Favourite song or poem from lord of the rings or the hobbit - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

IxnaY AintsaY · 03-16-2014, 07:17 PM

I don't know if it's my favorite, but "Earendil was a Mariner" / "Errantry" is simply astounding.

Proabably the most stirring for me is the pairing of Eomer's "Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising..." and the mourning song closing the same chapter.
Long now they sleep
under grass in Gondor by the Great River.

Grey now as tears, gleaming silver,

red then it rolled, roaring water:

foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset;

as beacons' mountains burned at evening;

red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.

Mithalwen · 03-21-2014, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IxnaY AintsaY

I don't know if it's my favorite, but "Earendil was a Mariner" / "Errantry" is simply astounding.

Proabably the most stirring for me is the pairing of Eomer's "Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising..." and the mourning song closing the same chapter.
Long now they sleep
under grass in Gondor by the Great River.

Grey now as tears, gleaming silver,

red then it rolled, roaring water:

foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset;

as beacons' mountains burned at evening;

red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.

This is used extremely effectively in the BBC Radio version ...now have an earworm!

William Cloud Hicklin · 03-21-2014, 06:45 AM

Tough call. All 3 of the alliterative Mark poems are wonderful, although I think I prefer "Where are the horse and the Rider." But the echoes of lost history in Gimli's song in Moria are shiver-inducing, and then there is Namarie...

Oh, and I love the bath-song at Crickhollow!

Faramir Jones · 03-25-2014, 01:01 PM

My favourite is The Troll Song by Sam Gamgee:

Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he had gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,
And meat was hard to come by.

It's an original composition, showing that there is more to Sam than has previously met the eye.

I love listening to Tolkien's singing of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGMFHvxAn4g

That recording is the nearest we're going to get to what Tolkien imagined an 'ordinary' hobbit sounded like when singing.

Belegorn · 03-25-2014, 01:55 PM

Well I'm reading LotR again after some months and forgot about that drinking song! This one is cool:

Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow,
And many miles be still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by.

Orphalesion · 03-25-2014, 04:34 PM

Well, for me it has to be a toss up between two song concerning the Elves:

"Light as leaves on lindentree", the song about Tenuviel Aragorn sings to the Hobbits and "I sang of leaves", the haunting beautiful lament Galadriel sings before her farewell to the Fellowship.

Both of these songs simply employ very beautiful, "elfish" imagery and, in a way can be seen as a contrast to one another: In the song about Luthien, it is spring and all is green and jubilant:

The leaves were long, the grass was green
the hemlock-umbels tall and fair
And in the glade a light was seen
Tenuviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair
And in her raiment glimmering

It perfectly embodies that "joy" and "wonder" the Elves radiate.

And then, in Galadriel's song, all that is dying with "falling leaves" and "withering flowers" in preparation for "empty, dead days" The magic of the Elves is draining away and disappearing forever, yet not less beautiful in its waning stage than it was in its zenith in the First Age.

03-21-2014, 06:45 AM	#3
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	Tough call. All 3 of the alliterative Mark poems are wonderful, although I think I prefer "Where are the horse and the Rider." But the echoes of lost history in Gimli's song in Moria are shiver-inducing, and then there is Namarie... Oh, and I love the bath-song at Crickhollow! __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

03-25-2014, 01:01 PM	#4
Faramir Jones Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Lonely Isle Posts: 706	The Troll Song My favourite is The Troll Song by Sam Gamgee: Troll sat alone on his seat of stone, And munched and mumbled a bare old bone; For many a year he had gnawed it near, For meat was hard to come by. Done by! Gum by! In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone, And meat was hard to come by. It's an original composition, showing that there is more to Sam than has previously met the eye. I love listening to Tolkien's singing of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGMFHvxAn4g That recording is the nearest we're going to get to what Tolkien imagined an 'ordinary' hobbit sounded like when singing. Last edited by Faramir Jones; 03-25-2014 at 01:28 PM.

03-25-2014, 01:55 PM	#5
Belegorn Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Henneth Annûn, Ithilien Posts: 462	Well I'm reading LotR again after some months and forgot about that drinking song! This one is cool: Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go To heal my heart and drown my woe. Rain may fall and wind may blow, And many miles be still to go, But under a tall tree I will lie, And let the clouds go sailing by. __________________ "For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously!" - G.S.; F. Nietzsche

03-16-2014, 07:17 PM	#1
IxnaY AintsaY Haunting Spirit Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 80	I don't know if it's my favorite, but "Earendil was a Mariner" / "Errantry" is simply astounding. Proabably the most stirring for me is the pairing of Eomer's "Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising..." and the mourning song closing the same chapter. Long now they sleep under grass in Gondor by the Great River. Grey now as tears, gleaming silver, red then it rolled, roaring water: foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset; as beacons' mountains burned at evening; red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.

03-25-2014, 04:34 PM	#6
Orphalesion Animated Skeleton Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 50	Well, for me it has to be a toss up between two song concerning the Elves: "Light as leaves on lindentree", the song about Tenuviel Aragorn sings to the Hobbits and "I sang of leaves", the haunting beautiful lament Galadriel sings before her farewell to the Fellowship. Both of these songs simply employ very beautiful, "elfish" imagery and, in a way can be seen as a contrast to one another: In the song about Luthien, it is spring and all is green and jubilant: The leaves were long, the grass was green the hemlock-umbels tall and fair And in the glade a light was seen Tenuviel was dancing there To music of a pipe unseen, And light of stars was in her hair And in her raiment glimmering It perfectly embodies that "joy" and "wonder" the Elves radiate. And then, in Galadriel's song, all that is dying with "falling leaves" and "withering flowers" in preparation for "empty, dead days" The magic of the Elves is draining away and disappearing forever, yet not less beautiful in its waning stage than it was in its zenith in the First Age.