The Music of Middle Earth: An (Almost) Complete Guide

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Thank you Helix Sleep for sponsoring! Helix’s Black Friday Sale is running now and they are offering my followers an EXCLUSIVE limited-time offer- Visit helixsleep.com/jessoftheshire to get 27% off your mattress (plus two FREE pillows) and receive a Free Bedding Bundle with your Luxe or Elite order. Offers subject to change.

[@oliverschoneck7750]

When are we getting a lotr album from you?

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@oliverschoneck7750 I'd be down for that and would recommend her collaborating with Michalina Malisz (she has an awesome KZbin channel btw)!

[@narrator69]

What a beautiful singing voice you have, please do this more often.

[@emmitstewart1921]

yes, please.

[@billroberts7586]

Yes. It is such a help to hear these songs actually sung and you have the talent to pull it off

[@soniastock4404]

Totally agree. Your renditions of these songs is so hauntingly beautiful, and really captures the sense of a wistful longing for the past.

[@devildante9]

Nice voice, but... This isn't how music in the old days was. It was fast and vertiginous (in the anglo sphere at least), if you aren't constantly tripping over your words you aren't going fast enough. There are dozens of recordings of Tolkien singing his own work, yet somehow people ignore it and sing it 10 times slower, I can't understand.

[@mcolville]

I think folks underestimate how much music, literally just singing songs, was a part of pre-modern/pre-industrial life. Another way of saying it is: the pre-industrial world was *quiet* and there was no entertainment for the average person unless they provided it themselves. That's not the same as saying "therefore the reader should like it!" But it's the kind of think Tolkien liked.

[@mcolville]

Also I think folks make the mistake of trying to read the poems instead of speaking them. I got real hung up on the various versions of Errantry in the History of The Lord of the Rings so I just started reading them out loud and suddenly it came alive.

[@mcolville]

"But then it comes around to explain that to sit by the fire and wait for the adventurers to come home can be just as noble a cause." "Thousands at his bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; *They also serve who only stand and wait.”*

[@explorateur8159]

Wow, thank you for this beautiful perspective ✨😮✨

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

For any Nordic European reader and history geek/nerd, the Poetic Edda is an inevitable example of how history could be remembered and retold in verse.

[@totallynuts7595]

The Iliad and The Odyssey are arguably more iconic and better know, also written in verse. But I get your point.

[@sephirothii13]

Also the Kalevala is another one like that, which ties into Tolkien as he took some from it.

[@AdDewaard-hu3xk]

Bards, troubadours, skalds, and even Homer, who likely never put pen (?) to parchment.

[@MrChickennugget360]

before writing and literacy was common the primary way that cultures retained stories was through verse. Its much easier to memorize something that has a rhyming quality. Thats why if you sing school lessons vs just memorize them you will remember the "verse" more than pure memorization. I'm from the USA and i still remember the US state song even though i learned it over 30 years ago.

[@jimluebke3869]

A history of modern American politics, written in verse and with attention to alliterative nicknames, could be hilarious.

[@Richard_Nickerson]

People forget how important poetry & music were to humans even before we could just listen to what we want whenever we want. Knowing songs was an incredibly important part of human culture throughout our entire history.

[@KevinKitten]

On a long trek or sitting around a campfire, singing or telling stories is a natural way to pass the time. Similarly, before recorded music was everywhere, people would often have a sing-song in a pub or sing while working together in the fields. So, I think all the music and tale-telling is a more organic part of the Middle Earth society than we see from a 21st Century perspective.

[@joncaulkett5198]

When I was hanging out with the MSU Tolkien Society, back in the 70s, singing was a big part of our evenings. Favorites were Beren & Luthien & the Man In The Moon, & various Orc fight songs we made up. To this day, I will sometimes break into song, particularly when I'm stressed, like before surgery. It comforts me.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

That sounds wonderful!

[@therakshasan8547]

The world was created with a song . True songs have power .

[@IdrilSilmarien]

In Anne McCaffrey's Draginriders of Pern, the society of Pern uses songs not just for entertainment but also to teach children history and law. The Harper Hall trilogy is particularly explores this facet of the world of Pern.

[@Oakleaf012]

Always love a Jess singing video ❤ your voice is lovely and I so enjoy the melodies you create! Edit: omg I’m so glad you brought up the wanderer, I have loved this poem for so long and was so tickled the day I realized tolkien had given it a nod

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

The Wanderer is such a beautifully melancholic poem. Thanks for watching!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Speaking of old poems, do you have any thoughts on Maria Headley's translation of Beowulf? She did a great discussion with Emily Wilson and Madeline Miller on the art of translation that you can find on KZbin and she goes over the pros and cons of Tolkien's translation of the text.

[@treyden]

when i first read lotr as a teenager i skipped anything in italics. now I appreciate all the verse so much. it's like that old rule about stage musicals: when you're too emotional to speak, sing, when you're too emotional to sing, dance. verse carries so much more meaning than dialogue or description both diagetically and for the reader

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Yes! I think there's actually a lot of parallels to musicals in the way that Tolkien uses songs in his stories

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire It makes sense of paper why we got a musical adaptation, but based on what I remember from the two videos you did on that it wasn't anything remarkable.

[@jjsnedgehammer]

When I went to college back in the late 1900’s some of the Creative Writing professors were teaching from older books that spoke of word choice and the flow of your language. One text book in particular talked about Storytellers like Homer, and how their songs or poems were told in a way that kept the audience’s attention while also helping the Storyteller keep track of the pace. I appreciated all the advice of those professors. One of them even taught Epic Fantasy, with Lord Of The Rings as our text. I grew up similar to Tolkien when it comes to music: no talent myself, but surrounded by it with a mother and grandfather who sang or played piano. I’d be like him and write various poems, allowing the reader to imagine the melody of the song.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Sometimes being able to properly appreciate music is just as impressive as performing it!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Indeed! I'm a big music fan but am just so so with actually playing guitar and only really kept up with lessons because I got along with my cool guitar teacher. Since I stopped lessons I've had less stress to deal with.

[@GarrettJayChristian]

Please don't tell me we're using "in the late 1900s" now. 😅

[@jjsnedgehammer]

@@GarrettJayChristianlol, I work in the public school system and have heard how the 80’s & 90’s are now referred to in such a way. I figured I might as well embrace it. The students seem to appreciate it. 😂

[@GarrettJayChristian]

@@jjsnedgehammer Ugh, I'm in the tail end of my way into higher ed., so I semi-appreciate the info. Lol.

[@VTimmoni]

Clamavi de Profundid is my favorite Tolkien inspired/Tolkien music artist.

[@gollfest]

You said it before I could.

[@VTimmoni]

@gollfest Thank you. Somebody had to and I'm happy to spread the word about them.

[@anthonybranch4712]

"This song; it's melodies, it's voices, it's DISCORD and harmony, became the bones of Arda itself, encoded into the DNA of every cell that has lived in Arda since." Wow. I've long thought that poetry is intended to express something of larger Truth, larger realities, using (as one author put it) 'words that mean more than they say.' I was in a not-good mental/emotional place and the beauty in the poetic expression of that sentence lifted me right out of it. Thank you, and BRAVO on a video well done.

[@e.c.5994]

I'll be honest, I was just exactly the audience for Tolkien's poems and songs, and I've always loved them. I'm the weirdo who used to make up tunes to them and sing them out loud in my room or backyard, just like I did with the songs from the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. Also, I'm now a writer, and I definitely use poetry and songs in my own work at pivotal moments. Music is a powerful medium, and while I can't exactly express that on the page, I intend to try.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Beautifully put! I wish you the best in your writing endeavors

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

My mom is friends with writer/translator Anton Hur and his novel 'Toward Eternity' actually has poetry play a part, which entails a wonderful and insightful examination of what poetry is when you get down to it. She's also a co-host on the podcast One Bright Book and chatted with Hur on an episode titled ' Bonus Episode #2: In Conversation with Anton Hur' that I would highly recommend listening to! She was also kind enough to say good things about me and a book that I recommended to her in a more recent episode titled 'Episode #27: Summer Reading 2024' which still makes me smile when I think about it.

[@jeffandthings77]

Glad to hear I'm not alone in doing that! I've even taken to recording the first stanza, so perhaps I can sing them the same way each reading......

[@ThreeBlindMiceFilms]

The band Blind Gaurdian. They have an album called Nightfall in Middle-Earth, based on The Silmarillion. They are more Metal than what I typically listen to, but the style fits SO well! My favourite sings are Into the Storm, Nightfall, The Curse of Feanor (probably my fav), Mirror Mirror, The Eldar, and Lord of the Rings.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

This sounds so neat!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire They also have a song titled 'The Bard's Song - The Hobbit'.

[@caleschley]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 I much prefer their version "The Bard's Song - In the Forest". "The Hobbit" version is too metal for me.

[@humblesparrow]

I think it's a great tragedy that people are now so shy about singing to express themselves and/or cope. The impulse is obviously not gone, or people wouldn't walk everywhere with music in their ears, but the mere act of singing together - even two people, even just a snippet of a pop song's chorus - is such a bonding experience.

[@karenwapinski4822]

I don't know if she was inspired by Tolkien specifically or just the same myths that inspired him but Heather Dale's music comes to mind when I think of him and I sometimes play her in the background when I'm rereading the books even if its too low for me to make out all the words just her voice and instrument style. Mordred's Lullaby is still one of my favorite songs. Another beautiful video as always!

[@GilTheDragon]

The whole genre of Metal is so deeply fundamentally effected by Tolkien's work. You can't throw a beer at a metal show without hitting a tolkien fan & splashing six othets

[@HonkIfYouLoveBeer]

Never been so irritated with ad breaks as breaking up these songs ❤

[@biovmr]

I understand completely and recently upgraded to a premium membership for that reason. If you can swing the extra money, it’s well worth it in my opinion, especially if you use KZbin a lot.

[@TheSleepyowlet]

I got my hands on the Lord of the Rings when I was ten/eleven. Loved it, loved the songs. Made up tunes for them and sang them to my little brother as lullabies. I've always been that kind of nerd. He's been a full-on Tolkien fan ever since, and it's been three decades. A week ago or so we had a huge Tolkien nerdout when he visited me and we were discussing the fates of the sons of Feanor when he was like, "Nope! Maglor isn't dead! He survived and he's singing for Blind Guardian!" *Headcanon accepted.* Yeah, you should definitely check out Blind Guardian - they make nerd-metal at its finest and released an entire album based on the Silmarillion called "Nightfall in Middle Earth".

[@stephenbenner4353]

“The greatest adventure is what lies ahead. Today and tomorrow are yet to be said. The chances, the changes are all yours to make. The mold of your life is in your hands to break.”

[@williampalmer8052]

Given that, as you point out, song and verse were an important part of preserving and passing down oral tradition, I agree that the ones Tolkien created are an essential part of his work, and I always sing along when I encounter them. Unfortunately, my renditions all end up sounding like sea shanties and garrulous drinking songs... I enjoyed this one a lot, and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

I think Tolkien would respect a drinking song or sea shanty, especially for the hobbits. I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely as well!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Got any personal favorite drinking songs or sea shanties? Now's there's a topic that could make for a fascinating video!

[@allisongliot]

22:19 I totally relate. Whenever I’m scared or anxious in a certain situation, singing a song I love under my breath helps me stay calm.

[@DelennIrving]

Nightwish, on their very first album (Angels Fall First, 1997), have as the very first track a song called "Elvenpath", which is an original track clearly inspired by Middle Earth, and even features lines from the 1978 animated Ralph Bakshi film of "The Lord of the Rings". And of course, over a decade before she worked on the soundtrack of "The Fellowship of the Ring", Enya wrote the incredible instrumental "Lothlorien" for her third album (Shepherd Moons, 1991), which is a lush and beautiful tribute to Galadriel's golden realm.

[@pendragon2012]

I love the songs myself! Very old school mythology. Happy Thanksgiving, Jess!

[@MadDragon-lb7qg]

Can I just say what a Beautiful singing voice you have. I will always hear Howard Shore's score for LOTR in my head when someone says The music of Middle Earth. The music that goes with the lighting of the Beacons is so inspiring, every time I need a boost of self confidence, that's what I listen to. Same goes for the music of Khazad-dum, I went to Wookie Hole caves in Somerset, and I could hear it in my head, the moment Gandalf mentions Dwaraldelf, as I stepped into a Massive part of the caves!

[@gracemember101]

"Roads go ever, ever on" was my introduction to the Rankin-Bass version of The Hobbit and I was enchanted. I knew little of LOTR at that time.

[@jimluebke3869]

Interesting note about Bombadil and singing -- note the rhythm in "his songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster", bum bum ba-dum ba-dum, bum ba-dum ba-dum dum. Now look at all of his dialog. A lot of it (haven't checked if all if it) rolls along with the same rhythm.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Great point!

[@nzlemming]

I liked the Bombadil interlude much more after I realised that (which was about my fifth time through).

[@esotericcloak-and-dagger]

Of course. Of course, at one in the morning, I have to snap myself awake because I can't possibly wait until sun-up to watch a video that's already been out for a day. Time to eat a leftover Thanksgiving cupcake and be enraptured by your singing: and I've never been more electrified to watch a video in my life. Thank you Jess of the Shire for all that you do, and have a happy, hobbity morning.

[@Frank_D]

To add to what you said, there's also the theme of friendship in Tolkien's works. The characters in these books (and even entire nations) forge friendships with one another through the challenges they face, often with ancient enemies setting aside their difference to work towards the common good. A very strong part of friendship is the sharing of songs. Friends listen to music together. They sing for each other and even together. They write silly songs to make their friends laugh. To me, the songs in Tolkien have always been a natural part of the stories, and I honestly never thought about it until this video. I always enjoy your videos about music, especially when you sing.

[@stevemiller6923]

As soon as I saw the title, I knew this would be great. You have such a beautiful voice and your interpretations of the songs are wonderful.

[@CynthiaWarren]

Another real-world example of the use of song to work by: Sailors sang sea shanties as they worked. When furling sails, the man leading the work would use the rhythm of the song to indicate when to pull more of the sail up. I also want to say that I LOVE hearing you sing. Your voice is beautiful, and I would enjoy hearing you sing in future videos.

[@b_g_c3281]

The songs are a part of The Lore... And to me (at least), lore is an integral part of requisite worldbuilding, and yet [ lore ] is more than 'just worldbuilding'... _quite a bit more..._ As you [ _most adroitly; impeccably!_ ] point out, songs are intimately linked to poetry; one can say that they are a kind of poetry... And both (to me) give the reader a subtle yet immediate sense of _the spirit_ of the world and the story.... By the by, your singing is simply... _Beautiful._

[@tisucitisin1]

Blind Guardian's album Nightfall in Middle-Earth is amazing. They also have songs on other albums that mention Tolkien's work.

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

The tom bombadil chapters are some of my favourites exactly because of the singing. It is so whimsical

[@mcolville]

OMG! OMG! Have you heard Bill Nighy as Sam Gamgee singing in the BBC Radio Production of LotR?? It's suuuuper good!

[@PhinAI]

I appreciate these. I've always been cognizant of the worthiness of the effort Mr. Tolkien put into writing his prose, but these have always left me feeling guilty for shunning them due to my falling short of understanding them contextually. Due to the efforts of yourself and Andy Serkis, I can begin to have some form of frame from which to perceive his gems. His poetry has always left me feeling loutish. Thank you for opening my eyes and ears to that which I was previously unable to comprehend.

[@ianmacmurray7294]

Bone-deep bittersweet nostalgia perfectly describes the pull towards this past that never was. Incredible singing too.

[@thegreatermysteries4134]

Excellent video, thank you. Also, really looking forward to the video about music based on Tolkien's works.

[@Ren_Brands]

Thanks for the great Video. Love the Songs and never Skip them but understand that it's not for everyone.

[@TheThomNorth]

I'm a little late, but I thought of some Tolkien inspired music that may be of help in that future video. In the 70s, we Scandinavians grew a love for both prog rock and Tolkien, which was extremely often combined. Bo Hansson made an entire prog rock-opera about LOTR named "Sagan Om Ringen" back in 1970. The legendary and very weird norwegian band Prudence made an instrumental track in 1974 named Bilbo and Frodo, which is definitely worth a listen.

[@KidIndigo1]

As anticipated, your comments are spot on, enjoyable, and fun. Thank you, Jess of the Shire, for another gem. And, for what it's worth, I love the fact you sang well (again). :)

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Regarding my favorite LotR inspired music, the channel Girl Next Gondor made an excellent video titled 'From Mordor to Metal: Tolkien's Legacy in Modern Music' and would recommend skipping to 30:07 onwards! There is the awesome fact that the melodic death metal band Amon Amarth got their name from the Sindarin name for Mount Doom, and more than a few black metal bands have gotten their names from Black Speech, but I'm not that into black metal and find that fact more interesting than the actual bands haha.

[@VolkerWendt-vq8pi]

Well, I plead guilty. When I read the books the first time, the "interrupting" songs somehow annoyed me. Now, roughly 50 years later, they don't annoy me any longer, but I still skip them. 2) 2 1/2 years, really. Time flies indeed. I'm here from the start and kept Nùmenorian faithful since then. Even though I sometimes struggled with, well... how to put it... a certain ",fangirlyness" sometimes in the beginning. :) But I think I'll happily stay for the next 5. And may it be only for your singing. PS I just learned, that for the German edition, they hired 2 translators. One lady for the "general" translation, one for the songs only. Excuse the length, have a great time

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Wow, thank you so much for being here since the beginning! It means the absolute world to me. And I love that fact about the German translators. It makes it all the more impressive that Tolkien wrote it all and he was only one guy. Thanks so much for your continued support!

[@VolkerWendt-vq8pi]

@Jess_of_the_Shire Welcome

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire To be fair he did have a few decades to work on it.

[@jeffmason3785]

Canadian prog rock gods Rush recorded "Rivendell" early in their discography, a quiet ballad with just Geddy Lee's voice and Alex Lifeson finger picked Spanish guitar. It describes the beauty of of Elrond's vale, and the longing to return for those that travel beyond.

[@donvargo9624]

Jess you have a beautiful voice and are a treasure for the online LOTR community. Always love seeing your videos

[@beansnrice321]

Wow, thank you for your singing! Your voice is like a jewel aloft in the air.

[@villep7907]

YESS!! I've been waiting for this Tolkien nerd to make a video about the music! It seems Tolkien himself had a great appreciation for it and clearly valued it in his stories and I'm surprised there are so few videos about it! Thank you Jess :D

[@animistchannel]

You gifted us with beautiful interpretations in this episode, both in song and in rhetoric! Of course, it helps that music IS reality, in both physics and in art, and it helps reality unfold, makes it as it goes, and so the song that brings one home does in fact bring one home... or take one out... or find the path... or find the goal... and then finds the way home again. There is a thing in my tradition called the yoik, and it is unique to each one and each journey in some ways, but it is also the same among many for a particular shared phenomenon such as the moon & stars, or the fish and waves, and so on. It is part and parcel of the "egregoric landscape," the shared topography of the world of mind and ideas, the fundamental information-energy of the cosmos. Tolkien was aware of this notion, this art, from multiple cultural streams, and so he wisely included such things in his pre-history stories. He knew the music of the kelto-gaelic ways, and the fenno-sami ways, and the norse-germanic ways, and perhaps others besides. He also lived in the days when the quantum-mechanical wave-function of the universe was first discoverd and/or described by physics, and so this notion was not just some quaint superstition, but he saw it unleash the awesome and horrible potential of even the thermo-nuclear devices. Mostly, the effects of the song-magic are more subtle, more personal and local than that. By such musical practices I have navigated the dark wilds without any other compass but the notes among the woodlands, and lay down to nap among herds of wild deer undisturbed, and been granted sustenance from the bounty of Nature on many occasions. To be involved in time is to be caught up in its song, voluntarily or inevitably. To be part of events is to become a part of their verses. Anonymity is possible so long as one does not have to have an effect, but to have some actual effect is to become entangled in those processes; and those processes are harmonies and resonances among the nexus of the interaction, to be caught up in the snapshot of the moment... and from this snapshot a memory may spring, and a vision and a song may sing. This is the price of becoming "relevant," and sometimes this cannot be avoided, or at least should not. Behind the most primordial powers of the world there is "The Drumbeat in the Deeps." For Tolkien's tale, this drumbeat was not necessarily a friendly thing. The wind-song of Caradhras or the ripples in the Gate-pool or the reverberations in Moria or the drums of the Pukel-men were ominous, potentially dangerous; for his tale was about bringing on the royal age of men after the times of primal powers. Tolkien didn't deny those powers. He wisely made them the foundation of his reality, of creation itself, from the music of the Ainur to the apparently flippant verses of Bombadil to the vroom-hooming of Treebeard. However, his chosen tale was the tale of men amongst themselves, emerging to apparent dominance, as elder forces seemed to be fading. To some extent, he gave his readers reason to hope that those ancient ways and voices should continue to resonate with modern people, so that the nature of Nature should be remembered, and its virtues preserved among later generations. Given the resurgence of values centered around ecological responsibility and sustainability that trace back to his own influence in modern society, I would say that he was successful in his plea. Thank you for reminding us of the many ways that can come to us, from many peoples and many times in these stories :)

[@KatyaOrlova-jp1gy]

It was amazing to hear you singing those songs, you have very beautiful voice ❤

[@gurmsekhon4185]

Thanks for another excellent contribution, Jess, suitably embellished with your own renditions of Tolkien's songs. You asked about our favourite Tolkien/LOTR-inspired artists... I'd nominate Stephen Oliver's music for the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation. It's wonderful. You also made specific reference to Sam's singing in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and the way that Sam went from despair to determination as he sang; Bill Nighy's portrayal of this in the BBC adaptation is perfect.

[@PaldenTrakpa]

Thank you, Jess. This video touched me. Please sing more.

[@Nabbs07]

Thank you for this video, Jess! Your singing made what I always thought was the boring part of the books, actually pretty pleasant.

[@tomasarfert]

As a Swede, I would say the album Bo Hansson: ”Sagan om ringen” from 1970 is a great example of Tolkien inspired music.

[@lukegraham317]

Wow I didn't realize what a lovely singing voice you have❤😊

[@gregvaughntx]

Thank you. It's a great video. I'm pleasantly reminded of reading The Hobbit to my kids (now adults) and finding myself compelled to sing the poetic parts. Music is only one of my avocations, but your video was moving in how it presented music touching the human soul.

[@AnarchyShogun]

Love any video where we get to hear Jess sing. On the topic of music based on Tolkien, Nightfall in Middle-Earth is an entire album based on The Silmarillion by the German power-metal band Blind Guardian. It's grandiose and bombastic, starting with Morgoth's defeat and flight in the War of Wrath and ends with the fall of Gondolin

[@inkdash2341]

You have to check out "Luthien's Lament" by Eurielle ! it's a beautiful rendition of the song Luthien sings to Mandos that makes him weep.

[@jasonknight8581]

Your videos are a nice Friday treat. I look forward to them because they're neat. Your voice is a soothing balm to my head. Your fans should really buy a Helix bed. (And yes, I wrote that in iambic pentameter on purpose.)

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

this is art

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Indeed!

[@samuelmcneill1871]

The Lament for Boromir by Karliene is on KZbin and it always gets me. Definitely recommend it.

[@fortyofforty5257]

Fortunately for us, you have a wonderful voice. You really capture the essence and feeling of each song you perform.

[@beticocr1234]

I wasn't expecting you to sing and was pleasantly surprised.

[@gordonstewart8258]

"The Song of Nimrodel" is the only one of Tolkeins poems I never really cared for. For some reason it never clicked for me, until I heard you sing it. Thank you, Jess of the Shire.

[@etienneporras7252]

16:16 Looking at the Exeter book, I can almost see where Tolkien got some of his inspiration for his Elven Script

[@Indra-Ant]

Dear Jess in a chair, with a comfy blanket. Thank you so much for singing! It always makes my day. Shakespeare's prose can be difficult for modern readers to understand. Tolkein's songs and poetry have a similar problem. Without the right skillset, they end up being just a jumble of words on a page.

[@biovmr]

I will likely “hear” your voice the next time I read a song from The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. That suits me fine. My subvocalization has gotten old and musty with the years; yours is a voice I will not tire of soon, if ever. Another great video. Always a good evening when your new video comes out.

[@Adirondack_DFL]

The songs tell a part of the story and are essential.

[@lenanana8]

What a great scholarly dive into music and its social function, I enjoyed it and I really loved your renditions of all the songs. Your thoughts remind me of what the youtuber schnee says about the role of music in Arcane season 2: he called it pure emotional expression of the true raw form of any human, underneath all the baggage, trauma, experiences and personality traits they acquire as they go through life. He likens music as looking in from the outside without any context or subjective bias, a vehicle to help strip down all the complexities that make up a person into their most raw humanity. When you do just find your raw self, you find that opposing choices - love and hate/violence, to be good or bad, to make peace or war, etc - are just two sides of the same coin, and that change is much easier than you think. I think this view aligns quite nicely with what Prof. Tolkien intended with music - a way to cope with difficult tribulations by just expressing things as they are in their unadultered joy, despair, hope and calm, and to preserve distant memories of the past (as the elves do) in their raw, narrative form. I really wish Peter Jackson had included more of the songs in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially the Hobbits who burst into song so often! I think Peter Jackson didn't understand the influence of music on a pre-technology society, or he didn't appreciate that including it would allow for a more real immersion into Middle Earth and the minds of the characters. The beautiful soundtrack by Howard Shore does express the magic and ancient-ness of MIddle Earth so well, but it could use songs more. While I can see that people bursting into song might not work for a blockbuster film (but yes if LOTR was a musical), not including music in the movies did take away the pre-industrial, folk entertainment aspect of Middle Earth that Prof. Tolkien had so delicately created. This is one of several things that the film trilogy missed on.

[@scotty5447]

So great! I watch these videos because I enjoy your excellent analysis of the Tolkien lore, but it's so much fun to hear you sing! That said a couple of time it took a second to realize you had finished singing because your delivery is always so lyrical. Keep up the good work!

[@francisgrizzlysmit4715]

I have always loved the songs been reading/rereading since I was 13 so 1976 the songs are the best

[@Ennahdee]

Incredible vocal talents, bravo!

[@greg4367]

Jess, you have a lovely voice and I encourage you to break into song whenever the opportunity presents.

[@fyshnstyx5510]

It is always a pleasure to hear you sing. Thank you Jess for the video. Song is what keeps the human spirit going I think.

[@yakkoyuuzou3816]

Your interpretation of the songs is what I was looking for, I didn’t know how they would sound while reading, I think that might be a reason people skip them, becase they don’t know how to interpret the sound and rhythm

[@s.k.widener7632]

Thank you for finding a reason to sing to us again.

[@DrunkenMishap666]

Love all your videos. Such a great channel. If you like heavy metal there are a lot of bands that use Tolkien as a band name and lyrical content. Cheers

[@michaeldrabble2558]

I believe it was Michael Palin in The Holy Grail who said.. 'And no Singing!'.. great Video!

[@ob1quixote]

Thank you for singing for us, Jess. 💕💫💖💜

[@Richard_Nickerson]

I'm a massive Tolkien nerd & I have been for 23+ years now. I was 12 when I 1st read The Hobbit, which was 2001 - the year the FotR film was released. Tolkien has been a massive part of the majority of my life. That being said, I skipped almost every song my 1st time or 2 through the books. In fact, the songs bogged me down so much that I literally put FotR down for 3 months on my 1st attempt when the Hobbits were with Tom Bombadil. (I am _not_ a fan of Tom Bombadil.) And not enjoying the songs my 1st few times through is also interesting because I'm actually a musician & composer now 🤷‍♂️ But I have now read The Hobbit, LotR, & The Silmarillion countless times & I would never skip any of it. Even the stuff I like the least in it. For most readers, you really _aren't_ missing the meat of the story by skipping the songs. Read it how _you_ can best enjoy it. I believe I came to appreciate the songs in LotR more _after_ I'd read The Silmarillion.

[@andreaswojtylo7167]

I love the musical interpretations of Tolkien's lyrics by Clamavi de Profundis. Especially the Lament for Boromir, Beren and Lúthien and Galadriel's Namarië

[@jejuj3985]

Love the singing! You should put them together in a single video

[@scottyork8831]

Middle Earth was literally sung into existence. It makes sense to me that the song of creation would continue to reverberate through the world and and invoke the desire to sing.

[@MichaelWitczak-w1p]

I recommend Johan de Meij. He wrote a Lord of the Rings symphony, I think it was his symphony #1. It spoke to me.

[@gianni_hello]

I will be singing the songs the way you sung them on my next annual read, thanks.

[@ALTR_no_EGO]

We're getting spoiled by Jess's singing. Honestly, I enjoy the songs more in the Audiobooks than reading them myself. I feel like they contribute to the wholeness of the world in LotR.

[@shantanusaha9746]

When I first read the Lord of the Rings in my bygone youth, I largely skipped the poems and songs. However, once I got hooked and formed the habit of reading it again, I lingered on the songs, and developed the habit of trying to sing them myself (in my head, as I have no musical ability myself). So that's my advice for someone who asks. If it's your first time, it's okay to skim or skip the verse, but once you're hooked, it's a must for understanding the world, its strucure and lore and values, and of course, the author himself.

[@obxwave]

You have a lovely voice…hadn’t heard you sing before!

[@PhantomFanatic0927]

Love it! Thank you for this video, music is something that is so so important to me, and I especially love music connected to Tolkien!! I’d recommend checking out Clamavi de Profundis for their Tolkien music. Some of it is Tolkien’s words set to melodies, but some of it is completely original, inspired by the stories. I’d also recommend a couple songs from Andrew Peterson if you’re interested: The Havens Grey Little Boy, Heart Alive (this one has nods to CS Lewis as well).

[@stephenbenner4353]

“The greatest adventure is what lies ahead. Today and tomorrow are yet to be said. The chances, the changes are all yours to make. The mold of your life is in your hands to break.” Some of my favorite Tolkien inspired musical compositions are “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin and “The House of Tom Bombadill” by Nickel Creek.

[@deanteasdale8261]

What a beautiful voice! I think most readings fall down at the song stage, because the voice of the narrator isn't up to it, and the tunes are usually improvised without enough care. Perhaps if audio productions produced the songs and the narrative separately it would work better? 🙂

[@SteveHill3D]

The Camel album Mirage features Nimrodel, The Procession and The White Rider. Sally Oldfield's song Three Rings is draws deeply from Tolkien's legendarium. There is a Nightwish song Elven Path (check out the video featuring Floor Jansen on vocal duty). Bo Hansson's "Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings" is very evocative of the atmosphere of the books -- I only wish it was longer.

[@jeffandthings77]

LOVE your renditions of the songs!! Would gladly listen to you singing through all of the songs from the series. I didn't see it in the comments yet, so I must point out Donald Swan's "The Road Goes Ever On" song cycle, which I believe was Tolkien approved!!

[@ValerieSolanas420]

I'm a poet and a musician. I've always been pretty interested in tolkiens poetry. He experimented with meter a lot and was equally as exceptional as poetry and verse as he was prose.

[@robertneal4244]

"If music be the food of love, play on" William Shakespeare Twelfth Night

[@br1qbat]

Les Zep! "Battle of Evermore" and "Ramble On"

[@kevinmcgrane4279]

Many thanks for this post. Music as been on my mind of late, as it is listed by many people as their top source of transcendent experience. As a priest, I find it intriguing that people will as likely pack a hall to listen to a band as worship God….and in my church we sing a lot! 😊

[@kevinsullivan3448]

Hearing the Songs and poetry performed by JRR was an eye opener. The Songs and Poems of Middle Earth is worth finding and listening to. Edit: When I was a kid (in the 60s) we listened to a lot of AM radio in LA and, in my family both nuclear and extended, music was very frequent. We sang a LOT. When we visited Aunts, Uncles, and grandparents we sang family songs, 'pop' music, standards, and classic music accompanied by guitar or piano. Many other families did the same. If you think that the music in LotR is something to skip to get to the real story then you are just uneducated.

[@EriktheRed2023]

Standing applause at Jess' Lay of Nimrodel! 😃

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Thank you so much! The tune for that was Roger Quilter's "How should I Your True Love Know," if you'd like to hear another rendition of the melody

[@MichaelMaxwell747]

Such a beautiful voice!