2008 Yule Essay Contest

[Riv Res]

Fabulous poem CJ!! Love your entry too Lindariel.

[Iolanthe]

Me too - I like the idea that skinchangers aren't only bears and that there can be good man-wolves. Tolkien told us so little about them and the whole thing is tantalising. And the whole food thing is so Hobbity with Bilbo properly taking care of Gandalf and Beorn, and keeping himself well fed into the bargain!

I really admire the way everyone's managed to come up with something very different and get such suspense into their stories!

[Lindariel]

Thanks Iolanthe! I'm so glad you liked it!

I relished the idea of using this story as an opportunity to briefly explore my ideas about the culture of Beorn and the "skin-changers." Since I had to limit it to 1000 words, I couldn't go as deeply as I might have liked. In a longer version, I intended to have Beorn tell Bilbo and Gandalf the legend of his people about how Morgoth bred and raised his terrible werewolves, including Carcharoth the Red Maw, from wolf-kind skin-changers he had captured as children. It seemed imminently reasonable to postulate that Morgoth would have "experimented" with the skin-changers, much as he did with Elves/Orcs (and supposedly Ents/Trolls).

In my "legend," Morgoth learned quickly that the adult skin-changers would simply kill themselves with their own claws rather than submit (as Wulfgar's wife did; she was a lynx, by the way). But their children proved far easier to control, turn to his service, and raise into horrors. For this reason, Beorn's people have ever been fierce opponents of the Dark Lord, and they hide and guard their wives and children carefully.

We know from Gloin's account to Frodo in LOTR that Beorn was succeeded by his son Grimbeorn. So somewhere out there in the wild, Beorn has very carefully hidden, or will carefully hide away in the near future, his own wife and child/children.

Bolg's high seat in Mount Gundabad has been the focus of Beorn's hatred for many months since the deaths of Wulfgar's wife and son and the disappearance of his kinsman. When Bolg and his army left the Misty Mountains to descend upon Erebor, Beorn followed and that is why he was there to participate in the Battle of Five Armies. He took particularly grim satisfaction in killing Bolg himself, but clearly it did not assuage his grief for the loss of his kinsfolk.

Finding Wulfgar might be regarded as quite a wonderful Christmas gift for Beorn, don't you think?

[Iolanthe]

This is all ringing bells with something I read about Morgoth and wolves in a footnote somewhere. It would make an interesting discussion on the Sil thread if I could remember where on earth I read it!

[marbretherese]

Here's my contribution: I won't dignify it with thte title of "competition entry" as it's not at all serious and moreover someone else did all the structure and rhyming work centuries ago. It's a parody of one of my favourite Christmas carols. Apologies in advance to saints called Wenceslas, the people of Poland, anyone else who likes the carol, etc etc. Altogether now:

Bilbo and his friends set out
Mirkwood gladly leaving;
Travelled for a month about,
Their way homeward weaving.
Brightly shone the moon one night,
‘twas the eve of Yule.
Bilbo disappeared from sight
Gath’ring winter fuel.

“Hither, Beorn, stand by me,
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder hobbit, where is he?
Is he trees a-felling?”
“Gandalf, he has vanished hence
(Wizardry discounting).
Has he lost his hobbit-sense
Since the Lonely Mountain?”

“Bring your staff and I’ll bring mine
To the forest thither!
Foolish Bilbo shall we find
And we’ll bring him hither!”
Beorn and Gandalf, forth they went,
Forth they went together.
Fruitless hours in search they spent
In the bitter weather.

Then came faint cries: “Help me now!
You are both much stronger!
I am caught, I know not how,
I can shout no longer!”
Right into a a trapper’s cage
Bilbo had trod boldly!
Rescuers forgot their rage,
Bilbo shivered coldly.

Weary back to camp they trod,
Soon the firelight glinted.
Safe and warm, began to nod;
“Rest now!” Gandalf hinted,
“You are none the worse for your
Episode distressing.
We‘ll keep watch o‘er you for sure -
And we’ll count our blessings!”

[Iolanthe]

Love it . I think it's a very worthy entry and nobody said it had to be serious !

Good King Wenceslas will never be the same. Can we take the words along with us tonight in case we get a chance to sing it ?

[Philipa]

Love it.

[Elegaer]

That's wonderful

[Lindariel]

Bravo marbretherese!

I absolutely love this, and fully intend to take it to my family gathering for a good loud sing. Many of the L's are Tolkien fans (particularly my teenage nephew Russell), and they'll get a tremendous kick out of this hobbity take on an old favorite.

A wonderful, wonderful holiday to all!!!!

[Riv Res]

marbretherese, simply wonderful on Christmas Eve.

[Merry]

Brava! Well done, indeed! I can't believe how clever you all are.

The M Family, too, all Tolkien fans, have been following this thread with interest. They have been enjoying the gallery as well.

[marbretherese]

Thanks everyone! it hadn;t occured to me that anyone might actually want to sing it - what a fantastic compliment! I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday!!

[Lindariel]

I guess these are all the entries. Now we have a difficult, difficult (But fun!) decision to make. Best of luck to all contestants! Tomorrow the voting starts!

[Merry]

One more poem, although not an entry. The youngest Nephew M helped with some of the words, and learned the lesson from Aunt M that one must try to do some things even if one is not very good at them!



Bilbo was a bachelor,
As tidy as could be.
At four o’clock,
Right on the tock,
He sipped his cuppa tea.

‘Til . . .

An unexpected party
Brought dwarves to his round door.
You know the rest:
There was a quest
That brought him wealth galore.

He scaled the Lonely Mountain
To meet the dragon, Smaug,
Who lived for gold
In his lair cold
While breathing smoke and fog.

Bilbo learned a lesson:
While he longed for hearth and fire,
The Arkenstone,
And that alone,
Was Thorin’s heart’s desire.

So . . .

Bilbo was a hero
To Elves and Dwarves and Men.
He made things right
Without a fight,
Went There and Back Again.

The ‘Back’ here means The Shire,
Our hero’s bachelor home.
By mount and stream
His favorite dream:
To end his earthly roam

And . . .

To breakfast by the window
On eggs and bacon fried,
Maybe some toast
Or, at the most,
Some mushrooms would be tried.

But . . .

Erebor was where the war
Of greed for gold was fought,
Far in the North,
They ventured forth
For lessons to be taught.

So . . .

He was too far away
To reach the Shire by Yule.
His wizard friend
This Yule did spend
Where strange creatures did rule.

Beorn was a strange creature,
Or so the book has said.
At night, he’d growl
While on the prowl,
When hobbits were abed.

To . . .

Spend the Yuletide season
With a wizard and a bear
Was more than strange,
But for a change,
Made Bilbo learn to share.

See, our hero, Bilbo,
Had grown while on this quest,
Not height or girth,
But depth and mirth.
He made a welcome guest

At table and by fire.
He heard and told some tales
Of peoples new
And myths so true,
Of wondrous hills and vales.

To feast with newfound friends
Brought Bilbo such delight,
The bachelor life,
Though without strife,
Seemed not to be so bright.

So . . .

On the road to Hobbiton,
Our Bilbo hatched a plan:
To share Bag End
With kin and friend,
A member of his clan.

So his cousin, Frodo,
Was adopted as his heir.
You know the rest:
Another quest,
A greater task to dare.

So . . .

Mountains can be Lonely
In the land of Middle-earth,
But hobbits shouldn’t:
They just wouldn’t,
By virtue of their worth.

[Riv Res]

Simply wonderful Merry. You and Nephew M must collaborate more often.