Far over the misty mountains cold
Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold is a poem found within the chapter "An Unexpected Party" of The Hobbit.
History
While at Bag End after the unexpected party, Thorin and Company brought out their instruments and began to sing. This is said to be "like a fragment of their song, if it can be like their song without music." Their powerful singing roused the "Tookish" side of Bilbo, and for a moment a desire to explore and adventure came upon him, although the thought of plundering dragons quickly restored his less adventurous "Baggins" nature.
Text
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.
On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold.
Goblets they carved there for themselves
And harps of gold; where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.
The pines were roaring on the height,
The winds were moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
The trees like torches blazed with light.
The bells were ringing in the dale
And men looked up with faces pale;
Then dragon’s ire more fierce than fire
Laid low their towers and houses frail.
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall, to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!
Later that night, while Bilbo lay in bed trying to fall asleep, he could still hear Thorin humming in the next room over:
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To find our long-forgotten gold.
Portrayal in adaptations
1977: The Hobbit (1977 film):
- Parts of the song are sung by the dwarves of Thorin's Company when they meet Bilbo for the first time. They sing it again at Bag End, before Bilbo decides to join them on their quest. Finally, the song is reprised after the death of Smaug, during the dwarves' preparations for the defence of Erebor. The song is the last track on the official soundtrack and is titled "Misty Mountains Cold".
1989: Hobit (1989 Slovak radio series):
- This radio miniseries adapts the song in a heavily abbreviated version. The dwarves sing it several times throughout the radio play. The lyrics are also more of a loose translation or interpretation of the novel's original lyrics. They do not examine the backstory of the Sack of Erebor and the dwarves' exile from Erebor in-depth.
2001 Let mortal heroes sing your fame (2001 CD)- In hollow halls beneath the fells:
- Black metal tolkien-based band Summoning adapts the song in this title.
2012: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:
- A modified version of the song is sung by Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the rest of the Company during the unexpected party at Bag End. Neil Finn also sings a variation of the song entitled "Song of the Lonely Mountain" in the ending credits of the film.
External links
- Performed by Clamavi De Profundis
- Über die Nebelberge weit gesammt (Rendition from the late 1970s German radio adaptation of The Hobbit)
- Performed by Rachel Hardy (Abbreviated version, using the lyrics of the 2012 motion picture *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey*)
