# Music & Poetry Composition in Middle Earth



## in_a_days (Mar 23, 2010)

Hullo and good morning folks. This is probably a rather obscure question or subject of discussion. But I have recently been wondering about our Middle Earth heros' aptitude for spontaneous composition.

The are multiple examples of characters breaking into song and rhyme in situations where preparation would have been impossible. There is evidence of characters "working" on poetry, Bilbo in the Hall of Fire, Frodo and Sam lamenting Gandalf in Lorien, the people of Laketown making songs regarding the return of the King Under the Mountain. There are also examples of making words up *on the spot*... Bilbo taunting spiders, Boromir's funeral song, Sam's song in the tower of Cirith Ungol.

Where does this aptitude for poetry and lyrical composition come from? Is Aragorn constantly thinking about rhyming words and rhythmic patters while he's trudging along chasing Uruk-Hai? Are these characters manifesting some will or spirit of the Valar (as there is certainly a relationship between prophecy, song and poetry)? Or is Middle Earth just full of the most natural freestyle artists ever?

The only real textual description of this process that stands out in my mind is from The Hobbit regarding Bilbo's taunting song...

"Not very good perhaps, but then you must remember that he had to make it up himself, on the spur of a very awkward moment."

This light-hearted explanation kind of gives the impression that our poets are all just making it up as they go along... which is really pretty impressive! I also appreciation that language from The Hobbit consistently contrasts with the epic tone of LOTR.


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## Prince of Cats (Mar 23, 2010)

Hi in_a_days, welcome to the forum!

And a fascinating topic. I think that a fair amount of the music and poetry we hear is prewritten, repeating songs of old. The song at laketown, for instance, was probably written by a poet and read with children and was more a legend than regarded a prophecy. The younger people living there hadn't seen smaug if I remember correctly. In Bilbo's house when the dwarves ready their instruments and sing songs I always interpreted the tales as something that the dwarves had sung for tens of years through the exile (though again, did any other than Thorin ever see the lonely mountain?).

But then there is the question then: were the poets who wrote these songs writing wishful thinking or divinely inspired prophecy? http://www.thetolkienforum.com/member.php?10276-in_a_days


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## Starbrow (Mar 26, 2010)

Maybe some of the songs and poetry are adapted from something they already know, like Elton John's song for Princess Diana, "Goodbye, England's Rose", was to the tune of "Candle in the Wind." That would be easier than a totally original composition.


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## Astrance (Mar 27, 2010)

Yes, poems like « The Road goes ever on » suggest interpretation of a well-known pattern. There's a children song like this in french, _Cadet Roussel_. As long as you follow the traditional pattern, you can go on for as long as you want.


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## Haleth (Apr 12, 2010)

I you read the Silmarillion then you can see that in the cosmology of Tolkien's word music played a very integral part from the very beginning - the world was created through the Music of the Ainur.

In view of that, it seems plausible to me that Tolkien would imbue his characters with musicality and a propensity for poetry, for his very world was founded on it. 

Also, take into account that Middle-earth is presented as an ancient world without modern means of entertainment - no tv, no internet, not even a local library. Songs and verses were probably the most accessible way of entertainment and also a way of passing on tales to others. 

There's an important difference between a society like that and our modern society - the capacity of memory. Back when means of recording something were not as accessible, nor literacy so commonplace people were far better at memorizing songs and poems. Take for example the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata which is about 100,000 verses long - there used to be "bards" in India who could recite the whole thing from memory. 

Being familiar with the patterns of making songs and poetry, I think that the people of ME would probably more easily compose something new of their own, based on those patterns.

That's my little theory anyway.


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## Bucky (Apr 13, 2010)

They DID sing songs in Rivendell.....

When the fellowship arrived in Lorien, the Elves began to make laments for Gandalf.

There were maps and (I think books of lore) in Rivendell as well.


BTW: Damn! I thought WE got to write our own poems.....

Like:

Tolkiens poems really suck
For them I wouldn't pay a buck
In case you're foreign,
A buck's one dollar
Tolkien's poem's 
Make me want to scream and hollar
More precisely, I usually just moan


Or the old classic limmerick from Gondolin:

There once was a Noldorin Elf
Who's wife fell off of the shelf
She was oh so nice
'Til she slipped on The Grinding Ice
Now he's left to play with _ _ _ _ _ _ _


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## Confusticated (Oct 6, 2010)

Sometimes in times of inspiration rhymes come in a way that normally takes effort. I've seen people do it on the spot aloud in freestyle rapping. Its really not surprising, but I guess it happens more in LoTR than it does in life.


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