BMEM '08: Beorhtnoth

[lady_branwyn]

Tolkien's short verse play The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son is a startling piece. My own initial reaction to it was "Tolkien wrote this?" The language, though more finely honed than much of his writing, is gritty and dark. This universe feels strangely godless and empty of true heroes.
[Edit: The pdf includes two essays along with the text of the play. It isn't necessary to read the essays to follow the play. The story is set after the Battle of Malden. Two of his low-born followers search among the slain for the unlucky Lord Beorhtnoth. The humor is extremely macabre.]

Comments

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Maybe my head was in a purely escapist mode, but I thought this was gorgeous, both the language and the imagery of the two men retrieving their lord's body from the battlefield (and how he was such a mighty figure of a man that his body was easily identified even without his head.) It's a good thing It's too bad we didn't get to read this during the holy days in February - as wibble-inducing as it would have been, it fits wonderfully with certain events of that time frame. *wibbles quietly at desk*

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong--I love this piece of writing. But it did strike me as very different from Tolkien's other writing.
Heh, poor Beorthnoth--the longest legs in the county.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

It seemed much clearer and accessible, for all its gloomy subject matter *g*

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

Yes, despite the archaic language, the narrative is very direct and the sensibilities unexpectedly modern (or timeless). It is an amazing piece of writing and knocked me back on my heels the first time I read it.