“The Piping for the Flocks / The Wanderer” definitely calls for a little bit of explanation. First of all, it’s my entry into the Experiments in Fiction Translation Challenge, run by the fabulous Ingrid of Experiments in Fiction. Thank you for this wonderful challenge, Ingrid! 

The challenge called for a translation of a poem from a language other than English into English. I kicked around doing a translation of Pablo Neruda before settling on this, a much broader interpretation of the prompt, after watching The Two Towers and hearing “Lament for the Rohirrim.” The tone reminded me a bit of “The Piping for the Flocks,” a passage from the Book of Deborah in the Bible. I’d previously written a poem and reflection called “The Piping for the Flocks” that I wanted to use again in a “mash-up.”

In writing “Lament for the Rohirrim,” Tolkien drew on an Old English poem, “The Wanderer.” So I’ve drawn on two languages I can’t translate for this exercise in “translation,” using the translations of others and creating an amalgamation. The passage in the Book of Deborah was originally written in Hebrew.

It took me a while to get the flow of this poem right, but I hope that you enjoy the results! If you’re loving my work, I’d really appreciate if you left me a tip on Ko-fi so I can keep creating as much as possible for you. Thank you, as always, for reading!