Just came across a wonderful paper. “Antiquarianism Underground: The Twentieth-century Alliterative Revival in American Genre Poetry” by Dennis Wilson Wise.1
According to Wise, scholars of the history of poetry have missed most of the impact of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “one-man alliterative revival”.2 Tolkien was joined by Poul Anderson here in the USA, who updated Old Norse verse forms in much the same way Tolkien updated Old English. Anderson published in fantasy and science-fiction magazines, where English professors used to deny hanging out. Both of them inspired lots of poets, it turns out. Wise finds enough examples that we might be able to call it another revival, or perhaps a revival of the revival. The people who carry on their ideas do so within the world of F/SF fandom and the Society for Creative Anachronism. It’s good to see us lowlives appearing in the refereed literature.
A non-surprise (at least it’s not surprising once I’ve given it a moment’s thought) is that alliterative humorous verse has a long history. Avram Davidson wrote one in 1961, entitled “Lines Written By, or To, or For, or Maybe Against, That Ignoble Old Viking, Harald Hardass, King of the Coney and Orkney Islands.” Tom and I aren’t the first.
Personal note: Wise singles out for praise for the poetry of Jere Fleck, a professor who was the faculty advisor of the Markland Medieval Mercenary Militia when it was a student group in the 1970s. I spent a lot of convivial evenings in the company of the MMMM back then, so I’m pleased to see the organization still exists. They’re a lot better equipped now, if the photos are any guide.
Notes
- Wise, Dennis Wilson. “Antiquarianism Underground: The Twentieth-century Alliterative Revival in American Genre Poetry.” Studies in the Fantastic 11.1 (2021): 22-54.
- Shippey, Tom. “Philology Through Tolkien”. Lectures, Signum University. 2013. https://signumuniversity.org/catalog/philology-through-tolkien/
Dennis
Well hey! After discovering your blog from Brenton Dickieson’s post, I just saw that you had a topic called “alliterative verse,” clicked it, and discovered this. I’m pleased as punch that you enjoyed the article. I’m currently in the final stages of submitting a manuscript to Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, SPECULATIVE POETRY AND THE MODERN ALLITERATIVE REVIVAL: A CRITICAL ANTHOLOGY.
Paul Deane
Add me to the pleased as punch category. Though there are more alliterative poets out there than even Dennis’ book suggests. Check out how many authors I’ve found on my updated version of my website on modern alliterative poetry, Forgotten Ground Regained (https://alliteration.net).
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog! Lot of fun stuff about alliterative verse on here. And other topics, of course. 🙂
Joe
That’s a cool site! Several names I would never have suspected of writing alliterative verse.
Paul Deane
A small set are writing alliterative free verse — where alliteration is used consistently to link adjacent phrases/ideas, but without a set rule for how the alliteration relates to line structure.