WWI Poets Challenge
Challenge Details
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
Broken, bewildered by the long retreat
Across the stifling leagues of southern plain
These lines were written by WWI soldiers, but they could also very easily have been written by one of Tolkien's characters. Can we see Argonne Forest as Mirkwood? The Somme as Mordor? What about the fighters, the fallen, the wounded, the healers of Middle-earth? How would they relate to the poets of the Great War?
Take a poem from a WWI poet, and write a piece somehow using that poem to reflect on one of Tolkien's battles. The piece should mirror the spirit of the poem that inspires it and focus on an active participant in the war but your story need not be set during a battle; it could, for example, be the result of a war or tell of events that occurred between battles. . More than one person may use the same poem.
The time has come to honour all of our veterans and wartime casualties, and particularly JRR Tolkien's own military service in World War I. You have until Armistice Day (November 11), 2004.
Entries with Stories
The following authors have entered a story in the Challenge.
- dragonlady7 - Greater Love
- Adult Audience
- Last Updated: 03 May 04
- For the WWI Poets Challenge. Now multi-part, containing several different ruminations on war. | 1) Theodred, dying slow death before ever touched with the axe :: Wilfred Owen's "Greater Love" | 2) Elfwine, troubled by memories he does not have :: Eric Bogle's "Green Fields of France" | 3) a woman of Rhun meditating on what's worth dying for :: Ani DiFranco's "Roll With It"
- Dwimordene - Making of Boys, The
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 15 Dec 06
- The men and women of the Houses of Healing prepare themselves and their young charges for war as best they can. Ioreth, Bergil, and the boys of Minas Tirith.
1st Place 2005 MEFAs—Gondor: Houses of Healing - Ëarmírë - Last Reckoning, A
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 15 Jun 04
- Ereinion Gil-galad remembers the lessons of his father, and challenges the Enemy to a final combat above Dagorlad. Based on a verse by Herbert Read.
- Elvenesse - We Stand
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 01 Nov 04
- Not all of the Men of Gondor must have despaired before the Battle of the Pelennor. A short poem based on John McCrae's 'In Flanders Field'.
- Jacks - Into the Silence
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 11 Nov 04
- Lest We Forget
- Jay of Lasgalen - High Flight
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 24 Oct 05
- An elderly eagle remembers the Battle of Five Armies. This story is inspired by the poem of the same name.
- JunoMagic - 30th of March, 3019
- Adult Audience
- Last Updated: 18 Dec 06
- The Fields of the Pelennor sometime after the battle.
- maya_ar - Repose Earned, Words Unspoken
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 23 Jun 04
- In response to the WWI poets challenge. A glimpse into the mind of Denethor, son of Ecthelion, in the last days of the War of the Ring, featuring the words of A.E.Housman.
- Regina - Blood Poppy
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 21 Dec 06
- During the siege of Minas Tirith, a young and fearful conscript finds a bit of beauty amid the carnage. Based on Isaac Rosenberg's "Break of Day in the Trenches."
- Regina - Whisper of Thunder, A
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 15 Jun 04
- Mutual nightmares, a coming storm, and some apple brandy lead Merry to make a painful confession to Pippin. Written for Marigold Cotton’s fourth “Tales of the Red Book” challenge.
- Regina - Cover Him with Violets
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 05 Jun 04
- Ioreth and Merry mourn a young Rider of Rohan who has died far from home after fighting at the Pelennor. Inspired by Ivor Gurney’s WWI poem “To His Love.”
- Wild Iris - Emblem You Chose, The
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 27 Aug 03
- The Hobbit-based short. Thranduil, the Elvenking of Mirkwood, pays his respects at the tomb of Thorin Oakenshield.
Placeholders
The following authors have entered a placeholder in the Challenge.
- Buchs
- Entry Date: 10 Nov 04
- Buchs
- Entry Date: 10 Nov 04
- Forodwaith
- Entry Date: 27 Sep 04
- Forodwaith
- Entry Date: 12 Nov 04
- Marta
- Entry Date: 09 Nov 04
- Regina
- Entry Date: 11 Nov 04
- Regina
- Entry Date: 11 Nov 04
- Starlight
- Entry Date: 30 Aug 04
