The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

***Earniel*** · 06-16-2019, 12:23 PM

I was in the bookshop the other day with birthday money to spend and so imagine my surprise when I see the name J.R.R. written in large on a new book with a title that does not at all ring a bell.

Is anyone familiar with this work?

It seems to be a celtic fairy-tale poem, pre-dating The Hobbit. But unlike his work on Beowulf and the Nibelungen saga, I don't recall ever hearing about this one.

I will be putting it on my summerholiday reading pile.

***Earniel*** · 07-17-2020, 12:13 PM

Finally managed to read it.

It appears to be work based on Breton fairytales and poetry that caught Tolkien's interest and for which he appears to have put the Lay of Leithan aside for a while.

I'd recommend it for people with an interest for Tolkien's non-Middle-Earth work. There are some resemblances IMO with his translation of Beowulf, especially in descriptions of places people probably shouldn't put foot in.

But even for those only interested in the Middle-Earth stories, there is definitely an inspiration for Galadriel in this work.

06-16-2019, 12:23 PM	#1
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun I was in the bookshop the other day with birthday money to spend and so imagine my surprise when I see the name J.R.R. written in large on a new book with a title that does not at all ring a bell. Is anyone familiar with this work? It seems to be a celtic fairy-tale poem, pre-dating The Hobbit. But unlike his work on Beowulf and the Nibelungen saga, I don't recall ever hearing about this one. I will be putting it on my summerholiday reading pile.

07-17-2020, 12:13 PM	#2
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	Finally managed to read it. It appears to be work based on Breton fairytales and poetry that caught Tolkien's interest and for which he appears to have put the Lay of Leithan aside for a while. I'd recommend it for people with an interest for Tolkien's non-Middle-Earth work. There are some resemblances IMO with his translation of Beowulf, especially in descriptions of places people probably shouldn't put foot in. But even for those only interested in the Middle-Earth stories, there is definitely an inspiration for Galadriel in this work.