres
Georgian 	მიულიპები
German 	Die Muhlipps
Hebrew 	האשמנים
Italian 	I Mewlips
Japanese 	ミューリップ族
Korean 	이상한 것
Persian 	را مولیپ‌ها
Spanish 	Los Maulladores
Swedish 	Dyvättarna
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Нявкуни
==References==
de:Die Muhlipps
Category:Poems in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil