John Ronald Ruel Tolkien. All songs from "Fellowship of the Ring"
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of Stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet, Still round the corner we may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That none have seen but we alone.
Tree and flower and leaf and grass, Let them pass! Let them pass!
Hill and water under sky, Pass them by! Pass them by!
Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate, And though we pass them by today, Tomorrow we may come this way And take the hidden paths that run Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe, Let them go! Let them go!
Sand and stone and pool and dell, Fare you well! Fare you well!
Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead, We'll wander back to home and bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade, Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
Fire and lamp, and meat and bread, And then to bed! and then to bed! Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O Light to us that wander here Amid the world of woven trees! Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!
Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath!
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee In a far land beyond the Sea.
O stars that in the Sunless Year With shining hang by her were sown, In windy fields now bright and clear We see your silver blossom blown! O Elbereth! Giltoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees, Thy starlight on the Western Seas.
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.
Sing hey! for the bath at close of day That washes the weary mud away! A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water Hot is a noble thing! O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain, and the brook that leaps from hill to plain; but better that rain or rippling streams is Water Hot that smokes and steams.
O! Water cold we may pour at need down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed; but better is Beer, if drink we lack, and Water Hot poured down the back.
O! Water is fair that leaps on high in a fountain white beneath the sky; but never did fountain sound so sweet as splashing Hot Water with my feet! Farewell we call to hearth and hall! Though wind may blow and rain may fall, We must away ere break of day Far over wood and mountain tall.
To Rivendell, where Elves yet dwell In glades beneath the misty fell, Through moor and waste we ride in haste, And whither then we cannot tell.
With foes ahead, behind us dread, Beneath the sky shall be our bed, Until at last our toil be passed, Our journey done, our errand sped.
We must away! We must away! We ride before the break of day! O! Wanderers in the shadowed land despair not! For though dark they stand, al woods there be must end at last, and see the open sun go past: the setting sun, the rising sun, the day's end, or the day begun. For east or west all woods must fail...
Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo! Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling! Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling. Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight, Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight, There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter, Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water. Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing? Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o, Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o! Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away! Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day. Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing. Hey! come merry dol! Can you hear me singing?
Hop along, my little friends, up the Withywindle! Tom's going on ahead candles for to kindle. Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping. When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open; Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow. Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow! Fear neither root no bough! Tom goes on before you. Hey now! merry dol! We'll be waiting for you! Hey! Come derry dol! Hop alone, my hearties! Hobbits! Ponies all! We are fond of parties. Now let the fun begin! Let us sing together! Now let the song begin! Let us sing together Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather, Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather, Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather, Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on he water: Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter! O slender as a willow-wand! O clearer than clear water! O reed by the living pool! Fair river-daughter! O spring-time and summer-time, and spring again after! O wind on the waterfall, and the leaves' laughter! I had an errand here: gathering water-lilies, green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady, the last ere the year's end to keep them from the winter, to flower by her pretty feet till the snows are melted. Each year at summer's end I go to find them for her, in a wide pool, deep and clear, far down Withywindle; there they open first in spring and there they linger latest. By that pool long ago I found the River-Daughter, fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes. Sweet was her singing then, and her heart was beating! And that proved well for you - for now I shell no longer go down deep again along the forest-water, not while the year is old. Nor shall I be passing Old Man Willow's house this side of spring-time, not till the merry spring, when the River-daughter dances down the withy-path to bathe in the water.
Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us! Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone: never more to wake on stony bed, never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead. In the black wind the stars shall die, and still on gold here let them lie, till the dark lord lifts his hand, over dead sea and withered land.
Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the Master: His songs are stronger sons, and his feet are faster.
Get out, you old Wight! Vanish in the sunlight! Shrivel like the cold mist, like the winds go wailing, Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains! Come never here again! Leave you barrow empty! Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness, Where gates stand for ever shut, till the world is mended.
Wake now my merry lads! Wake and hear me calling! Warm now be heart and limb! The cold stone is fallen; Dark door is standing wide; dead hand is broken. Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open! Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander? Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder? Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin, White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin! Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!
There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath the old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself come down one night ti drink his fill.
The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle;
And up and down he runs his bow, Now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle.
The landlord keeps a little dog that is mighty fond of jokes;
When there's good cheer among the guests, Ho cocks an ear at all the jests and laughs until he chokes.
They also keep a horned cow as proud as any queen;
But music turns her head like ale, And makes her wave her tufted tail and dance upon the green.
And O! the rows of silver dishes and the store of silver spoons!
For Sunday there's a special pair, And these they polish up with care on Saturday afternoons.
The Man of the Moon was drinking deep, and the cat began to wail;
A dish and a spoon on the table danced.
The cow in the garden madly pranced, and the little dog chased his tail.
The Man of the Moon took another mug, and then rolled beneath his chair;
And there he dozed and dreamed of ale, Till in the sky the stars were pale, and dawn was in the air.
Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat: 'The white horses of the Moon, They neigh and champ their silver bits;
But their master's been and drowned his wits, and the Sun'll be rising soon!'
So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle, a jig that would wake the dead: He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune, While the landlord shook the Man of the Moon: 'It's after three' he said.
They rolled the Man slowly up the hill and bundled him into the Moon, While his horses galloped up in rear, And the cow came capering like a deer, and a dish ran up with the spoon.
Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;
the dog began to roar, The cow and the horses stood on their heads;
The guests all bounded from their beds and danced upon the floor.
With a ping and a pong the fiddle-strings broke!
the cow jumped over the Moon, And the little dog laughed to see such fun, And the Saturday dish went off at a run with the silver Sunday spoon.
The round Moon rolled behind the hill, as the Sun raised up her head.
She hardly believed her fiery eyes;
For though it was day, to her surprise they all went back to bed! All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadow shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shell be king.
Gil-galad was an Elven-king. Of him the harpers sadly sing: the last whose realm was fair and free between the Mountains and the Sea.
His sword was long, his lance was keen, his shining helm afar was seen; the countless stars of heaven's field were mirrored in his silver shield.
But long ago he rode away, and where he dwelleth none can say; for into darkness fell his star in Mordor where the shadows are.
The leaves was long, the grass was green, The hemlock-umbels tall and fair, And in the glade a light was seen Of stars in shadow shimmering. Tinuviel was dancing there To music of a pipe unseen, And light of stars was in her hair, And in her raiment glimmering.
There Beren came from mountains cold, And lost he wandered under leaves, And where the Elven-river rolled He walked alone and sorrowing. He peered between the hemlock-leaves And saw in wonder flowers of gold Upon her mantle and her sleeves, And her hair like shadow following.
Enchantment healed his weary feet That over hills were doomed to roam; And forth he hastened, strong and fleet, And grasped at moonbeams glistening. Through woven woods in Elvenhome She lightly fled on dancing feet, And left him lonely still to roam In the silent forest listening.
He heard there oft the flying sound Of feet as light as linden-leaves, Or music welling underground, In hidden hollows quavering. Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves, And one by one with sighing sound Whispering fell the beechen leaves In the wintry woodland wavering.
He sought her ever, wandering far Where leaves of years were thickly strewn, By light of moon and ray of star In frosty heavens shivering. Her mantle glinted in the moon, As on a hill-top high and far She danced, and at her feet was strewn A mist of silver quivering.
When winter passed, she came again And her song released the sudden spring, Like rising lark, and falling rain, And melting water bubbling. He saw the elven-flowers spring About her feet, and healed again He longed by her to dance and sing Upon the grass untroubling.
Again she fled, but swift hr came.
Tinuviel! Tinuviel! He called her by her elvish name; And there she halted listening. One moment stood she, and a spell His voice laid on her: Beren came, And doom fell on Tinuviel That in his arms lay glistening.
As Beren looked into her eyes Within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies He saw the mirrored shimmering. Tinuviel the elven-fair Immortal maiden elven-wise, About him cast her shadowy hair And arms like silver glimmering.
Long was the way that fate them bore, O'er stony mountains cold and gray, Through halls of iron and darkling door, And woods of nightshade morrowless. The Sundering Seas between them lay, And yet at last they met once more, And long ago they passed away In the forest singing sorrowless.
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.
Up came Tom with his big boots on.
Said he to Troll: 'Pray, what is yon?
For it looks like a shin o' my nuncle Tim, As should be a-lyin' in graveyard.
Caveyard! Paveyard!
This many a year has Tim been gone, And I thought he were lyin' in graveyard.' 'My lad', said Troll, 'this bone I stole.
But what be bones that lie in a hole?
Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o' lead, Afore I found his shinbone.
Tinbone! Thinbone!
He can spare a share for a poor old troll.
For he don't need his shinbone.' Said Tom: 'I don't see why the likes o' thee Without axin' leave should go makin' free With the shank or the shin o' my father's kin;
So hand the old bone over!
Rover! Trover!
Though dead he be, it belongs to he;
So hand the old bone over! 'For a couple o' pins,' says Troll, and grins, 'I'll eat thee too, and gnaw thy shins.
A bit o' fresh meat will go down sweet!
I'll try my teeth on thee now.
Hee now! See now!
I'm tired o' gnawing old bones and skins;
I've a mind to dine on thee now.' But just as he thought his dinner was caught, He found his hands had hold of naught.
Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind And gave him the boot to larn him.
Warn him! Darn him!
A bump o' the boot on the seat, Tom thought, Would be the way to larn him.
But harder than stone is the flesh and bone Of a troll that sits in the hills alone.
As well set your boot to the mountain's root: For the seat of a troll don't feel it.
Peel it! Heal it!
Old Troll laughed, when he heard Tom groan.
And he knew his toes could feel it.
Tom's leg is game, since home he came, And his bootless foot is lasting lame;
But Troll don't care, and he's still there With the bone he boned from its owner.
Doner! Boner!
Troll's old seat is still the same, And the bone he boned from its owner! Earendil was a mariner that tarried in Arvernien; he built a boat of timber felled in Nimbrethil to journey un; her sails he wove of silver fair, of silver were her lanterns made, her prow was fashioned like a swan, and light upon her banners laid.
In panoply of ancient kings, in chained rings he armored him; his shining shield was scored with runes to ward all wounds and harm from him; his bow was made of dragon-horn, his arrows shorn of ebony of silver was his habergeon, his scabbard of chalcedony; his sword of steel was valiant, of adamant his helmet tall, an eagle-plume upon his crest, upon his breast an emerald.
Beneath the Moon and under star he wandered far from northern strands, bewildered on enchanted ways beyond the days of mortal lands. From gnashing of the Narrow Ice where shadow lies on frozen hills, from nether heats and burning waste he turned in haste, and roving still on starless waters far astray at last he came to Night of Naught, and passed, and never sight he saw of shining shore nor light he sought. The winds of wrath came driving him, and blindly in the foam he fled from west to east and errandless, unheralded he homeward sped.
There flying Elwing came to him, and flame was in the darkness lit; more bright than light of diamond the fire of her carcanet. The Silmaril she bound on him and crowned him with the living light, and dauntless then with burning brow he turned his prow; and in the night from otherworld beyond the Sea there strong and fee a storm arose, a wind of power in Tarmenel; by paths that seldom mortal goes his boat in bore of biting breath as might of death across the gray and long-forsaken seas distressed: from east to west he passed away.
Through Evernight he back was borne on black and roaring waves that ran o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores that drowned before the Days began, until he hears on strands of pearl where ends the world the music long, where ever-foaming billows roll, the yellow gold and jewels wan. He saw the Mountain silent rise where twilight lies upon the knees of Valinor, and Eldamar beheld afar beyond the seas. A wanderer escaped from night to haven white he came at last, to Elvenhome the green and fair where keen the air, where pale all glass beneath the Hill of Ilmarin a-glimmer in a valley sheer the lamplit towers of Tirion are mirrored on the Shadowmere.
He tarried there from errantry, and melodies they taught to him, and sages old him marvels told, and harps of gold they brought to him. They clothed him then in elven-white, and seven lights before him sent, as through the Calacirian to hidden land forlorn he went. He came unto the timeless halls, where shining fall the countless years, and endless reigns the Elder King in Ilmarin of Mountain sheer; and words unheard were spoken then of folk of Men and Elven-kin, beyond the world were visions showed forbid to those that dwell therein.
A ship then new they built for him of mithril and of elven-glass with shining prow; no shaven oar nor sail she bore on silver mast: the Silmaril as lantern light and banner bright with living flame to gleam thereon by Elbereth herself was set, who thither came and wings immortal made for him, and laid on him undying doom, to sail the shoreless skies and come behind the Sun and light of Moon.
From Evereven's lofty hills where softly silver fountains fall his wings him bore, a wandering light, beyond the mighty Mountain Wall. From World's End then he turned away, and yearned again to find afar his home through shadows journeying, and burning as an island star on high above the mists he came, a distant flame before the Sun, a wonder ere the waking dawn where grey the Norland waters run.
And over Middle-earth he passed and heard at last the weeping sore of women and of elven-maids in Elder Days, in years of yore. But on him mighty doom was laid, till Moon should fade, an orbed star to pass, and tarry newer more on Hither Shores where mortals are; for ever still a herald on an errand that should newer rest to bear his shining lamp afar, the Flammifer of Westernesse.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren penna miriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chaered palan-diriel o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos, le linnathon nef aear, si nef aearon!
Seek for the Sword that was broken: In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur's Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand.
When winter first begins to bite and stones crack in the frosty night, when pools are black and trees are bare, 'tis evil in the Wild to fare.
I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were, with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire an think of people long ago, and people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.
The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone, When Durin woke and walked alone. He named the nameless hills and dells; He drank from yet untasted wells; He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear, As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadow of his head.
The world was fair, the mountains tall, In Elder Days before the fall Of mighty kings in Nargothrond And Gondolin, who now beyond The Western Seas have passed away: The world was fair in Durin's Day.
A king he was on carven throne In many-pillared halls of stone With golden roof and silver floor, And runes of power upon the door. The light of sun and star and moon In shining lamps of crystal hewn Undimmed by cloud or shade of night There shone for ever fair and bright.
There hammer on the anvil smote, There chisel clove, and graver wrote; There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built. There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes' mail, Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard.
Unwearied then were Durin's folk; Beneath the mountains music woke: The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang.
The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge's fire is ashen-cold; No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin's halls; The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dum. But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere; There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep.
An Elven-maid there was of old, A shining star by day: Her mantle white was hemmed with gold, Her shoes of silver-grey.
A star was bound upon her brows, A light was on her hair As sun upon the golden boughs In Lorien the fair.
Her hair was long, her limbs where white, And fair she was and free;
And in the wind she went as light As leaf of linden-tree.
Beside the falls of Nimrodel, By water clear and cool, Her voice as falling silver fell Into the shinning pool.
Where now she wanders none can tell, In sunlight or in shade;
For lost of yore was Nimrodel And in the mountains strayed.
The elven-ship in haven grey Beneath the mountain-lee Awaited her for many a day Beside the roaring sea.
A wind by night in Northern lands Arose, and loud it cried, And drove the ship from elven-strands Across the streaming tide.
When dawn came dim the land was lost, The mountains sinking grey Beyond the heaving waves that tossed Their plumes of blinding spray.
Amroth beheld the fading shore Now low beyond the swell, And cursed the faithless ship that bore Him far from Nimrodel.
Of old he was an Elven-king, A lord of tree and glen, When golden were the boughs in spring In fair Lothlorien.
From helm to sea they saw him leap, As arrow from the string, And dive into the water deep, As mew upon the wing.
The wind was in his flowing hair, The foam about him shone;
Afar they saw him strong and fair Go riding like a swan.
But from the West has come no word, And on the Hither Shore No tidings Elven-folk heard Of Amroth evermore.
When evening in the Shire was grey his footsteps on the Hill were heard; before the dawn he went away on journey long without a word.
From Wilderland to Western shore, from northern waste to southern hill, through dragon-lair and hidden door and darkling woods he walked at will.
With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men, with mortal and immortal folk, with bird on bough and beast in den, in their own secret tongues he spoke.
A deadly sword, a healing hand, a back that bent beneath it load; a trumpet-voice, a burning brand, a weary pilgrim on the road.
A lord of wisdom throned he sat, swift in anger, quick to laugh; an old man in a battered hat who leaned upon a throny staff.
He stood upon the bridge alone and Fire and Shadow both defied; his staff was broken on the stone, in Khazad-dum his wisdom died.
The finest rockets ever seen: they burst in stars of blue and green, on after thunder golden showers came falling like a rain of flowers.
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew: Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew. Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea, And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree. Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone, In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion. There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years, While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears. O Lorien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day; The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away. O Lorien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor. But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me, What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?
Ai! laurie lantar lassi surinen! Yeni unotime ve ramar aldaron, yeni ve linte yuldar vanier mi oromardi lisse-miruvoreva Andune pella Vardo tellumar nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni omaryo airetari-lirinen.
Si man i yulma nin enquantuva?
An si Tintalle Varda Oiolosseo ve fanyar maryat Elentari ortane ar ilye tier undulave lumbule, ar sindanoriello caita mornie i falmalinnar imbe met, ar hisie untupa Calaciryo miri oiale. Si vanwa na, Romello vanwa, Valimar! Namarie! Nai hiruvalye Valimar. Nai elye hiruva. Namarie!