Bilbo's Last Song

Product Information

a b Rosebury, Brian (2016). Tolkien: a Critical Assessment. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p.25. ISBN 978-1-349-22133-2. OCLC 1083467593. Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-31555-2. The first edition of The Road Goes Ever On: a Song Cycle was published on 31 October 1967, in the United States. [6]

A group of four Betjeman settings for baritone – approved by the author. Appropriately wistful, nostalgic and cheeky including a classic version of 'Miss Joan Hunter Dunn' ('A Subaltern's Love Song'). Surrounding the text of the poem is lovely artwork of trees, flowers, and vines with little animals and birds. The second edition of The Road Goes Ever On, published in 1978, added music for " Bilbo's Last Song." This song was also published separately. The Road Goes Ever On, taking its name from the above, is the title of a collection of sheet music by Donald Swann for poetry presented by J.R.R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth literature. It was first published in 1967. Although the book can at first sight seem mostly useful by musicians (particularly piano and guitar players), it has been found to have a wider use than this, allowing readers to understand the cultures of the various mythological beings presented in Middle-earth better, and helping linguists analyse Tolkien's poetry. For example, it contains one of the longest samples of the language Quenya.

The Great Tales of Middle-earth ( The Children of Húrin [2007] • Beren and Lúthien [2017] • The Fall of Gondolin [2018]) The Hobbit (1937) • The Lord of the Rings ( The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings [1954] • The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings [1954] • The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings [1955]) • The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book [1962] • The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle [1967] The scholar of music Emily Sulka notes that the song cycle was created because Swann and his wife liked Tolkien's writings, and set six of the poems to music. Tolkien liked five of the settings, but proposed a melody similar to a Gregorian chant in place of the sixth, for Namárië. She notes too that Swann wanted them to be performed as a group without applause between the songs. In her view, the cycle has the theme of travel: the walking songs launch into an adventure to unknown lands, but returning home; "In the Willow-Meads of Tasarinan" speaks of Treebeard's travels in many lands, from spring to winter; "In Western Lands" in contrast begins with Sam in despondent mood, but ends with a feeling of hope. "I Sit Beside the Fire" portrays a traveller, Bilbo, reflecting on his journeys; it ends with a quotation of the melody of "The Road Goes Ever On", a poem that recurs (adapted to each context) in The Lord of the Rings. Sulka thus sees Tolkien and Swann using the poems and music to link the story of the novel with "the road always continuing, even when one's individual travel is finished". She finds Swann's account of Tolkien's poems "highly effective". [10] The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún · The Fall of Arthur · The Story of Kullervo · The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun Christina Scull& Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, HarperCollins, 'Chronology' volume, pp. 710 & 721; ISBN 978-0-618-39113-4

The Road Goes On Lyrics - Lord of the Rings musical". www.allmusicals.com . Retrieved 26 December 2022. The scholar of humanities Brian Rosebury quotes Frodo's recollection to the other hobbits of Bilbo's thoughts on 'The Road': "He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'" Rosebury comments that the "homespun symbolism" here is plain enough, that "the Road stands for life, or rather for its possibilities, indeed probabilities, of adventure, commitment, and danger; for the fear of losing oneself, and the hope of homecoming". [2] He observes further that Middle-earth is distinctly "a world of roads", as seen in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both of which "begin and end at the door of Bag-End". [2] a b c Jorgensen, Estelle R. (2006). "Myth, Song, and Music Education: The Case of Tolkien's the 'Lord of the Rings' and Swann's 'The Road Goes Ever On.' ". Journal of Aesthetic Education. University of Illinois Press. 40 (3): 1–21. JSTOR 4140177. In 1996 the song was recorded by the Dutch Tolkien Society band The Hobbitons, with permission from the Tolkien Estate, for their CD J.R.R. Tolkien's Songs from Middle-earth. [2]diPaolo, Marc (2018). Fire and Snow: Climate Fiction from The Inklings to Game of Thrones. Albany: State University of New York Press. p.36. ISBN 978-1-4384-7045-0. OCLC 1045630002. Bilbo's Last Song first appeared at the end of 1973, translated into Dutch by Max Schuchart for a limited edition of two thousand numbered posters that the publisher Het Spectrum distributed as corporate New Year's gifts. [13] In April 1974, Houghton Mifflin published the poem in the US as a poster decorated with a photograph of a river taken by Robert Strindberg. [14] [7] In September 1974, Allen & Unwin published the poem in the UK as a poster illustrated by Pauline Baynes. [7] Her painting depicts the hobbits Sam, Merry and Pippin looking down on the Grey Havens and watching Bilbo's ship sailing down the firth of Lune. [7]

The song is included in the BBC's 1981 radio version of The Lord of the Rings, with the music performed by Stephen Oliver. John Le Mesurier, who plays Bilbo [5] chants the first verse but not the second verse, and the third verse was sung by a boy in soprano. [ citation needed] Bilbo's Otherworld journey has further parallels in writings of Tolkien's own. The figure of the mortal who sails from the quotidian world to a paradise beyond the sea is a motif that recurs in Tolkien's poems and stories throughout his creative life. Examples are Roverandom, [11] Eriol in The Book of Lost Tales, [T 5] Tuor in Quenta Silmarillion, [T 6] Ar-Pharazôn in Akallabêth, [T 7] Ælfwine in The Lost Road, [T 8] St Brendan in Imram, [T 4] Sam and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings [T 9] and the narrator of " The Sea-Bell" in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. [T 10] [12] Publication history [ edit ]Letter to Joy Hill (28 October 1971) – Tolkien Gateway". tolkiengateway.net. 12 May 2017 . Retrieved 25 January 2020. Illustration of the road by Kay Nielsen for the 1914 fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, whose title Tolkien uses in one of his walking songs for Aman, the desired other world. [1] Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954a). The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 9552942.