Over Old Hills and Far Away

The poem Over old hills and Far away was written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1915. It appears in The Book of Lost Tales Part One.

The Poem
"It was early and still in the night of June, And few were the stars, and far was the moon, The drowsy trees drooping, and silently creeping Shadows woke under them while they were sleeping.

I stole to the window with stealthy tread Leaving my white and unpressed bed; And something alluring, aloof and queer, Like perfume of flowers from the shores of the mere That in Elvenhome lies, and in starlit rains Twinkles and flashes, came up to the panes Of my high lattice-window. Or was it a sound? I listened and marveled with eyes on the ground. For there came from afar a filtered note Enchanting sweet, now clear, now remote, As clear as a star in a pool by the reeds, As faint as the glimmer of dew on the weeds.

Then I left the window and followed the call Down the creaking stairs and across the hall Out through a door that swung tall and grey, And over the lawn, and away, away!

It was Tinfang Warble that was dancing there, Fluting and tossing his old white hair, Till it sparkled like frost in a winter moon; And the stars were about him, and blinked to his tune Shimmering blue like sparks in a haze, As always they shimmer and shake when he plays.

My feet only made there the ghost of a sound On the shining white pebbles that ringed him round, Where his little feet flashed on a circle of sand, And the fingers were white on his flickering hand. In the wink of a star he had leapt in the air With his fluttering cap and his glistening hair; And had cast his long flute right over his back, Where it hung by a ribbon of silver and black.

His slim little body went fine as a shade, And he slipped through the reeds like mist in the glade; And laughed like thin silver, and piped a thin note, As he flapped in the shadows his shadowy coat. O! the toes of his slippers were twisted and curled, But he danced like a wind out into the world.

He is gone, and the valley is empty and bare Where lonely I stand and lonely I stare. Then suddenly out in the meadows beyond, Then back in the reeds by the shimmering pond, Then afar from a copse were the mosses are thick A few little notes came a trillaping quick.

I leapt o’er the stream and I sped from the glade, For Tinfang Warble it was that played; I must follow the hoot of his twilight flute Over reed, over rush, under branch, over root, And over dim fields, and through rustling grasses That murmur and nod as the old elf passes, Over old hills and far away Where the harps of the Elvenfolk softly play."

Refrences in Popular Culture
Led Zeppelin wrote the song “Over the hill and Far away” based on this poem. It was the third track of the album Houses of the Holy.