# Music for Middle Earth



## Squint-eyed Southerner

[Note: This thread was originally titled "Music for Rohan?", and my OP reflects this. I changed the title because, as you can see, things quickly got out of, um, _han_! ]

Maybe -- At least I can imagine it at Meduseld. See what you think:


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## Miguel

2:10


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## Desert Loon

Wonderful! (Looks like she performed it in Norway?) Love the simplicity of voice and drum, and the joik influence.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Faroe Islands -- Faroese is descended from Old Norse.

Similar rugged terrain.


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## Miguel

The music of Ulmo.


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## Desert Loon

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Faroe Islands -- Faroese is descended from Old Norse.
> 
> Similar rugged terrain.


That makes sense. Closer to Iceland too.

The whole album this is from would be good Rohan music, as would everything this group does.






This track is actually mislabeled on youtube: it's not really "Silder/Bingsjö stora langdans," it's really "Fafänglighet," the two titles got switched somehow.


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## Erestor Arcamen

Not sure if they have any Rohan specific songs but Blind Guardian has whole albums that reference LOTR and Rush and Led Zeppelin (two of my favorite bands!) have quite a few songs as well.

Lots more listed here!

I like this one a lot:


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## Miguel

> "_Yet the Elves believe that Men are often a grief to Manwë, who knows most of the mind of Ilúvatar; for it seems to the Elves that Men resemble Melkor most of all the Ainur"_



Melko sings to Eru?




Yes, i know it's wrongly spelled. Youtube erased the video (and the account) several times until i tried spelling it wrong, it worked xD Those lyrics got me thinking non the less.


Hmm:





Also:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Of course, many bands have been inspired by Tolkien over the decades; music with ME references seemed to come almost weekly, back in the late 60's and early 70's. I think I've seen lists, though a lot gets left out.

Plus, there have been a number of classical composers who tried to evoke ME in their works, and there are the film soundtracks.

Different sorts of music will bring ME to mind to different people, for many reasons. But I was thinking specifically of music that might actually have been _heard _in ME; that Eivor piece happened to strike me as something at least close to possible -- as does the Slider song Desert Loon posted -- thanks for that! Also maybe Loreena Mckennitt (of whom I've been a fan for years, BTW).

Within those parameters, electric and electronic music would be out -- though, as I say, perfectly admissible in other contexts; After all, Games Workshop fans appear to think the universal music 40,000 years from now will be today's heavy metal!

With the exception of some of the anachronistic aspects of the Shire, the situation of ME seems mostly modeled on 5th/6th century Europe -- in fact, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was based on a description of the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451. We don't really have music from that period, not to mention the languages Tolkien spent much of his professional life trying to reconstruct.

Attempts at that kind of reconstruction for music are going on now; here's a sample:






Judgement on its success, or otherwise, will be subjective, to say the least, but they are trying to incorporate scanty evidence of Old or Proto-Germanic elements.

I daresay Tolkien, had he seen or heard anything like this, would have hated it, and (especially with all the "pagan" symbolism and gutteral sounds) would have immediately assigned it to Dunland, or some such place. Which, come to think of it, might be quite appropriate.

I have to say it's the only band I've heard of to have its own shieldwall!


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## Miguel

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> the situation of ME seems mostly modeled on 5th/6th century Europe -- in fact, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was based on a description of the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451. We don't really have music from that period, not to mention the languages Tolkien spent much of his professional life trying to reconstruct.



A quick note:

Look at the region's name south-west of Cataluña.






-If you take the "N" out of "Lindon", the word _"Lindo"_ means _"cute"_, _"pretty"_ in Castilian . Both words are pronounced exactly the same.

-If you take the "Q" out of Quenta and add a "C", the word _"cuenta"_ means _"a__ccount", "telling; _which is also what it means in _Quenya. _It is also pronounced the same.

I think there might be many more references, but i can't recall right now.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

That's interesting, but the battle I referred to, also known as the Battle of Chalons, took place in Gaul:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Catalaunian_Plains

The Roman General Aetius, with the help of the Visigoths, led by Theoden's model Theodoric (and who, like him , was killed), defeated Attila's Huns and their Alan allies.

Contemporary descriptions of the Huns clearly contributed to the picture of Orcs; I suppose the subject Alans served as models for the rather vaguely sketched "Easterlings".


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## Miguel

I like this as 1st age evil men:





This as the servants that Morgoth left with the Atani in Hildórien:





And this as Thalion:


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## Elthir

Love that performance S-e S. Thanks!

Love this one too!








And lately I've been learning my runes from Heilung


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## CirdanLinweilin

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Maybe -- At least I can imagine it at Meduseld. See what you think:



Not Rohan, but this sounds like music that would be _after _the time of Middle-earth, (at least 1-3, maybe 1-5) ages. The discrepancies in the songs and lyrics is meant to represent the lyrics, verses, and ballads degrading over time after being discover after who knows how long.








-_In Elven Lands, The Fellowship, "Verse to Elbereth Gilthoniel


CL_


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## Desert Loon

Erestor Arcamen said:


> Not sure if they have any Rohan specific songs but Blind Guardian has whole albums that reference LOTR and Rush and Led Zeppelin (two of my favorite bands!) have quite a few songs as well.



Oh yeah, I've been a Rush fan for years and years. I used to listen to _Caress of Steel_ constantly, including "The Necromancer," though when I first heard it, having previously heard "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" it bothered me that By-Tor was presented as sympathetic in Necromancer - it didn't occur to me to think that he somehow "saw the light" as Neil Peart explained in an interview later.

"Rivendell" off of _Fly By Night_ is a favorite of my daughter's. We also listen to Loreena often in our house.

Coming back around to the question of music that could have been played in Rohan, there's an ensemble called Sequentia that specializes in early music, and I have one of their records that consists of Old Norse poetry with medieval instruments and an attempt to reconstruct or at least invent melodies that they might have sung to in Viking age Iceland at least (and it's not too great a leap from then back into Beowulf times). They use the ancient pronunciation too. Let's see if I can find a link to the record . . . ah, here:

https://sequentia.org/recordings/recording23.html

Listening to this it's easy to imagine you're sitting in a place like Meduseld.

It's good to see all the recommendations here, they'll keep me occupied for a while checking them out.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Here's an old thread on the subject of ME references in pop/rock:

http://www.thetolkienforum.com/index.php?threads/led-zeppelin-references-to-lotr-in-songs.1937/

I have some from Sequentia, but not that one -- I'll have to look for it.

Speaking of looking for things, in searching, searching, searching, I came across this -- I must apologize for posting it -- wrong period, wrong language; but it was too lovely to pass up. IIRC, Tolkien did like Italian, though -- too bad he couldn't fit in a culture that would have used a derivative!






Oni Wytars does record some "Medieval" music too, though, so you can look.


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## Miguel

Northern peninsula Celtic music, i can hear Beren going: "_Tinúviel!, oh Tinúviel!" xD






_


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## Desert Loon

Lovely! I like Luar na Lubre, and I'm always glad to hear more old Italian music. Some years ago I introduced a recording of the medieval Sephardic song "El Rey de Francia" to my daughter by telling her it was an elven song.


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## Elthir

To add to Desert Loon's excellent recommendation of _Edda_, _Sequentia_ also has a double CD _The Rhinegold Curse_.

And of course, Ben Bagby's Beowulf.






I've seen Mr. Bagby a number of times live, including his Beowulf (twice), and performing in Sequentia's Edda.

Awesome


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## Miguel

Omg. The man speaks and sings like he really is something out of Arda. Legit.


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## Elthir

One of my favorite parts (Bagby's _Beowulf_) occurs at around 1: 10: 49, with the line . . .

"The truth is known that mighty 
God has always ruled mankind."

… followed by a bit of entrancing music. But that's just one of the many parts I especially love!


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## Desert Loon

Wow. My horizons are expanding. Thank you!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well, what the heck -- since I've already broken my own self-imposed rules, I may as well add this little piece I've always liked:






An electric keyboard, with (I guess) a Leslie, but nice music.

Hey, thanks for all the recommendations -- new things to explore!


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## Erestor Arcamen

Sorry, I didn't realize you meant just music for Rohan or I'd have restrained myself (which I can actually manage to do every once in a while ). How about something like this for the horse riders? I guess they weren't really westernish but this always reminds me of horses.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

"Hand me up thet thar helm, pardner".

Kidding! 

The "rule" was imposed only on myself, not you guys. And I immediately broke it, anyway, so no worries.

For hard-chargin', pulse-poundin', horse-ridin' music, how about Franz Waxman?






The best scene in a not-so-great movie. Not-so-great recording of a not-very-large studio orchestra, either. For a much better recording of a big orchestra:


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## Miguel

That's a nice video to wake up in the morning.


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## Kinofnerdanel

This thread is already a treasure chest!
(Nothing can outrank Melkor's Lament for me, though.)



> It was a language in which there seemed to be many words that he knew, though spoken more richly and strongly than in the Shire, yet he [Merry] could not piece the words together. At times some Rider would lift up his clear voice in stirring song, and Merry felt his heart leap, though he did not know what it was about.



How about these as battle songs of the Rohirrim? (First one is more authentic, it starts around 0:45)


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## Alcuin

Perhaps it’s out of place here, but the fourth movement of Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5 has always reminded me of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. It doesn’t take much imagination to hear the charge of the Rohirrim, the attack of the Witch-king, the death of Théoden, Éomer rallying his cavalry and defying the approaching the Black Fleet, and Arwen’s Standard breaking in the breeze as Aragorn and the army of Lebennin leap onto the quays.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Alcuin said:


> Perhaps it’s out of place here



At this point? Naahh! 


Pelennor. Lots of possibilities from classical composers, especially
19th century Romantics, but here's one from a Shostakovich contemporary:








Kinofnerdanel said:


> How about these as battle songs of the Rohirrim?



I like that first one in particular! I've seen a couple of theirs -- need to look some more.

The Rohirrim weren't _always _at war though, so maybe a more festive piece wouldn't be out of place here, from another pagan folk group:


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## Kinofnerdanel

So cheerful and light-hearted! It is perfectly fit for a fine night at Meduseld - in which case Teir Abhaile Riu and Nil Se'n La by Celtic Woman or Free Ra Huri by OMNIA could also bring the fire!

Slightly offtopic, but this is such a wondrous interpretation in my opinion.


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## Erestor Arcamen

So I was listening to David Gilmour from Pink Floyd (my favorite band, period) on my way to work and got to the song, High Hopes. I love this song for how beautiful the instrumentals are but the lyrics kind of remind me of the Elves remembering Beleriand and leaving for the West. I know that that's not what the original meaning was wen it was first written but if you look at the lyrics they could be interpreted that way...



> Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
> In a world of magnets and miracles
> Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
> The ringing of the division bell had begun
> 
> Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway
> Do they still meet there by the Cut
> 
> There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
> Running before times took our dreams away
> Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
> To a life consumed by slow decay
> 
> The grass was greener
> The light was brighter
> When friends surrounded
> The nights of wonder
> 
> Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
> To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
> Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
> Dragged by the force of some in a tide
> At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
> We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world
> 
> Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
> There's a hunger still unsatisfied
> Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
> Though down this road we've been so many times
> 
> The grass was greener
> The light was brighter
> The taste was sweeter
> The nights of wonder
> With friends surrounded
> The dawn mist glowing
> The water flowing
> The endless river
> 
> Forever and ever


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## Miguel




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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well, that looks painful. 



Kinofnerdanel said:


> Slightly offtopic



I don't think you need to worry about that, at this point!  By the power _un_invested in me, I now declare this the "Middle Earth Music" thread! 

In that spirit, I wonder how many here are familiar with the work of the Tolkien Ensemble, from Denmark, and what you think of them? I bought two of their CD's when they came out; though I was initially somewhat lukewarm, some of the pieces have grown on me. Here's one:






On another front, the allies of Sauron deserve some music. Given the vague descriptions of the Easterlings, it's sort of wide open. I'll nominate this one:






The only problem with it: after looking at the landscapes in the video, I think I'd prefer staying home, over invading anybody -- whatever Sauron's blandishments. 

EDIT: I see CL beat me to The Tolkien Ensemble, by a couple of years:

http://www.thetolkienforum.com/inde...e-tolkien-ensemble-and-christopher-lee.21170/

Though nobody answered him! 

That's about all I could find here, so I'm carrying out my threat of a title change, which means it's now a free-for all: what music do _you _find appropriate for Middle Earth?

I'd still like to see more examples of music that might have actually been _heard,_ though!


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## Kinofnerdanel

Okay this is officially my favourite thread now, you all gave me hours worth of wandering on the better side of Youtube 
It is so thougthful to include the Easterlings! Firstly, I would like to add a song with an evil overtone to their soundtrack, then I'll continue with more historically accurate pieces.
















Back to the music of the western parts of Middle-earth.






I seriously try not to spam this thread too, but I highly recommend the entire Witcher 3 soundtrack! Forgive me if it doesn't fit well with your vision of the legendarium, it might be nothing but a personal obsession of mine. And the next song has actual elven lyrics!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

All interesting entries, Kinofnerdanel.

I've seen the Sumerian clip before; I wonder how "accurate" it is. I have an anecdote on Sumerian, but won't go into it here.

Good catch on the throat singing. That's what's going on in the clip I posted, just in case anyone thought it was electronically distorted voice. Way OT, but if you want to see Turgen Kam live, here's his "Altai-Turkic/ Mongol House Music" audition on Ukraine's Got Talent. No captions, unfortunately, but you can get the gist:






I'm _almost _sure he's not a secret double life for this guy!


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## Kinofnerdanel

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I've seen the Sumerian clip before; I wonder how "accurate" it is. I have an anecdote on Sumerian, but won't go into it here.
> View attachment 5588


 
I also doubt it's accuracy... Seemingly clickbait.

That fusion of throat singing and techno is amazing, I play it on repeat! I am grateful you sent it on friday night, me and my gals will definitely dance to this tonight. And despite your squint, you have a very keen eye for doppelgängers 
Here is a hardcore medieval party song (with questionable accuracy again). Rókatánc is hungarian for "_fox dance_".


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I can see the hobbit-children dancing on the tables at Bilbo's birthday party!

Reminds me of this "Medieval Tavern" in Prague:






I don't think those dancers would have appeared, though -- even in the Pony.

But I _can _picture the musicians as a Dwarf band!


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## Miguel

Those dancers movements look very interesting 

Eriador's bandits? xD


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

On the subject of orchestral music, I just realized that "The Lord of the Rings Symphony" by Johan de Meij, is now thirty years old. I picked up the CD long ago. A couple of the movements I like:











You can find the rest on youtube.


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## Desert Loon

Here's a nice medieval German song, accompanied by either lute or harp and triangle:


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## Miguel

The unnamed daughters from the house of Bór 





_Makalaurë_





_Morifinwë_


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

DL: That's almost exactly the kind of thing I imagine for the minstrel's song of "Frodo of the Nine Fingers" at the Field of Cormallen.

Here's another from Faun that reminds me of Rohan:






The entire video doesn't seem to be available -- assuming there was one.

Not sure about the headdresses! 

I guess I should add this one, set to a Medieval lyric about a man who meets an Elf-maid and becomes enchanted. 

Hmm. . .now how would that happen?


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## Miguel

_
Vairë?_


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## Kinofnerdanel

*„*Now it was a time of festival, as Melkor knew well. Though all tides and seasons were at the will of the Valar,
and in Valinor there was no winter of death, nonetheless they dwelt then in the Kingdom of Arda, and that was but a small realm in the halls of Eä, whose life is Time, which flows ever from the first note to the last chord of Eru. And even as it was then the delight of the Valar (as is told in the Ainulindalë) to clothe themselves as in a vesture in the forms of the Children of Ilúvatar, so also did they eat and drink, and gather the fruits of Yavanna from the Earth, which under Eru they had made.*”* 






And some darker music for the descendants of the Éothéod.


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## Barliman

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Way OT, but if you want to see Turgen Kam live, here's his "Altai-Turkic/ Mongol House Music" audition on Ukraine's Got Talent. No captions, unfortunately, but you can get the gist:


I video linked on the page for that one was this, even more off-topic.






Yet the lyrics translated (from Mongolian to Chinese to English) in one of the comments seem Middle-Earthish.
_Birds, flowers and all other creatures, we are all the same.We share time, air and sunshine with them.Time goes by and we pass wisdom from one generation to the next.Our lives are short, but once they pass away they become part of enternity.Spring, summer, fall and winter, they constitutes a cycle.From birth to death, that is also a cycle.Time goes by, we see cycle after cycle in history.The universe lasts forever, but we will never be young again.The sun today is the same as the sun in the past,And the songs we sing today are the same as those our ancesters sang.We have limited lifetime, but we can pass down unlimited glory from ancesters to children.Some beliefs will never be changed in this fast changing world_.​


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## Azrubêl

First Age Man, wilderness music:





First Age Elf, battle music:





Music for the Grey Havens:


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## Miguel

Cuiviénen:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

This just popped up on my youtube list:






There are several more from these people; anyone familiar with them?


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## Miguel

Not related but i think this is a good tune to wake up to.


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## Barliman

This would have been a good song in one of the pubs. Maybe mine 

It would have certainly improved the movie immensely


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## Halasían

Wow... I have to say I have about half of *Kinofnerdanel*'s selections in this thread already on a playlist on youtube! Th elast time I ducked in here this thread only got started. I think I'll share a few "Middle-Earthy" tunes of mine...

Party in Erebor after the victory over Smaug, the lead singer of Corvus Corax looks eerily similar to Thorin Oakenshield the the Hobbit movies:





The funeral march of Theodred in Rohan:





And some Tolkien poetry in a beautiful rendition:


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## Miguel

This music makes wonder about the Maiar of Oromë.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

We can't leave out the Woodsmen from the eaves of Mirkwood!


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## Erestor Arcamen




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## Olorgando

Gnaaaaah! What are you people doing to my 2013 low-end notebook by posting this YouTube (I'm guessing) stuff?
The built-in ventilator just goes bananas, and the ventilation assistance thingy that the notebook rests on (boy, am I glad I bought that! My AMD-processor midi-tower from the mid-2000s croaked because of the heat load produced by the then off-line, but staring to get graphics-heavy, games!) blows out decidedly "non-cool" air. Ain't a chance in Angband that this gadget will ever live up to the alternative name "laptop"!!!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I watch them on my phone, with headphones.


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## Miguel

Yeah, thread kind of went off the rails. All this tunes might still have to do with Middle-Earth somehow 😂


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Um. . .don't know where in Middle Earth that might be.

Or this, either, actually:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

If you insist on electric Middle Earth, the Woodsmen do a little bit of that too. Here they are on the banks of Anduin:






No wonder they couldn't catch Gollum -- too busy singing and dancing!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I get a bit of Aldarion and Erendis feel from this:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

The Tale of Years (cont.):
"At some point during the Fourth Age, the Wainriders become known as the 'Chopperriders' ".


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

And another thing -- 

There should be a "Merry Minstrels of Middle Earth Song for Sauron". Until one appears, this will have to suffice:






Similar reverential attitude, anyway.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

You'll have to supply the story for this one!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Stolen from Aldarion for this thread! 






Clearly Northmen, so I'm thinking Rhovanion. Shores of the Long Lake, or even Sea of Rhun, at some point in time?


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## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Stolen from Aldarion for this thread!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Clearly Northmen, so I'm thinking Rhovanion. Shores of the Long Lake, or even Sea of Rhun, at some point in time?


Already listened to it on the music thread (and that Balrog song, too 🤣 )


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yeah, it may seem redundant, posting it on two threads, but I don't want it to get lost in the churn of the mighty Music thread.


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## CirdanLinweilin

Dwarven war song for you all:








CL


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## Aldarion

And Byzantine Gondorian battle music:


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## CirdanLinweilin

This song reminds me of when Gimli, Legolas, and Aragon sung about the winds as they sent off Boromir's body:









CL


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## Erestor Arcamen

Apparently this guy has a whole album inspired by LOTR. This one popped up on my Spotify Progressive Rock station.


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## Halasían

Loving Bo Hansson! Thanks for sharing Erestor!

I could see this being somewhere in Middle Earth ... maybe somewhere in Rhun before the Wainriders rode out to battle Gondor, or maybe 4th Age Palargir where the intwining of many cultures met...


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

On hearing this, I wondered if anyone else had made the obvious connection to Eowyn. Yep:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

More Easterling music:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Meanwhile, in Archet:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I feel like this should fit in here somewhere:


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## Olorgando

I'm starting to get the strange feeling that for a part of my musical tastes, I'd have to patronize some unsavory places in Middle-earth - Moria, Goblin Town ...
But then again, I can certainly envision the Dwarves laying down some "Heavy Metal" riffs!


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## Aldarion




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## Halasían

Orc Music....


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## Olorgando

Aldarion said:


>


Aldarion, please. you can't be serious!
This is the original:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well, I liked it!

It was the "Middle-earth" version. 😁


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## Olorgando

Halasían said:


> Orc Music....


Second-tier band - at best (but not bad at that)
The real monsters were Motörhead, Purple, Sabbath and Zeppelin. 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸


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## Tulukastaz

I figured this would fit here... 25 minutes of "kalevala" music from Finland.






if you don't like METAL or 25 minutes ... here's the traditional Kalevala melody on Kantele = beautiful. I was actually going to post this but found the above one.


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## Aldarion

Olorgando said:


> Aldarion, please. you can't be serious!
> This is the original:



I found because it was a "medieval cover". EDIT:


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## Halasían

Olorgando said:


> Second-tier band - at best (but not bad at that)
> The real monsters were Motörhead, Purple, Sabbath and Zeppelin. 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸


 ... I wasn't referring to the band, I was referring to the song.
And I can't respect musical opinions of anyone who rates Motörhead over Bon Scott era AC/DC. 🤣


I do like this movie edit to Deep Purple's Soldier of Fortune...


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## Erestor Arcamen

Watch the entirety of Rush’s blistering performance at the Capitol Theater in 1976


Some shows are just different




faroutmagazine.co.uk


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## Halasían

Erestor Arcamen said:


> Watch the entirety of Rush’s blistering performance at the Capitol Theater in 1976
> 
> 
> Some shows are just different
> 
> 
> 
> 
> faroutmagazine.co.uk


Saw Rush 3 times in 1976... all shows in the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. The one early in the year was the 'All The World's A Stage' tour, and the two later in th eyear were this 2112 tour.


... and in the 'ear-bleed' genre, I bring you Fornost. More Orc music after the sack of the namesake city in Arthedain in Third Age 1974...







...and a mellower tune from *Fornost Arnor who are obviously Tolkien fans....





*


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## Halasían

Just watched this 'lockdown' oonline live version of Excalibre by Trobar de Morte... to me, they have a 'Middle Earthy' sound to them.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

On the shores of the Sea of Rhun?


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## Halasían

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> On the shores of the Sea of Rhun?


That's pretty good. Why Rhun though? Why not. 

This has a nice 'Rhuadurian' feel to it with the Hillmen and the Dunedain in the Ettenmoors in winter...


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## Halasían




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## Hisoka Morrow

I recommend this song for all Godnorain and Rohan armed forces XDD


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## Miguel

Ainulindalë fragments?. Streams from the thought of Eru?.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Khand discovers iron:


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## Olorgando

I'm puzzled myself why I'm posting this - except that it's better than "Smoke otw", their biggest hit (as so many of their at least Mark III songs are) ...


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yes, a bit puzzling -- for the Middle-earth thread!


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## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Yes, a bit puzzling -- for the Middle-earth thread!


Saruman - machine? Something along the line of Treebeard's thoughts, maybe ... 🤔


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## Aldarion

One of my favourite artists, and this might just be one of my favourite songs. I already posted it in the Official Music Thread, but what the...:


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## Halasían

And in a* *Pelargirian Tavern in the 4th Age....






I don't know how this wonderful live gem of *Pearl* has eluded me for nine years! Bloody YouTube algorithm...

This was at Farieworlds Harvest Festival in Eugene Oregon in September 2011. The lead singer is Rairda who was in the band from 2010 to 2012. I'm not sure who the dancer is but Oregon has quite a dynamic bellydance community...


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## Miguel

Olorgando said:


> I'm puzzled myself why I'm posting this - except that it's better than "Smoke otw", their biggest hit (as so many of their at least Mark III songs are) ...



DP has many songs better than Smoke otw.

Btw i think this sounds very ME-ish:


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## Olorgando

Miguel said:


> DP has many songs better than Smoke otw.


SOTW was DP's biggest singles hit, which may say something about the charts of the time (and not favorable at that for my tastes then and now).
Having listened to “Maybe I’m A Leo” again, I think it impressed me as being smething the Dwarves might like – slower-paced, ponderous, like a hammer hitting an anvil, and Jon Lord’s Hammond organ staying in the deeper registers.


Miguel said:


> Btw i think this sounds very ME-ish:


Hmyes, though it is definitely Celtic-flavored.
Galway ... that brings back memories of an early-1990s three-week vecation in Ireland (with own, left-side drive car, no less!), where Galway was the third leg (after Dublin and Cork). Memories relevant to my JRRT addiction, too, as it was there that I managed the largest haul of JRRT-related books, including up to half of my HoMe collection.
We don't seem to have bought any music CDs, though ...


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## Aldarion




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## Squint-eyed Southerner

A nice version! 

I've always been partial to this simple one, sung by Sam, as the party approached Weathertop:






That's from the BBC Radio production.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Here's another from the BBC production. I've sung it often, while roaming through the woods:


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## Aldarion

A story of Sauron and Finrod Felagund. There is full explanation in the description of the video.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner




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## Halasían

I stumbled (again) across this young lady's video and cover of Misty_Mountain_Cold...






I came upon her work back in 2013 but have forgotten about it until now thanks to the Youtube algorithm. I think I quit following her channel when she got into posting diet and workout clips.


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## Halasían

I know it's bad form to post twice in a row, but in this case I can't help it...

Lament for Boromir by Karline... what a voice!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Somewhere in the upper Vales:


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## Squint-eyed Southerner




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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I came across this old essay thread, and thought it might be of interest, so I'm linking it here:









A Speculative History of Music of Arda


Lecture - "A Speculative History of Music of Arda" - Aiwendil2 - Well, I thought I'd have it up today and I was wrong. But fear not! The next lecture will be up by sometime tomorrow.




www.thetolkienforum.com


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## Matthew Bailey

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> [Note: This thread was originally titled "Music for Rohan?", and my OP reflects this. I changed the title because, as you can see, things quickly got out of, um, _han_! ]
> 
> Maybe -- At least I can imagine it at Meduseld. See what you think:



*THAT* is beautiful.

But it is likely to be closer to the Music of the Earlier Edain and First Age Easterlings than to the Rohirrim.

There is a legitimate debate to be held regarding the applicability of Icelandic, Norse (including Ancient Sweden, which tended to dominate the region prior to the 18th and 19th Centuries), and Danish (Closer to Norwegian than Swedish, but still a part of the Germanic Related Nordic Populations) to the Early-Saxon and Gothic Cultures which were the Template for the Northmen of Rhovanion, and then subsequently the Men of the Vales of Anduin (Where we would have seen some intermarriage of the existing population that was swelled in the _19th Century of the Third Age_ by the Wainriders and subsequent Balchoth Invasions of Rhovanion beginning in 1850 _Third Age_, when by 1855 the Northmen were in pretty-much full flight after the defeat of the Northmen and Narmacil at the Battle near the Dagorlad).

Another more likely application would be the Dale-men and Laketown.

Tolkien’s usage of loose cultural templates for the various Racial and Ethnic Populations¹, with Middle-earth having a super-category of “Saxon” Myth that is applied to all of the “Good Guys²,” does tend to make it ‘fuzzy’ in what is applicable to which Population, Race, or People.

But given the overall similarities in the Cultures as they diverged from the Ancient Germanic Populations from which all of these Cultures (“Races” in Middle-earth) emerged, this is a pretty decent example of what it would _*most likely*_ sound like (even if variations existed).

I have LONG thought about what Númenórean, and thus Gondorian, Arnorian, and the Southern Númenórean Cultures in Middle-earth who occupied the cities of Umbar and South in Harad,³ music would sound like.

The “Ancient Númenórean” would likely be pretty different to that of the later diaspora.

MB


1. Where Middle-earth _*does*_ have “Races” that are hierarchical, making it an explicitly Racist (In the Academic Sense, not in the “White Supremacist/Racial Bigot” sense) world where these Races have some structural and genetic component.

2. Where the Elves have a kind of “Nordic and Briton/Celtic” association or template, as the “Neighbors” of the Ancient English/Saxons/Anglo-Saxons of the Númenóreans and “Middle-Men” of Middle-earth. While the remaining “Peoples/Races” of Middle-earth are based upon a “Cultural Template” of the various Historical Enemies of the English. … Which includes the Vikings for the “Easterling” Enemies of the Edain in the _First Age_, in the exact same way that _The Venerable Bede _describes in his _*The History of the Anglo-Saxons in England*_ the Viking Invaders of that time as “Easterlings.” The Aenglish of Engla-lond/Engla-Land/Aenglalond/etc. of the 9th Century, which saw the translation of _St. Bede’s_ *The History of the Anglo-Saxons in England *translated to Anglo-Saxon/Old English as *The Ecclesiastical History of the English in Engla-Lønd/England*, likewise referred to the Danes of Harold Bluetooth who conquered the North of England during the Danelaw as “Easterling Invaders” as well.

But overall Tolkien referenced most of the “Bad Guys” as being either _Enemies of the Saxons/English_, or as _Enemies of Christendom_ as a whole.

That tends to cause a _*LOT*_ of people unnecessary outrage and reactionary, defensive hostility in not understanding that Tolkien’s work *is not just “Fiction,”* but is, as Tolkien himself makes clear: Mythology. Meaning that just like Chinese Mythology depicts people like the Ancient Koreans (Khitan Liao in most cases), Ancient Indians and Afghanis, Ancient Japanese, and the Ancient Mongolians as the “Bad Guys” (and ESPECIALLY the VERY FEW “Westerners” they ran across); just like the Viking Myths depict the traditional enemies of the Nordic People’s as “Bad Guys;” just like the Navaho, Hopi, and other Native American Cultures of the Four Corners Area of the “American West” treated the Apache, Cheyenne, and even the Sioux as the “Bad Guys” (And ESPECIALLY their few, more ancient interactions with Meso-American Natives who wrought destruction upon the more ancient ancestors of these people as the *REALLY BAD-GUYS*)… That’s how Myths work.

3. The Southern Númenórean Cultures would have had influences from the Cultural Templates Tolkien used for the Various Haradrim Populations: The Arab Maghreb; Ancient Libyan, Moorish — Where the Ancient Moorish Populations had Sub-Saharan [Black] African influences — and Berber — The Moors were descended from Berbers who had Migrated far westward in North Africa during the Islamic Maghreb to mix in the areas of Morocco and South to produce the Moors who briefly conquered Spain… Which Tolkien very likely used as an example of the People of Cardolan prior to the arrival of the Númenóreans. The history of Arnor is quite Similar to both Carolingian Franks/Germanics and the Spain prior to the Moorish/Islamic Conquest, and then subsequent Reconquista. 

The Variags/Varyags of Khand might be influential to Gondorian Music at some point, but we do not have specifics as to when they settled in Khand, and thus whether such peoples‘ Musical Influences would have been transmitted to the Early Númenórean or Gondorian Cultures in Harondor and Harad. But the Variags/Varyags were the Volga Bulgars (which were a people who were connected to both the Steppe Nomads/Hunnic Cultures and the Germanic).


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Matthew Bailey said:


> But it is likely to be closer to the Music of the Earlier Edain and First Age Easterlings than to the Rohirrim.


If you go through this thread, you'll find a number of musical styles "assigned" to the various peoples -- especially by me. 😁 All completely arbitrary, of course.

You might be interested in the essay I linked above. I haven't finished reading it, but it's at least thought-provoking.

Tolkien undoubtedly had his own ideas, though he confessed to a lack of musical training. IIRC, he supplied a sort of Gregorian chant to Donald Swann, which.is reproduced on the recording. My conception was always that the Elves would have developed polyphony, in thousands of years. I "heard" the music in.the Hall of Fire at Rivendell as something from the High Renaissance -- Orlando di Lasso, for example. But again, that's simply how I saw -- or heard -- it.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner




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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Meanwhile, in the Last Desert:


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## Aldarion




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## Squint-eyed Southerner

With this as a title, placing it in the "right" location shouldn't be difficult. 😁


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## Halasían




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## Halasían




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## Erestor Arcamen

Listening to classical music and this popped up from one of my favorite sci-fi films. This always gives me chills.


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## Peter86

I always thought that the track for Forest Temple from the video game "The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time" was _perfect_ for the Old Forest in "Lord Of The Rings".
It has the exactly same type of hauntingly peaceful and creepy atmosphere;
the kind of feeling that you are being watched by something mysterious that tries to steer you onto the wrong path.
In the game, this is pretty much the enemy "Wall Master", which is a huge hand that falls from the ceiling and grabs you, which then forces you to teleport back to the main entrance (the first game had it come out from the walls instead, which is why it is called "Wall Master").

_*"Forest Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time"*_


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## Ealdwyn

An oldie, but I've always thought it fits right into LotR. 
The title says it all.


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## Erestor Arcamen

Peter86 said:


> I always thought that the track for Forest Temple from the video game "The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time" was _perfect_ for the Old Forest in "Lord Of The Rings".
> It has the exactly same type of hauntingly peaceful and creepy atmosphere;
> the kind of feeling that you are being watched by something mysterious that tries to steer you onto the wrong path.
> In the game, this is pretty much the enemy "Wall Master", which is a huge hand that falls from the ceiling and grabs you, which then forces you to teleport back to the main entrance (the first game had it come out from the walls instead, which is why it is called "Wall Master").
> 
> _*"Forest Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time"*_


Absolutely this, LOZ is my favorite franchise of games and there's a ton of music that would fit for sure.

The spirit temple fits very well for Middle Earth too.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Assuming they had electricity.

And computers. 😅


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## HanSomReiste

I just looked through this whole thread and I am baffled that I do not see any Summoning! Time to fix that.


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## HanSomReiste




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## HanSomReiste

Sorry for spamming but you are all clearly missing out!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Am I right in thinking they managed to locate some Uruk-hai for vocals? 😄


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## HanSomReiste

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Am I right in thinking they managed to locate some Uruk-hai for vocals? 😄


Hahaha I see you are new to the world of black metal!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well, no, actually, though I'm not a big metal fan. If I'm going to listen to that sort of voice, I prefer it in the context of something like the Heilung piece I posted on the first page. But these are good too.

Maybe you can also find some acoustic stuff that Middle-earth musicians might have played-- although we've posted enough electric music on this thread to make people think Middle-earth must have been awash with power stations. 😁


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## HanSomReiste

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Well, no, actually, though I'm not a big metal fan. If I'm going to listen to that sort of voice, I prefer it in the context of something like the Heilung piece I posted on the first page. But these are good too.
> 
> Maybe you can also find some acoustic stuff that Middle-earth musicians might have played-- although we've posted enough electric music on this thread to make people think Middle-earth must have been awash with power stations. 😁


Ok, I will find some less technologically advanced music 😆


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Of course, I don't mean you have to go back to bone flutes and hollow logs, or something! 😅


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## HanSomReiste

Some good Anglo-Saxon (i.e. Rohirric) folk music


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## CirdanLinweilin

That got my mind jogging and so I have to share












CL


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## HanSomReiste

CirdanLinweilin said:


> That got my mind jogging and so I have to share
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CL


Another fantastic band!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

BTW, if any of our newer members haven't come across it yet, we also have a general music thread:









🎶 The Official TTF Music Thread! 🎶


The previous music thread went 500+ replies and was in need of a refresher so I've locked the old one so you can still see what was posted and have started this new one as a pinned post. Share what you're listening to and what you'd love to share with your fellow TTF'ers 😁! If you're interested...




www.thetolkienforum.com


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## Halasían

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> BTW, if any of our newer members haven't come across it yet, we also have a general music thread:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 🎶 The Official TTF Music Thread! 🎶
> 
> 
> The previous music thread went 500+ replies and was in need of a refresher so I've locked the old one so you can still see what was posted and have started this new one as a pinned post. Share what you're listening to and what you'd love to share with your fellow TTF'ers 😁! If you're interested...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.thetolkienforum.com


I initially thought this thread was for music that could have been possible with Middle Earth tech, but that went out somewhere around page 3. Too bad many of the videos are either no longer available, not allowed to play outside youtube, or in some cases for me, geoblocked. Going to try and find new links for some I posted that no longer work.

Meanwhile, enjoy some new Faun. Could see them playing in a rebuilt Osgiliath or Annuminas.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

More Easterling music:





Or maybe Dwarf.

Or maybe Nazgul. . .🤔


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I don't _think _I've posted this here; my excuses are 
1 -- it's Medieval 
2 -- Bilbo is called a "bunny" by Beorn and an eagle 😄


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## HALETH✒🗡

Baba Yaga, as well as being a witch from Russian folklore, is the name of a unique international group consisting of Irish and Hungarian rock musicians, and 4 Russian folk singers. This highly unusual formation combines British pop music with Russian folk. The band has written music which blends authentic Russian folk tunes and instruments seamlessly with rock/pop sounds and harmonies. The members first met on a starry night in Agrigento, Sicily in 1989.


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## Radaghast

Sorry if this has been posted before. I looked but couldn't find it. 

1967 album by The Hobbits.


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## Radaghast

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I don't _think _I've posted this here; my excuses are
> 1 -- it's Medieval
> 2 -- Bilbo is called a "bunny" by Beorn and an eagle 😄


Ye Olde Night of the Lepus.


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## Radaghast

Mexican thrash band with an interesting choice of name.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Radaghast said:


> Sorry if this has been posted before. I looked but couldn't find it.
> 
> 1967 album by The Hobbits.


A friend of mine got that LP out of a 69-cent cutout bin, about a year after its release. His verdict: "Well, the first 20 seconds or so were kind of interesting".

Incredibly, they produced a follow-up:

Some real young Sixties hipsters, as you can see. 😄

As for the original, I think this sums it up pretty well:


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## Erestor Arcamen

Doesn't get much more LOTR'ish than this


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

In the Misty Mountains cold.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

I have seen some really good renditions of Tolkien's songs and music from Clamavi De Profundis. Have you seen this?


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

You'll find some on this very thread. 😊


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

This has grown on me, so I thought I'd post it here. Seems appropriate.


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## Eljorahir

Battlelore! "Sons of The Riddermark"
Elf and Orc share the stage?


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

@Squint-eyed Southerner , I have never heard that one.. I'll have to try a listen.


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## Eljorahir

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> A friend of mine got that LP out of a 69-cent cutout bin, about a year after its release. His verdict: "Well, the first 20 seconds or so were kind of interesting".
> 
> Incredibly, they produced a follow-up:
> View attachment 13776
> Some real young Sixties hipsters, as you can see. 😄
> View attachment 13777
> As for the original, I think this sums it up pretty well:


That's one groovy tune Daddy-o!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elbereth Vala Varda said:


> @Squint-eyed Southerner , I have never heard that one.. I'll have to try a listen.


It's from the soundtrack. I posted some links in the main RoP thread.


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## Eljorahir

Here's a nice Bluegrass version of a song the elves of Rivendell sang to Bilbo (annoying him while he was trying to get to sleep, I believe.)


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Here's another of theirs.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

Great stuff!

I have made quite a few musics of my own for different poems, some of them created by myself, but I don't quite know how or where I would publish them here.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Lament in the Orocarni.


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