Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 73
The shape of the Tale of Tinúviel:
The shape of the Tale of Tinúviel:
- The rhythm of this poem makes it a dancing song. It is also meant to be read aloud.
- The meter of the song is iambic tetrameter, just the Hobbit meter we’ve seen before.
- The vast majority of the content of the poem is about the meeting of Beren and Lúthien, not their deeds, which is ironic as the latter is the most relevant to the hobbits’ situation.
- For those who only know the Beren and Lúthien story from this poem, the full scope of their story may be unknown and surprising when read in The Silmarillion.
- The rhythm is generally very regular, though many of the lines are enjambed one into another. Generally, the eight-line stanzas are broken up into two sentences over four lines each.
- The rhyme scheme is somewhat more complicated. There are three rhymes per stanza, and the pattern is A-B-A-C-B-A-B-C. The fourth line rhymes are the pivot and are multisyllabic.
- The pattern isn’t regular, but it is symmetrical. The two halves are mirror images of each other.
- The multisyllabic C rhymes are not gerunds, but rather participles. They are part of the verb.
- The first stanza’s description is of the lushness of the forest, presented in the passive voice.
- Note: The passive voice is used to conceal the doer of the action of the verb, but it is not always incorrect to do so. This can emphasize the object of the action. It places us in the action and let’s us see the scene from the subject’s, i.e. Beren’s point of view. We see it first.
- The unseen pipe may be referencing the fact that all attention is drawn to Lúthien. The stars are also in our awareness in relation to Lúthien’s hair. Only the light of the stars is glimmering.
- In the first stanza, the C rhyme words are both about the starlight, though he only resolves on the idea that it is Lúthien causing the glimmering at the end.
- In the second stanza, we are introduced to Beren and the tone changes noticeably.
- There are many rhymes that use the same words to rhyme. This may seem like an oversight, but here it is part of the structure.
- The leaves are used as double-rhyming words in the stanza two, but they’d already been introduced at the beginning of stanza one.
- The second is primarily interested in Beren’s journey, and the perspective shifts to him. Beren is given the same experience that the reader is given in the first stanza.
- Note: There is a parallel to what Frodo’s experience was like meeting Goldberry, but in that instance, it was probably this meeting to which Frodo’s first sight of Goldberry is compared.
- The first stanza is very dark and monochromatic, only lit with starlight, so in the second stanza, the flowers of gold on Lúthien’s raiment stand out. Her own radiance is giving color to the scene.
- It’s unclear if the flowers mentioned are embroidered on her clothing, or if they are real flowers.
- Both stanzas contain a large portion of lines that start with the word “and”; three of eight in stanza one, four of eight in stanza two. This is part of the syntactic shape and rhythm.
- The use of multiple conjunctions allows the images to build upon one another into a picture.
- We aren’t given any facts about Beren’s journey, but the emphasis is on his loneliness, even among the forest, which is an improvement in his conditions.
- Beren’s first image of Lúthien is the gold of the flowers and the shadow of her hair. Her fullness is too much to take in all at once, and he is only given glimpses at first.
- There is a sense that Beren was not looking for anyone, so the surprise of finding Lúthien is at first overwhelming.
- Beren’s loneliness is contrasted with Lúthien’s hair, which is described as following her in togetherness, much like Beren himself will follow her.
- The alliteration is a strong part of the music of the poem, especially between words like “left” and “lonely”, which have a clear emotional content.
- In the space of the first half of stanza three, we see Beren changed from weary to strong and healed, by this encounter, but his loneliness is not over.
- Beren’s feet are changed from weary to fleet, but Lúthien’s feet are much faster. The first half is all about Beren, while the second is all about Lúthien, in a similar mirroring.
- There is a noun-verb relationship between Beren’s “fleet” feet, and Lúthien’s, which “fled”.
- Once again, the first and last B rhyme use the same word, “roam”, though the context is different.
- In the first use, Beren’s doom to roam is done in past tense in the sense that this time is over.
- The second use shows that the time is not quite over yet and is now paired with loneliness.
- Note: There seems to be a relevance to the use of “weary feet” in light of Frodo’s version of the Road poem, which had his feet as weary, as opposed to Bilbo’s eager feet.
- “Left” and “lonely” are joined by their alliteration, while “lonely” and “roam” share assonance.
- Beren’s transformation was real but only temporary, and he is left back as he started, as the word “still” emphasizes.
- There is a futility and presumption in Beren’s pursuit shown in his grasping at moonbeams.
- Acting in this way can be explained by enchantment. Beren is not actually grasping at moonbeams, but we understand that pursuing Lúthien is just as futile.
- Note: The use of “glistening” here is another example of Tolkien’s love of “gl” words.
- It’s notable that the piper from the first stanza is never seen or mentioned again.
- In the B rhymes, the two uses of “roam” are separated by “Elvenhome”. This reminds us that Beren has stepped into Faerie and the rules are different there.
- The use of alliteration in “woven woods” is evocative when paired with “Elvenhome”. This implies the use of craft in their making, and that they close around to protect Lúthien.
- There is also an implication of a spell at work, as this is something that one weaves.
- We are not sure if Lúthien is aware of Beren, but she does not flee out of fear. It seems to be part of her dance, and he will only catch her if she allows him to catch her.
- Note: In traditional fairy stories, seeing an elf-maid or many elvish dancers in a glade will lead to capture or some other magical punishment, as this is a transgression into Faerie. This is directly echoed in what happens when Bilbo and Thorin’s Company break into the elven rings in Mirkwood in the story of The Hobbit.
- The two C rhymes are negative images, the first with hope and healing, the second with silence and loneliness. The first word is an active verbal phrase, while the second is more passive.
- So far, this story has played out along the lines of the expectations of fairy-stories.
- The fourth stanza shows the passing of time, as the seasons begin to change towards winter.
- Once again, the B rhymes have a pair of the same word, “leaves”, separated by “sheaves”.
- Beren is only allowed to hear things at a distance. He has turned to listening from seeing earlier.
- The music coming from a hidden hollow evokes the underground dwellings of Elves.
- The comparison of her feet to linden-leaves is because they are falling, because it’s autumn, but this is also connected to the flowers from before, as linden-leaves turn golden before they fall.
- The music is compared to water coming from an underground spring of unknown source.
- Beren’s own sadness, loneliness, and weariness is reflected to the state of the forest. He is completely passive, and unable to move.
- Note: The frame of this poem is not an elvish point of view, as it focuses a lot on Beren’s experience. Tolkien talked about how fairy-stories are not really stories about fairies, but about mortals who encounter Faerie. This is in that same genre. It is not yet clear who wrote this.
- The hemlock leaves that Beren had peered through before are now withered, and the alliteration of so many “w” words highlight the winter in an almost onomatopoetic sense.
- Note: Robert Frost uses a similar type of alliteration to describe winter sounds in his poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”.
- In the fourth stanza, we also get two uses of the same word in the A rhyme, which is “sound” The sound of falling leaves is paired with the sound of them landing, though of different colors.
- It’s appropriate that beechen leaves are the last ones mentioned, as they cling to their trees long after they have withered to brown and are among to the last to come off with the snow.
- There is a hopelessness in Beren’s quest to find Lúthien, as there is no skill that will succeed.
- All three of the B rhymes are on types of leaves, linden, hemlock, and beech. The reuse of the trees from earlier show this as the closing of the cycle from the beginning of the poem.
- The fourth stanza represents the end of the first half or movement of the poem. The next stanza will represent a pivot, and there has been a consistent symmetry which continues.