Poems

J.R.R. Tolkien Forum

Right I'll just try this.

Tolkien has written a lot of poems and songs in his books and I've written a few for Fanfiction.net (I am the Ultimate Warrior on there), which ones do you like more?

I personally like Road go ever on, and the Barrow-wights poem but I am just seeing what ones you like,if any.

hmmm.. i like the Barrow wights poem...i also liked frodo's tribute to Gandalf in Lorien.

Frodo's tribute to Gandalf was very touching. I also liked that Sam tried to add something about his fireworks.

My signature says it all.

How about the Dwarves song in Bag End about Smaug and their treasure: "Far over the Misty Mountains cold,
To dungeons deep and caverns old."

The Riddles from Riddles in the dark aren't bad either, and of course there is Tom Bombadils songs.

"Far over Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We much away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold"

One of my favorites Tiger

It's one of my favorite as well. Actually I like all of Tolkiens Poems and Songs.

This is another one of my favorites,

Over the land there lies a long shadow,
westward reaching wings of darkness.
The Tower trembles; to the tombs of the kings
doom appoaches. The Dead awaken;
for the hour is come for the oathbreakers;
at the Stone of Erech they shall stand again
and hear there a horn in the hills ringing.
Whose shall the horn be? Who shall call them
from the prey twilight, the forgotten people?
The heir of him to whom the oath they swore.
From the North shall he come, need shall drive him:
he shall pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead.

I don't remember that one

How about this, the tale of Tinuviel;

The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen,
Of stars in shadow shimmering,

The whole poem is in the Fellowship of the Ring in the chapter "flight to the ford".

Oh ok, the poem is in the first book of Return of the King, second chapter

And that is a beautiful poem, I had forgotten about that one

Do you mean the poem that goes like this;

Over the land there lies a long shadow,
westward reaching wings of darkness.

because that is a nice little poem. Ok how about the Gil-Gallad poem, you know;

Gil-Gallad was an Elven-king,
Of him the harpers sadly sing,
The last who's realm was fair and free,
Between the mountains and the sea.

Yea thats the one I meant Tiger

I can't belive someone hasnt mentioned this one yet....

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 shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken:
The crownless again shall be kind.

I loved it the first time I read it

Ho Ho Ho! To the bottle I go!
To heal me heart and drown my woe
Rain may fall
Wind may blow
And many miles be still to go
And under a tall tree I will lie,
To let the clouds go sailing by!

That was from memory, so dont blame me if its slightly wrong!

No surprise that you know that one from memory, my little hobbit friend! It is a good poem...err song though, whichever it is!

I have yet to memorise Pippin's bath song! But im geting there!

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 than rain or rippling streams
is Water Hot that smokes and steams.

O! Water cold we may pour at need (<--------up til now it was from memory...the rest i am taking from the book!)
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!

love that song, and it is followed with possibly my fave lines from the book!

I had forgotten about that song though, it's very nice though....So do you actually sit down and memorize these? Or does it just happen automatically?

If I can just go back to Peregrin's post that went like this:

Ho Ho Ho! To the bottle I go!
To heal me heart and drown my woe
Rain may fall
Wind may blow
And many miles be still to go
And under a tall tree I will lie,
To let the clouds go sailing by!

I though it went like this:

Hey ho to the bottle I go,
To heal my heart and drown my woe,
The rain may fall and wind may blow,
And there shall be many miles to go,
Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,

I forget it after that but there are a few more lines left.

Hey ho to the bottle I go,
To heal my heart and drown my woe,
rain may fall and wind may blow,
And there still be many miles to go,
Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,
And the stream that falls from hill to plain
Better than rain or a rippling brook
Is a mug of beer inside this Took!

Thats the movie version

What's the book version? Or did you already quote it?

I quoted it its earlier in the convo

Right, ok...Any other hobbit songs or poems we should know of?

Well I can think of one hobbit poem or song:

There is an Inn, a merry old Inn
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
That the Man in the Moon himself came down
one night to drink his fill

If you want the rest of it, it's what Frodo sings in the book in Bree.

Yay! Another hobbit poem, Pip will be happy.....That's a good one too, course all of Tolkiens poems are

that poem is about 2-3 pages long...good luck to you pip, if you decide to try and tackle that one!

This is one of Bilbo's walking songs. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin sing it in the chapter called Three is Company in Fellowship of the Ring. The words of this song are used in the movie when Pippin sings to Denethor. This is before their trip gets perilous in the book, and they are still in good spirits.


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!

Ooo I love that last verse there...Here is one from the second book from the Two Towers, chapter two one from Gollum


Alive without breath;
as cold as death;
never thirsting, ever drinking;
clad in mail, never clinking.
Drowns on dry land,
thinks an island
is a mountain;
thinks a fountain
is a puff of air.
So sleek, so fair!
What a joy to meet!
We only wish
to catch a fish,
so juicy-sweet!

It's continued from the riddles in the dark isn't it.

Ok here's one:

The king beneath the mountains,
the king of carven staone,
the lord of silver fountains,
shall come into his own,

it's from the hobbit in the chapter called "A Warm Welcome".

It is...it's one of the riddles that Gollum says in Riddles in the dark.

Alive without breath;
as cold as death;
never thirsting, ever drinking;
clad in mail, never clinking.

"A box without hinges key or lid,
yet inside golden treasure is hid."

thought I might as well put another riddle up.

30 white horses on a red hill
First the champ
Then they stamp
Then they stand still.

"this thing all thins devours,
birds, beasts, trees, flowers,
kneads iron, bite's steel,
ginds hard stone to meal,
slays kings ruins towns,
beats high mountains down,
it comes first and follows after,
ends life, kills laughter."

Another riddle

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.

This is a extract from "Tale from the Perilous realm" and "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil":

Shadow Bride

There was a man who dwelt alone,
as day and night went past
he sat as still as carven stone,
and yet no shadow cast.
The white owls perched upon his head
beneath the winter moon;
they wiped their beaks and thought him dead
under stars of June

Never read that poem, glad you posted it Tiger, love it!

Well the adventures of Tom Bombadil are hard to find now but it is all poems I could put up another one if you want. By the was that was just the first verse of the Shadow Bride.

Lets try this one, it is not from the adventures of Tom Bombadil of Tales from the perilous realm.

Nargothronds king wore elvish gold,
Of him are many stories told,
Who first encountered those of men,
And fell protecting them again,

A necklace he wore of Dwarven make,
A name he bore for Dwarven sake,
The prince of Noldor, hewer of caves,
Friend to all and all he saves.

Wow, these poems are cool! Thanks for posting them

I wasn't going to say this, I was going to see if I could catch anyone out but the poem:


Nargothronds king wore elvish gold,
Of him are many stories told,
Who first encountered those of men,
And fell protecting them again,

A necklace he wore of Dwarven make,
A name he bore for Dwarven sake,
The prince of Noldor, hewer of caves,
Friend to all and all he saves.

Is written by me, Tolkiens only hand in it is the character that it describes.

WOW! You wrote them?!?! Thats amazing!!!

I have written a few for lord of the rings, Nargothronds king is mine but the Shadow Bride is Tolkiens. Here is a few more of mine if you are intrested:

Ere the lands of wood and dale,
Up the mountains dusty trail,
Into the dark where light is gone,
Where never the golden Sun has shone.
Goblins hide behind the walls,
‘Till the dark of night does fall,
Many a traveller gone astray,
Shall never again see light of day.
Many a year it stood alone,
Once home to dwarves, those halls of stone,
Much fame it brought in Durin’s reign,
Until the rise of Durin’s Bane.

Or:


Over hill and under hill, to mountains and the sea,
However far away I am home does call to me,
To dark places in the ground and riddles in the deep,
To dark forests in the night and rivers that cause sleep,
Dwarven greed and Dragon Fire,
Elven steed and Mans ire,
The eagles cry above the war,
Five armies fight but then no more,
Gold and jewels are the taken prise,
From battles fought on land and skies,
Of those that came now few remain,
To weep now as they live in pain.

Or my shortest one:

From Bywater to Brandybuck, from the river to the sea,
Forever over country side the wind shall carry me,
Traveller by nature and traveller by name,
Like the one before me, I’ll always be the same,
Remembered throughout history as heroes of the past.
Bearers of the ring, not the first but the last.

As I said I am a poet, not a bard, Bards sing, I dont sing, I am a poet.

Wow...

The one about the kings of Nargothrond is about Finrod Felagund, is it not?
all excelent poems by the way!

Wow these are great Tiger Thanks for sharing them with us!

Nargothronds King is about Finrod Felagund and not Orodeth because I prefer Finrod. The name Felagund is Dwarven and means 'Hewer of Caves'. He was the beloved friend of all he met that were not in the service of Morgoth. So I think I described him pretty well.

The next one of mine was the first I have ever written and is about Moria. The third is about Bilbo Baggins and the Hobbit and the last is about Frodo but isn't actually true because technically Gollum is the last ring-barer to hold the ring.

I am returning to the "Adventures of Tom Bombadil" for this one:

Perry the Winkle

The Lonely Troll he sat on a stone
and sang a mournful lay:
'O why, O why must I live on my own
in the hills of Faraway?
My folk are gone beyond recall
and take no though of me;
alone I'm left, the last of all,
from Weathertop to the sea'

'I steal no gold, I drink no beer,
I eat no kind of meat;
but people slam their doors in fear,
whenever they hear my feet.
O how I wish that they were neat,
and my hands not so rough!
Yet my heart is soft, my smile is sweet,
and my cooking is good enough.'

This is only the first two verses of a long poem, I could put it all up but that would take a long time.

Here you go another one of mine about Gondolin this time.

Gondolin, fair Gondolin, where lords and ladies dwell,
Where hast thou gone oh Gondolin?! None of us can tell,
To shadows and darkness fell the city of the King,
Gondolin, fair Gondolin fell to the Balrogs wing,

Gondolin, fair Gondolin, between the mountains high,
Gondolin, oh Gondolin, went as fire in the sky,
Gondolin, fair Gondolin, beauty unsurpassed,
Gondolin, oh Gondolin, beauty gone at last,

Where doest thou dwell oh Gondolin, your shinning towers past,
Where hast thou gone oh Gondolin, your sparkling fountains lost,
Gondolin, fair Gondolin, the last fair realm of old,
Gondolin, oh Gondolin, of whom the stories told,

Forever lost oh Gondolin, the city of the king,
Forever gone oh Gondolin fell to the Balrogs wing,
Gondolin, fair Gondolin, beauty unsurpassed,
Gondolin, Oh Gondolin, beauty gone at last.

Good one Tiger

Here's one from the Two Towers

Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea!
West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree
Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old.
O proud walls! White towers! O winged crown and throne of gold!
O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree,
Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea?

Ho! Tom Bombadil! Tom Bombadillo!
By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow,
By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us!
Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!

One from the Silmarillion about the battle of minds between Sauron and Finrod Felagund:
He chanted a song of wizardry,
Of piercing, opening, of treachery,
Revealing, uncovering, betraying.
Then sudden Felagund there swaying
Sang in answer a song of staying,
Resisting, battling against power,
Of secrets kept,, strength like a tower
And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;
Of and changing and of shifting shape,
Of snares eluded, broken traps,
The prison opening, the chain that snaps.
Backwards and forwards swayed their song.
Reeling and foundering, as ever more strong
The chanting swelled, Felagund fought,
And all the magic and might he brought
Of Elvenesse into his words.
Softly in the gloom they heard the the birds
Singing afar in Nargathrond,
The sighing of the Sea beyond,
Beyond the western world, on sand,
On sand pearls in Elvenland.
The the gloom gathered; darkness growing
In Valinor, the red blood flowing
Beside the Sea, where the Noldor slew,
The Foamriders, and stealing drew
Their white ships and their white sails
From lamplit havens. The wind wails,
The wolf howls. The ravens flee.
The ice mutters in the mouths of the Sea.
The captives sad in Angband mourn.
Thunder rumbles, the fires burn--
And Finrod fell before the throne.

The poems I am about to post are not about Characters of Tolkien but about characters I created for Middle Earth and its pasts. Normally I wouldn't consider posting these but they are some of my favorite poems.

Edrahil

Lost is mind and heart is broken,
Harshest word that ever spoken,
Dark as night and starless sky,
Edrahil lay down to die,

Where hast thou gone oh kings of old? Your mighty towers free,
Where hast thou gone my brother fair? My brother calls to me,
Edrahil, oh Edrahil, across the mighty sea,
Edrahil, oh Edrahil, what has become of thee?

The mountains now hold the fair, Adrahil the free,
Edrahil is lost to time, but all is lost to he,
The cloak is gone, the mantle frayed, the grey clouds blown away,
The light returns, awaken now, the one who sleeps till day,

Adrahil

The once fair lay upon the ground,
The darkness drawing near,
But he does hear no single sound,
Nor darkness does he fear,

His time grows short, his life does fade,
He’ll pass on to old land,
He does no use a masquerade,
Nor hold a sword in hand,

His life was peaceful and safe for most,
Until that fateful day,
He goes now to a far off coast,
Where no price would he pay,

He leaves his brother, friend for years,
He’s laid upon the ground,
And he shall shed a thousand tears,
Till he again is found.

tell me what you think of them

Tiger those are awesome. Sometimes I wish I could write poems like that. Thanks for sharing them

Ok then heres another one of my own poems;

The King and the Ranger,

In my body flows the blood of kings,
The fate of men and living things,
The hope I give to child and man,
I give now freely if I can,

My fate is now the fate of men,
The war on evil once again,
My line is broken save for me,
The King of Gondor I must be,

The King and Ranger I have been,
Many deeds of evil seen,
The end of men has yet to be,
The Kings return shall soon be seen,

What hope I give to child and man,
I give now freely if I can,
No hope I keep for my own,
To save the place I should call home,

Oh wow, it's a poem about Aragorn of course I am going to love it

This poem is about Bard the Bowman and the Desolation of Smaug. It is one I have written again:

I think it's perfect Tiger

This is one of my series poems on Fanfiction.net. It is called thougts of a prince and I my take on the thoughts of Isldur when he took the ring. It isn't one of my favorites.

This poem is about one of my created characters for the lord of the ring and middle earth mythologies:

I was reading through Tolkiens book of lost tales volume one when I came across a poem that I liked, so I'm going to put it up for you.

In the vales of Aryador
By the wooded inland shore
Green the lakeward bents and meads
Sloping down the murmurous reeds
That whisper in the dusk o'er Aryador:

'Do you hear the many bells
Of the goats upon the fells
Where the valley tumbles downward from the pines?
Do you hear the blue woods moan
When the Sun has gone alone
To hunt the mountain-shadowsin the pines?

She is lost amoung the hill
And the upland slowly fills
With shadow-folk that murmur in the fern;
And still there are the bells
Ans the voices on the fells
While Eastward a few stars begin to burn.

Men are kindling ting gleams
Far below by mountain streams
Where they dwell amoung the beechwoods near the shore,
But the great woods on the height
Warch the waining western light
And whisper to the wind of things of yore,

When the valley was unknown
And the waters roared alone,
And the shadow-folk danced downward all the night,
When the Sun had fared abroad
Through great forests unexplored
And the woods were full of wandering beams of light.

Then were voices in the fells
And the sound of ghostly bells
And the march of shadow-people o'er the height.
In the mountains by the shore
In forgotten Aryador
There was dancing and was ringing;
There were shadow-people singing
Ancient songs of olden god in Aryador.'