The Bidding of the Minstrel, from the Lay of Eärendel, is a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is one of several early poems concerning Eärendel published in The Book of Lost Tales Part Two.[1]
The short (36 lines in its final version) poem consists of an exhortation to recount the tale of "Eärendel the wandering" - perhaps referring to Éalá Éarendel Engla Beorhtast composed earlier that year - and a reply from the eponymous minstrel. Four drafts were written at St John Street, Oxford in the winter of 1914. Earlier titles were The Minstrel renounces the song and The Lay of Eärendel.
Poem excerpt
'Sing us yet more of Eärendel the wandering,
chant us a lay of his white-oared ship,
more marvellous-cunning than mortal man's pondering,
foamily musical out of the deep.
See also
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "V. The Tale of Eärendel", "The Tale of Eärendel", pp. 269-271