from Frodo Furioso by J.R.R. Ariosto

Of men and wizards, elves and dwarfs, I sing,
Of Dunedain, and Barad-Dur's defeat;
And from those ancient days my story bring,
When orcs from Mordor passed on hostile feet,
And ravaged Tirith, with a Ringwraith king,
Flushed with his ancient rage and Morgul's heat,
Vowed venegeance for lost Numenor's demand
On Denethor, Steward of Gondor's land.

In the same strain of Frodo will I tell
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme,
To whom strange journeys and Ringed evil fell,
A hobbit deemed so small in former time;
If Luthien, that is, who's brought me well
Nigh to despair, release my wit to mime
The Red Book Chronicles with meager skill --
Then I my daring promise can fulfil.

—16 June 2004

While I'm on Tolkien rewrites, LotR as written by Spenser's model and master, Lodovigo Ariosto, whose Orlando Furioso is one of my favorite poems. A pastiche of the opening of Barbara Reynold's excellent translation. Note the second line of the second stanza, which Milton also cribbed.

---L.