Three Rings for the Elven-kings...

The opening poem for the book is, perhaps, surprisingly ominous, given the hobbitings that will unfold in the first chapter.  Yet the grandeur of the work is firmly established -- the invocations of sky and stone provide a brief cosmological framework, informing readers that this will be a book about elements (earth, water, sky, stone) almost as much as characters.  The naming of elf-kings and dwarf-lords introduce the faerie story aspects that so enthralled the professor, and the reference to the mortality of the men conjures up one of the story's most important themes.  Then, at last, the naming of the "One Ring" -- the brilliant image and icon around which the whole book, and, indeed, a whole universe, will twist and turn.  The greatest power in the world, or nearly -- and it can be set upon a human hand as though it were a mere possession.  The One Ring...  and the haunting poem that begins the tale.