Eucatastrophe Gandalf charges Helms Deep The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on March 4th:

  • Aragorn faces the enemy as the new day dawn (1419)
  • The charge of the Riders (1419)
  • Gandalf returns (1419)
  • Théoden and Gandalf set out from Helm’s Deep for Isengard (1419)
  • Frodo reaches the slag-mounds on the edge of the Desolation of the Morannon (1419)
  • Merry and Pippin try to stay high and dry (1419)
  • [Join us on the Discussion Boards here]

Continue reading “Today in Middle-earth, March 4”

Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.

So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net  One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Long Roads

by: Tom Frye
The long road lies before you,
a far journey to reach your goal.
Miles of endless traveling,
but take comfort, O weary Soul.

Though you may seem from nowhere,
Where you stand and where you’ve been
It’s slow and steady progress,
not a race that you must win.
All short-cuts with little traveling,
lead nowhere in the end.

So, if the road seems long, now.
And the journey much too tough.
Remember, gems and jewels,
are cut from rougher stuff.

And though it’s quite a struggle,
with Apathy a constant foe.
It’s the journey on the longer roads,
that helps your soul to grow.

So stay steady on your journey,
and surely you’ll succeed,
and claim the golden harvest,
where before were only seeds.

©
Copyright 1999
   Tom Frye

~~ * ~~

“The Prophecy”

by: Caroline Flynn

Forth rode Earnil, last king of Gondor
Upon the Witch-King of Angmar to make war.
There ensued a terrible fight,
In which the Witch-King appeared and showed forth his might.

None could withstand the terror of his onslaught,
But Earnil, undeterred, would have stood and fought
Had not his horse fled, being crazed with fear
When the Witch-King with a horrible cry drew near. 

The Witch-King laughed, at what he saw as fright,
But then his eyes were stung by a blinding light.
Turning his horse, away he sped,
Even as he mocked, into the darkness he fled. 

He who had subjected lands and realms to his rule
And of Sauron’s servants was the most feared and cruel,
Could not withstand one who had beheld the Two Trees
And walked in lands beyond the Sundering Seas.

For Glorfindel had come up from Rivendell;
Bright was his sword, his eyes fey and fell.
He who of old had grappled with Shadow and Flame,
Unveiled his power, and with renewed might he came.

As Earnil rode back, chafing with anger and hate,
Glorfindel, gazing into the dusk, foresaw the Enemy’s fate,
Stretching far into the long years ahead. 
Turning to the captain, he withheld him and said:

“Do not pursue him – far off yet is his doom!
And much more must be accomplished before the gathering of that gloom.
Not by the hand of man will he be slain:
Rather, the unlooked-for will arise and be his bane.”

And so it was, that the prophecy was spoken,
Though many years passed before it was awoken,
During the great battles fought for the One Ring,
And the Nazgul were sent forth, led by the Witch-King. 

Despair and darkness he spread, wherever he went,
And the body of Theoden King apart he rent.
But then with an opponent he stood face to face,
Who was unafraid of the unseen eyes and deadly mace.

“Begone foul lord of carrion!” the clear voice spoke. “Let him lie in peace!”
“Stand not between me and my prey,” came the cold reply, “else you will go to where there is no release.”
There was sharp ring as was drawn a sword. 
“No living man may hinder me!” laughed the lord. 

Thus was spoken the prophecy of long ago,
The selfsame one spoken by his deadly foe.
Doubt entered the Nazgul’s mind as sun gleamed on golden hair,
And he was reminded of Glorfindel the fair.

“No man am I!” a woman’s voice returned,
And in Eowyn of Rohan’s eyes a fearless light burned. 
The fell beast of the Witch-King reared up and rose, 
Its rider furious that anyone should dare him oppose.

But Eowyn leapt aside, and clove off the beast’s head,
And from the ruin rose the dark and deadly Dread.
With a mighty stroke he broke her arm and clove her shield,
And it looked as though he would triumph upon Pelennor Field. 

But in that hour Eowyn stood not alone,
And in the darkness another desperate courage shone. 
From behind a sword pierced the sinews of the Witch-King’s knee,
And with a despairing cry, from his terror the world was set free.

Neither swordsman tall nor warrior strong
Had done this deed so worthy of song.
Only Merry the Hobbit, from the humble Shire
Out of love had helped the maiden in her need so dire. 

And so it was: not by the hand of man did the Witch-King fall
But at the hand of a woman of the Golden Hall
And by a dagger taken from the tomb of a barrow-wight,
Wound with spells for his demise, in that long-ago fight. 

~~ * ~~

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.

So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net  One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Memories of the Second Age

By H. Wiggins

We look to old days, and hold to them fast.
When woodlands were green, and Arda still young,
From Autumn to Spring, and days now long passed.
Of rings and their lords, and sonnets once sung.

Before Elves crossed the west in ships of grey,
And Fellowships were formed to follow their road.
When Dwarves delved deeper into the fray,
And men’s lives were long, the seas their abode.

The shadows linger, though chained they were thought,
And the light of two trees fades into night.
Peace will not last, though for long it was fought.
Alliances form to carry the light.

Free folk will stand true and Sauron will rage
For these are the days of the Second Age.

~~ * ~~

The Cabin

When the world troubles me,
and all good thoughts have fled,
I venture off to visit,
the cabin inside my head.

Seated before a woodstove,
gazing at radiant coals,
I sip slowly at my coffee,
not worried by endless goals.

High up within the mountains,
nestled beside a brook,
my entrance, a round doorway,
similar to that Hobbit book.

Sanctuary, peaceful haven,
surrounded by fragrant pines,
when I’m in need of solitude,
it’s stored inside my mind.

I do not travel far,
to fish, to read, to dream.
I merely close my eyes,
conjuring a magical scene.  

Sunsets and brilliant sunrises,
appear beyond green hills,
mist above blue waters,
helps me to gather the Still.

When the storm comes calling,
I quietly slip away,
to that nearby cabin,
in a solitary, peaceful bay.

© Copyright 2018 by Tom Frye
The Cabin

~~ * ~~

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.

So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net  One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Winter Kings

In the heart of lonely winter,
beneath branches bare,
wearing thorny crowns,
they dash through frosty air.
Kings of the woodlands,
royal with noble grace,
among dark trees they run,
finding sport in the chase.
Over tall hills they travel,
winding through misty glens,
these wild stags of the forest,
racing in the winter winds.

© Copyright 2019 by Tom Frye

Winter Kings

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Arwen and Elessar The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on Midsummer’s Day:

  • Gandalf, the Dwarves and their Burglar leave Rivendell for the Lonely Mountain (1341)
  • Aragorn and Arwen – A promise is born (1380)
  • Gandalf meets Radagast the Brown (1418)
  • The Wedding of Elessar and Arwen (1419)
  • Frodo resigns office of mayor, and Will Whitfoot is restored (1420)
  • The death of Mistress Rose, wife of Master Samwise, on Mid-year’s Day (1482)
  • [Join us on the Discussion Boards here]

Continue reading “Today in Middle-earth, Midsummer’s Day [Mid-year’s Day]”