# All that glitters isnt gold...



## BlackCaptain

I'm looking at some LedZepplin Lyrics, and it sais somewere that "All that sparkles isnt gold" in Stairway to heaven. Now i love translating Led Zepplin songs into Middle Earth Lore, cuz its a known fact that just about all of his songs are based on something in the LOTR's. and Stairway to Heaven has given me the most difficulty. 

Does anyone know were "all that glitters isn't gold" is? Like what book and chapter? or better yet, page? I think its in the Riddles in the Dark, but im not sure, i have to check... 

Please! This is the biggest peice of my stairway puzzle... when i finaly translate it, ill post the song and its translations here, but i need your help!



Editorial note by Rangerdave

If you would be so kind as to not post duplicate threads in the future. It makes the moderators grumpy.

Thank you
RD


----------



## Gandalf White

The Fellowship of the Ring: Chapter 10: Strider.


All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wonder are lost,
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken, 
A light form the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken, 
The crownless again shall be king. 


It is mentioned again by Bilbo, at the Council of Elrond.


----------



## Rangerdave

> _Dear Frodo,_
> _Bad news has reached me here. I must go off at once. You had better leave Bag End soon, and get out of the Shire before the end of July at latest. I will return as soon as I can; and I will follow you, if I find that you are gone. Leave a message for me here, if you pass through Bree. You can trust the landlord (Butterbur). You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a Man, lean, dark, tall, by some called Strider. He knows our business and will help you. Make for Rivendell. There I hope we may meet again. If I do not come, Elrond will advise you._
> _Yours in haste_
> 
> _GANDALF_.
> 
> _PS. Do NOT use It again, not far any reason whatever! Do not travel by night!_
> _PPS. Make sure that it is the real Strider. There are many strange men on the roads. His true name is Aragorn_.
> 
> All that is gold does not glitter,
> Not all those who wander are lost;
> The old that is strong does not wither,
> Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
> From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
> A light from the shadows shall spring;
> Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
> The crownless again shall be king.
> 
> 
> _PPPS. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-room: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him._
> _Fare Well!_



The poem can be found in The Fellowship of the Ring Chapter 10 "Strider"

I am unsure of the page number as publications differ.

I hope this helps

RD



PS. The Webmaster has requested that all signatures be limited to three lines or less. If you would be so kind as to shorten up your signature, the staff and I would very much appreciate it.

Thank you
rd


----------



## Gandalf White

You just had to out-do me, didn't you? 

I finally get to help someone with my limited knowledge, and you come and type the whole chapter.


----------



## Rúmil

> I was not sent to beg any boon, but to seek only the meaning of a riddle,' answered Boromir proudly. `Yet we are hard pressed, and the Sword of Elendil would be a help beyond our hope-if such a thing could indeed return out of the shadows of the past.' He looked again at Aragorn, and doubt was in his eyes.
> Frodo felt Bilbo stir impatiently at his side. Evidently he was annoyed on his friend's behalf. Standing suddenly up he burst out:
> 
> 
> All that is gold does not glitter,
> Not all those who wander are lost;
> The old that is strong does not wither,
> Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
> 
> From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
> A light from the shadows shall spring;
> Renewed shall be blade that was broken:
> The crownless again shall be king.
> 
> 
> `Not very good perhaps, but to the point - if you need more beyond the word of Elrond. If that was worth a journey of a hundred and ten days to hear, you had best listen to it.' He sat down with a snort.


 This is the second appearence of the poem, towards the beginning of 'the council of Elrond' (chap 2 book II)




PS: Rangerdave, it's good to see you enforcing the forum rules, but... on my screen, your signature has four lines... don't want to find fault, but it me me sort of smile...


----------



## BlackCaptain

Ive been working on these translations, and this is the best i could do. I think it's at least a semi-good translation, if the song even has one:::

*THESE ARE ALL JUST RESONABLE (at least I think they are) GUESSES*


There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
~ Aragorn is referred to as “All that is gold does not glitter” in the books, which means that he’s great value (the king of Gondor) but appears as just a filthy ranger. So he’s great value, but doesn’t show it. The lady is Arwen, and she is sure that Aragorn will some day “glitter” and will be “gold”, or people will recognize him for his importance.

And she's buying a stairway to heaven
~ She must leave to the Gray Heavens

And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get what she came for
~ When she gets to the Gray Heavens, if it is not as she expected, or she knows she will be more happy with Aragorn, she can travel back to Middle-Earth.

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven 
~ same as above

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
~ Elrond is the sign on the wall, and he is directing her, like a sign, to go the Gray Heavens. But Arwen wants to be sure that she is making the right choice, by going to the Gray Heavens or not. 

And you know sometimes words have two meanings
~ Could represent the two paths that Arwen can choose from

In the tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven 
~ The song-bird could be Arwen’s conscious and it is telling her that all or her thoughts and arguments with herself are useless, and she really belongs with Aragorn, or doesn’t belong with him. 

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven 
~ Gray Heavens

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
and my spirit is crying for leaving
~ Whenever Arwen looks to the west, over the seas, her spirit is crying to leave. That is pretty self-explanatory. The west is were the Gray Heavens are, and whenever she looks in that direction, she gets sad, and almost wants to leave.

In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
~ Rings of smoke could represent a fire in her land, and a fire is bad… and if Arwen chooses to stay, then only ill fortune will come to her.

And the voices of those who stand looking 
~ All of the Elves in Rivendell, are waiting for Arwen’s decision, because since she is the daughter of Elrond, their leader, there will obviously be thoughts on wether she’s staying or going. Something like that…

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven 

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
~ If Arwen just trusts her love for Aragorn, then she will soon be lead to reason. The piper must be Destiny

And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter 
~ If she endures the waiting for the War of the Ring to be ended (for those who stand long) then there will be brightness in her life (Aragorn; A new day will dawn). The forest will echo with laughter means that the rings of smoke mentioned earlier, will be no more. So since all of the trouble in her lands are gone (the forest fire) she will finally be happy. So she should stay in Middle-Earth

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen 
~?

Yes there are two paths you can go by
~ Go to the Gray Heavens, or stay in Middle-Earth

But in the long run
there's still time to change the road you're on 
~ Even if she decides to go to the Gray Heavens, she can still come back to Middle-Earth for Aragorn

Your head is humming and it won't go because you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
~ Arwen is in a deep un-rest, because she doesn’t know that she has to make up her mind.. Since the Piper is Destiny, then Destiny is calling for Arwen, and she must make up her mind.

Dear lady can't you hear the wind blow and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind 
~ I’m not sure what the first line is, but your stairway lies on the whispering wind means. Well, since one way that Arwen can take, is the “Stairway” to the Gray Heavens, another is the “Stairway” to mortality with Aragorn. And the whispering wind is her soul when she dies, floating away, and if she dies, she must be mortal. So Arwen’s “stairway” or path is mortality. 

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
~ Now is when the song changes pace, and so does the story it tells. When WE have to pick from one of two roads, it is usually our doubts that have a bigger influence on us than our good things… that didn’t make much sense. It’s like the Incubus song “Drive”.

There walks a lady we all know
~ Now the lady is referred to as the choice we must make, since Arwen is a good representation of Choice

Who shines white light and wants to show
~ Arwen is showing us all now the white light, instead of our shadows. “Our shadows taller than our souls” But this verse is telling us that the “lady we all know” should be based on the white light, instead of the shadows. and she wants to show us that.

How everything still turns to gold
~ The good thing in her life was Aragorn, and he turned to gold . And in our life, if we play off of the white light, instead of the shadows, that light will turn to gold.

And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
~ The tune that the piper is playing is the tune in that line. If we look closely, Destiny will come, and it will show us light instead of shadow.

When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
~ To be something that we arent, and play off the shadow. I don’t know really, I think this verse was just put in cuz it was clever…

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven 
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get what she came for
~ Look at top

And she's buying a stairway to heaven


I said i'd find it, and thanks to ur help, here it is... at least i think its accurate


----------



## Wynston

Until I started reading these forums I didn't realize that many Led Zepplin lyrics had LoTR references. I'll have to go back and look at some of them to see what I find. Does anyone have any other ones besides Stairway?

As for this lyric:

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen 

I've been listening to Zepplin and Stairway for years, and I never could figure out what the heck that meant.


----------



## BlackCaptain

Well if you brake it down:

If theres a bustle in your hedgerow
- If there is a comotion in your garden
Don't be alarmed now
-Don't be scared
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen
- It's a spring clean for Mary?

Thats why it didnt make sense to me... but the may queen in LOTR could be Galadriel, but they visit her in Janruary... Nothing really happens in May in any...

O MY GOD

I was going through the Appendix of ROTK as writing this, and Aragorn is crowned King Elessar... on May 1. So that would make Arwen Queen. The May Queen...

This is sweet.

Wait... But they don't get Wed until Mid-years day... wich is in june

So... If theres comotion in your garden, could mean if theres a trouble in your life, because gardening was a big part of life back then... i dont know. If theres trouble in your life, dont be scared, its just....OOOOO THIS IS TUFF


----------



## FattyBolger

I'm sure a bunch of Led Zep's lyrics relate to Tolkein's stories, but almost anything could be related back to The Lord of the Rings. It's concepts and morals are so universal that you could probably relate most songs' lyrics to the novels.


----------



## FoolOfATook

I could have sworn that the expression came from Shakespeare- _Merchant Of Venice_ if I recall, but I can't seem to find it in my Unabridged Shakespeare. For what it's worth, I don't think that Stairway is about LOTR, but I am willing to bet with anyone here that Ramble On IS about LOTR .

BTW, while I was looking for the quotation in my copy of _The Friendly Shakespeare_ I found a line in about_Macbeth_ "The Crack of Doom".


----------



## BlackCaptain

Yeah...
THe only reason i thought that stairway to heaven could be LOTR related is cause almost all of LedZepplins songs are. 

"Misty Mountain Hop" 
-DUH! 

Over Hill and Far away
-Unless im stupid (wich i probly am) he sings about Mordor

Ramble on
-I think he mentions gollum in this one

The point is, he mentions Gollum, Mordor, Nazgul, and Hobits in his, or thier, songs. I just assumed that since they keep on saying, "all that glitters isn't gold" in stairway to heaven, that it must be Tolkien realated.


----------



## Smeagol#1

*I just found out something really cool!*

A bunch of led zepplin songs are about JRR Tolkien's books

very cool


----------



## BlackCaptain

yeah, thats been known for quite some time by lots of people. I myself tried to "translate" stairway to heaven. It didnt go to well, but i think that i took a good shot. If u wanna see the "translations", type in All that glitters isnt gold in the search.


----------



## GuardianRanger

Ok, a quick Google search turned up the following:

http://www.auburn.edu/~speedhe/

In doing a little reading, I think Lez Zep was definitely influenced by JRRT, and probably threw in a couple of references. I would love to get confirmation from one of the band members on the validity of it, though. It must have been asked once before.....


----------



## Smeagol#1

I saw an interview of Robert Plant on the History channel and he said that since Jimmy Page like those books thats wut the songs were about and he said that he was tired of singing about elves and fairytales. so that is enough proof for me!


----------



## 33Peregrin

My mom hates LOTR. We were hiking one day, and it started snowing. The mountains were covered with fog. We were right there. It was so cool. I said "Hey! It's the misty mountains" My mom said "There's a song called The Misty Mountain Hop" I asked who sang it, and she said Led Zepplin. I tolder that I heard somewhere he sang LOTR songs. She was like "That depressing stuff?" Ha Ha. I thought that was funny. She thinks LOTR is all evil and morbid. She says my soundtrack music is suicide music. I don't agree. The music she listens to sometimes makes me want to kill myself.


----------

