Tolkien Prediction #3. Another prediction derived from my solution to the riddle of Bombadil-Goldberry. I posted on the Mythopoeic Society boards asking if anybody on there could provide me with a translation of Tolkien’s poem ‘I Love Sixpence’ (from the collection ‘Songs for the Philologists’). I needed his Anglo Saxon poem translated into English. Jason Fisher asked me why I wanted a translation since he said he could do it. I told him that I thought it might a have reference to a ‘wife’ and was relevant to my ideas about Bombadil and Goldberry. Someone then posted on the boards and told me that the poem was not Tolkien’s originally and he just translated it into Anglo Saxon. The poem was originally a nursery rhyme in English. I’d never even heard of this obscure poem before. As you can see it does indeed make reference to a ‘wife’. Note, the reason I thought it made reference to wife is because I think Goldberry represents Tolkien’s wife.
I love sixpence, jolly, jolly, sixpence,
I love sixpence as my life.
I spent a penny of it, I spent a penny of it,
I took a penny home to my wife.
I love fourpence, jolly, jolly fourpence,
I love fourpence as my life.
I spent twopence of it, I spent twopence of it,
I took twopence home to my wife.
I have nothing, jolly, jolly nothing
I love nothing as my life.
I spent nothing of it, I spent nothing of it,
I took nothing home to my wife.