Caroline McAlister
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Two New Tolkien Poems: "Noel" and "The Shadow Man"

2/16/2016

35 Comments

 
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​Exciting Tolkien news today.  Two lost poems by Tolkien have been found.  They were originally published in the obscure annual magazine of an Oxfordshire Catholic high school in 1936—an odd place for an Oxford Don to publish his work.
     However, Tolkien was not a professional poet, but an Anglo-Saxon scholar.  His poetry, old fashioned and out of step with the high modernism of Eliot and Pound, would not have been picked up by the top literary journals.  But clearly Tolkien valued it enough and believed in it enough that he wanted to see it published even in an obscure place.  Also, the poem “Noel,” about the Virgin Mary, is deeply Catholic.  What better place to share it than with a Catholic religious community dedicated to Mary. 
     I like “Noel” very much.  The first line: “Grim was the world and grey last night” gives the poem an alliterative Anglo-saxon flare.  The description of the wintery world of the first two stanzas has much of The Wanderer and the Sea-farer in it.  If the poem looks backward with its wistful romantic style to a Catholic medieval world, it also looks forward to the eucatastrophe.  Tolkien was not just a man with his head turned to the past.  He was always interested in uniting past and present and thereby redeeming the present. 
I have printed "Noel" below and here are the Guardian article and the BBC article about the poems’ discovery. 
                                                                               
NOEL
Grim was the world and grey last night:
The moon and stars were fled,
The hall was dark without song or light,
The fires were fallen dead.
The wind in the trees was like to the sea,
And over the mountains' teeth
It whistled bitter-cold and free,
As a sword leapt from its sheath.

The lord of snows upreared his head;
His mantle long and pale
Upon the bitter blast was spread
And hung o'er hill and dale.
The world was blind, the boughs were bent,
All ways and paths were wild:
Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,
And here was born a Child.

The ancient dome of heaven sheer
Was pricked with distant light;
A star came shining white and clear
Alone above the night.
In the dale of dark in that hour of birth
One voice on a sudden sang:
Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth
Together at midnight rang.

Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O'er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise,
And the tongue of many bells was stirred
in Heaven's towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was heard,
That was mother of Heaven's King.

Glad is the world and fair this night
With stars about its head,
And the hall is filled with laughter and light,
And fires are burning red.
The bells of Paradise now ring
With bells of Christendom,
And Gloria, Gloria we will sing
That God on earth is come. 

35 Comments
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6/1/2017 09:07:51 am

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Andy Doerksen
12/24/2018 03:00:03 pm

Thank you for this post - but I don't find the poem "deeply Catholic." It's a deeply heartfelt and artful expression of the drama of Christ's birth, and it expresses some of that drama from Mary's imagined viewpoint.

To me, a Protestant and biblicist, Mary is without doubt a spiritual hero, worthy of our highest respect. And when Tolkien labels her "mother of Heaven's King," that's certainly biblical. Jesus was exalted _as a Man_ to his current position as King of kings and Lord of lords. So Tolkien isn't expressing a uniquely Catholic viewpoint there.

If he'd included the unbiblical notion of Mary as "mother of God," that would've been uniquely Catholic (and of course erroneous).

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Caroline McAlister
12/26/2018 11:55:47 pm

Thanks for reading Andy and thanks for your detailed comment.

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David DeAtkine, Jr.
1/1/2020 11:47:49 am

the title "Mother of God" had been used by the universal church from the beginning, and the Council of Ephesus AD 431 ratified this to quell heresy -- orthodox Christianity has always declared that Jesus is fully God and fully Man, therefore, when Mary gave birth to Christ, she was giving birth to Jesus, fully God and fully man, and therefore is appropriately called the Mother of God. Be aware that the Roman Catholics, Eastern rite Catholics, all of the Orthodox and Coptic Churches, which vastly outnumber the Protestants, refer to Mary under this title. And be aware that Catholic Marian devotion is oriented towards Christ -- Mary always points to Christ and says "do whatever He tells you". As a former Baptist, I understand where you are coming from, but reading JRR Tolkien and GK Chesterton, and JH Newman and the like led me home to Rome. I wish you well, and may God Bless

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Rosanne Rossi
1/2/2020 05:23:12 am

I was going to reply to Andy, then I read your reply. Your reply was better than mine would’ve been. I am grateful for what us cradle-Catholics can learn from converts. So happy you came Home to Rome! We need all the lovers of Truth that we can get these days! We have a great battle ahead. Good to know Who wins, “The woman clothed with the sun and on her head a crown of 12 stars...” I can’t understand how Protestants read Revelation and don’t recognize Mary as The Mother of God! But then again we have lukewarm Catholics that don’t believe in The Real Presence. We “Remnant faithful” pray. A Daily Rosary to fulfill the promises of Fatima is a key component.🎄🎁☦️

Andy Doerksen
5/17/2020 03:15:10 pm

I appreciate the historical overview on this subject and have no qualms with it.

I have to question, however, a couple of things. Do you believe that, on doctrinal matters, whoever's in the majority is "right"? Why should it matter who outnumbers who? If the numbers were reversed, would you then automatically accept Protestant doctrines?

As far as being "led home to Rome," I can't know or account for whatever your Protestant church experiences may have been - but I can attest this much: you were led to a cult.

Andy Doerksen
5/17/2020 03:33:10 pm

@ Rosanne Rossi: Thank you for your input (sincerely), as it furthers the discussion. Bear in mind that I have in no way devalued Mary in Christian history. She's a hero of mine, to be sure. However . . .

You referred to "The woman [in Revelation 12:1] clothed with the sun and on her head a crown of 12 stars."

In context this is almost certainly Israel, not Mary. (a) The description parallels Joseph’s dream in Gen 37:9, which had to do with the then-future history of his immediate family and, more broadly, the nation of Israel - not with any one individual.

(b) Revelation 12 goes on to describe how this "woman" is pursued by Satan and flees into the "wilderness," where "she" is divinely protected. This doesn't correspond to Mary's personal experience. Some might suppose it has to do with Joseph and Mary temporarily hiding out in Egypt, when Herod wanted to kill Jesus. However, Rev. 12:6 places the flight of the "woman" /after/ Jesus' ascension, not during his infancy.

Moreover, the context of Revelation as a whole - including the allusion to OT Joseph's dream - points decidedly away from Rev. 12 being about Mary. Note especially that there is a corresponding "woman" in Revelation: the "woman" who rides the Beast in chapter 17. Revelation is thus using two different "women" to characterize God's faithful, on the one hand, and the Devil's disciples, on the other.

This isn't a devaluing of Mary. She simply isn't the subject in that passage (or anywhere in Revelation, for that matter).

< I can’t understand how Protestants read Revelation and don’t recognize Mary as The Mother of God! >

In the sense with which David unpacked that term, above, Protestants *do* understand Mary that way: i.e., she gave birth to a human being who was *also* God. If that's what the title "mother of God" actually means, then we'd have no problem with that.

Do you have some other definition of "mother of God" in mind that Protestants have failed to embrace?

< But then again we have lukewarm Catholics that don’t believe in The Real Presence. >

The Bible simply doesn't teach this. Do you suppose the disciples at the Last Supper began gnawing on Jesus' arm, or began sipping his blood from a cut or something? It should be abundantly obvious from context, not only of the Last Supper but of the four gospels collectively, that Jesus /wasn't/ being literal about the bread as "his body" or the wine as "his blood." He clearly meant that those things /symbolized/ his body and blood.

This isn't either "lukewarm Catholicism" or some false teaching. It's sound Biblical exegesis. If you genuinely want to honor God, you will handle His word with utmost care.

< We “Remnant faithful” pray a Daily Rosary to fulfill the promises of Fatima >

When/where did God ever reveal such a thing . . . ?

Judy link
5/7/2019 08:42:40 pm

Lovely poems!

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Caroline
1/1/2020 01:33:46 pm

What a wonderful poem! Can you post the other one ("Shadow Man") too, please?! :)

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Suzie link
1/1/2020 06:16:45 pm

Thank you this beautiful gift! What a perfect poem on this today, the 8th day Of Christmas, and a day in honor of our Mother, the great and beautiful Mother of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ!

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Jerry LeBlanc
1/1/2020 07:35:28 pm

Great explanation. You read well. We honor Mary as the Theotokos. And indeed, she directs us to Christ.

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Andy Doerksen
5/17/2020 03:34:27 pm

When/where did God reveal this...?

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Michael Morgan
1/1/2020 11:57:21 pm

How wonderful is the Noel poem. It ends in a prayer to Mary which is especially sweet

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Andy Doerksen
5/17/2020 03:35:15 pm

When/where did God reveal that we should pray to Mary...?

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Makitus
1/5/2020 01:27:17 pm

Thank you for uploading this beautiful poem, it has been a beautiful present for Christmas.

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Kris10
1/5/2020 10:43:09 pm

Thank you for sharing it’s beautiful! It’s very inspiring & appropriate for the season ! Thanks again for posting

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MrBultitude
1/6/2020 10:15:59 am

This is similar in spirit to "The Turn of the Tide" by Tolkien's great friend C.S. Lewis. Thank you for sharing it.

https://amiscellany.info/2017/12/19/literature-c-s-lewis-the-turn-of-the-tide/

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Mike Morris
1/6/2020 08:33:34 pm

Thanks so much for publishing Tolkien’s poem. What could be more fitting? Many thanks again. God Bless! Mike

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7/8/2020 12:04:48 am

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Jennifer
12/20/2020 12:45:35 pm

This beautiful poem is not only very Tolkien, it is also very Catholic. During the Medieval period (which was the real Enlightenment, not the eighteenth century) all Christians were Catholic. Also, I may be protestant, but I have friends who are Catholic and I went to a Catholic college. First, Catholicism is Not a "cult". Second, sola scriptura is a fallacy and a stumbling block for people. By the way, the Ave Maria Is in the Bible; it is the oldest Christian Prayer, and the literal translation from the Greek does say "One (or She) who has been graced to the full". Mary is the new Eve because she carried in her womb the new Adam. And finally, Mary is the Queen because the queen-mother was honoured with great respect. Mary crushes the head of the serpent with her Fiat.

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Jennifer
12/20/2020 01:01:07 pm

It is a lovely poem, and I would love to sing it, if it is ever set to music. I keep imagining it being set in a Medieval or Early Renaissance style ending on a high note.

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doug king
12/23/2021 10:57:36 am

Jennifer,
I started immediately singing it to the tune of "What Child is This," and with a few adaptations, it works very well.

Amy Barlowe link
11/17/2022 12:50:59 pm

Hi Jennifer, Just found your post. I’m a Juilliard trained violinist/composer. Have recently set “Noel” to music, and I think you might like it very much. Trouble is, I thought the poem was in public domain, but just today I found out that no music is allowed to be published or even written using Tolkien’s writing. I don’t know if I can possibly get permission to allow someone even to sing it. If you or anyone else reading this post happen to have this information and it’s okay, I’d be so grateful and more than happy to send it to you.

Brock sayre
12/23/2020 07:59:50 pm

It is always nice to see a fellow North Carolinian engaging with the poetry of Tolkien.

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Lenore
9/23/2021 06:34:37 pm

I love this poem and thank you for publishing. I think it is deeply Catholic considering that Tolkien was a devout Catholic. Can't we just enjoy the poem without the smears and arguments? Sometimes with the protestants being so against Mary being called Mother of God, I wonder do they even believe in the Trinity? It all makes sense if one just thinks it through.

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Tom Baehr
12/22/2022 11:54:13 pm

Amy Barlowe: I too have set "Noel" to music, SATB & piano, plus the same composition adapted for SATB a cappella. Although the Tolkien Estate refuses permission to set Tolkien's works to music, I wonder if this poem falls under their purview, considering that it appears on more than one website. It was very well received when my Chamber Singers performed it recently.

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Caroline McAlister link
12/23/2022 11:47:05 am

Dear Tom and Amy,
I love that Tolkien’s writing keeps inspiring new creative endeavors. I know that the estate is worried about musical settings that would offend against the spirit of his work. I don’t think that either of your settings do that. Rather, they enhance the work in the spirit of creative play, in the spirit of people as subcreators.
In Peace,
Caroline McAlister

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Amy Barlowe
7/11/2023 11:20:23 am

Unfortunately, this is the letter I received from the Tolkien Estate lawyer. I very much appreciate her kindness and respect with this situation, though.

"I am very sorry, but the Tolkien Estate does not give permission for the setting of Tolkien’s poems or other writings to music. This is as a matter of policy and the policy has been in place for several decades.This does not, of course, prevent your use of the music you have composed: it means simply that you may not use Tolkien’s words in connection with it in any way.

I appreciate that this will come as a disappointment to you but hope you will understand that it results from policy considerations only and not from your music itself, with which we wish you well.



With kind regards,



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8/29/2023 04:39:19 am

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Jennifer
12/12/2024 10:42:39 pm

Is it just me, or is everyone jumping on the anti- Catholic bandwagon? To be ant- Catholic is to be anti- Christian (looking at you Tom Hanks). Please stop! Enjoy this beautiful poem for what it is and leave off the 'where-does-it-say-that-in-the-Bible nonsense.
P.S. I completely agree with protecting Tolkien's legacy and his writings. On the other hand, as I once heard a Catholic priest say, there is no copy write in Heaven.

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Raymond link
1/20/2025 03:39:36 pm

The discovery of 'Noel' and 'The Shadow Man' adds a fascinating layer to Tolkien's literary legacy. Your thoughtful presentation and analysis of these poems provide invaluable insight into his poetic brilliance. This piece is a treasure for Tolkien enthusiasts and a testament to your expertise in uncovering and sharing literary gems.

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    Caroline McAlister

    Caroline is an avid reader, children's writer, and teacher. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and dog. Check out her bio for more!

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