Tolkien-Related Stress II: Scanning the Oath of Fëanor
I have just taken a stab at scanning Tolkien’s famous Ring Verse:
https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/01/17/tolkien-related-stress-scanning-the-ring-verse/
I noted that the problem with the Verse is that it is too loose in its accentual nature: it is sometimes unclear where the four stresses are supposed to fall on a given line. I also noted that if Tolkien had chosen a more strict form of Anglo-Saxon verse, these problems would have been resolved.
To illustrate this, let us consider an example where Tolkien does adhere to a stricter form of alliterative poetry. Often only two of the stressed syllables alliterate, rather than three… but no-one ought to be in any doubt where the stresses fall on a given line. And unlike the Ring Verse, there is none of that end-rhyming business, something introduced to English via the Norman Conquest.
The ‘stricter’ example I have in mind is the Oath of Fëanor – or at least the English-language representation thereof.
https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Oath_of_F%C3%ABanor#The_Oath
Be he foe or friend, be he foul or clean, brood of Morgoth or bright Vala, Elda or Maia or Aftercomer, Man yet unborn upon Middle-earth, neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril. This swear we all: death we will deal him ere Day's ending, woe unto world's end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather! To the everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth. On the holy mountain hear in witness and our vow remember, Manwë and Varda!
Now spot the stressed syllables (in bold):
Be he foe or friend, be he foul or clean, brood of Morgoth or bright Vala, Elda or Maia or Aftercomer, Man yet unborn upon Middle-earth, neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril. This swear we all: death we will deal him ere Day's ending, woe unto world's end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather! To the everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth. On the holy mountain hear in witness and our vow remember, Manwë and Varda!
Four stresses per line, at least two of which alliterate. Nice and neat and tidy. Say what you like about Fëanor, but he does things properly, so far as getting his verse right.
As clarification:
- The cornerstone of alliteration in this form is the third stressed syllable. It must alliterate with at least one (ideally both) of the previous stressed syllables on the line. If you have the fourth stressed syllable alliterating too, that’s considered overkill, and was historically frowned upon. Note that Tolkien avoids this trap – the third and fourth stresses never alliterate.
- The importance of the third stressed syllable actually helps clarify some ambiguities. The line “finding keepeth or afar casteth” repeats both f-sounds and k-sounds. But it’s the f-sound that governs the line here, since the third stressed syllable of the line is -far. Similarly, on the last line, we have repeats of v and m. But the m-sound rules because the third stressed syllable is Man-.
- All vowels alliterate with each other under this system. Hence Eru Allfather being alliterative.
- This verse uses enjambment – where sentences can continue across multiple lines. This is actually one of the distinguishing features between Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse verse. Anglo-Saxon verse uses enjambment, Old Norse doesn’t.
- No kennings. Tolkien does not use them (understandably), but even in his sources they are rarer in Anglo-Saxon than Old Norse.
As luck would have it, we also have an earlier form of the Oath, also in alliterative form:
Be he friend or foe or foul offspring of Morgoth Bauglir, be he mortal dark that in after days on earth shall dwell, shall no law nor love nor league of Gods, no might nor mercy, not moveless fate, defend him for ever from the fierce vengeance of the sons of Fëanor, whoso seize or steal of finding keep the fair enchanted globes of crystal whose glory dies not, the Silmarils. We have sworn for ever!
Here Tolkien goes so far as to provide us with formal caesura-breaks. Note that the line “of the sons… whoso seize or steal” does not actually break the rule about the third and fourth syllables not alliterating. Under this system, s-sounds and st-sounds are distinct (as are sk and sp), and do not alliterate with each other. We are thus seeing quite a strict form here!
A Phuulish Fellow 