‘Strains of Elvish Song and Voices', Bradford Lee Eden

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Faramir Jones

Tolkien's poem was intended to be a last work by Bilbo before he left Middle-earth. It was also a late one by him, although in his case an adaptation of an earlier poem, Vestr um haf (Old Norse for 'West over Sea') from the 1920s or 1930s ....

If we know this to be true (do we?) then shouldn't we be discussing Vestr Um Haf? I'm impressed by the Tennyson poem, to be sure, but if the professor said he started with Vestr Um Haf (did he say that?) perhaps this discussion should go there.

Tolkien was pretty generous about what might have influenced him but that's different than a statement that something DID influence him.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

If we know this to be true (do we?) then shouldn't we be discussing Vestr Um Haf? I'm impressed by the Tennyson poem, to be sure, but if the professor said he started with Vestr Um Haf (did he say that?) perhaps this discussion should go there.

Vestr Um Haf is unpublished, Helen. According to Scull & Hammond, it was written in the 1920s or 1930s long before Tolkien wrote the conclusion to LotR and only adapted much later. ( The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, I, 110, 802,857; II, 107.