Channels, Fall 2017

Channels • 2017 • Volume 2 • Number 1 Page 111 J.R.R. Tolkien and the Music of Middle Earth Emily Sulka Music and Worship — Cedarville University Introduction ften referred to as “the Father of Modern Fantasy,” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings trilogy between 1937 and 1949. Originally a sequel to his earlier work The Hobbit , Tolkien quickly discovered that he had a much longer story to tell, and the sequel turned into a trilogy. Selling millions of copies each year, the Lord of the Rings is one of the bestselling books to date, and between the four books, six movies have been produced in an effort to relay the story of Middle Earth. However, movies do not stand alone as the only other art based off the trilogy. Throughout the novels, Tolkien includes poems that his characters sing, and in 1967, Donald Swann, after collaborating with the author, published a song cycle called The Road Goes Ever On . Based on the songs within the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this song cycle provides what could be considered the “official” music behind the words. The Road Goes Ever On provides a deeper look into the musical culture of Tolkien’s world through connections between the literature and the music as well as connections to “real-world” music, while recombining the poetry of the novels to narrate the story of a traveler. The Road Goes Ever On was conceived simply because Swann and his wife greatly enjoyed Tolkien’s works. 1 At the suggestion of his wife, Swann copied several of the poems from the books and wrote music to them whilst travelling, and, after getting permission from the publisher to use the poems, was put into contact with Tolkien. In hearing Swann’s settings, Tolkien approved five of the six but disagreed with the remaining one, and suggested a Gregorian chant-like melody instead. Swann acquiesced, and this later became the tune entitled “Namárië.” According to Swann, in choosing songs to compose, he searched for “the short evocative poems of mood and atmosphere,” and “began to feel their flavor as poems outside the narrative in which they appear.” Each song seemed to be tied to a character that was travelling. This inspired the title of the collection, which Swann states should be performed without pausing for applause, as each piece is written to flow into the next. While he wrote the accompaniment for piano, he states that he can also hear the parts on harp, and that a guitarist may be able to pick out most of the songs, giving them a more distinct folk flavor. 1 Donald Swann and J.R.R. Tolkien, The Road Goes Ever On (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1967), v-viii. O