Oxonmoot 2024

The many parallels between Tolkien's Rohirrim and the Anglo-Saxons, and particularly Mercians, are well-established as they are well-known. This essay follows this strain and, drawing on a number of Old English, Medieval Welsh and Latin texts, as well as Tolkien’s work as a medievalist, aims to demonstrate some key parallels instead between the Dunlendings and Brittonic-speaking peoples. A significant part of what rendered the kingdom of Mercia (deriving from 'Mierce', which may be glossed as 'the people of the borderlands') and Riddermark alike, 'border-lands', was the presence of their displaced neighbours, the Welsh and the Dunlendings respectively. This essay examines in what ways the depiction of the Welsh Other, particularly in Anglo-Saxon sources, as well as certain ideas and trends in academia concerning the history of Early Medieval Britain, now superseded and amended to varying degrees, may throw light on our understanding of the Dunlendings in the Legendarium.

"The basis of J.R.R. Tolkien’s worldbuilding lies in the prime magic of languages and music (Fimi and Higgins, 2016 ; Flieger, 2020). Their evolution and transmission through ages and between species take many forms, depending on the literary genre adapted by Tolkien (myths, legends, folktales); and depending on the beings who share those songs in the fiction (spirit or corporeal, good or evil) (Fimi, 2008 ; Carruthers, 2016). In the ever-threatened world of faërie, defending or longing for homelands are building motives. From the Songs of Power preserved in ancient Elvish lays, to the folkloric Hobbit-rhymes, homelands are often referred to, either loosely evoked or directly invoked. Calling upon selected songs from the legendarium, this paper explores the different genres and effects of the musical conjurations of land and home in Tolkien’s writings.

In the “Ainulindalë”, divine spirits sing the universe and beings into existence, while the world is threatened and reshaped by the songs of evil forces at work. On the other hand, the Second Song at the end of time comes with a re-categorization of species, especially marginalized people, and thus tackles the question of minorities and beings in Tolkien’s fantasy system.
In the legendarium, home-related songs can affect both the elements and the audience. They fuel characters with courage or despair, by way of simple reminiscences, or through effective visions occurring in key moments of the narrative.
Those songs conjure ancient, foundered homelands (Rhymes of Lore), current households (Bath Songs), or cozy homes to return to (Walking songs). Other declinations of home-related songs convey an imminent menace, whether the antagonist’s household is threatening (“Clap! Snap! The black crack!” In The Hobbit) or being threatened (“The Ent's Marching Song” in The Lord of the Rings). Quite often, the endangered or long-lost homeland is used as a weapon during epic battles, bordering on the enchantment (the duel between Finrod and Sauron, The Silmarillion), or used as an empowering incantation (Lúthien’s lament before Mandos, Beren and Lúthien). Finally, conjuring home creates a sense of belonging that is shared between Peoples, whether one shares the beauty of their homeland (Finrod’s encounter with Men, The Silmarillion), or pays homage to their foreign friends (Bilbo’s Song of Eärendil, The Lord of the Rings).
By invoking ancient or distant lands, Home Songs transgress every border: they conjure the almost forgotten into the present, transmute the foreign into the familiar, and alter the dialectics of the high and the low."