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 (tengwar writing), Samuel Hanks Bryant (decoration) |
| 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 |
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
Songs[edit | edit source]
- Included since the first edition (1967)
- "The Road Goes Ever On" — from LR, book 1, ch. 1
- "Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red" — from LR, book 1, ch. 3
- "In the Willow-meads of Tasarinan" — from LR, book 3, ch. 4
- "In Western Lands" — from LR, book 6, ch. 1
- "Namárië (Farewell)" — from LR, book 2, ch. 8
- "I Sit beside the Fire" — from LR, book 2, ch. 3
- "Errantry" — from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, song #3
- Added in the second edition (1978)
- "Bilbo's Last Song" — given by Tolkien to Joy Hill
- Added in the third edition (2002)
- "A Elbereth Gilthoniel" (continues "I Sit beside the Fire") — from LR, book 2, ch. 1
- "Lúthien Tinúviel" — from The Silmarillion, ch. 19
A CD is included with the third edition, it contains The Road Goes Ever On song cycle performed by Donald Swann, William Elvin, and Clive McCrombie.
Notes and Translations[edit | edit source]
Publication history and gallery[edit | edit source]
- UK editions
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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
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- Ballantine Books hardcover (1968), pp. 80. PBN 74550
- Ballantine Books paperback (1975), ISBN 0345247337
External links[edit | edit source]
References
- ↑ Quote from the cover of the Third Edition.
- ↑ Robert Foster, A Guide to Middle-earth
