Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our poetry feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. 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.
“To Save a Friend”
by Caroline Flynn
Two red eyes, gleaming in the dark:
Two eyes, filled with fiendish lust and desire.
Not the light they hoped to pierce their prison stark!
Not this end in torture and hellish fire.
Another gone, one more companion dead,
In the dark dungeons of that accursed isle;
Another werewolf cruelly fed
While their master sits above with his triumphant smile.
At last, only two are left alive:
Together, Beren and Felagund wait –
Wait for the teeth and claws, sharper than knives.
How can they escape their terrible fate?
Two red eyes appear in the night.
To Felagund they rove, but on Beren they land.
But lo! The evil dark is pierced by light
As Finrod takes against evil a last stand.
Black blood mingling with the red,
Black fur and golden hair,
A terrible price Finrod pays in Beren’s stead,
There in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, in evil’s lair.
The chains are rent, the dark wizardry spent,
And league of love and trust unbroken
Unto the Elven-king great strength lent
So that in the darkness hope was awoken.
But no! Defeat seems all their prize!
The Oath’s doom strikes the Oath-bound.
And mortally wounded, Finrod slowly dies,
His breath and Beren’s tears the only sounds.
Then Finrod speaks as he in torment lies,
And he touches the ring upon Beren’s hand;
The golden flowers, the serpents with emerald eyes
Such a heavy weight, that small band!
“Namarie!” I go now to the halls beyond Valinor.
Alas, that I could do no more upon this quest;
But remember me, when I am no more.
Namarie! I go now to my rest!”
Beren mourned, and called his name,
Finrod Felagund – fair, beloved, and brave.
But his last stand was not in vain:
Blood for blood was rendered, a friend to save.
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