A/n : Guess who's back with a brand new trick? Magical Trevor is ten times as slick . . . but in addition to the comedy magician, I am back with a new story. Or, rather, a poem. Go me.

This little "Preface" is part of the conceit (a literary term) for this story; namely that the poem is not written by me but has been translated by someone else from a source discovered elsewhere. This was a technique used by Tolkien (who actually created "The Red Book" within his writings as that very source) - but I have chosen to expand this by pretending that Tolkien and Jackson are both, in fact, drawing on sources such as The Red Book and that neither of them are the originator of the piece.

All that aside, I own nothing - Tolkien and New Line own pretty much everything in this poem.

The Lay of Arwen Undomiel

(after the Lay of Leithian by J.R.)

(dedicated to Liv Tyler, who brought Arwen to life in a way no writing ever could)

Preface

The provenance of this poem is hard to determine, although it is certainly the work of a Fourth Age Man of the Reunited Kingdom, almost certainly a Gondorian nobleman - for few others would have the skill and learning to write a lay of such form in Sindarin, and it is very unlikely that any other would have had access to the body of lore and other poetry that The Lay of Arwen Undómiel clearly incorporates.

However, it does not belong to The Red Book of the Periannath, nor any of the more well-known copies that were made on the orders of the Lords of Gondor (The Thain’s Book and Findegil’s Copy). To The Thain’s Book (made on the orders of King Elessar by Peregrin Took, Thain of the Shire in IV 64) were made several annotations, corrections (mostly concerning the quotations of the Eldarin languages) and additions. One of these was The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, or at least an abbreviated version of those elements that lie outside the main history of the War of the Ring. The author of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen is conclusively identified as Barahir, grandson of Faramir, Steward of Gondor and Prince of Ithilien (it is possible that Barahir held his grandfather’s position and titles, but this is impossible to determine). The full text of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen is not included in any extant copy of The Red Book of the Periannath and this (doubtless prose) text has been lost to the mists of time, as has much of the lore of Gondor in these later years.

The Lay of Arwen Undómiel identifies its author as Barahir, grandson of Faramir, in the first canto, but this is by no means conclusive. That is not to say that Barahir was not the author of The Lay, but there are no external evidences which suggest this. Certainly, as discussed above, the author was a Dunedain nobleman, most likely from Gondor, but this does not prove conclusively that he was Barahir.

It has been suggested by certain authorities that The Lay of Arwen Undómiel is in fact the complete version of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, and that the “abbreviation” of The Tale is merely the turning of verse into prose. There is, regrettably, no firm evidence for this - although it is certain that there are definite similarities in phraseology and language between the popular text of The Tale and the verse of The Lay. However, this is not to say that the works are by the same author - it is certainly possible that a later poet may have used The Tale as inspiration for his verse.

One of the major problems for students of The Lay is the series of striking differences between the established truth of the history of the Third Age of Middle-earth (as presented by Professor Tolkien in his translation and ordering of Findegil’s Copy of The Red Book of the Periannath) and the history as presented in The Lay. Specifically, the role played by Arwen during the flight to the Ford of Bruinen and the rescue of Celebrian from the dungeons of the Orcs. In Professor Tolkien’s translations and interpretations (which have rapidly gained the reputation as unassailable canon) Arwen has no part in either of these events - they are performed by the Noldor Lord Glorfindel of Rivendell and her brothers, the twins Elladan and Elrohir, respectively. In The Lay Arwen performs both of these deeds, something which has caused many scholars to doubt the validity of The Lay of Arwen Undómiel, calling it a late and fantastical creation not grounded in the true history.

The work done by the scholarly team of Jackson, Boyens and Walsh in their recent motion picture translation and interpretation of The Red Book adds further confusion, for the flight to the Ford of Bruinien in that work closely mirrors that described in The Lay. The sources used by Jackson et. al. have never been made clear (save the secondary source of Professor Tolkien’s own works), and so this must remain in the realm of conjecture. It is interesting to note that Glorfindel and Arwen’s brothers make no appearance in the works of Jackson et. al., but in The Lay Glorfindel appears (although the brothers do not). He does, however, only appear in parts of The Lay outside the scope of the work of Jackson et. al. Thus, this does not preclude The Lay being used as a source by Jackson et. al. and may actually support that theory.

Certainly, the personality of Arwen in The Lay is closer to that of her as presented in the work of Jackson et. al. than it is in that of Tolkien, although it is difficult to determine as Professor Tolkien’s own views on the role of women may have coloured what he chose to include and how he chose to interpret it. Certainly, Arwen is drawn more clearly in both The Lay and the work of Jackson et. al. than in Tolkien’s work, although Tolkien never even suggests her dual role as a noble maiden and an accomplished warrior.

Certain authorities go so far as to suggest that The Lay (undiscovered when Tolkien was writing) is the sole extant source of information concerning the personality and role of Arwen in the Third Age of Middle-earth and that Tolkien - not having access to it - was forced to invent what occurred at the Ford of Bruinen and in the dungeons of the Orcs. These scholars - facing the problem that the details of what happen at the end of the Ford of Bruinen episode (the flood from the mountains in the shape of white horses) are very similar between the two versions - suggest that The Red Book used by Tolkien contained details only of the very end of the Ford episode (where the two versions meet up again) and referred to “the Elf”, and not by name. There is no evidence whatsoever (other than circumstantial) for this, however, and it must remain in the realm of pure conjecture. Certainly, it is entirely probable that The Lay and the work of Jackson et. al. used the same or similar sources, but this does not prove either the version presented in The Lay or by Tolkien to be any more correct.

The brothers of Arwen also deserve a mention here. Both The Lay and the work of Jackson et. al. make no mention of them (although this does not mean either Jackson or the author of The Lay disbelieves in their existence, merely that they did not choose to mention them). However, both The Lay and the work of Jackson et. al. make reference to the event known as the Passing of the Grey Company, although in substantially different forms. The Lay mentions the event merely in passing (and so it is impossible to determine whether the sons of Elrond were present) and the treatment this episode is given by Jackson et. al. is so different to Tolkien’s that it is hardly surprising the brothers do not appear. One is left wondering if - within the logic of The Lay - Arwen is an only child and, indeed, if the brothers did historically exist. There is little evidence for their existence - the rescuing of Celebrian and their presence in the Grey Company. It has been argued by some that the term “the sons of Elrond” refers to the relationship between the fostered heirs of the Dunedain and that the “sons of Elrond” were in fact the brothers of Aragorn - although this is not a commonly held view.

However, the most interesting aspect of The Lay is that it appears to follow exceedingly closely the established interpretation of The Red Book by Tolkien (omissions excepted) except in the personality and deeds of Arwen, which follow closely the pattern established by Jackson et. al.

A note must be made concerning the name of two of the horses mentioned in The Lay. Asfaloth (a Sindarin name containing the root word “blossom”) appears as the name of both the horse of Glorfindel at the Battle of Fornost (III 1975) and the horse of Arwen Undómiel during the War of the Ring (III 3018). This piece of evidence has been used on both sides of several arguments, and the debate has still not been resolved. Those who claim The Lay is a later and inaccurate creation suggest that Arwen was simply “given” Glorfindel’s role and horse during the War of the Ring in order to make her character more “exciting” (the same scholars suggest Jackson et. al. did the same thing - although Jackson remains silent on his sources). The fact that her horse was given the same name as Glorfindel’s proves the matter in their eyes. Other authorities take the counter argument - that Glorfindel was “given” Arwen’s role and horse - either merely at the Ford of Bruinen or possibly during the Battle of Fornost(1) as well. Some suggest that there were simply two horses of that name (the vast amount of time between the two events precludes the horses being one and the same) and that it is simple coincidence that they are both mentioned in The Lay - such scholars are of the opinion The Lay is historically accurate, and suggest that Tolkien placed Glorfindel at the Ford in his works because his worldview would not allow him to believe a maiden was capable of such deeds(2) and because she was riding a horse with the same name as one the Noldo had ridden before. Such arguments run into problems when one finds no other extant reference to the name of the horse Glorfindel rode in III 1975. The matter is exceedingly complex, and a conclusion is unlikely to be reached, although it is the opinion of the majority of scholars of Middle-earth that the names of the horses are simply coincidence.

Regardless of the historical accuracy, authorship or indeed provenance of The Lay, it is clear that is has been inspired by other works (and indeed contains portions of certain works almost verbatim). Two of these works are The Lay of Leithian (alleged by certain sources to be the work of Daeron, minstrel of Elwë Thingol) and Noldolantë (the work of Maglor, son of Fëanor). Certainly, the description of Arwen herself in the fifth canto is very similar to the description of Luthien in The Lay of Leithian and the descriptions of the Ring of Barahir are all but identical.(3) Much of the history of Galadriel appears to be taken from Noldolantë (The Lay of Arwen Undómiel is written in Sindarin, and Noldolantë is written in Quenya, and so a precise determination cannot be made). It is certainly possible - whatever the actual date of the writing of The Lay of Arwen Undómiel - that the elements of Noldolantë were placed virtually verbatim in canto three, making that part of The Lay definitely not a late creation.(4)

Whatever the truth of the matter - and it is almost certainly the case that the “truth” will never be known - The Lay of Arwen Undómiel remains an interesting interpretation of the role played by the daughter of Elrond Half-elven in the War of the Ring and the events leading up to it. It may never be possible to determine if The Lay is an original, historically flawed, work; a later creation (or possibly even a hoax) or the closest that we will ever get to the historical truth of the matter.

As translator of this work, all I can do is present it to you in the vulgar language of these days, and allow you to make up your own mind.

Peter d'Iago, Archdiocese of New Coventry, January 2007

1 This is not a popular opinion, given the fact that there are no extant sources of even reasonable validity which suggest Arwen was the commander of the Elven forces of Imladris during the Battle of Fornost.

2 It is interesting to note that in the essay LACE (assembled by Tolkien from his studies of The Red Book and other sources) it is made clear that there was little physical difference between the strength, agility and so forth of male and female Eldar. It is also interesting to note that this work (perhaps deliberately, in light of what it suggested) was never published in Tolkien’s lifetime.

3 It is for this reason that the translator has used virtually the same (best known) translation as Professor Tolkien did in The Lay of Leithian for these sections.

4 The translator - himself subscribing to this theory - has used his translation of Noldolantë virtually verbatim to translate these sections of The Lay of Arwen Undómiel.