Tolkien believed that alliterative verse shouldn’t be limited to the medieval past — and a couple of recent publications are demonstrating that such poetry is still a form that interests writers today.
Paul Deane has published the first issue in a new series of his journal, Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, which is housed on his alliteration.net website. The issue features poems, some commentary, and links to even more alliterative poetry. Look for the link under “Current Issue” at the alliteration.net site, where the journal can be downloaded as a pdf.
Dennis Wilson Wise is in the process of highlighting various alliterative poets in his guest blog on the Tales After Tolkien Society website. Wise has just published Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival: A Critical Anthology, and his guest posts comment on further examples of alliterative verse. In the course of his research, Wise found that “in fact, for certain poets interested in science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the Weird, an affinity for alliterative poetics has become especially noticeable.” We’ll be sure to look more closely at his anthology in the months ahead, but for now, his series on the Tales After Tolkien site will serve up some interesting examples of alliterative verse.
Works Cited
Paul Deane, editor. Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, new series, vol. 1, Winter 2024. Available at https://alliteration.net.
Dennis Wilson Wise, “The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf.” Tales After Tolkien Society, https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise.html
—. Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival: A Critical Anthology. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2023.
Tolkien and Alliterative Verse 
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