Goblin Feet
"Goblin Feet" is a poem written in 1915 by J. R. R. Tolkien for Edith Mary Bratt, his wife-to-be. It celebrates the diminutive type of elf that Tolkien soon came to dislike, and he regretted having published the poem.
Poem
[edit]"Goblin Feet" was published in Oxford poetry 1915 before being reprinted in anthologies such as The Book of Fairy Poetry (1920): it thus marks Tolkien's first appearance in the capacity of a writer for children.[1] It was his first notable published work.[2]
His fiancée had expressed her liking for “spring and flowers and trees, and little elfin people”,[3] and the poem with its rather twee references to “the tiny horns of enchanted leprechauns...their little happy feet”[3] reflects her preferences. Tolkien himself would later wish that “the unhappy thing, representing all that I came (so soon after) to fervently dislike, could be buried for ever”.[4]
"Goblin Feet" reflects one strand in the twin elf traditions Tolkien inherited – the frivolous, small-scale, singing and dancing elves of the Edwardians, as opposed to the medieval-style warrior elves who would become the mainstream of his legendarium.[5]
Tolkien's use of words like 'flittermouse' for bat in the poem mark an important opening of his philological interests into his fairy world.[6]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ J. Rateliff, The History of The Hobbit, Pt 1: Mr Baggins (2007) p. 120
- ^ "Goblin Feet, a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien". tolkienlibrary.com. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ a b H. Carpenter, J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography (2002) pp. 106–107
- ^ J. Rateliff, The History of The Hobbit, Pt 1: Mr Baggins (2007) p. 125
- ^ J. Rateliff, The History of The Hobbit, Pt 1: Mr Baggins (2007) p. 120
- ^ T. A. Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (1992) pp. 31-32