I recently came across a wonderful Marian prayer and thought I’d share it here. I’ve added to the Clerk of Oxford’s translations in brackets, but all the translations are from her post.
Hail, lady, sea-star bright,
God’s mother, edy wight [blessed creature]
Maiden ever, first and late,
Of heaven’s realm the sely gate. [blessed gate]
The ‘Ave’ thou received in spell [message]
From the angel’s mouth called Gabriel
In grith [peace] us set and shielded from shame,
And turneth backward Eva’s name.
Guilty men’s bonds unbind,
Bring light to them who are blind.
Put from us our sin
And earn for us all wynne. [joy]
Show that thou art mother alone
And before him take thou our bone [petition]
Who for us thy child became
And of thee our kind name. [took our nature]
Maid alone, thou wert with child,
Among all so mild;
Of sin release us in haste,
And make us meek and chaste.
Life give thou us clean, [pure]
A safe way prepare, and lene [grant]
That we Jesus see
And ever blithe be.
To Father, Christ and Holy Ghost be thanks and praising,
To three persons and one God, one honour and worshipping.
Being a Tolkien nerd, this all has Elven resonances. That’s obviously intentional, since Tolkien was both a Catholic and a scholar who certainly knew a great deal about the “Mary, star of the sea” tradition.
In Rivendell, they sang to Elbereth:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
silivren penna míriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
O Elbereth Starkindler,
white-glittering, slanting falls, sparkling like jewels,
from the firmament the glory of the starry host!
Having gazed afar into remote distance
from the tree-tangled Middle-lands,
Everwhite, to thee I will chant
on this side of the ocean, here on this side of the Great Ocean!
Another Elven song:
Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O light to us that wander here
Amid the world of woven trees!Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!
Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath!
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee
In a far land beyond the sea.O Stars that in the Sunless Year
With shining hand by her were sown,
In windy fields now bright and clear
We see your silver blossom blown!O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
Thy starlight on the Western Seas.