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Interesting link!

FarFromHome
Valinor


Oct 9 2012, 9:55am


Views: 913
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Interesting link! [In reply to] Can't Post

Thanks for that.

This (from the website you linked to) strikes me as something that would have drawn Tolkien:
The poets of the Alliterative Revival used the traditional line of Anglo-Saxon poetry, which had disappeared from written records about two centuries before and was revived by a number of poets (mainly living in the West and North of England) in the fourteenth century. Evidently the style of alliterative poetry had been preserved by popular, unlettered poets who continued to compose and transmit poems by oral, non-written means from Anglo-Saxon times until well into the fourteenth century...
This would be Arthur as seen through the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons rather than the Normans. Arthur was originally a British (Celtic) hero, of course, whose tales survived orally in the parts of the island of Britain where the Celts had survived (Wales and Cornwall mostly) after the Anglo-Saxon invasion, and in the land of the Celtic-British diaspora of Brittany in Northwest France. I believe the Welsh writer Geoffrey of Monmouth provided the first written version that we have (it's in Latin, and forms part of what claims to be the real history of the island of Britain), and from there, as well as from some French-language poetry from Brittany, it became hugely popular among the French-speaking Norman ruling class of England. As I recall, some literary historians have suggested that the Normans latched onto Arthurian romance so eagerly because it gave them a link to the earlier British people, the Celts who had been displaced by the Anglo-Saxons, and made the Anglo-Saxons look like the usurpers. Since Tolkien identified with the "English", i.e. the Anglo-Saxons, Arthur in this tradition would not have been to his taste at all.

But the alliterative Arthurian poem shows the Anglo-Saxon tradition also embraced Arthur in its own way - belatedly, unless this alliterative poem is based on a long oral history - and I can imagine Tolkien finding this blend of Celtic legend and Anglo-Saxon expression very interesting indeed. Looking forward to seeing what he did with it!

They went in, and Sam shut the door.
But even as he did so, he heard suddenly,
deep and unstilled,
the sigh and murmur of the Sea upon the shores of Middle-earth.
From the unpublished Epilogue to the Lord of the Rings



(This post was edited by FarFromHome on Oct 9 2012, 9:56am)

Subject User Time
New Tolkien work to be released next May! News from Bree Send a private message to News from Bree Oct 7 2012, 8:47am
    Brilliant news. Looking forward to digging into this. / DanielLB Send a private message to DanielLB Oct 7 2012, 3:41pm
        I am a little surprised at this because everythig I have read indicated Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Oct 7 2012, 3:46pm
            This is so Amazing. " Put away for 80 Years?" Bombadil Send a private message to Bombadil Oct 7 2012, 6:29pm
                My impression is that JRRT would not have liked the Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Oct 7 2012, 7:22pm
                    I did com across a cryptic message another site that Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Oct 7 2012, 7:44pm
                Camelot Movie... Malveth Send a private message to Malveth Oct 8 2012, 2:24pm
            Probably more English epic than French romance Modtheow Send a private message to Modtheow Oct 9 2012, 12:50am
                Yes, after reviewing the Alliterative Morte Arthure link provided Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Oct 9 2012, 4:53am
                    You never know Modtheow Send a private message to Modtheow Oct 9 2012, 7:53pm
                Interesting link! FarFromHome Send a private message to FarFromHome Oct 9 2012, 9:55am
                    Celtic elements Modtheow Send a private message to Modtheow Oct 9 2012, 8:00pm
                        The trouble is that Arthur was Romano-British / celtic not English. Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Oct 9 2012, 8:36pm
                Agreed Malveth Send a private message to Malveth Oct 9 2012, 1:14pm
        Related Guardian Article. Spaldron Send a private message to Spaldron Oct 9 2012, 6:25pm
            ! ! ! ! Malveth Send a private message to Malveth Oct 10 2012, 3:19am
            "...no wizards or magic swords..." FarFromHome Send a private message to FarFromHome Oct 10 2012, 10:44am
    Yes!!! Malveth Send a private message to Malveth Oct 8 2012, 2:18pm

 
 
 

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