Bilbo's Last Song
Information about Bilbo's Last Song
Bilbo's Last Song is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was given by Tolkien as a gift to his secretary Joy Hill in 1966. After Tolkien's death in 1973 Hill showed the poem to Donald Swann, who liked the poem so much that he set it to music and included it in the second edition of The Road Goes Ever On in 1978. The poem was also illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and published as a poster in 1974. In 1990 the text was finally published in book form, reillustrated by Baynes.
The poem is sung by Bilbo Baggins at the Grey Havens, as he is about to leave Middle-earth forever. Chronologically this places it at the very end of The Return of the King, the last book of The Lord of the Rings, although it was written later than the books and was never included in them.
The song is included in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1981), with music by Stephen Oliver. The first verse is chanted by John Le Mesurier as Bilbo, the second omitted, and the third sung by a boy soprano. (All three verses are sung on the soundtrack recording.)
There is no direct reference to the song in Peter Jackson's (2003). The film's distributor, New Line Cinema, was not licensed to use the poem as it is a separate work from The Lord of the Rings and Christopher Tolkien, son of the author and his literary executor refused to license it as he steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the movies. The movie's closing credits are accompanied by the original song "Into the West", sung by Annie Lennox, meant to have similar emotional resonance. In addition, composer Howard Shore wrote an original composition for choir and orchestra called "Bilbo's Song", which can be heard at the end of the Extended Edition DVD Fan Credits. (The song, "Bilbo's Song", heard in the movie, is an Elvish translation of the song identified in the "Lord of the Ring's" song index as "Bilbo's Song". It is, in fact, the walking song that starts "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think".[1])
The song, sung by William Elvin with piano accompaniment by Donald Swann, was added to a cd made available with the song cycle, "The Road Goes Ever On"
The song was also recorded by The Hobbitons (to a different melody than Swann's) on their recording, J.R.R. Tolkien's Songs from Middle-earth.
The poem is sung by Bilbo Baggins at the Grey Havens, as he is about to leave Middle-earth forever. Chronologically this places it at the very end of The Return of the King, the last book of The Lord of the Rings, although it was written later than the books and was never included in them.
The song is included in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1981), with music by Stephen Oliver. The first verse is chanted by John Le Mesurier as Bilbo, the second omitted, and the third sung by a boy soprano. (All three verses are sung on the soundtrack recording.)
There is no direct reference to the song in Peter Jackson's (2003). The film's distributor, New Line Cinema, was not licensed to use the poem as it is a separate work from The Lord of the Rings and Christopher Tolkien, son of the author and his literary executor refused to license it as he steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the movies. The movie's closing credits are accompanied by the original song "Into the West", sung by Annie Lennox, meant to have similar emotional resonance. In addition, composer Howard Shore wrote an original composition for choir and orchestra called "Bilbo's Song", which can be heard at the end of the Extended Edition DVD Fan Credits. (The song, "Bilbo's Song", heard in the movie, is an Elvish translation of the song identified in the "Lord of the Ring's" song index as "Bilbo's Song". It is, in fact, the walking song that starts "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think".[1])
The song, sung by William Elvin with piano accompaniment by Donald Swann, was added to a cd made available with the song cycle, "The Road Goes Ever On"
The song was also recorded by The Hobbitons (to a different melody than Swann's) on their recording, J.R.R. Tolkien's Songs from Middle-earth.
External links
| J. R. R. Tolkien |
|---|
| Bibliography |
| Fiction: Songs for the Philologists (1936) • The Hobbit or There and Back Again (1937) • Leaf by Niggle (1945) • The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (1945) • Farmer Giles of Ham (1949) • The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (1953) • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), The Return of the King (1955) • The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962) • The Road Goes Ever On (1967) • Tree and Leaf (1964) • The Tolkien Reader (1966) • Smith of Wootton Major (1967) |
| Posthumous publications : The Father Christmas Letters (1976) • The Silmarillion (1977) • Unfinished Tales (1980) • Bilbo's Last Song (1990) • The History of Middle-earth (12 Volumes) (1983–1996) • Roverandom (1998) • The Children of Hrin (2007) • The History of The Hobbit (2007) |
| Academic works : A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (trans. 1925) • Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography (1925) • The Devil's Coach Horses (1925) • Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meihad (1929) • The Name 'Nodens' (1932) • Sigelwara Land parts I and II, in Medium Aevum (1932-34) • Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale (1934) • (1937) • The Reeve's Tale: version prepared for recitation at the 'summer diversions' (1939) • On Fairy-Stories (1939) • Sir Orfeo (1944) • Ofermod and Beorhtnoth's Death (1953) • Middle English "Losenger": Sketch of an etymological and semantic enquiry (1953) • Ancrene Wisse: The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle (1962) • English and Welsh (1963) • Introduction to Tree and Leaf (1964) • Contributions to the Jerusalem Bible (as translator and lexicographer) (1966) • Tolkien on Tolkien (autobiographical) (1966) |
| Posthumous publications : Finn and Hengest (1982) • The Monsters and the Critics (1983) • Beowulf and the Critics (2002) |
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | |
|---|---|
| Volumes | The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King |
| Films | |
| Animation | J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King (TV) |
| Radio | The Lord of the Rings (1955) The Lord of the Rings (1979) The Lord of the Rings (1981) |
| Stage | The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King The Lord of the Rings |
| Frodo Sam Merry Pippin Bilbo Gandalf Aragorn Legolas Gimli Boromir Sauron Saruman Arwen Elrond Glorfindel Galadriel Thoden omer owyn Wormtongue Faramir Denethor Beregond Gollum Witch-king Treebeard Tom Bombadil | |
| Miscellanea | Adaptations of The Lord of the Rings Themes in The Lord of the Rings Works inspired by The Lord of the Rings Middle-earth in video games |
| Related works | The Hobbit The Adventures of Tom Bombadil The Silmarillion Unfinished Tales The History of Middle-earth The History of The Lord of the Rings Bilbo's Last Song The Children of Hrin The History of The Hobbit |
References
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street, Oxford. Source: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter.
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Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street, Oxford. Source: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter.
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For the song by James Blunt, see .
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Donald Ibrahím Swann (September 30, 1923–March 23, 1994) was a British composer, musician and entertainer. He is best known to the general public for his partnership of writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders (see Flanders and Swann).
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The Road Goes Ever On is a song cycle that has been published as sheet music and as an audio recording. The music was written by Donald Swann, and the words are taken from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth literature.
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Pauline Baynes (born 1922, in Hove, Sussex) is an English book illustrator, whose work encompasses more than 100 books, notably those by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.
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Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar).
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Bilbo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.
He is the central character in the author's first novel, The Hobbit, and a minor character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.
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He is the central character in the author's first novel, The Hobbit, and a minor character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.
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The elven ports of Mithlond or the Grey Havens was an Elvish port on the Gulf of Lune in the northwest of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth.
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Middle-earth refers to the fictional 'mortal' lands where some of the stories of author J. R. R. Tolkien take place, as opposed to Aman or 'undying' lands, where the angelic Valar live together with most of the High Elves.
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The Return of the King is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, following The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
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The Lord of the Rings
Cover design for the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings
Author J. R. R. Tolkien
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Allen & Unwin
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Cover design for the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings
Author J. R. R. Tolkien
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Allen & Unwin
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BBC Radio 4
Broadcast area UK - National
First air date 30 September 1967
Frequency FM: 92 MHz - 95 MHz
LW: 198 kHz
MW: various
DAB: 12B
Freeview: 704
Virgin Media: 904
Sky Digital: 0104
UPC Ireland: 910
Internet: Streaming Audio Real/WM
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Broadcast area UK - National
First air date 30 September 1967
Frequency FM: 92 MHz - 95 MHz
LW: 198 kHz
MW: various
DAB: 12B
Freeview: 704
Virgin Media: 904
Sky Digital: 0104
UPC Ireland: 910
Internet: Streaming Audio Real/WM
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The Lord of the Rings
BBC Radio Collection cover
Genre Radio drama
Running time 30 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language(s) English
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring Ian Holm
Michael Hordern
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BBC Radio Collection cover
Genre Radio drama
Running time 30 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language(s) English
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring Ian Holm
Michael Hordern
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Stephen Oliver (1950 – 1992) was an English composer, best known for his operas.
Oliver was educated at Ardingly College and subsequently read music at Worcester College, Oxford, where he was taught by Kenneth Leighton and Robert Sherlaw Johnson.
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Oliver was educated at Ardingly College and subsequently read music at Worcester College, Oxford, where he was taught by Kenneth Leighton and Robert Sherlaw Johnson.
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John Le Mesurier (born John Charles Elton Le Mesurier De Somerys Halliley; 5 April 1912 – 15 November 1983) was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson on the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.
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soprano is a singer with a voice range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high A" (A5) in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) or higher in operatic music.
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Peter Jackson
Jackson at the premiere of the in Wellington
Born September 31 1961
Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
Spouse(s)
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Jackson at the premiere of the in Wellington
Born September 31 1961
Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
Spouse(s)
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New Line Productions, Inc.
Subsidiary of Warner Brothers Entertainment/Time Warner
Founded 1967
Headquarters New York City, New York, USA
Key people Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, Chairmen and co-CEOs
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Subsidiary of Warner Brothers Entertainment/Time Warner
Founded 1967
Headquarters New York City, New York, USA
Key people Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, Chairmen and co-CEOs
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Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (born 21 November 1924) is the youngest son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), and is best known as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work.
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A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate.
The literary estate of an author who has died will often consist mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including for example film
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The literary estate of an author who has died will often consist mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including for example film
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Into the West" is a song written by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Eurythmics member Annie Lennox, and performed by Lennox herself during the closing credits of the movie . It has also been recorded by New Zealand singers Hayley Westenra and Yulia Townsend.
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Annie Lennox (born Ann Lennox on 25 December 1954) is a Scottish musician and vocalist. She is both a solo artist and the lead singer of the duo Eurythmics, called "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" on the VH1 show 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll 1999.
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Howard Shore
Birth name Howard Leslie Shore
Born September 18 1946
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died
Years active
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Birth name Howard Leslie Shore
Born September 18 1946
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died
Years active
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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street, Oxford. Source: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter.
..... Click the link for more information.
Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street, Oxford. Source: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter.
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Songs for the Philologists
Author J.R.R. Tolkien, E.V. Gordon, et.al.
Language English
Publisher Department of English, University College, London
Publication date 1936
Songs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E.V. Gordon and J. R. R.
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Author J.R.R. Tolkien, E.V. Gordon, et.al.
Language English
Publisher Department of English, University College, London
Publication date 1936
Songs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E.V. Gordon and J. R. R.
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