''Songs for the Philologists'' is a collection of poems by

E. V. Gordon Eric Valentine Gordon (14 February 1896 – 29 July 1938) was a Canadian philologist, known as an editor of medieval Germanic texts and a teacher of medieval Germanic languages at the University of Leeds and the University of Manchester. Early ...

and

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

as well as traditional songs. It is the rarest and most difficult to find Tolkien-related book. Originally a collection of typescripts compiled by Gordon in 1921–1926 for the students of the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, it was given by A. H. Smith of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, a former student at Leeds, to a group of students to be printed privately in 1935 or 1936, and printed in 1936 with the ''

impressum An ''Impressum'' (from Latin , 'the impressed, engraved, pressed in, impression') is a legally mandated statement of the ownership and authorship of a document, which must be included in books, newspapers, magazines, websites, and business corre ...

'' "Printed by G. Tillotson, A. H. Smith, B. Pattison and other members of the English Department, University College, London." Since Smith had not asked permission of either Gordon or Tolkien, the printed booklets were not distributed. Most copies were destroyed in a fire, and only a few, perhaps around 14, survived. The book is accordingly "extremely rare", according to the University of Leeds, which has a copy.

Tolkien's songs

Of the 30 songs in the collection, 13 were contributed by Tolkien: 1 "From One to Five", to the tune of " Three Wise Men of Gotham". 2 "''Syx Mynet''" (

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

), to the tune of "I Love Sixpence". 3 "''Ruddoc Hana''" (Old English), to the tune of " Who Killed Cock Robin". 4 "''Ides Ælfscýne''" (Old English), to the tune of "Daddy Neptune".
::--- Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ('Elf-fair Lady') in ''

The Road to Middle-earth ''The Road to Middle-earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology'' is a scholarly study of the Middle-earth works of J. R. R. Tolkien written by Tom Shippey and first published in 1982. The book discusses Tolkien's philology, and then e ...

'' 5 "'' Bagmē Blōma''" (

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

), to the tune of "Lazy Sheep" (by Mantle Childe, after an old French air). The poem displays Tolkien's love of trees, and of language.
::--- Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ('Flower of the Trees') in ''

'' 6 "''Éadig Béo þu!''" (Old English), to the tune of "

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in '' Rhymes for the Nurser ...

".
::--- Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ("Good Luck to You") in ''The Road to Middle-earth'' 7 "''Ofer Wídne Gársecg''" (Old English), to the tune of " The Mermaid".
::--- Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ("Across the Broad Ocean") in ''The Road to Middle-earth'' 8 "''La Húru''", to the tune of "O'Reilly". 9 "I Sat upon a Bench", to the tune of "The Carrion Crow". 10 "''Natura Apis: Morali Ricardi Eremite''", also to the tune of "O'Reilly". 11 "The Root of the Boot", to the tune of "The Fox Went Out".
::--- Reprinted in Anderson's '' The Annotated Hobbit'', and in a revised form in ''

The Return of the Shadow ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. Reprinted in ''The Tolkien Papers: Mankato Studies in English''. Revised and printed in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' and ''

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil ''The Adventures of Tom Bombadil'' is a 1962 collection of poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien. The book contains 16 poems, two of which feature Tom Bombadil, a character encountered by Frodo Baggins in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The rest of the poems ar ...

'' as 'The Stone Troll'. The manuscript is archived at the University of Leeds. The scholar of folklore

Dimitra Fimi Dimitra Fimi (born 2 June 1978) is a Scottish academic and writer and since 2020 the Senior Lecturer in Fantasy and Children's Literature at the University of Glasgow. Her research includes that of the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and children's ...

writes that the song's metre and rhyming scheme are those of the 15th century folk song "The fox went out on a winter's night"; Tolkien used the same scheme for the two "lays" (narrative poems) published in his '' Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary''. 12 "Frenchmen Froth", to the tune of " The Vicar of Bray". 13 "Lit' and Lang'", to the tune of " Polly Put the Kettle On". In the Department of English at the University of Oxford where Tolkien worked, teaching was divided into two streams. "Lit'" meant "English Literature", i.e. the study of works from Shakespeare to modern times, whereas "Lang'" meant "English Language", meaning the philological study of Old English texts such as '' Beowulf'', and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

, such as ''

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of ...

''. Tolkien and Gordon were philologists and firmly in the "Lang'" camp, but they could see that it was dying out.

The remaining songs

The remaining 17 songs were: 1 Grace. To be sung to the tune of "The King of France". 2 Fara Með Víkingum. celandic: To go with the VikingsBy Egill Skallagrímsson. Tolkien and Gordon had started a "Viking Club" at the

, where they and their students sang songs and drank beer. The Leeds philologist

Alaric Hall Alaric Hall (born 1979) is a British philologist who is an associate professor of English and director of the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds. He has, since 2009, been the editor of the academic journal '' Leeds Studies ...

stated in 2015 that the tradition still continued in the department. 3 Já, láttu gamminn. celandicBy

Hannes Hafstein Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein (4 December 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an Icelandic politician and poet. In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the Danish Cabinet as the minister for Iceland in the Cabinet of Deuntzer ...

4 Bring Us In Good Ale. 5 Björt Mey Og Hrein. celandicTranslation of a Polish folk song by Stefán Ólafsson 6 Rokkvísa. celandic: Song about rocks 7 Ólafur Liljurós. celandic: a man's name The folk song tells of a man who meets an Elvish maiden. 8 Gaudeamus. atin: Let us rejoice 9 Icelandic Song �að liggur svo makalaust celandic: It's so incomparableTo be sung to the tune of "O' Reilly". By Bjarni Þorsteinsson 10 Su Klukka Heljar. celandic: That Bell of HellTo be sung to the tune of "The Bells of Hell". By

11 Gubben Noach. wedish: Old Man NoahBy

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

, accompanied by Icelandic translation by Eiríkur Björnsson 12 Bí, bí Og Blaka. celandic lullabyBy Sveinbjörn Egilsson 13 Guþ let vaxa. celandicBy

. To be sung to the tune of "Laus Deo" by

Josef Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have l ...

. 14 Salve! atin: Greetings! 15 Hwan ic béo déad. ld English, Scots, and Gothic: When I'm Dead 16 Vísur Íslendinga. celandic: Icelandic SongBy

Jónas Hallgrímsson Jónas Hallgrímsson (16 November 1807 – 26 May 1845) was an Icelandic poet, author and naturalist. He was one of the founders of the Icelandic journal Fjölnir (journal), ''Fjölnir'', which was first published in Copenhagen in 1835. The mag ...

17 Gömul Kynni. celandicBy Árni Pálsson, imitating

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

References

External links

TolkienBooks.net - ''Songs for the Philologists''

{{J. R. R. Tolkien Books by J. R. R. Tolkien British poetry collections Poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien 1936 books 1936 poetry books