Well, this has never happened to me before: I’ve had two articles published on the same day! Please don’t imagine that I’m some kind of super-productive robot churning out papers all at the same time — these articles have been a long time in the making and it’s just coincidence that they appeared on the same day. Still, I’m happy that they’re finally off into the world, as I’ve been working on Tolkien’s The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth for some time now.

Mythlore, vol. 43, 2024

Tolkien the Playwright: Manuscript Revisions and Faërian Dramas in “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth”

You can download a free copy of the article here.

Abstract:

Tolkien is not usually considered a playwright, even though his verse drama, “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son,” is a unique example of the genre. It is Tolkien’s only published play and historical fiction, as well as a unique poetic-dramatic genre, a modern alliterative verse play, which Tolkien developed over many years in numerous drafts, now held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the Brotherton Library in Leeds. These manuscript drafts allow us to trace Tolkien’s stage directions, which reveal that he imagined this to be a play for presentation on stage. This essay examines Tolkien’s statements on and experiences of drama, and traces the revisions in the manuscripts, in Tolkien’s personal recording of the play, and considers possible revisions in the BBC Radio broadcast, with the aim of demonstrating different modes of dramatic presentation, including faërian dramas affecting characters and audiences alike.

Mythcon 53, August 3, 2024

Tolkien’s “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth”: Manuscript Revisions and Faërian Dramas

If you’d like to hear a conference presentation drawing on the same material, though slightly more condensed, you can watch the recording of my Mythcon 53 presentation here.

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Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 19: J.R.R. Tolkien and Medieval Poets in honor of Richard C. West

Tolkien, “The Battle of Maldon,” and “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth”: Poetic Allusions and the Experience of Time”

Dr. Jane Beal has edited this special issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research in honour of Richard C. West. I was pleased to have an essay in this issue, as Richard West’s insights into “The Homecoming” helped to shape my ideas. (Also, he was a nice man and a generous scholar).

You can find a free download of my article here.

Abstract:

J.R.R. Tolkien’s alliterative verse play, “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’ s Son,” is his critical and creative response to the Old English poem “The Battle of Maldon.” Tracing his influence on “Maldon” criticism through his “Ofermod” essay, which posits a continuum of alliterative poems dealing with the nature of heroism, from Beowulf to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the discussion then turns to how Tolkien can claim a place in that tradition and how critics have applied his ideas about war and heroism to some of his other works, especially The Lord of the Rings. An analysis of the play itself illustrates some of Tolkien’s scholarly ideas about alliterative verse and examines allusions to Beowulf, “The Battle of Brunanburh,” and “The Battle of Maldon” as well as revisions to some Middle English verses attributed to Canute, and a concluding Latin dirge. These allusions to medieval poetry within “The Homecoming” elicit an awareness of times past, present, and future, positioning readers or audiences in multi-level time frames through their experience of poetry.

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Sometimes I’m amazed at how many ideas and connections this brief play has sparked for me and various other critics. While I’ve given numerous conference presentations on “The Homecoming,” here is now the complete list of articles I’ve published on it:

Smol, Anna. “Bodies in War: Medieval and Modern Tensions in ‘The Homecoming’.” “Something Has Gone Crack”: New Perspectives on J.R.R. Tolkien in the Great War, edited by Janet Brennan Croft and Annika Röttinger, Walking Tree Publishers, 2019, pp. 263-83. [Please comment below or email me if you cannot get access to this source, and I would be happy to send you a copy of the article.]

Smol, Anna and Gavin [R] Foster. “J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Homecoming’ and Modern Alliterative Metre.” Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 12, iss. 1, article 3, 2021. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol12/iss1/3

Smol, Anna. “Tolkien, ‘The Battle of Maldon,’ and ‘The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth’: Poetic Allusions and the Experience of Time.” Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 19, iss. 3, article 2, 2024. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol19/iss3/2

Smol, Anna. “Tolkien the Playwright: Manuscript Revisions and Faërian Dramas in ‘The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth’.” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature, vol. 43, no. 1, article 7, 2024. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol43/iss1/7