Bilbo's Walking Song

This article refers to Bilbo's Walking Song. For other namesakes, see The Road Goes Ever On (disambiguation).

This article is about the walking-song of Bilbo Baggins. For the last poem of Bilbo Baggins, see Bilbo's Last Song (at the Grey Havens). Additionally for the soundtrack, see Bilbo's Song.

"The Road Goes Ever On" by Matěj Čadil

Bilbo's Walking Song was a walking-song by Bilbo Baggins that he would sing on the road. Verses of this poem are sung at various places in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Poem excerpt

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.

History

The original version of the song was composed by Bilbo Baggins during the last stage of the journey back to the Shire. Coming to the top of a rise he saw Bag End in the distance, stopped, and recited a poem before saying farewell to Gandalf.

After his Farewell Birthday Party, Bilbo recited another version of his walking-song when he departed the Shire for Rivendell. Later on, Frodo Baggins recited a slightly different version of the verse, with the word "weary" instead of "eager". He spoke it slowly out loud while on the way to Crickhollow with Samwise Gamgee and Peregrin Took upon looking beyond to lands that some of them have never seen before. After the Downfall of Barad-dûr and Frodo and the others have returned to Rivendell, Bilbo murmured a third version of the song. He fell asleep afterwards.

In other versions

While writing the final chapter of The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote B.'s first poem or Bilbo['s] First Poem next to the words "He thought ever of his home" in pencil, possibly implying that Tolkien considered having Bilbo sing the poem as he left Rivendell for the Shire. A few pages later, Tolkien made another note, indicating that the poem should be sung on Bilbo's doorstep.

Tolkien wrote the first full version of the poem at the end of the manuscript of the final chapter. He inscribed Bilbo's first poem and "41" on this draft. Tolkien replaced the second line of the fourth stanza with a new line. The final line of the third stanza refers to Gondobar, a poetic name for Gondolin, and may have been the poem's original conclusion. Tolkien wrote "3, 4, 1, and 2" in the margin concerning four lines of the second stanza, later shifting the lines in the first typescript of the poem, on which Tolkien placed the poem where it is in the narrative of the published book.

Background

In 1952, Tolkien made a recording of one version of the poem. In 1967, the poem was set to music by Donald Swann for his song-cycle approved by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was also included in Poems and Songs of Middle Earth that same year.

In The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, John D. Rateliff suggested in notes to the poem's first draft that the "nearly illegible" phrase "find the bar" possibly is an allusion to Alfrid Tennyson's Crossing the Bar in 1889. Rateliff also remarked that the mention of Gondobar recalls Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners and The Song of Ælfwine on seeing the uprising of Eärendil. Rateliff describes the poem as "a celebration of both the allure of possibilities of unending travel and the joy of homecoming by someone whose journeys are now ending" and notes that the inscription "Bilbo's first poem" discounts Bilbo's Mirkwood songs. When discussing poems about roads, Rateliff lists Tolkien's own Goblin Feet, Geoffrey Bache Smith's Songs on the Downs, E. F. A. Geach's Romance, and Edward Thomas's Roads as examples of possible parallels or influences on the poem.

In adaptations

The Hobbit

In the 1977 animated film, sections of the poem are sung during the trip through Mirkwood. It appears on the fourth soundtrack, entitled Roads, and was performed by Glenn Robertson Yarbrough. The music was written by Maury Laws.

Roads go ever, ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shown,
By streams that never find the sea.

Roads go ever, ever on,
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Will turn at last to home afar.
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
Under the mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever, ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shown,
By streams that never find the sea.

The Return of the King

In the 1980 animated film, the poem was adapted into Roads Go Ever, Ever On, which was sung at the end of the film. Maury Laws wrote the music and Jules Bass wrote the lyrics. The song was performed by Glenn Robertson Yarbrough. It is a reprisal of "Roads" from the 1977 film with new lyrics, though its final stanza is taken from the song It's So Easy Not to Try. The song plays at the end of the story, as Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Elrond, among others, sail to the lands beyond the sea, bidding farewell to Sam, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Pippin.

Roads go ever, ever on
To the lands beyond the sea.
On a white ship will I sail,
Watching shadows part for me.

Leaving Havens grey with rain,
Now that years have slipped away.
Leaving friends with gentle pain
As they start another day.
 
Roads I traveled I must leave,
For I've turned the final bend.
Weep not empty tears, but grieve
As the road comes to an end.

It's so easy not to try;
Let the world go drifting by.
If you never say hello,
You won't have to say goodbye.

If you never say hello,
You won't have to say goodbye!

The Lord of the Rings

In the 1981 radio series, Bilbo sings the song as he leaves Bag End. It is sung by John Charles Elton Le Mesurier De Somerys Halliley to a tune by Stephen Michael Harding Oliver.

An Evening in Rivendell

In the 1997 album by the Tolkien Ensemble, the song, here entitled The Old Walking Song, The Road Goes Ever on, was given an original melody composed by Caspar Reiff.

The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale

In Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale, the poem is the basis of the song The Road Goes On sung by Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin in the first act.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In Peter Jackson's 2001 film, Bilbo's second rendition of the poem is sung by Gandalf the Grey upon his entry into the Shire in the soundtrack Bag End, by Howard Shore; and again as Bilbo leaves from Bag End to Rivendell. Only the first two lines are clearly heard, put to a melody by Howard Shore, before their singing trails off or ends.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

In Peter Jackson's 2014 film, lines from the poem partially make up the lyrics of The Last Goodbye, written and performed by actor Billy Boyd for the end credits of the film. The song has a similar theme of returning home.

The Hobbit The Battle Of The Five Armies - Billy Boyd The Last Goodbye - Official Music Video

I saw the light fade from the sky
On the wind I heard a sigh
As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers
I will say this last goodbye

Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the Sea

Under cloud, beneath the stars
Over snow one winter’s morn
I turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell
Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don’t regret
Nor will I forget
All [who took the road with me]

Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the Sea

To these memories I will hold
With your blessing I will go
To turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell

I bid you all a very fond farewell.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Die Pad Gaan Voort Eindeloos
Albanian	Rruga vazhdon pafundësisht
Amharic	መንገዱ ያለማቋረጥ ይጓዛል
Arabic	الطريق يذهب من أي وقت مضى
Armenian	Ճանապարհը շարունակվում է անվերջ
Azerbaijani	Yol davamlı olaraq davam edir
Basque	Bidea etengabe jarraitzen du
Belarusian Cyrillic	Шлях працягваецца Бясконца
Bengali	রাস্তা চলছে ক্রমাগত
Bosnian	Put se nastavlja beskrajno
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Пътят продължава безкрайно
Cambodian	ផ្លូវនេះបន្តឥតឈប់ឈរ
Catalan	El camí continua sense parar
Cebuano	Ang Dalan Nagpadayon sa Walay Katapusan
Croatian	Cesta se nastavlja beskonačno
Czech	Silnice pokračuje donekonečna
Danish	Vejen fortsætter uendeligt
Dutch	De Weg Gaat Verder Eindeloos
Esperanto	La vojo daŭras senfine
Estonian	Tee jätkub lõputult
Filipino	Ang kalsada ay patuloy na walang katapusan
Finnish	Tie jatkuu loputtomasti
French	La route se poursuit sans fin
Galician	A estrada continúa sen parar
Georgian	გზა წინ და წინ მიდის
German	Die Straße gleitet fort und fort
Greek	Ο Δρόμος Συνεχίζεται
Gujarati	માર્ગ અવિરતપણે ચાલુ રહે છે
Hawaiian	Ke hele nei ke alanui i ka hopena
Hebrew	הדרך נמשכת ללא סוף
Hindi	सड़क अंतहीन जारी है
Hungarian	Az út végtelenül folytatódik
Icelandic	Vegurinn heldur áfram endalaust
Indonesian	Jalan terus tanpa henti
Irish Gaelic	Téann an bóthar ar aghaidh gan stad
Italian	La strada continua all'infinito
Japanese	道は延々と続く
Javanese	Dalan tetep tanpa wates
Kannada	ರೋಡ್ ಎಂಡ್ಲೆಸ್ಲಿ ಕಂಟಿನ್ಯೂಸ್
Kazakh	Жол шексіз жалғасуда (Cyrillic) Jol şeksiz jalğaswda (Latin)
Korean	길은 계속 이어진다오
Kurdish	Riya Berdewam berdewam dike (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Жол түбөлүккө жатат
Laotian	ເສັ້ນທາງໄປສູ່ຕະຫຼອດເວລາ
Latvian	Ceļš turpinās bezgalīgi
Lithuanian	Kelias tęsiasi be galo
Luxembourgish	D'Strooss Gitt ëmmer op
Macedonian Cyrillic	Патот продолжува бескрајно
Malayalam	റോഡ് അനന്തമായി തുടരുന്നു
Malaysian	Jalan berjalan tanpa henti
Marathi	रस्ता निरंतर चालू आहे
Mongolian Cyrillic	Зам төгсгөлгүй байна
Nepalese	सडक अनन्त रूपमा जारी छ
Norwegian	Veien fortsetter uendelig
Pashto	سړک په ناببره توګه روانه ده
Persian	جاده بی وقفه ادامه دارد
Polish	Droga trwa bez końca
Portuguese	Estradas sempre avante vão
Punjabi	ਸੜਕ ਨਿਰੰਤਰ ਜਾਰੀ ਹੈ
Romanian	Drumul continuă fără încetare
Russian	Дорога вдаль и вдаль идёт
Scottish Gaelic	Tha an rathad a ’dol air adhart gun chrìch
Serbian	Пут се наставља бесциљно (Cyrillic) Put se nastavlja besciljno (Latin)
Shona	Mugwagwa unoenderera nekusingaperi
Sindhi	روڊ مسلسل لڳاتار جاري آهي
Sinhalese	මාර්ගය අඛණ්ඩව පවතිනවා
Slovak	Cesta pokračuje donekonečna
Slovenian	Cesta se nadaljuje neskončno
Spanish	El Camino Continúa Sin Cesar
Swedish	Vägen fortsätter oavbrutet
Tajik Cyrillic	Роҳ ба таври доимӣ давом мекунад
Tamil	இந்த சாலை முடிவில்லாமல் தொடர்கிறது
Telugu	రహదారి అనంతంగా కొనసాగుతుంది
Thai	ถนนยังคงไม่รู้จบ
Turkish	Yol sonsuz devam ediyor
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Дорога продовжується нескінченно
Uzbek	Йўл узлуксиз давом этмоқда (Cyrillic) Yo'l uzluksiz davom etmoqda (Latin)
Vietnamese	Con đường tiếp tục vô tận
Welsh	Mae'r ffordd yn parhau'n ddiddiwedd
Xhosa	Indlela iyaqhubeka ngokungapheliyo
Yiddish	די וועג גייט ענדלאַסלי

External links

• Text of the song at The Grey Havens
• The Road Goes Ever On sung by Clamavi De Profundis
• "Ever On" by Chance Thomas, ft. David Osmond