The Road Goes Ever On (song)

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:[T 1]

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known.

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.[T 2]

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

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.[T 3]

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.[T 4]

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

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.[1]

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.[2]

Similar changes in mood and words are seen in two versions of "A Walking Song", in the same metre and similarly at the start and end of 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.[T 3]

Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though we pass them by today,

Tomorrow we may come this way

And take the hidden paths that run

Towards the Moon or to the Sun.

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.

Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though I oft have passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

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".

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.[3]

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.[4]

All the songs have been set to music by The Tolkien Ensemble across their four Tolkien albums, starting with their album An Evening in Rivendell.[5] as part of the now completed project of setting all poems in The Lord of the Rings to music.

A musical version of some sections of this song can be heard in the 1977 animated movie version of The Hobbit. While a full song was written for the film and can be heard on the soundtrack and story LP and is titled Roads, it was not heard in the film. The melody was later used in the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King and on The Return of the King soundtrack and story album. A musical version of some sections of this song can be heard in the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, composed by Howard Shore. It is sung by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) in the opening scene, and also by Bilbo (Ian Holm) as he leaves Bag End. Gandalf's singing can be heard on the track Bag End on The Complete Recordings and Bilbo's on Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe. Large parts were included in Billy Boyd's "The Last Goodbye" on the soundtrack of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The song can be heard in the 1981 BBC radio version, sung by Bilbo (John Le Mesurier) to a tune by Stephen Oliver.

The stage musical based on the novel includes a song, "The Road Goes On" - the lyrics of which are loosely based on this poem.

The UC Berkeley Alumni Chorus commissioned the American composer Gwyneth Walker to set the poem to music in 2006, which she did in several musically unrelated ways.[6]

This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.