"Battle Harp", by Himring

[hhimring]

Author: Himring
Title: Battle Harp
Rating: PG (for canonical violence)
Theme: Art's Desire (February Challenge)
Prompt: Rohan Icons created by Oshun for the July 2012 Art Challenge: Miniature.
Author's Notes: Oshun comments on the icons: "It is part of my own personal, perhaps AU, canon to imagine that the Rohan as an oral culture made use of harps

Comments

[dreamflower02]

Oh, I love this brief glimpse of a young Gleowine at the beginning of his career, whom we only see at the end in the book. Seeing a young Theoden, already a "true Rohir" in spite of his beginnings is also delightful.

I am sure that Erkenhild's response was because she was older; it must have been hard for the family to return after their long sojourn in Gondor!

I also like the idea that the Battle Harp could also be a weapon.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Dreamflower!

I'm glad you liked this glimpse of their youth! I think Gleowine's use of the harp as a weapon might be just a bit unorthodox--but after all it was the great battle of their time, a moment of crisis!

Erkenhild, sadly, finds it much harder to adjust after the move to Rohan than Theoden. I wrote a separate ficlet trying to explain her point of view for a different challenge over at SWG.

[shirebound]

This is beautifully written.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Shirebound!

[heartofoshun]

I enjoyed this story so much, as I have the others in this series of yours (you are really making me want to write more about Rohan). Thanks for crediting my remarks about battle harps and the little picture as inspiration. I appreciate your interpretation that these instruments are reserved for the battlefield only and not brought inside of the hall. A very interesting concept and could be true in real history. I did some cursory research years ago and don't recall that.

Allow me to indulge myself: the reference to young Gléowine here--be still my heart!! Priceless!! (You made me cry!) Tolkien's prose relating to the Riders of Rohan and their traditions is among his best and most heart-wrenching.

Then the Riders of the King’s House upon white horses rode round about the barrow and sang together a song of Théoden Thengel’s son that Gléowine his minstrel made, and he made no other song after. The slow voices of the Riders stirred the hearts even of those who did not know the speech of that people; but the words of the song brought

[hhimring]

Thank you so much, Oshun!
I'm so glad you're happy what I did with this!
And that this glimpse of young Gleowine was able to move you!

I love that passage about Theoden's funeral as much as you do.

And thank you for your quotation from your WIP. By the description, it sounds to me as if you'd done some background research and come across Benjamin Bagby and the Sutton Hoo harp?

I'm afraid I didn't do any specific research on attested harps for this ficlet. My suggestions about battle harps here are based on analogy with lore that I picked up here and there--for example, some observations I made about bagpipes, not that I'm an expert on those, either, by any means. The large ones, the Scottish type sometimes used in battle, can be really loud, and pipers sometimes play on chanters (like the pipe without the bag, as it were) at musical gatherings inside when they don't want to drown everybody else out.

[curiouswombat]

That is lovely - I like the idea of this early encounter, and the image of him hurling his harp ahead of himself into the fray.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much--glad you like the early encounter!
I wondered whether hurling the harp was too melodramatic--but then I thought, no, it's the Battle of Pelennor and Theoden's great charge, I'll just go for it!

[engarian]

Oh this is a lovely look at Rohirrin culture and Theoden's days as a youth. Battle harps - I could absolutely imagine such a thing among the riders of Rohan.

- Erulisse (one L)

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Erulisse! Glad you like this look at a young Theoden, just arrived in Rohan!
The battle harp is Oshun's idea, but it really appealed to me.