Time to read Tolkein again?

Every two or three years or so I am drawn to reach down my copies of 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of The Rings' from the bookshelf. As the days are lengthening and the sun is warming I am getting that feeling again, that longing to sit outside on Summer evenings until it is almost too dark to read about hobbits, elves, dwarves and wizards. I may lose myself again in Rivendell and walk with Galadriel in the forests or sing with Tom Bombadil and the River Maiden until the sun sinks down in the West.

Roads Go Ever On

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green,
And trees and hills they long have known.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone.
Let others follow, if they can!
Let them a journety new begin.
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

Still 'round the corner there may wait
A new road or secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

J.R.R. Tolkein

May Eve, the coming of Summer

'The evening being May Eve I ought to have put some birch and wittan (mountain ash) over the door to keep out the 'old witch'. But I was too lazy to go out and get it. Let us hope the old witch will not come in during the night.  The young witches are welcome'.

Kilvert, i.119-20, Saturday, [1870]

Divinations on May Eve in Ireland

'If a young woman wishes to know who is to be her future spouse, she goes, late on May Eve, to a black sally-tree, and plucks therefrom nine sprigs, the last of which she throws over her right stocking. She then, on her knees, reads the third verse of the 17th chapter of Job; and on going to bed she places the stocking, with its contents, under her head. These rites duly performed, and her faith being strong, she will, in a dream during the night, be treated to a sight of her future husband'.

W.R.Wilde, 53 (1852)

To the Celts the winter sun Grianon reigned from sunset on 31st October (Samhain) to sunrise on the first of May (Beltane), and today his daughter Cailleach Bheur (Scots Gaelic) or Cally Berry (Ulster) or Caillagh my Groamagh (Manx- The Old Woman of Gloominess), the goddess of winter, turns to stone. The two great fire festivals of the Celts, Samhain and Beltane, in honour of the sun, are thus six months apart.

                                                          Unite, unite, let us all unite,
                                                          For Summer is a-come unto day
                                                          And whither we are going, we will all unite
                                                          On the merry morning of May.

                                                          Padstow Night Song - Trad. Cornish

Rise before dawn and wash your face in the dew tomorrow to receive the blessings of the season.

Signs of Spring

Yesterday I saw snow on the mountains, two major rivers, beautiful lakes, forests and a herd of deer, landscape so stunning that it took my breath away and I went no further than twenty miles from my house. All this and sunshine too. Lovely.

Waiting for The Plough

A Wolf, a Badger and a Fox

The fifth of March, the feast day of Saint Ciaran known as 'the first-born of the saints of Ireland. It is told that Saint Ciaran founded the monastery of Saighir which became the burial place of the Kings of Ossary.

Saint Ciaran did not have to build his monastery alone, he had help from the animals of the forest. Legend tells that he had assistance from a wolf, a badger and a fox. However, the fox succumbed to temptation and stole the Saint's shoes. The wolf and the badger sought out the miscreant fox and brought him back to Ciaran to be scolded and shriven.