by Vyacheslav Stepanov
Ter Melcova hísië alca i arma
Na yava nahámë meninyë.
Etengwien ilya Arcastaro parma
Ar naitië sinan ceninyë.
Lá sostar ni quetier lustë ve vaiwi,
Hya ñolyali raicë, hya lievë yaiwi,
An savienyassë tarinyë ansorna
I Ambar yestallo né corna.
Through the mist of Melko glitters the ray of sunlight,
Towards whose call I go.
I have read every Tolkien’s book,
And now I see the truth.
I am not afraid of sayings void as winds,
Nor wrong teachings, nor the mockings of people,
For I stand very steadfast in my belief
That the Earth was round from the beginning.
Notes
1) The name Melko rather than Melkor is used because its possessive form fits the rhythm of the poem better, and it is still valid in the late concept according to the Glossary to the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (MR/350).
2) The word naitië is used here as a noun (“truth”) rather than an adverb (cf. caraitië, coloitië < caraitë, coloitë and statements in PE17/58–9 about common homonymy of abstract nouns and adverbs in -ië).
Comment
This short poem (inspired by the first stanza of La Vojo by L.L. Zamenhof) reflects the author’s view (substantiated in his article “It Always Had Been a Vast Globe...”) that the Round World cosmology was the final cosmological concept adhered to by Tolkien in his late writings.
©️ 2025, Vyacheslav Stepanov.
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