Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Mewlip




THE MEWLIPS
by
J.R.R. Tolkien

The Shadows where the Mewlips dwell
Are dark and wet as ink,
And slow and softly rings their bell,
As in the slime you sink.

You sink into the slime, who dare
To knock upon their door,
While down the grinning gargoyles stare
And noisome waters pour.




Beside the rotting river-strand
The drooping willows weep,
And gloomily the gorcrows stand
Croaking in their sleep.

Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,
In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,
By a dark pool's borders without wind or tide,
Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide.



The cellars where the Mewlips sit
Are deep and dank and cold
With single sickly candle lit;
And there they count their gold.

Their walls are wet, their ceilings drip;
Their feet upon the floor
Go softly with a squish-flap-flip,
As they sidle to the door.






They peep out slyly; through a crack
Their feeling fingers creep,
And when they've finished, in a sack
Your bones they take to keep.

Beyond the Merlock Mountains, a long and lonely road,
Through the spider-shadows and the marsh of Tode,
And through the wood of hanging trees and gallows-weed,
You go to find the Mewlips - and the Mewlips feed.



...Got my hard cast off but I'll be wearing a brace on my wrist for a really long time which makes it challenging to take on really big projects, so I'm going to stick to painting up individual monsters for a while, like this wonderful old MITHRIL Mewlip, here.  Always loved The Mewlips.  I wonder where the Merlock mountains are, exactly?

                                                                  Peeping out slyly...

11 comments:

  1. Great job on that Mithril Mewlip! Along with the poem - one of my favourites - you've created a very evocative post.

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    1. Thanks, Gareth! Glad to find another admirer of the Mewlips!

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  2. Excellent post. I think The Mewlips was the first Tolkien I ever came across at a tender age in a book of Children's poetry. Great figure too, glad you are on the mend.

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    1. Thanks, Spinginsfeld! Yes, its a great and fun old piece. When I was little, I had a cassette (remember those?) of Tolkien's reading of it. Great thing for a kid to have...

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  3. Great post!
    Glad you are moving forward too.

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  4. Glad to hear you're on the mend, and thanks for reminding me of that excellent poem! Mewlips, what a horrible name. Lovely work on the mini.

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  5. Man, what a great mini. Well done sir. I own this one too and used it forever in other games. My mewlip now resides in my Strange Aeons game as a Blasphemous Construct...

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