Abstract
Tolkien famously wrote several poems in Old English and Gothic; however, these remain understudied for their philological and poetic qualities relative to his modern English poetic corpus. In the Old English Poem of Attila Tolkien adapts the Old Norse poem Atlakviða into Old English. This essay analyzes the meter and poetic techniques in Old English Poem of Attila, especially in relation to the closely related, Eddic poem Atlakviða. The Old English Poem of Attila exhibits verse patterns and vocabulary from the Old Norse original, but it is firmly rooted in the Old English poetic tradition. Tolkien deliberately blends Old English and Old Norse poetic features in his new composition, reflecting a mixed ancestry for a “lost original” poem of the Nibelung saga.
Recommended Citation
Miller-Atkins, Galen
(2025)
"Entiscum yrfe Ealdniflunga: Meter and Poetic Style in Tolkien’s Old English Attila,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 23:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol23/iss2/5
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