Looking for a context

[Novlamothien]

Hi,
I recently came across a poem,(I'll post the first few lines in a minute), that I love, but I am wondering if anyone knows what the story surrounding it is. It is in one of the Books of Lost Tales(2?) and starts

Sing us a tale of Earendil the mariner,
chant us a lay of his white oared ship
more marvelous cunning than mortal man's pondering,
family musical out on the deep
chant us a lay of immortal sea-yearning,
the Eldar once made ere the change of the light...

There's a good deal more, but that's all I can remember.


Thanks,
Erin

[Legolas]

The story is found in Chapter 24 of The Silmarillion: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath." That's the last chapter of the book, and to summarize it would spoil the entire ending of the book.

Eärendil is Elrond's father, and he sails away in search of help. I recommend reading it the rest for yourself.

[Novlamothien]

Thanks, Legolas, but i am afraid I did not make myself clear. that's what I get for writing this late at night after a long day. I want to know where the poem itself is, and who says it. It seems to be a conversation between two people, a minstrel and someone else, but I don't have the book to find out.

Namarie

Edit: Here is the whole poem:

Sing us yet more of Earendel the wandering,
chant us a lay of his white-oared ship,
more marvelous-cunning than mortal man’s pondering,
family musical out on the deep.
Sing us a tale of immortal sea-yearning
The Eldar once made ere the change of the light,
Weaving a winelike spell, and a burning
Wonder of spray and the odours of night;
Of murmurous gloamings out on far oceans;
Of his tossing at anchor off islets forlorn
To the unsleeping waves’ never-ending sea-motions;
Of bellying sails when a wind was born,
And the gurgling bubble of tropical water
Tinkled from under the ringed stem,
And thousands of miles was his ship from those wrought her
A petrel, a sea-bird, a white-winged gem,
Gallantly bent on measureless faring
Ere she came homing in sea-laden flight,
Circuitous, lingering, restlessly daring,
Coming to haven unlooked for, at night.’

But the music is broken, the words half-forgotten,
The sunlight has faded, the moon is grown old,
The Elven ships foundered or weed-swathed and rotten,
The fire and the wonder of hearts is acold.
Who now can tell, and what harp can accompany
With melodies strange enough, rich enough tunes,
Pale with the magic of cavernous harmony,
Loud with the shore-music of beaches and dunes,
How slender his boat; of what glimmering timber;
How her sails were all silvern and taper her mast,
And silver her throat with foam and her limber
Flanks as she swanlike floated past!
The song I can sing is but shreds one remembers
Of golden imaginings fashioned in sleep,
A whispered tale told by the withering embers
Of old things far off that but few hearts keep.’
-J.R.R Tolkien
BoLT 2

[Knight of Gondor]

It sounds to me as if it is a song sung to Lindo, a request for the story of Earendil. Mind you, I didn't go back and check, but off the top of my head, that's the first thing that comes to mind. Although if we just wait, I'm sure Legolas will fill us in. He knows it all.

[Legolas]

Ah...I understand. The writings in the two Books of Lost Tales are written from a different perspective than their later versions in The Silmarillion. The entire story from the Silmarillion is being told in the book as a story...a mortal traveller from the future, first named Eriol (later Tolkien changed it to Ælfwine and characterized him as an Englishman from the Middle Ages), has found his way to Tol Eressëa and is being told the story.

This framework is set up in the very first chapter of The Book of Lost Tales titled 'The Cottage of Lost Play.' Eriol finds himself on the island and looking around, finding the cottage where many seem to be gathering for storytelling hour. This is how the stories are told in the Books of Lost Tales, while the "final" version of the Silmarillion (and the other stories) are presented as historical records ultimately collected by Bilbo in his stay with the elves.

[Knight of Gondor]

(later Tolkien changed it to Ælfwine and characterized him as an Englishman from the Middle Ages)

As I understand, Tolkien didn't change his name (as in, going back and making it different), but Eriol himself took on another name, Ælfwine, meaning Elf-friend.