La balada de Aotrou e Itroun

Set "In the British land beyond the seas" during the Age of Chivalry, the Lay of Aotrou and Itroun tells of a childless Breton Lord and Lady (Aotrou and Itroun) and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to remedy his situation with the help of a magic potion obtained from a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and Itroun gives birth to twins, the corrigan returns in search of her payment, and Aotrou is forced to choose between betraying his marriage or losing his life. Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, together with the two shorter "Corrigan" poems leading up to it and also included here, was the result of a comparatively short but intense period in Tolkien's life, when he was deeply committed to Celtic art, and particularly Breton, myth and legend.