''The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun'' is a poem of 508 lines, written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1930 and published in ''Welsh Review'' in December 1945. and are Breton words for "lord" and "lady". The poem is modelled on the genre of the "

Breton lay Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany **Breton (horse), a breed ** Gale ...

" popular in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

literature of the 12th century, and it explores the conflict of heroic or chivalric values and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

, and their relation to the institution of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

Sources

A major source for the poem has been identified from

Breton literature Breton literature may refer to literature in the Breton language (''Brezhoneg'') or the broader literary tradition of Brittany in the three other main languages of the area, namely, Latin, Gallo and French – all of which have had strong mutual ...

as ("Lord Nann and the

Korrigan In Breton folklore, a Korrigan () is a fairy or dwarf-like spirit. The word ''korrigan'' means in Breton "small-dwarf" (''korr'' means dwarf, ''ig'' is a diminutive and the suffix ''an'' is a hypocoristic). It is closely related to the Cornish w ...

"), which Tolkien probably knew through Wimberly's ''Folklore in the English and Scottish Ballads'' (1928). Tolkien adds to his source a stern moral – repudiation of all traffic with the supernatural and the occult.

Thematics

In the poem, Aotrou and Itroun are a couple of Breton nobility. They are childless, and Aotrou seeks the help of a witch. When Itroun is with child, the witch reappears, revealing herself as the Corrigan, and asks for Aotrou's love as payment. Aotrou sacrifices his knightly honour to Christian values, and breaks his word. :''"I gave no love. My love is wed;'' :''my wife now lieth in child-bed,'' :''and I curse the beast that cheated me'' :''and drew me to this dell to thee."'' Cursed by the Corrigan to die in three days, Aotrou takes the consequences and places his trust in Providence: :''In three days I shall live at ease'' :''and die but when it God doth please'' :''in eld, or in some time to come'' :''in the brave wars of Christendom.'' Aotrou died after three days, followed by his wife with a broken heart. They are buried together, and they do not live to see their offspring grow up – something that has been interpreted as a judgement on Aotrou for excessive family

pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

Jane Chance Jane Chance (born 1945), also known as Jane Chance Nitzsche, is an American scholar specializing in medieval English literature, gender studies, and J. R. R. Tolkien. She spent most of her career at Rice University, where since her retirement she h ...

, ''Tolkien's Art'' (2001) pp. 122-124

Publication

The lay was originally published in ''The Welsh Review'' in 1945 but had been unavailable for decades. A book form, edited by the Tolkien scholar

Verlyn Flieger Verlyn Flieger (born 1933) is an author, editor, and Professor Emerita in the Department of English at the University of Maryland at College Park, where she taught courses in comparative mythology, medieval literature, and the works of J. R. R. Tol ...

, was published in 2016.

Sources

Thematics

Publication

See also

References

Further reading