J. R. R. Tolkien uses alliterative verse in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún to retell material from the Völsung legends.
The posthumously published book contains two narrative poems, “The New Lay of the Völsungs” and “The New Lay of Gudrun.” Tolkien modeled their sound and movement on medieval Germanic traditions, especially the alliterative poetry associated with Old English and Old Norse literature. Repeated initial sounds carry much of the poem’s rhythm and structure.
This approach differs from the rhyming couplets often associated with later English narrative poetry. Tolkien was a philologist as well as a novelist, and his reconstruction reflects his study of the Poetic Edda and related heroic traditions. The book is therefore both a modern literary work and an experiment in reviving an older poetic style.
Christopher Tolkien edited the volume, which was published after his father’s death in 2009.