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. JOHN RONALD REUEL TOL- “ Bos by ee Saar KIEN was born in Africa in O

1892 and - shortl th ft SIDE ONE moved to England. After grad- 2 J. R. R. TOLKIEN reads from THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL uating from Exeter College, Ox- 1. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 4:00) 7 // ee eee ee I. mbDadl ( ) / / Anglo-Saxon there and _ later 2. The Mewlips (1:21) /” Gs shifted to Merton College, from

4 which he retired. Famed as a 3. The Hoard (3:25) J? 3 4 philologist and as a lecturer he 4. Perry-The-Winkle (4 :26) | Qu / gained world wide recognition : 5. ; for his The Hobbit and the tril-

The Man in the Moon oa Down Too Soon (5:16) le 3Y io, Toe oes K3 el ae A 4]

SIDE TWO

1. A, Elbereth Gilthoniel (read in Elvish) (From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 1 — Many Meetings) (00:14)

THE ROAD GOES EVER ON, Sung by William Elvin, Donald Swann, Piano

2. The Road Goes Ever On (1:00)

(From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, Chapter 1 — A Long Expected Party)

3. Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red = (1:35)

(From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, Chapter 3 — Three is Company)

4. In the Willow-Meads of Tasarinan (2:35)

(From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 2, The Two Towers, Book 3, Chapter 4 — Treebeard)

5. In Western Lands (2:15) ess The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 3 — The Tower of Cirith Ungol)

6. Namarié (sung in Elvish) (1:25) (From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 3 — Farewell to Lérien)

7. I Sit Beside the Fire (3:38) (From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 3 — The Ring Goes South)

Refrain: A Elbereth Gilthoniel (sung in Elvish) (From The Lord of the Rings — Vol. 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 1 — Many Meetings)

8. Errantry (3:43)

(From The Adventures of Tom Bombadil)

Years before the general reading public had heard his name, Professor J. R. R. Tolkien was well known to his col- leagues in the field of Anglo-Saxon and Middle-English studies as a formidable scholar, and to Oxford undergraduates as an inspiring teacher. As a lecturer, he showed that it is possible (though, alas, not very common) to examine the philo-

logical details of a text without forgetting its poetic value. Nobody could have written The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings who was not both a philologist and a poet. For

example, only a philologist, and an exceptional one at that, could have invented an ‘imaginary’ language for the Elves which has all the properties of a ‘real’ one. Only a scholar could have drawn upon so many sources for the ingredients of his ‘brew’, from Icelandic, Anglo-Saxon and Welsh myths down to, I suspect, Rider Haggard, though, as every gourmet knows, it is not the ingredients of a dish that matter, but what the chef does with them. And only an exceptional poetic imagination could have created a Secondary World, so complex, on so grand a scale, yet so completely credible in every detail. Among

his many gifts, the three which astound me most are his gift for inventing Prope: Names, his gift for describing landscape, and (how I envy him this) his gift for calligraphy.

Some of the poems on this record are to be found in The Lord of the Rings, others in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Of the Hobbits’ taste in verse, Professor Tolkien writes:

They are fond of strange words, and of rhyming and metrical tricks... . They are also, at least on the surface, light-hearted and frivolous, though sometimes one may uneasily suspect that more is meant than meets the eye.

It is evident that their creator shares their taste. His metres are as exciting as they are various and, though most of his poems belong to the category of ‘Light Verse’, there are a number, notably The Sea- Bell — in my opinion his finest — which are anything but ‘light-hearted’. It should be remembered, also, that Hobbit poetry is not the only kind which he en- joys. On this record you will have the pleasure of hearing him recite a poem in Elvish. I wish there had been grooves enough ~ to permit the inclusion of something by a Rohan poet. I presume that most people who buy this record will already have read Professor Tolkien’s tetralogy, and I hope it

will persuade anybody who has not, to do so at once. A prospective reader, however, should, I think, be warned: “This is a work that will either totally enthrall you or leave you stone cold, and, whichever your response, nothing and nobody will ever change it.”” As a member of the enchanted party, I have found by experience that it is quite useless to argue with the un- converted.

W. H. AUDEN

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number R67-3894

ogy, The Lord of the Rings.

These books have received such critical acclaim that by now the name of Tolkien is an immediate assurance of a best- selling book. Besides the aforementioned, Professor Tolkien is the author of Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Tree and Leaf and Smith of Wootton Major. He is also working on The Silmarillion, a work which precedes in

time The Lord of the Rings. : }

DONALD SWANN began his career by studying Modern Greek and Rus- sian at Oxford. While in college he began writing songs for revues, one of which became a hit in London. From that point Swann’s name has been automatically linked with Mi- chael Flanders in the writing of numerous shows culminating in their now famous At The Drop of a Hat

and more recently At the Drop a) Saati: Hat. Mr. Swann has. become interested in setting carols and hymns of the Church of England to his music, and many of these have been per- formed on the B.B.C. and elsewhere. His passion for the works of J. R. R. Tolkien dates from a trip to Australia where The Lord of the Rings formed his principal reading. He returned to England with the intention of setting some of the poetry from these books to song. He worked extensively with Tolkien who thoroughly approved of his settings except the one for Namarié, In this case the author hummed a tune to the com- poser who promptly accepted it.

WILLIAM ELVIN, (the winner of the 1967 Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship), is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, and has been giving concerts in London where a recent performance in Donizetti’s Linda di Cham- ounix gained him great critical acclaim.

Donald Swann’s songs embellished with Elvish lettering by Professor Tolkien are available in THE ROAD GOES EVER ON, a book of music published by Houghton Mifflin Company and available at book stores, priced at $3.95. The English edition is published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL and THE LORD OF THE RINGS are published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. in England and by Houghton Mifflin Company and Ballantine Books, Inc. in the United States.

© Copyright in the words George Allen & Unwin Ltd. and © Copyright in the music Donald Swann.

MUSIC CLEARANCE ONLY: The Song Cycle, The Road Goes Ever On may be licensed through ASCAP in the United States, and the Performing Rights Society elsewhere.

WARNING: It is expressly forbidden to copy or reproduce this re- cording or any portion thereof in any manner or form, whether for profit, amateur, institutional, or educational use. Permission for broadcast, telecast or public performance use must be obtained in advance in writing. Caedmon Records, Inc. 505 Eighth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10018.

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