“Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!” is a poem-list spoken by Treebeard to Merry and Pippin in “Treebeard”. The list seems to be very ancient, as Treebeard said he had learned it when he was young.
Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!
First name the four, the free peoples:
Eldest of all, the elf-children;
Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;
Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;
Man the mortal, master of horses:
Beaver the builder, buck the leaper,
Bear bee-hunter, boar the fighter;
Hound is hungry, hare is fearful…
Eagle in eyrie, ox in pasture,
Hart horn-crownéd; hawk is swiftest,
Swan the whitest, serpent coldest…
The list is said to be very long, and it is certain that Treebeard skipped many of the verses. Merry and Pippin suggested to him the addition of another line to go along:
Half-grown hobbits, the hole-dwellers.
Treebeard approved of this addition to the list.
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