Bilbo is a better poet than he thinks he is, and I feel strongly on this matter.
The younger hobbits recite/sing his work a lot, meaning they love it on its own merits; and even if one doesnāt put hobbit-poetry on the same level as Elvish poetry, having made poetry that people love is worth being proud of.
āAll that is gold does not glitterā is such a good expression of Who Aragorn Is that Aragorn and Gandalf both independently quote it when theyāre identifying Aragorn.
(Side note: I have Feelings about the fact that Aragorn undoubtedly put those verses front and center in his own kingly legacy. Bilboās eight lines about his friend are probably spread throughout Gondor and Arnor, given prominent place in the histories and memorials of King Elessar Telcontar for centuries to comeā¦ because āthose verses go with that name,ā according to Aragorn himself, and thereās no way heās dropping them.)
Bilbo downplays his poetry constantly, because he is forever self-conscious about doing anything āun-Baggins-ish,ā even after heās learned to go ahead and do the things anyway. Therefore, he is not a reliable judge of his own poetry.
That said, the Elves do tease him about his poetryābut he gives back as good as he gets while heās talking to them, only showing his insecurities to Frodo afterwards, so I think itās fair to suggest that the Elves donāt know how sensitive he is to their criticism and mean it less seriously than he takes it.
(He also takes Elrondās smilingĀ āAll right, weāll find Aragorn for you and then weāll listen to your work before the end of the nightā as basically a Royal Command, which is not how it read to me.)
āEarendil was a marinerā not only has a highly complex metre and rhyme scheme, but is said by Frodo to āfit somehowā and āto follow on from something I was dreaming aboutā as heād been sitting in a trance of Elvish musicāthat is, to an outside listener, Bilboās poem wove seamlessly into the larger tapestry of Rivendellās songs and stories.
ā¦Weāve READ his poetry. Itās GOOD. āGil-galad was an Elven kingā! āThe Road goes ever on and onā! āIn every wood in every spring there is a different greenā hits HARD. (And, of course, we canāt discount such gems as the spider poemsāpure improv!āhis ode to Water Hot, the Man in the Moon poem, etc.) No reasonable person can dismiss Bilboās poetry.
Anyway, Bilboās poetry is canonically good enough to fit in at Rivendell and to become the definitive identification used for and by Isildurās Heir. Thatās A LOT.
ā¦In fact, given all his translation work (and translating poetry involves a lot of original creativity), and the fact that Elves obviously tend to compose in Elvish languages, itās not implausible to say that Bilbo might be one of the all-time greatest poets in the Westron tongue.
tangentwithtanner
ellievsbear
dededos
kianamaiart
turnnoffyourmind
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