Storm out of the West

Storm out of the West
Stormy Skies over Southampton Water

Poetry and the Sea

Errantry.
This poem was much revised by Tolkien over many years. The basic story is about a seafaring adventurer, a 'mariner' who sets sail in a 'gondola', and on his travels falls in love with a butterfly. She rejects him and so he takes to a life of travel and errantry like a medieval knight.

It has a very unusual range of vocabulary (words)and a pattern of rhyme and internal rhyme that is unforgettable. This is because it is written in a form of the ancient Welsh CYNGHANEDD, still used today by Welsh bards.

Among the interesting words Tolkien uses are
'paladins' - originally the 12 legendary knights who served and accompanied Charlemagne. They are mentioned in may medieval chansons de geste
'plenilune' - full moon
'Dumbledors' - bumble bees

His vocabulary includes words for precious and semi-precious stones: malachite, chalecedony

The poem shows not only inventiveness, but a wonderful delight in the sound and form of words.

The Sea Bell
This is one of Tolkien's most enigmatic poems. Again it tells the story of a seafarer, but this one is accidental. He finds a sea shell as he walks on the shore and rather than hearing the sound of the sea in the shell, he hears the distant sound of a bell.

Mysteriously, an empty boat appears into which he jumps impetuously.

His travels bring him to a distant land where he can hear songs and music and dancing feet, but he never finds those who sing and dance. When he calls to them darkness descends upon him and he wanders for the customary 'year and a day', although time is going strangely. with difficulty he finds his way back to the sea and the boat which carries him back to his own land. But there also he is now a stranger, isolated and ignored.

This story has echoes of older tales. The empty boat that apparently sails itself was a familiar image during the Middle Ages when it was known as the Ship of the Church because it was used in stories about the spread of Christianity.

The unseen dancing feet are reminiscent of tales of fairy dances. Sometimes fairy dancers were said to appear to people who then did not believe what they had seen. John Milton refers to these fairy dancers in his masque Comus. Fairy dancers appear in Tolkien's story Smith of Wootton Major, which has nothing to do with seafaring.

The clearest indication that the unseen dancers are fairy folk is the way time shifts in the poem. This echoes the ancient tales of the Sidhe, the folk of the Celtic underworld, and their magical underground realm. It was said that a mortal who entered the green hills of their dwellings would find time had passed more rapidly than in the mortal world. The character in the poem seems to turn grey while in the land to which the boat travelled and on his return to his original land no one knows him.

There are many other ways to approach this poem. It could be analysed for what it says about isolation, loneliness, and age.

It contains some interesting words as well as wonderful imagery.
'ruel bone' is whale ivory
'gladdon swords' are the long green leaves of the native purple iris.
'reed mace' is the plant commonly but wrongly called 'bullrush'.
'sea-wrack' is a kind of seaweed.

The Man in the Moon came Down too Soon
Tolkien seems to have fun with language and imagery in this poem. It is based on a nursery rhyme and tells the story of how the Man in the Moon came to fall to earth; how he got ashore, and how he came to be offered nothing but cold porridge.

The rhythm and rhyme scheme are memorable, and the vocabulary is beautifully chosen. Among rare and interesting words are:
'shoon' - archaic plural of 'shoes'
'broider' - does not need the 'em' prefix.
'argent' - silver. The word is much used in heraldry.
'sanguine' - red, like blood, having the qualities of blood.
'wan' - pale
'selenites- mythical inhabitants of the moon.
'bide' - stay
'ingle-nook' - a deep recess beside the fireplace where it is warmest and least draughty.

Tolkien also makes good use of words like 'lunatic' - originally meaning someone made mad by the moon.
                                                                  'moonshine' - properly, an illegally made kind of alcohol, Tolkien uses it as the name for the Man in the Moon's drink.
                                                                  'moonstone' - properly, a pale gemstone. Tolkien's use of the word is very apt and decorative. It suggests that the Man in the Moon's delicate tower is made of this pale gem.

Imram
This poem is not very well known. References to it, and versions of it are tucked away in Tolkien's Notion Club Papers in Sauron Defeated, and in The Lost Road and Other Writings: Language and Legend before The Lord of the Rings, all edited by Christopher Tolkien. The story of Imram echoes the legend of St Brendan, known as the Navigator or Voyager, who was said to have sailed west from Ireland in search of the mythical Isles of the Blest. St Brendan's Life and Voyage It was typical of Tolkien's way of writing to create many versions of a story. His son Christopher has collated the various versions of Imram as well as all of Tolkien's other stories.

Tolkien includes many poems and songs in The Lord of the Rings
One in particular is briefly concerned with seafaring. During their brief rest on the edge of Lothlorien, Legolas directs the remaining members of the Fellowship to the beautiful sound of Nimrodel, a river bearing the name of a beautiful elven maiden who lived on its banks in a past age. 

In the poem, the maiden will not leave the land she loves. An elven ship waits for her to join her sweetheart Amroth, who is already on board. Eventually the ship sets out without Nimrodel and far out upon the sea Amroth dives from the bow of the ship into the swell. Nothing was ever heard again of Nimrodel who missed the ship, nor of Amroth who regretted sailing away and tried to return.





A short but prophetic poem is sent by Galadriel to Legolas in The Two Towers, warning him to beware of hearing the cry of gulls, which will lure him away from the forests he has always known and make him restless for the sea.
The elves are constantly leaving Middle-earth on journeys across the Sundering Seas, but Legolas has never known the impulse that drives this migration.