Words beneath a dappled sky

The hunters three, persistently
(Consistent in their tracking feat)
A leaf of Lorien they found,
All pounded down in loam and peat.

An attempt at the patterning of Tolkien's "Errantry" which turned out to be quite a difficult task and increased even more my respect for his grasp of language. The pattern has been turned in this case to the story of the Three Hunters in their run and their encounter with the Rohirrim, emphasis on Gimli.

The Burly Axegrinder
( There was a burly axegrinder, a taxminder, a warrior )
-

Glory and Trumpets!

For anyone who has been reading through the dark and angsty war-torn poetry set, you would be well excused to forget there could be lighter topics - at last, the 'happy ending' (at least before the sad ending) is begun. Cormallen is from Sam's point of view with an aim of capturing that blend of poetic and simple country that so characterized his turns of phrase.

Cormallen
( What joy is this that awakens my sight? )
-

Chalice tipp'd, crushed lily-bud,
Spilling your gold among the blood,
To lay, a time unseeing.

For Eowyn, both her courageous stand over the dying Theoden and the war she fought in the heart.

Stand
( Behold the honour of this house! )
-
Daughter of Kings
( A winter-bourne lily, you were lovely but cold )
-

Eowyn's despairing hidden love for what she could not have, and the final resolution of that hurt. With it I'm placing a character sketch of Grima, a strangely intimate look at the twisted relationship from Theoden's point of view.

Not for Thee
( I'll numb my heart to set it free, drown in a blacker day )
-
Snake
( Tell me again how the flames of this fire are sufficient light for old eyes...lest I awake )
-

Fallen, fallen...

Chasm is a brief mourning piece after the loss of Gandalf, so suddenly taken from them, and is essentially Frodo's point of view but could apply to Aragorn as well. With it is Mirrormere, a little different from my usual writing in that it dives more deeply into symbolism and philosophical thinking - part of me likes it and part of me thinks it needs work because I was 'trying too hard'. I think I was reading things like Thanatopsis at this time and it shows.

Chasm
( I cannot see for my tears )
-
Mirrormere
( Blind to the longer tale we are of, Fated to hold the fleeting )

An 'overview' of the story of Aragorn's mother, in poetic form - setting it among the poetry for Rivendell seemed fitting.

Gilraen
( A blossom barely opened )
-

Going back through my archives I was surprised to find I'd done so very many adaptations of Shakespearian sonnets, a whopping 30+! I'll be posting those today, collecting them into lots to make it more manageable.

I have a slender volume of Shakespeare's sonnets that is mildly dogeared, he has a knack for always sounding so grand, no matter what the topic, and as such lends himself to the drama and grandiose literary panorama that is Tolkien's world.

Four for Aragorn:
( Keeping Watch in the Night )

( My Time Comes But Slowly )

( The Throne and the Chair )

( Fulfill Your Oath )

But what's an acrostic for the alphabet?

After briefly considering them, I've decided to spare this journal the limericks... I mean - really... Acrostics, on the other hand, at least take a bit of thought and planning with the letters serving as a useful jumping off point. Some of these are light, others have more time in them.

Acrostically speaking -

( Bilbo Baggins )

( Shire Tale )

( Bill the Pony )

( Smeagol / Gollum )

( Aragorn Elessar )

( Eowyn of Rohan )

( Frodo Baggins, Ringbearer )

( Gwaihir )

( Meriadoc Brandybuck )

Easy to read but fiendishly difficult to write. I know of what I speak - this form is very arguably the most difficult poetic form I've attempted so far. A small number of these are 'not quite pure' double-dactyls taking license with syllable count rather than properly multisyllabic singular words.

For an explanation of what a double-dactyl is, here's an intro:
http://lotrscrapbook.bookloaf.net/poetry/haiku/dactyl.html

And here we go - ( 15 Character Double-Dactyls, Higgledy-Piggledy )

( And three double-dactyl drinks for the Road -! )

A/N: A small collection of Thanksgiving-themed drabbles for Middle-earth.

( Sam and Rosie )
-
( Aragorn and Arwen )
-
( Gloin )
-
( Shelob )
-
( The Travellers )
-
( Barliman )
-
( A Brace of Coney )
-
( Faramir )