This Tolkien wedding poem (that he wrote to his wife!) is the Arkenstone of wedding readings

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Alex and David had a gorgeous forest-y wedding with tiny hints of Middle-earth all around. That included this Tolkien wedding poem that was hidden in the photos but not mentioned when they told us about the wedding. So when I spied it, I pounced. The people must know this exists if they don't already! This is a poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien for his wife, Edith.

A bit of background on these two…

Tolkien had been in love with his wife Edith since they met as teenagers. He was known to have written love poems to her and clearly loved her for most of their lives. But the most romantic tribute was his inclusion of his romance with her into the canon of Middle Earth in the story of Beren and Luthien. He told his son that, while he never called Edith Luthien, she was the source of the story that became a big part of The Silmarillion.

He is buried next to her under a single gravestone inscribed with the names Beren and Luthien. My heart! Let's see the Tolkien wedding poem in full…

Lo! Young we are and yet have stood
like planted hearts in the great Sun
of Love so long (as two fair trees
in woodland or in open dale
stand utterly entwined and breathe
the airs and suck the very light
together) that we have become
as one, deep rooted in the soil
of Life and tangled in the sweet growth.

J.R.R. Tolkien
printed in Carpenter’s biography, Tolkien (1977)

Let us know if you use this poem in your wedding somewhere!