A review by isabellarobinson7
Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien
4.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
I'm always up for any Tolkien tale, especially if it has something to do with Elrond. Beren and Lúthien is the love story of Elrond's parents, the first between an elf and mortal, and what follows is a mixture of Greek and Norse mythologies. Lúthien felt quite similar to Freya at times (minus the cats), and Beren's impossible quest of sorts for this unobtainable object felt reminiscent to a lot of Greek tales, (Perseus springs to mind).
But that poetry was just mesmerizing. I am a complete sucker for alliteration or rhyming (but the latter has to be done well, no cheesy stuff) and the was Tolkien utilised them in a particular chapter was great. Here is a snippet:
Just reading those lines is an experience. You don't get to see a whole lot of Tolkien's poetry in The Lord of the Rings, nor in The Hobbit, just little passages here and there (and of course the infamous song breaks) but here it shines.
But it was quite romance-y, and I'm not a big fan of it. I also have to take into account that I automatically treat everything Tolkien touches as the Bible, and not rate them too high.
I'm always up for any Tolkien tale, especially if it has something to do with Elrond. Beren and Lúthien is the love story of Elrond's parents, the first between an elf and mortal, and what follows is a mixture of Greek and Norse mythologies. Lúthien felt quite similar to Freya at times (minus the cats), and Beren's impossible quest of sorts for this unobtainable object felt reminiscent to a lot of Greek tales, (Perseus springs to mind).
But that poetry was just mesmerizing. I am a complete sucker for alliteration or rhyming (but the latter has to be done well, no cheesy stuff) and the was Tolkien utilised them in a particular chapter was great. Here is a snippet:
"Nigh the foul spirit Morgoth made
and bred of evil shuddering strayed
from its dark house, when Lúthien rose
and shivering looked upon his throes."
Just reading those lines is an experience. You don't get to see a whole lot of Tolkien's poetry in The Lord of the Rings, nor in The Hobbit, just little passages here and there (and of course the infamous song breaks) but here it shines.
But it was quite romance-y, and I'm not a big fan of it. I also have to take into account that I automatically treat everything Tolkien touches as the Bible, and not rate them too high.