The House of Eorl

[Arvegil145]

There is a newly published poem in the Collected Poems by Hammond and Scull that might be relevant here (Scatha the Worm) - here are three versions of it:

1.

Some have great wings like the wind
Some have fire and fierce wrath,
Some have venom on their long teeth
Some have hides like armour, tails
like steel, tongues like spears, eyes
piercing bright: some are great & golden
Some are green; some are red as
glowing iron. Not so was Scatha.
He was grey, he was cold, he was
silent, and he was blind. He crawled
like a slow creeping death, too
horrible to flee from, froze Men with
fear and his icy breath, and then
crushed them, ground them, under
his long white belly.

2.

He was long and cold
greedy of gold
and sharp bright stones
but his bed was of bones:
hands of dwarves
and skulls of men
that he piled in his den
and licked them white.
Not for him was flight
or the high airs or the tall hills:
a wingless drake.
Not for him was fire
or battle or blazing wrath
a slimy snake:
as a wild wind on the mountain height
as the forest
or the greenwood as a red pyre
Crawling, crushing, creeping on
like a slow slow death
Crushing freezing with fear
and his cold breath
Crushing and grinding
under his white belly
Dark was his dwelling
as a vast tomb.

3.

He was blind and cold,
but he could smell gold.
He was long and rich,
and eased his belly[’]s itch
with sharp bright stones;
but his toys were bones:
hands of dwarves and skulls of men
that were piled in his den
licked smooth and white.
Not for him was flight:
a wingless drake;
Not for him was fire:
a slimy snake,
fouler than mire,
Crawling and creeping on
like a slow death,
Freezing with fear
and his cold breath, Crushing and grinding
under his white womb;
his dwelling stank
like a dark tomb.

Not sure about the relative dating of these three versions since I don't yet have the book, but I felt like mentioning this here.