Editing The Lord of the Rings (section)

=== Poetry ===

{{Main|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings|l1=Poetry in ''The Lord of the Rings''}}

Unusually for 20th century novels, the prose narrative is supplemented throughout by [[Poetry in The Lord of the Rings|over 60 pieces of poetry]]. These include verse and songs of many genres: for wandering, [[Marching song|marching to war]], [[Drinking song|drinking]], and having a bath; narrating ancient myths, [[riddle]]s, [[Prophecy|prophecies]], and magical incantations; and of praise and lament ([[elegy]]).<ref name="Kullmann 2013"/> Some, such as riddles, charms, elegies, and narrating heroic actions are found in [[Old English]] [[Old_English_literature#Poetry|poetry]].<ref name="Kullmann 2013">{{cite journal |last=Kullmann |first=Thomas |title=Poetic Insertions in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings |journal=[[Connotations: A Journal for Critical Debate]] |date=2013 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=283–309 |url=https://www.connotations.de/article/thomas-kullmann-poetic-insertions-in-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/ |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108030807/http://www.connotations.de/article/thomas-kullmann-poetic-insertions-in-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/ |archive-date=8 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Scholars have stated that the poetry is essential for the fiction to work aesthetically and thematically, as it adds information not given in the prose, and it brings out characters and their backgrounds.<ref name="Higgins 2014">{{cite journal |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |year=2014 |title=Tolkien's Poetry (2013), edited by Julian Eilmann and Allan Turner |journal=Journal of Tolkien Research |volume=1 |issue=1 |at=Article 4 |url=http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol1/iss1/4 |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801054309/https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol1/iss1/4/ |archive-date=1 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Straubhaar 2005">{{cite journal |last=Straubhaar |first=Sandra Ballif |author-link=Sandra Ballif Straubhaar |title=Gilraen's Linnod : Function, Genre, Prototypes |journal=Journal of Tolkien Studies |volume=2 |issue=1 |year=2005 |pages=235–244 |issn=1547-3163 |doi=10.1353/tks.2005.0032|s2cid=170378314 }}</ref> The poetry has been judged to be of high technical skill, reflected in Tolkien's prose; for instance, he wrote much of [[Tom Bombadil]]'s speech in metre.<ref name="Zimmer 1993">{{cite journal |last=Zimmer |first=Paul Edwin |author-link=Paul Edwin Zimmer |year=1993 |title=Another Opinion of 'The Verse of J. R. R. Tolkien' |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |at=Article 2 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol19/iss2/2}}</ref>