Abstract
While the River-daughter is a prevalent poetic name for Goldberry, Tom introduces her as the River-woman’s daughter when singing and skipping along the banks of the Withywindle. The River-woman variant occurs only once in Goldberry’s narrative but is not easily dismissed. The contrast between the two variant names raises several questions on how to read Goldberry’s enigma. Tolkien’s brief commentaries on the kenning as a poetic device serve as the starting-point for exploring the literary function of the two River- names shaping Goldberry’s enigma. By taking into consideration specific characteristics of eddic and skaldic kenning use, I propose to examine common features and differences between Tolkien’s River-daughter and signature River-woman’s daughter as two variant descriptive compounds. In support, this article interprets the two variants through several key features of recent advances in the scholarship of Old Norse poetics as represented in the work of the Eddic Research Network (2012 - ) as well as the Skaldic Poetry Project (2002 - ), both of which contribute to an analytically rigorous and empirically grounded interpretation of kenning devices. Specific characteristics of various types of kenning diction serve not only to clarify the distinct poetic effects of each river-compound but to align the effect with a mythological signal. The intended result seeks to further the interpretive engagement with Goldberry’s enigma as a divine spirit among the Ainur by taking the River-woman variant into full consideration as a signature poetic expression.
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