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{{Short description|Poem in the Elvish language Sindarin}}
{{Short description|Poem in the Elvish language Sindarin}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
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{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}
'''''A Elbereth Gilthoniel''''' is an [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish]] [[hymn]] to [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]] ([[Sindarin]]: ''Elbereth'') in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. It is the longest piece of [[Sindarin]] in ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is not translated in the main text where it is first presented.
'''''A Elbereth Gilthoniel''''' is an [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish]] [[hymn]] to [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]] ([[Sindarin]]: ''Elbereth'') in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. It is the longest piece of [[Sindarin]] in ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is not translated in the main text where it is first presented.


The poem, written in [[iambic tetrameter]]s, has been likened to a [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Roman Catholic]] [[Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church|Marian]] hymn. Among the musical renderings of the poem, the earliest is [[Donald Swann]]'s, published in his [[song cycle]] ''[[The Road Goes Ever On]]'', while [[The Tolkien Ensemble]] recorded four different renditions.
The poem, written in [[iambic tetrameter]]s, has been likened to a [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Roman Catholic]] [[Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church|Marian]] hymn. Among the musical renderings of the poem, the earliest is [[Donald Swann]]'s, published in his [[song cycle]] ''[[The Road Goes Ever On]]'', while [[The Tolkien Ensemble]] recorded four different renditions.
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== Text ==
== Text ==


[[File:Aerlinn in Edhil o Imladris.png|thumb|The long version of "A Elbereth Gilthoniel", written in [[Tengwar]] script<ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002"/>]]
[[File:Aerlinn in Edhil o Imladris.png|thumb|The first stanza of the long version of "A Elbereth Gilthoniel", written in [[Tengwar]] script<ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002"/>]]


There are three versions of this [[iambic tetrameter]] hymn, the first of which is the largest portion of [[Sindarin]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'':<ref name="Three is Company" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 1, ch. 3 "Three is Company"</ref><ref name="Many Meetings" group=T/><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954}}, book 4, ch. 10 "The Choices of Master Samwise"</ref><ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002"/>
There are three versions of this [[iambic tetrameter]] hymn, the first of which is the largest portion of [[Sindarin]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'':<ref name="Three is Company" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 1, ch. 3 "Three is Company"</ref><ref name="Many Meetings" group=T/><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954}}, book 4, ch. 10 "The Choices of Master Samwise"</ref><ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002"/>
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| O Elbereth Starkindler,
| O Elbereth Starkindler,
|-
|-
| '''o menel palan-diriel,'''
| '''o menel palan-díriel,'''
| from heaven gazing afar,
| from heaven gazing afar,
|-
|-
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{{further|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings}}
{{further|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings}}


In [[Tolkien's legendarium]], Varda ([[Sindarin]]: ''Elbereth'') is one of the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]] and the highest of the "guardians". [[Peter Kreeft]] sees her as one of the clearest [[Christianity in Middle-earth|reflections of Roman Catholic]] [[Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church|Marian]] devotion in Tolkien's work.<ref>[[Peter Kreeft|Kreeft, Peter]], ''The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings'' (2005), [https://books.google.ch/books?id=5NQQt7ZuZSgC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA75 p. 75], citing ''[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'' (ed. 1981) no. 213, p. 288, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2005, {{ISBN|9781586170257}}</ref>
[[File:Madonna with child by Filippo Lippi (detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Scholars have remarked the resemblance of Tolkien's song to Elbereth to [[Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church|Catholic veneration of the Virgin Mary]]. Detail of ''Madonna with child'' by [[Filippo Lippi]] ]]
In [[Tolkien's legendarium]], [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]] ([[Sindarin]]: ''Elbereth'') is one of the godlike [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]] and the highest of the "guardians". [[Peter Kreeft]] sees her as one of the clearest [[Christianity in Middle-earth|reflections of Roman Catholic]] devotion [[Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church|to the Virgin Mary]] in Tolkien's work.<ref>[[Peter Kreeft|Kreeft, Peter]], ''The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings'' (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5NQQt7ZuZSgC&pg=PA76 p. 75], citing ''[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'' (ed. 1981) no. 213, p. 288, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2005, {{ISBN|9781586170257}}</ref>


In ''A Elbereth Gilthoniel'', scholars such as [[Marjorie Burns]] and [[Stratford Caldecott]] see an echo of [[John Lingard]]'s [[Marian hymn]], ''[[Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star]]''.<ref name=Burns>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |chapter=Saintly and Distant Mothers |editor-last=Kerry |editor-first=Paul E. |title=The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uz2mCyzks8EC&pg=PA251 |year=2011 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-61147-064-2 |pages=251–}}</ref> Caldecott commented that "Tolkien would have been familiar with one of the most popular Catholic hymns from his childhood, the tone and mood of which are markedly close to those of Tolkien's song to Elbereth."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Caldecott |first=Stratford |author-link=Stratford Caldecott |title=The Lord & Lady of the Rings The Hidden Presence of Tolkien's Catholicism in The Lord of the Rings |journal=[[Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity|Touchstone]] |date=2002 |issue=Jan/Feb 2002 |pages=176–181 |doi=10.5840/chesterton2002281/229}}</ref>
In ''A Elbereth Gilthoniel'', scholars such as [[Marjorie Burns]] and [[Stratford Caldecott]] see an echo of [[John Lingard]]'s [[Marian hymn]], ''[[Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star]]''.<ref name=Burns>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |chapter=Saintly and Distant Mothers |editor-last=Kerry |editor-first=Paul E. |title=The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uz2mCyzks8EC&pg=PA251 |year=2011 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-61147-064-2 |pages=251–}}</ref> Caldecott commented that "Tolkien would have been familiar with one of the most popular Catholic hymns from his childhood, the tone and mood of which are markedly close to those of Tolkien's song to Elbereth."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Caldecott |first=Stratford |author-link=Stratford Caldecott |title=The Lord & Lady of the Rings The Hidden Presence of Tolkien's Catholicism in The Lord of the Rings |journal=[[Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity|Touchstone]] |date=2002 |issue=Jan/Feb 2002 |pages=176–181 |doi=10.5840/chesterton2002281/229}}</ref>


The hymn is not translated in ''The Lord of the Rings'', though it is described: "the sweet syllables of the elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. 'It is a song to [[Elbereth]]', said Bilbo", and at the very end of the chapter there is a hint as to its meaning: "Good night! I'll take a walk, I think, and look at the stars of Elbereth in the garden. Sleep well!"<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"</ref> A translation appeared much later, in the song-cycle ''[[The Road Goes Ever On]]'', and it indeed concerns Elbereth and the stars.<ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002">{{harvnb|Tolkien|Swann|2002|pp=29–31 (Swann's sheet music); 72–75 (Tolkien's guide to pronunciation and meaning); CD inside rear cover (recording, sung by William Elvin) }}. The Tengwar is illustrated on the dust jacket.</ref> Readers, then, were not expected to know the song's literal meaning, but they were meant to make something of it: as the Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] says, it is clearly something from an unfamiliar language, and it announces that "there is more to [[Middle-earth]] than can immediately be communicated".<ref name="Shippey 2001">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0261104013 |pages=127–133}}</ref> In addition, Tolkien believed, contrary to most of his contemporaries, that the [[Sound and language in Middle-earth|sounds of language gave a specific pleasure]] that the listener could perceive as beauty; he personally found the sounds of [[Gothic language|Gothic]] and [[Finnish language|Finnish]], and to some extent also of [[Welsh language|Welsh]], immediately beautiful. In short, as Shippey writes, Tolkien "believed that ''untranslated'' elvish would do a job that English could not".<ref name="Shippey 2001"/> Shippey suggests that readers do take something important from a song in another language, namely the feeling or style that it conveys, even if "it escapes a cerebral focus".<ref name="Shippey 2001"/>
The hymn is not translated in ''The Lord of the Rings'', though it is described: "the sweet syllables of the elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. 'It is a song to [[Elbereth]]', said Bilbo", and at the very end of the chapter there is a hint as to its meaning: "Good night! I'll take a walk, I think, and look at the stars of Elbereth in the garden. Sleep well!"<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"</ref> A translation appeared much later, in the song-cycle ''[[The Road Goes Ever On]]'', and it indeed concerns Elbereth and the stars.<ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002">{{harvnb|Tolkien|Swann|2002|pp=29–31 (Swann's sheet music); 72–75 (Tolkien's guide to pronunciation and meaning); CD inside rear cover (recording, sung by William Elvin) }}. The Tengwar is illustrated on the dust jacket.</ref> Readers, then, were not expected to know the song's literal meaning, but they were meant to make something of it: as the Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] says, it is clearly something from an unfamiliar language, and it announces that "there is more to [[Middle-earth]] than can immediately be communicated".<ref name="Shippey 2005">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[The Road to Middle-earth]] |date=2005 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-261-10275-0 |pages=127–133}}</ref> In addition, Tolkien believed, contrary to most of his contemporaries, that the [[Sound and language in Middle-earth|sounds of language gave a specific pleasure]] that the listener could perceive as beauty; he personally found the sounds of [[Gothic language|Gothic]] and [[Finnish language|Finnish]], and to some extent also of [[Welsh language|Welsh]], immediately beautiful. In short, as Shippey writes, Tolkien "believed that ''untranslated'' elvish would do a job that English could not".<ref name="Shippey 2005"/> Shippey suggests that readers do take something important from a song in another language, namely the feeling or style that it conveys, even if "it escapes a cerebral focus".<ref name="Shippey 2005"/>


The philologist [[Helge Fauskanger]] provides a word-by-word analysis of the hymn. He includes a comparison with [[Sam Gamgee]]'s exclamation "in a language which he did not know", ''A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon / sí di-nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos!'' He notes that Tolkien translates and briefly comments on it in a letter.<ref name="Letter 278" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|1981}}, letter 278 to C. Kilby, October 1965</ref><ref name="Fauskanger Elbereth">{{cite web |last=Fauskanger |first=Helge |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |title=A Elbereth Gilthoniel |url=http://www.uib.no/people/hnohf/elbereth.htm |access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref>
The philologist [[Helge Fauskanger]] provides a word-by-word analysis of the hymn. He includes a comparison with [[Sam Gamgee]]'s exclamation "in a language which he did not know", ''A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon / sí di-nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos!'' He notes that Tolkien translates and briefly comments on it in a letter.<ref name="Letter 278" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=letter 278 to C. Kilby, October 1965 }}</ref><ref name="Fauskanger Elbereth">{{cite web |last=Fauskanger |first=Helge |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |title=A Elbereth Gilthoniel |url=http://www.uib.no/people/hnohf/elbereth.htm |access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref>


==Musical settings==
==Musical settings==
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In 1967, [[Donald Swann]] published a musical rendition in the score of his [[song cycle]] ''[[The Road Goes Ever On]]'', where it forms the second part of the setting of "I Sit beside the Fire". He and William Elvin recorded it on an LP record, which included a recording of Tolkien reading the prayer. ''The Road Goes Ever On'' was republished in 1978, 1993, and 2002,<ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002"/> and the recording was released as a CD in 1993, but it omitted Tolkien's reading.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scull |first1=Christina |author-link=Christina Scull |last2=Hammond |first2=Wayne G. |author2-link=Wayne G. Hammond |year=2006 |title=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide]] ('Chronology' volume) |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |pages=710, 721 |isbn=978-0-618-39113-4}}</ref>
In 1967, [[Donald Swann]] published a musical rendition in the score of his [[song cycle]] ''[[The Road Goes Ever On]]'', where it forms the second part of the setting of "I Sit beside the Fire". He and William Elvin recorded it on an LP record, which included a recording of Tolkien reading the prayer. ''The Road Goes Ever On'' was republished in 1978, 1993, and 2002,<ref group=T name="Tolkien Swann 2002"/> and the recording was released as a CD in 1993, but it omitted Tolkien's reading.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scull |first1=Christina |author-link=Christina Scull |last2=Hammond |first2=Wayne G. |author2-link=Wayne G. Hammond |year=2006 |title=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide]] ('Chronology' volume) |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |pages=710, 721 |isbn=978-0-618-39113-4}}</ref>


The [[BBC]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|1981 radio dramatization of ''the Lord of the Rings'']] included a version composed by [[Stephen Oliver (composer)|Stephen Oliver]] which was released as the second track of soundtrack album, which itself is included in some commercial versions of the BBC's production.<ref>{{cite web |title=Music from the BBC radio dramatisation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the rings" [sound recording] / [composed and conducted by] Stephen Oliver. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18794486 |publisher=[[National Library of Australia]] and partner organisations |access-date=3 September 2020 |quote=Published London : BBC Records, 1981.}}</ref>
The [[BBC]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|1981 radio dramatisation of ''the Lord of the Rings'']] included a version composed by [[Stephen Oliver (composer)|Stephen Oliver]] which was released as the second track of soundtrack album, which itself is included in some commercial versions of the BBC's production.<ref>{{cite web |title=Music from the BBC radio dramatisation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the rings" [sound recording] / [composed and conducted by] Stephen Oliver. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18794486 |publisher=[[National Library of Australia]] and partner organisations |access-date=3 September 2020 |quote=Published London : BBC Records, 1981.}}</ref>


In 2006, [[The Tolkien Ensemble]] and [[Christopher Lee]] released a collection of previously released songs, ''[[Complete Songs & Poems]]''. This included four different musical renditions of the poem, one of which marked as number III (from ''[[At Dawn in Rivendell]]''), is the complete poem sung by [[Signe Asmussen]], a [[soprano]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tolkien-ensemble.net/musik/musik.html |title=The Tolkien Ensemble |publisher=[[The Tolkien Ensemble]] |access-date=2013-06-15}}</ref>
In 2006, [[The Tolkien Ensemble]] and [[Christopher Lee]] released a collection of previously released songs, ''[[Complete Songs & Poems|The Lord of the Rings: Complete Songs and Poems]]''. This included four different musical renditions of the poem. One of these, marked as number III (on their album ''[[At Dawn in Rivendell]]''), is the complete poem; it is sung by [[Signe Asmussen]], a [[mezzo-soprano]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tolkien-ensemble.net/musik/musik.html |title=The Tolkien Ensemble |publisher=[[The Tolkien Ensemble]] |access-date=2013-06-15}}</ref>


A rendition composed by [[David Long (New Zealand musician)|David Long]] with Plan 9 ([[David Donaldson (composer)|David Donaldson]], [[Steve Roche]], and Janet Roddick)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amagpiesnest.com/source_songs/FOTR/SSpassing_of_the_elves.htm |title=A Magpie's Nest - Passing of the Elves |publisher=Amagpiesnest.com |access-date=2011-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009024743/http://www.amagpiesnest.com/source_songs/FOTR/SSpassing_of_the_elves.htm |archive-date=9 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Donaldson |first1=David |last2=Roche |first2=Stephen |last3=Roddick |first3=Janet |title=Concerning Plan 9 |website=The Plan 9 Interview |date=2011 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/theplan9interview/ |access-date=21 October 2022}}</ref> is briefly heard in the Extended Edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', where Sam and Frodo encounter "wood elves" who are singing the hymn while leaving [[Middle-earth]]. The complete song ("Passing of the Elves" / "Elvish Lament") is included in [[Music of The Lord of the Rings film series#The Complete Recordings|''The Complete Recordings'' edition]] of the soundtrack for the film.
A rendition composed by [[David Long (New Zealand musician)|David Long]] with Plan 9 ([[David Donaldson (composer)|David Donaldson]], [[Steve Roche]], and Janet Roddick)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amagpiesnest.com/source_songs/FOTR/SSpassing_of_the_elves.htm |title=A Magpie's Nest - Passing of the Elves |publisher=Amagpiesnest.com |access-date=2011-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009024743/http://www.amagpiesnest.com/source_songs/FOTR/SSpassing_of_the_elves.htm |archive-date=9 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Donaldson |first1=David |last2=Roche |first2=Stephen |last3=Roddick |first3=Janet |title=Concerning Plan 9 |website=The Plan 9 Interview |date=2011 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/theplan9interview/ |access-date=21 October 2022}}</ref> is briefly heard in the Extended Edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', where Sam and Frodo encounter "wood elves" who are singing the hymn while leaving [[Middle-earth]]. The complete song ("Passing of the Elves" / "Elvish Lament") is included in [[Music of The Lord of the Rings film series#The Complete Recordings|''The Complete Recordings'' edition]] of the soundtrack for the film.


The Australian composer Laura Bishop composed her own rendition of the hymn. Beginning with a solo by a soprano it then repeats with an [[SATB]] choir.<ref>{{cite web |title=Composing: A Elbereth Gilthoniel: performed by the Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Choir |date=23 December 2014 |url=https://laurabishopmusic.com/projects/composing/ |publisher=Laura Bishop |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref>
The Australian composer [[Laura Bishop]] composed her own rendition of the hymn. Beginning with a solo by a soprano it then repeats with an [[SATB]] choir.<ref>{{cite web |title=Composing: A Elbereth Gilthoniel: performed by the Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Choir |date=23 December 2014 |url=https://laurabishopmusic.com/projects/composing/ |publisher=Laura Bishop |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref>
The Norwegian classical composer [[Martin Romberg]] has set the lyrics to music in his work "Eldarinwë Liri" for girls' choir, which also includes the four other poems Tolkien wrote in Elven languages. The work premiered in 2010 with the Norwegian Girls Choir and [[Trio Mediæval]] at the Vestfold International Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sb.no/kultur/kultur/i-dag-apner-festspillene/s/2-2.428-1.5349332|title= Announcement of the Vestfold International Program 2010|date= 4 June 2010|publisher=[[Sandefjords Blad]] }}</ref>
The Norwegian classical composer [[Martin Romberg]] has set the lyrics to music in his work ''Eldarinwë Liri'' for girls' choir, which also includes the four other poems Tolkien wrote in Elven languages. The work premiered in 2010 with the Norwegian Girls Choir and [[Trio Mediæval]] at the Vestfold International Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sb.no/kultur/kultur/i-dag-apner-festspillene/s/2-2.428-1.5349332|title= Announcement of the Vestfold International Program 2010|date= 4 June 2010|publisher=[[Sandefjords Blad]] }}</ref>
<!--
The ending of the song "Zjawy i ludzie" ("Apparitions and Humans") on the album {{ill|Pocałunek mongolskiego księcia|pl}} (''Kiss of a Mongol prince'') by the Polish band [[Armia]] features the phrase "O Elbereth! O Gilthoniel!"<ref>{{cite web |title=Zjawy i ludzie |url=https://armia.bandcamp.com/track/zjawy-i-ludzie |access-date=15 January 2023 |language=pl |quote=Taki pejzaż, urojenia Taki pejzaż, urojenia O Elbereth! O Gilthoniel!}}</ref><ref>{{cite media |title=Pocałunek mongolskiego księcia |language=pl |type=CD |date=2003 |publisher=Pomaton EMI |id=7243 5 95228 0 7}}, CD 1, track 1</ref>
"Elbereth Gilthoniel" is the title of a song on the 2018 concept album ''Let Horse Be Bridled, Horn Be Sounded!'' by the band Moongates Guardian.{{cn|date=April 2024}}-->


== References ==
== References ==
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* {{ME-ref|RGEO}}
* {{ME-ref|RGEO}}


== External link ==
== External links ==


* [http://www.jrrvf.com/hisweloke/sindar/ Hiswelókë's Sindarin dictionary]
* [http://www.jrrvf.com/hisweloke/sindar/ Hiswelókë's Sindarin dictionary]

Latest revision as of 03:13, 14 November 2024

A Elbereth Gilthoniel is an Elvish hymn to Varda (Sindarin: Elbereth) in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the longest piece of Sindarin in The Lord of the Rings. It is not translated in the main text where it is first presented.

The poem, written in iambic tetrameters, has been likened to a Roman Catholic Marian hymn. Among the musical renderings of the poem, the earliest is Donald Swann's, published in his song cycle The Road Goes Ever On, while The Tolkien Ensemble recorded four different renditions.

Text

[edit]
The first stanza of the long version of "A Elbereth Gilthoniel", written in Tengwar script[T 1]

There are three versions of this iambic tetrameter hymn, the first of which is the largest portion of Sindarin in The Lord of the Rings:[T 2][T 3][T 4][T 1]

A Elbereth Gilthoniel O Elbereth Starkindler,
silivren penna míriel white-glittering, slanting falls, sparkling like jewels,
o menel aglar elenath! from the firmament the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel Having gazed afar into remote distance
o galadhremmin ennorath, from the tree-tangled Middle-lands,
Fanuilos, le linnathon Everwhite, to thee I will chant
nef aear, sí nef aearon! on this side of the ocean, here on this side of the Great Ocean!
 
A Elbereth Gilthoniel O Elbereth Starkindler,
o menel palan-díriel, from heaven gazing afar,
le nallon sí di'nguruthos! to thee I cry here beneath the shadow of death!
A tiro nin, Fanuilos! O look towards me, Everwhite!

Analysis

[edit]
Further information: Poetry in The Lord of the Rings
Scholars have remarked the resemblance of Tolkien's song to Elbereth to Catholic veneration of the Virgin Mary. Detail of Madonna with child by Filippo Lippi

In Tolkien's legendarium, Varda (Sindarin: Elbereth) is one of the godlike Valar and the highest of the "guardians". Peter Kreeft sees her as one of the clearest reflections of Roman Catholic devotion to the Virgin Mary in Tolkien's work.[1]

In A Elbereth Gilthoniel, scholars such as Marjorie Burns and Stratford Caldecott see an echo of John Lingard's Marian hymn, Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star.[2] Caldecott commented that "Tolkien would have been familiar with one of the most popular Catholic hymns from his childhood, the tone and mood of which are markedly close to those of Tolkien's song to Elbereth."[3]

The hymn is not translated in The Lord of the Rings, though it is described: "the sweet syllables of the elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. 'It is a song to Elbereth', said Bilbo", and at the very end of the chapter there is a hint as to its meaning: "Good night! I'll take a walk, I think, and look at the stars of Elbereth in the garden. Sleep well!"[T 3] A translation appeared much later, in the song-cycle The Road Goes Ever On, and it indeed concerns Elbereth and the stars.[T 1] Readers, then, were not expected to know the song's literal meaning, but they were meant to make something of it: as the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey says, it is clearly something from an unfamiliar language, and it announces that "there is more to Middle-earth than can immediately be communicated".[4] In addition, Tolkien believed, contrary to most of his contemporaries, that the sounds of language gave a specific pleasure that the listener could perceive as beauty; he personally found the sounds of Gothic and Finnish, and to some extent also of Welsh, immediately beautiful. In short, as Shippey writes, Tolkien "believed that untranslated elvish would do a job that English could not".[4] Shippey suggests that readers do take something important from a song in another language, namely the feeling or style that it conveys, even if "it escapes a cerebral focus".[4]

The philologist Helge Fauskanger provides a word-by-word analysis of the hymn. He includes a comparison with Sam Gamgee's exclamation "in a language which he did not know", A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon / sí di-nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos! He notes that Tolkien translates and briefly comments on it in a letter.[T 5][5]

Musical settings

[edit]

In 1967, Donald Swann published a musical rendition in the score of his song cycle The Road Goes Ever On, where it forms the second part of the setting of "I Sit beside the Fire". He and William Elvin recorded it on an LP record, which included a recording of Tolkien reading the prayer. The Road Goes Ever On was republished in 1978, 1993, and 2002,[T 1] and the recording was released as a CD in 1993, but it omitted Tolkien's reading.[6]

The BBC's 1981 radio dramatisation of the Lord of the Rings included a version composed by Stephen Oliver which was released as the second track of soundtrack album, which itself is included in some commercial versions of the BBC's production.[7]

In 2006, The Tolkien Ensemble and Christopher Lee released a collection of previously released songs, The Lord of the Rings: Complete Songs and Poems. This included four different musical renditions of the poem. One of these, marked as number III (on their album At Dawn in Rivendell), is the complete poem; it is sung by Signe Asmussen, a mezzo-soprano.[8]

A rendition composed by David Long with Plan 9 (David Donaldson, Steve Roche, and Janet Roddick)[9][10] is briefly heard in the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where Sam and Frodo encounter "wood elves" who are singing the hymn while leaving Middle-earth. The complete song ("Passing of the Elves" / "Elvish Lament") is included in The Complete Recordings edition of the soundtrack for the film.

The Australian composer Laura Bishop composed her own rendition of the hymn. Beginning with a solo by a soprano it then repeats with an SATB choir.[11] The Norwegian classical composer Martin Romberg has set the lyrics to music in his work Eldarinwë Liri for girls' choir, which also includes the four other poems Tolkien wrote in Elven languages. The work premiered in 2010 with the Norwegian Girls Choir and Trio Mediæval at the Vestfold International Festival.[12]

References

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Primary

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  1. ^ a b c d Tolkien & Swann 2002, pp. 29–31 (Swann's sheet music), 72–75 (Tolkien's guide to pronunciation and meaning), CD inside rear cover (recording, sung by William Elvin). The Tengwar is illustrated on the dust jacket.
  2. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 1, ch. 3 "Three is Company"
  3. ^ a b Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"
  4. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 4, ch. 10 "The Choices of Master Samwise"
  5. ^ Carpenter 2023, letter 278 to C. Kilby, October 1965

Secondary

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  1. ^ Kreeft, Peter, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings (2005), p. 75, citing Letters (ed. 1981) no. 213, p. 288, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2005, ISBN 9781586170257
  2. ^ Burns, Marjorie (2011). "Saintly and Distant Mothers". In Kerry, Paul E. (ed.). The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 251–. ISBN 978-1-61147-064-2.
  3. ^ Caldecott, Stratford (2002). "The Lord & Lady of the Rings The Hidden Presence of Tolkien's Catholicism in The Lord of the Rings". Touchstone (Jan/Feb 2002): 176–181. doi:10.5840/chesterton2002281/229.
  4. ^ a b c Shippey, Tom (2005). The Road to Middle-earth. HarperCollins. pp. 127–133. ISBN 978-0-261-10275-0.
  5. ^ Fauskanger, Helge. "A Elbereth Gilthoniel". Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  6. ^ Scull, Christina; Hammond, Wayne G. (2006). The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide ('Chronology' volume). HarperCollins. pp. 710, 721. ISBN 978-0-618-39113-4.
  7. ^ "Music from the BBC radio dramatisation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the rings" [sound recording] / [composed and conducted by] Stephen Oliver". National Library of Australia and partner organisations. Retrieved 3 September 2020. Published London : BBC Records, 1981.
  8. ^ "The Tolkien Ensemble". The Tolkien Ensemble. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  9. ^ "A Magpie's Nest - Passing of the Elves". Amagpiesnest.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  10. ^ Donaldson, David; Roche, Stephen; Roddick, Janet (2011). "Concerning Plan 9". The Plan 9 Interview. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Composing: A Elbereth Gilthoniel: performed by the Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Choir". Laura Bishop. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Announcement of the Vestfold International Program 2010". Sandefjords Blad. 4 June 2010.

Sources

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