At the dark doorways
they dinned and hammered;
there was clang of swords
and crash of axes.
The smiths of battle
smote the anvils;
sparked and splintered
spears and helmets.
In they hacked them,
out they hurled them;
bears assailing,
boars defending.
Stones and stairways
streamed and darkened;
day came dimly -
the doors were held.
— From “The Lay of Gudrun”, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien. Elizabeth Hand reviews Tolkien’s The Legends of Sigurd and Gudrun in the Washington Post. Link to the book on Amazon.
