I wrote this on July 12, 2019, after receiving a suggestion on Instagram (from @lesmotsdemary) to try something by Tolkien in the style of the Bard.
FRODO: And here I meet dear Bilbo’s friend Balin,
The dwarf whose friendship he did cherish so.
‘Twas not so long ago, that fateful day
When unexpected journeys did commence,
Though eons now, it seems, have passed since then.
Oh! Balin, your voice once in Shire sang;
You now lie silent in this dusty tomb.
What has happened here?
GANDALF: These bones and broken swords all strewn about
Leave little room in my great mind for doubt.
Look here, a book remains: it may yet speak
Though Balin’s tongue rests in eternal peace.
And speak it does! Through many different hands–
Of Moria and Dale, and Elvish lands.
A record here, it seems, the Dwarves have kept
Of this, their home, into which we have stepped:
The orcs we’ve driven out, and many slain
In sunny dale. An arrow claimed our Flói
Though not before he killed the great– A blur.
The smudges here, some words they do obscure.
In Mazarbul Balin has set his seat.
GIMLI: Well then, ‘tis clear: the chamber where we stand
Doth hold the records of this Dwarvish land.
Quill and Bean 