Songs for the Philologists

Songs for the Philologists

Cover of the first (and only) edition
Author J. R. R. Tolkien, E. V. Gordon, et al.
Language English
Publisher Privately printed in the Department of English, University College, London
Publication date
 1936

Songs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E. V. Gordon and J. R. R. Tolkien as well as traditional songs. It is the rarest and most difficult to find Tolkien-related book. Originally a collection of typescripts compiled by Gordon in 1921–26 for the students of the University of Leeds, it was given by A. H. Smith of University College London, a former student at Leeds, to a group of students to be printed privately in 1935 or 1936, and printed in 1936 with the impressuum "Printed by G. Tillotson, A. H. Smith, B. Pattison and other members of the English Department, University College, London."

Since Smith had not asked permission of either Gordon or Tolkien, the printed booklets were not distributed. Most copies were destroyed in a fire, and only a few, perhaps around 14, survived.

Of the 30 songs in the collection, 13 were contributed by Tolkien:

  1. From One to Five, to the tune of Three Wise Men of Gotham.
  2. Syx Mynet (Old English), to the tune of I Love Sixpence.
  3. Ruddoc Hana (Old English), to the tune of Who Killed Cock Robin'.
  4. Ides Ælfscýne (Old English), to the tune of Daddy Neptune. Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ('Elf-fair Lady') in The Road to Middle-earth.
  5. Bagmē Blōma (Gothic language), to the tune of Lazy Sheep (by Mantle Childe, after an old French air). Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ('Flower of the Trees') in The Road to Middle-earth.
  6. Éadig Béo þu!. (Old English), to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ("Good Luck to You") in The Road to Middle-earth.
  7. Ofer Wídne Gársecg (Old English), to the tune of The Mermaid. Reprinted, together with a Modern English translation ("Across the Broad Ocean") in The Road to Middle-earth.
  8. La Húru, to the tune of O’Reilly.
  9. I Sat upon a Bench, to the tune of The Carrion Crow.
  10. Natura Apis: Morali Ricardi Eremite, also to the tune of O’Reilly.
  11. The Root of the Boot, to the tune of The Fox Went Out. Reprinted in Anderson’s Annotated Hobbit, and in a revised form in The Return of the Shadow. Also reprinted in The Tolkien Papers: Mankato Studies in English. Later revised and printed in The Lord of the Rings and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil as 'The Stone Troll'.
  12. Frenchmen Froth, to the tune of The Vicar of Bray.
  13. Lit' and Lang' , to the tune of Polly Put the Kettle On.
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