The Road Goes Ever On (song)


"The Road Goes Ever On" is a title that encompasses several walking songs that J. R. R. Tolkien wrote for his Middle-earth legendarium. Within the stories, the original song was composed by Bilbo Baggins and recorded in The Hobbit. Different versions of it also appear in The Lord of the Rings, along with some similar walking songs.
The walking song gives its name to the 1967 song-cycle The Road Goes Ever On, where it appears as the first in the list.

Versions of this song

In ''The Hobbit''

The original version of the song is recited by Bilbo in chapter 19 of The Hobbit, at the end of his journey back to the Shire. Coming to the top of a rise he sees his home in the distance, and stops and says the following:

In ''The Lord of the Rings''

There are three versions of "The Road Goes Ever On" in the novel The Lord of the Rings.
1) The first is in The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter 1. The song is sung by Bilbo when he leaves the Shire. He has given up the One Ring, leaving it for Frodo to deal with, and is setting off to visit Rivendell, so that he may finish writing his book.
2) The second version appears in Book One, Chapter 3. It is identical except for changing the word "eager" to "weary" in the fifth line. It is spoken aloud, slowly, by Frodo, as he and his companions arrive at a familiar road - the Stock Road - on their journey to leave the Shire.
3) The third version appears in The Return of the King, Book VI, Chapter 6. It is spoken by Bilbo in Rivendell after the hobbits have returned from their journey. Bilbo is now an old, sleepy hobbit, who murmurs the verse and then falls asleep.
Earlier, when leaving the Shire, Frodo tells the other hobbits Bilbo's thoughts on 'The Road': "He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step onto the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'". Based on Bilbo's description here and his experiences, the Road consisted of the Hill Road, the Bywater Road, the Great East Road across Eriador, the High Pass over the Misty Mountains and the Elf-path through Mirkwood.
The critic Tom Shippey contrasts the versions of the Old Walking Song sung by Bilbo and Frodo. Bilbo follows the "Road... with eager feet", hoping to reach the peace of Rivendell, to retire and take his ease; whereas Frodo sings "with weary feet", hoping somehow to reach Mordor bearing the Ring, and to try to destroy it in the Cracks of Doom: very different destinations and errands.

In ''The Lord of the Rings'' films

This song is heard multiple times in The Lord of the Rings films. The first time it is heard, the song is sung and hummed by Gandalf as he approaches Frodo and is just barely discernable. Also when Bilbo makes his way off in attempt to finish his book, he sings a verse of the song. The later occurrences of this song are based on those in the books.

Other walking songs

Similar changes in mood and words are seen in two versions of another walking song that uses the same metre and is also found in The Lord of the Rings.
The first version, in the chapter 'Three is Company', is sung by the hobbits when they are walking through The Shire, just before they meet a company of elves. Three stanzas are given in the text, with the first stanza starting "Upon the hearth the fire is red...". The following extract is from the second stanza of the song.
It is this part of the song that is reprised with different words later in the book. This new version is sung softly by Frodo as he and Sam walk in the Shire a few years after they have returned, and as Frodo prepares to meet Elrond and others and journey to the Grey Havens to take ship into the West.
The final line of the verse is a variant on the phrase "East of the Sun and West of the Moon", which is used in fairy-stories and similar tales to refer to another world that is fantastically difficult to reach — in this case Aman, which can only be reached by the Straight Road. An example of the use of this phrase is in the fairy tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon".

Musical arrangements

The title song and several others were set to music by Donald Swann as part of the book and recording The Road Goes Ever On, named for this song.
The entire song cycle has been set to music in 1984 by the composer Johan de Meij; another setting of the cycle is by the American composer Craig Russell, in 1995.
Other settings include:

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