The Road Goes Ever On (book)
| The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle | |
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| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien, Donald Swann (music) |
| Illustrator | J.R.R. Tolkien, Samuel Hanks Bryant |
| Publisher | George Allen and Unwin (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US) |
| Released | 31 October 1967 (US) 1968 (UK) |
| Format | Hardcover; paperback |
| Pages | 80 |
| ISBN | 0047840099 |
The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle is a book of sheet music, poems by J.R.R. Tolkien, music by Donald Swann.
The first edition was published in 1967, which contains six poems from The Lord of the Rings and one from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. It also contains notes on and translations of two Elvish text: "Namárië" and "A Elbereth Gilthoniel", for which reason it is an important document concerning the "glossary and lore of Elvish".[1]
A recording of the music, with William Elvin as vocalist, appeared under the title Poems and Songs of Middle Earth (1967). This record also contains readings from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Overview
This book has been valued even by those uninterested in music, since it helps Tolkien's readers to better understand the cultures of the various mythological beings presented in Middle-earth, and helps linguists analyse Tolkien's poetry. As well as the poems, notes, and translations, Tolkien contributed decorations in the form of Elvish script for the top and bottom of every page of sheet music, and tailpieces for the spaces at the ends of the poems.
The book contains one of the longest samples of the language Quenya, in the shape of the song "Namárië" (which appears on the cover in Tengwar), as well as the Sindarin prayer "A Elbereth Gilthoniel" with grammatical explanations. Tolkien's notes in the book provide information about the First Age of Middle-earth that was not otherwise publicly available until the publication of The Silmarillion.[2]
Contents
- List of Songs
- Included in the First Edition of the book (1967)
- The Road Goes Ever On
- (LotR, Book 1, chapter 1 "A Long-expected Party", chapter 3 "Three is Company")
- Upon the Hearth the Fire is Fed
- (LotR, Book 1, chapter 3 "Three is Company")
- In the Willow-meads of Tasarinan
- (LotR, Book 3, chapter 4 "Treebeard")
- In Western Lands
- (LotR, Book 6, chapter 1 "The Tower of Cirith Ungol")
- Namárië
- (LotR, Book 2, chapter 8 "Farewell to Lórien")
- I Sit Beside the Fire
- (LotR, Book 2, chapter 3 "The Ring Goes South")
- Errantry
- (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil)
- Added in the Second Edition (1978)
- Bilbo's Last Song (At the Grey Havens)
- (Given to Tolkien's secretary, Margaret Joy Hill)
- Added in the Third Edition (2002)
- A Elbereth Gilthoniel (continues "I Sit Beside the Fire")
- (LotR, Book 2, chapter 1 "Many Meetings")
- Lúthien Tinúviel
- (The Silmarillion, chapter 19 "Of Beren and Lúthien")
A CD record is included with this edition. It contains the musical recordings from Poems and Songs of Middle Earth as well as recordings of the songs added to the second and third editions.
- Notes and Translations
Publication history and gallery
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- George Allen and Unwin hardcover (1967), pp. 80. ISBN 0047840099
- George Allen and Unwin hardcover (1978), ISBN 0047840110
- HarperCollins hardcover (2002), pp. 96. ISBN 0007136552
The Road Goes Ever On had also been published by Ballantine Books. A jacketless hardcover edition in October 1968, and a paperback edition in August 1975.[3]
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- Ballantine Books hardcover (1968), pp. 80. PBN 74550
- Ballantine Books paperback (1975), ISBN 0345247337
See also
- Letter to James S. Marsh, where Tolkien showed his plan for the book.
References
- ↑ Quote from the cover of the Third Edition.
- ↑ Robert Foster, A Guide to Middle-earth
- ↑ Douglas A. Anderson, "Ballantine's Road Goes Ever On: Bibliographers Off by a Year!" dated 31 May 2021, http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/ (accessed 2 June 2021)
