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| The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle | |
|---|---|
| Publication Information | |
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien, Donald Swann |
| Illustrator | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | George Allen and Unwin (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US) |
| Released | 31 October 1967 (US) 28 March 1968 (UK) |
| Format | Hardcover; paperback |
| Pages | 80 |
| ISBN | 0047840099 |
| Preceded by | Poems and Songs of Middle Earth {1967) |
| Followed by | Bilbo's Last Song (at the Grey Havens) {1974) |
The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle is a book of sheet music, the poems are by J.R.R. Tolkien, the music by Donald Swann.
The first edition was published in 1967, containing six poems from The Lord of the Rings and one from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Within the book are included Tolkien's own notes and translations on two Elvish text: "Namárië" and "A Elbereth Gilthoniel", thus it is also an important document of the glossary and lore of Elvish.
The second edition was released in 1978, adding the "Bilbo's Last Song"; in the foreword Swann recounts his collaborations with J.R.R. Tolkien; and the third edition in 2002, adding the poem "Lúthien Tinúviel" from The Silmarillion.
The third edition, after having been long out of print, was finally reprinted in September 2023 and is available again.
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.[1]
Contents
- Introduction
- Foreword by Donald Swann
- Foreword to the Third edition
- 1. The Road Goes Ever On
- 2. Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red
- 3. In the Willow-meads of Tasarinan
- 4. In Western Lands
- 5. Namárië (Farewell)
- 6. I Sit beside the Fire
- 7. Errantry
- 8. Bilbo's Last Song
- Appendix
A CD is issued with the third edition, containing the song cycle performed by Donald Swann, William Elvin, and Clive McCrombie.
Publication history and gallery
- UK editions
-
1968 first edition
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1978 second edition
-
2002 third edition
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- George Allen and Unwin, hardcover (1968), pp. 80. ISBN 0047840099
- George Allen and Unwin, hardcover (1978), ISBN 0047840110
- HarperCollins, hardcover (2002), pp. 96. ISBN 0007136552
- US editions
-
1968 hardcover
-
1975 paperback
- Ballantine Books, jacketless hardcover (1968), pp. 80. PBN 74550
- Ballantine Books, paperback (1975), ISBN 0345247337
External links
- A lecture recital of the song cycle on YouTube
References
- ↑ Robert Foster, A Guide to Middle-earth