Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955). The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 519647821. In 1996 the song was recorded by the Dutch Tolkien Society band The Hobbitons, with permission from the Tolkien Estate, for their CD J.R.R. Tolkien's Songs from Middle-earth. [2]

The song " The Last Goodbye" by actor Billy Boyd, the end credits song for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, seems to be inspired by the version of this song found in The Hobbit. The songs have a similar theme of returning home. Though some of the lyrics have been changed, of particular note are the lyrics: Swank, Kris (2015). "The Irish Otherworld Voyage of Roverandom". Tolkien Studies. 12 (1): 31–57. doi: 10.1353/tks.2015.0011. ISSN 1547-3163. S2CID 170173591. Letter to Joy Hill (28 October 1971) – Tolkien Gateway". tolkiengateway.net. 12 May 2017 . Retrieved 25 January 2020. After Tolkien's death in 1973, Hill showed the poem to Donald Swann, who liked the poem so much that he set it to music and included it in the second edition of The Road Goes Ever On in 1978. [1] The poem was also illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and published as a poster on 26 November 1974. The Road to Middle-earth · The Keys of Middle-earth · The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion ·The Nature of Middle-earth [2021] • The Fall of Númenor and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth [2022] The first edition of The Road Goes Ever On: a Song Cycle was published on 31 October 1967, in the United States. [6]

The second edition of The Road Goes Ever On, published in 1978, included the poem " Bilbo's Last Song". The third edition, published in 1993 and likely the last, comes with additional poetry and also a CD with recordings for the entire song cycle. Edmonds, Jeremy. "Collectors Guide – "Bilbo's Last Song" (US Poster)". Tolkien Collector's Guide . Retrieved 25 January 2020.Stephen Oliver: Music from the BBC Radio Dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings; BBC Records; LP REH 415 Oliver was born in Chester, the son of Charlotte Hester (Girdlestone), a religio… Read Full Bio ↴ Oliver was born in Chester, the son of Charlotte Hester (Girdlestone), a religious education adviser, and Osborne George Oliver, an electricity board official.[1] His maternal great-grandfather was William Boyd Carpenter, a Bishop of Ripon and a court chaplain to Queen Victoria.[1] Oliver was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Ardingly College and at Worcester College, Oxford, where he read music under Kenneth Leighton and Robert Sherlaw Johnson. His first opera, The Duchess of Malfi (1971), was staged while he was still at Oxford. The song was included in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1981), with music by Stephen Oliver. The first verse is chanted by John Le Mesurier as Bilbo, the second omitted, and the third sung by a boy soprano. Christina Scull& Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, HarperCollins, 'Chronology' volume p. 710; ISBN 978-0-618-39113-4 Bilbo then says that his journey is “ Guided by the Lonely Star,” which in this case refers to Star of Eärendil, or the Evening Star. The star is actually a Silmaril, carried into the sky by Eärendil the Mariner, who wore the star on his brow to guide him. It is the brightest star in the sky, containing the light of the Two Trees that were ultimately used to make the Sun and Moon by the Valar. In the Second Age, the star guided Edain to Númenor. Sam and Frodo also used the light from the Elves “most beloved star” to pierce through the darkness at various stages of their journey (including Shelob’s lair). It’s a beautiful bit of symmetry, in which the end of the Third Age is marked by the Evening Star returning to its role of maritime guide.

The song can be heard in the 1981 BBC radio version, sung by Bilbo ( John Le Mesurier) to a tune by Stephen Oliver. Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien · J.R.R. Tolkien: Life and Legend · J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator · Walker, Gwyneth (2006). "The Road Goes Ever On". Gwyneth Walker. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018.He died (42) of AIDS-related complications in London.[2] In 2006, Oliver's archive of original scores and papers was presented to the British Library by his family. The poem first appeared as posters (60×40 cm) in November 1974, illustrated by Pauline Baynes, published by Allen & Unwin. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - The Last Goodbye - Billy Boyd (Official Music Video) , retrieved 26 December 2022 In Tony Palmer's film Wagner (1982–83), Oliver can be seen playing the part of conductor Hans Richter and conducting in the pit of Richard Wagner's theatre at Bayreuth. Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-31555-2.

Bilbo Baggins sings the poem at the harbour of the Grey Havens [4], as he is about to set sail on the sea following the Straight Road to the Undying Lands. Although it was never written in The Grey Havens, The Lord of the Rings' last chapter, this places the reading of this poem by Bilbo at this point in the story. The History of Middle-earth ( The Book of Lost Tales Part One [1983] • The Book of Lost Tales Part Two [1984] • The Lays of Beleriand [1985] • The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta, and The Annals [1986] • The Lost Road and Other Writings [1987] • The Return of the Shadow: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part One [1988] • The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Two [1989] • The War of the Ring: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three [1990] • Sauron Defeated: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Four [1992] • Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One: The Legends of Aman [1993] • The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two [1994] • The Peoples of Middle-earth [1996] • Index [2006]) A cycle of seven songs selected from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, with Elvish calligraphy by Tolkien himself, written during the last two years of the AT THE DROP OF ANOTHER HAT tour. Donald often used 'I Sit beside the Fire' in the show and it can be heard on the Broadway video. The original cycle can be heard on commercial cassette with Donald accompanying Covent Garden baritone William Elvin. To the second edition Donald added 'Bilbo's Last Song'.Bilbo's Last Song first appeared at the end of 1973, translated into Dutch by Max Schuchart for a limited edition of two thousand numbered posters that the publisher Het Spectrum distributed as corporate New Year's gifts. [13] In April 1974, Houghton Mifflin published the poem in the US as a poster decorated with a photograph of a river taken by Robert Strindberg. [14] [7] In September 1974, Allen & Unwin published the poem in the UK as a poster illustrated by Pauline Baynes. [7] Her painting depicts the hobbits Sam, Merry and Pippin looking down on the Grey Havens and watching Bilbo's ship sailing down the firth of Lune. [7] The Road Goes Ever On" is a title that encompasses several walking songs that J. R. R. Tolkien wrote for his Middle-earth legendarium. Within the stories, the original song was composed by Bilbo Baggins and recorded in The Hobbit. Different versions of it also appear in The Lord of the Rings, along with some similar walking songs. The scholar of humanities Brian Rosebury quotes Frodo's recollection to the other hobbits of 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 into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'" Rosebury comments that the "homespun symbolism" here is plain enough, that "the Road stands for life, or rather for its possibilities, indeed probabilities, of adventure, commitment, and danger; for the fear of losing oneself, and the hope of homecoming". [2] He observes further that Middle-earth is distinctly "a world of roads", as seen in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both of which "begin and end at the door of Bag-End". [2] 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 like the Norwegian tale of that name for another world that is fantastically difficult to reach – in this case Aman, which can only be reached by the Straight Road. [1] Musical arrangements [ edit ] Classical music [ edit ] The Danish Tolkien Ensemble has set all the versions of "The Road Goes Ever On" to music.