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J. R. R. TOLKIEN
reads and sings his
THE HOBBIT
and The Fellowship of the Ring
(Caedmon Records 1975, TC 1477)The following chapter and line information is given with a cautionary word as the information is approximate only when related to The Lord of the Rings as printed. It is to be remembered that this material was recorded some time before the publication of the book and no doubt, Tolkien reworked the material before submitting it to Rayner Unwin. Band 16, Side B, is an unpublished poem apparently originally intended for inclusion in Book Two, Chapter VII, The Mirror of Galadriel. It seems to me that it would have appeared on or near page 378 (cloth, or p. 469, paper).
WARD BOTSFORD (cloth) refers to Houghton Mifflin Company cloth-bound editions In the United States and George Allen &Unwin, Ltd. cloth-bound editions in Great Britain. (paper) refers to Ballantine Books paperback editions In the United States.Liner information: This record is based on a tape recording that J.R.R. Tolkien made when he was staying in my house in Malvern, Worcestershire. It was in August, 1952. For the whole of that summer be had been depressed because THE LORD OF THE RINGS, the book on which be had worked for fourteen years, had been refused by publishers, so that he had almost given up hope of ever seeing it in print. But the fact that they had all returned it made it possible for my wife, Moira, and I to borrow the only complete typescript and to become with our friend, C.S. Lewis, about the first passionately enthusiastic Tolkien fans. There arose the question of how to return it to its author. Since it could not of course be entrusted to the post, I wrote to ask when he would be at home in Oxford for me to deliver it. His reply indicated that be would be quite on his own in the second half of August and perhaps even rather lonely. We therefore invited him to come to Malvern to pick up the typescript and to stay for a few days. It was easy to entertain him by day. He and I tramped the Malvern Hills which he had often seen during his boyhood in Birmingham or from his brother's house on the other side of the Severn River valley. He lived the book as we walked, sometimes comparing parts of the hills with, for instance, the White Mountains of Gondor. We drove to the Black Mountains on the borders of Wales, picked bilberries and climbed through the heather there. We picnicked on bread and cheese and apples, and washed them down with perry, beer or cider. When we saw signs of industrial pollution, he talked of orcs and orcery. At home he helped me to garden. Characteristically what be liked most was to cultivate a very small area, say a square yard, extremely well. To entertain him in the evening I produced a tape recorder (a solid early Ferrograph that is still going strong). He bad never seen one before and said whimsically that he ought to cast out any devil that might be in it by recording a prayer, the Lord's Prayer in Gothic, one of the extinct languages of which he was a master. He was delighted when I played it back to him and asked if he might record some of the poems in THE LORD OF THE RINGS to find out how they sounded to other people. The more he recorded, the more be enjoyed recording and the more his literary self-confidence grew. When he had finished the poems, one of us said: "Record for us the riddle scene from THE HOBBIT," and we sat spellbound for almost half an hour while he did. I then asked him to record what he thought one of the best pieces of prose in THE LORD OF THE RINGS and he recorded part of The Ride of the Rohirrim. "Surely you know that's really good?" I asked after playing it back. "Yes," he said, "it's good. This machine has made me believe in it again, but how am I to get it published?" I thought of what I myself might do in the same difficulty. "Haven't you an old pupil in publishing who might like it for its own sake and therefore be willing to take the risk?" "There's only Rayner Unwin," he replied after a pause. "Then send it to Rayner Unwin personally." And he did. And the result was that even during his lifetime over three million copies were sold. When he got back to Oxford, Tolkien wrote to thank us for having him, a letter in Elvish that is one of my most valued possessions. The whole of the first side of this record is devoted to the author's reading of the Riddle Scene from THE HOBBIT. THE HOBBIT is an example of a family children's story in the oral tradition, invented by Tolkien to read aloud to his own four children and only after it was known to be a success with them written down for the benefit of the rest of the world. Published first in 1937, it has been translated into many languages and achieved immense popularity. The author reads his own work incomparably well. Although it is full of humour he never condescends or adopts that special voice that falsifies much reading for children. The characterization is subtle as well as sure -- thus Gollum is made pathetic as well as villainous. The riddle contest is an idea from folk-lore, with behind it the strength of a long tradition, but it is treated in an entirely fresh and individual way. Although the pace is admirably brisk, the author gives himself time for the imitative sound effects that delight children and grown-ups too. The second side of the record consists of poems and prose from volume 1 of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. They display the inventiveness and imaginative variety characteristic of the work. "One ring to rule them all" is an evocative statement of a basic theme, the corrupting influence of power. Snow-white and the other Elvish poems take us into a world of intense but sorrowful beauty. The most difficult thing in imaginative writing is to produce creatures that are delightful and convincing as well as very good. Tolkien has succeeded. He succeeded too in poems of a quite different sort, in the popular and light- hearted: "Sing hey! for the bath at break of day" and in the amusing and fantastic: "There is an inn...". The side also includes the author singing "Troll sat alone" rather freely set to an old English folk-tune called The Fox and Hens. He no doubt had it in his head when he composed the words, for the two blend admirably. Some of the strength of his work comes from its folk-quality or earthiness. It was in his blood: his brother spent his life tilling the soil in the vale of Evesham, and he himself was happy to garden. GEORGE SAYER J. R. R. Tolkien As Merton Professor of English language and literature for more than a decade, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was recognized as an authority on Old and Middle English. In addition to the popular novels based on his own mythology - THE HOBBIT and THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING series - Tolkien published a number of philological and critical studies. Other Caedmon titles featuring Professor Tolkien performing his own works are POEMS AND SONGS OF MIDDLE EARTH (TC 1231) and THE LORD OF THE RINGS (TC 1478). CREDITS COVER: CONVERSATION WITH SMAUG Original picture by J.R.R. Tolkien
SIDE A THE HOBBIT,Chapter V, Riddles in the Dark
(cloth) p. 82,line 16 to p. 98,line 14
(paper) p. 79, line 7 to p. 93, line 26
"Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum..."29:47 SIDE B THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Part One of THE LORD OF THE RINGS) Band 1: Book One, Chapter II: The Shadow of the Past
(cloth) p. 59, line 27 to p. 60, line 4
(paper) p. 80, line 32 to p. 81, line 17
"'I cannot read the fiery letters...'"0:51 Band 2: Book One, Chapter III: Three is Company
(cloth) p. 82, line 39 to p. 83, line 4
(paper) p. 11O, line 8 to line 15
"The Road goes ever on and on... "0:16 Band 3: Book One, Chapter III: Three is Company
(cloth) p. 86, line 36 to p. 87, line 24
(paper) p. 115, line 8 to line 30 .
"Upon the hearth the fire is red..."1:00 Band 4: Book One, Chapter III: Three is Company
(cloth) p. 88, line 35 to p. 89, line 8
(paper) p. 117, line 16 to line 31
"Snow-white! Snow-white!..."0:39 Band 5: Book One, Chapter V: A Conspiracy Unmasked
(cloth) p. 111, line 21 to line 39
(paper) p. 145, line 12 to line 29
"The voice of Pippin..."0:41 Band 6: Book One, Chapter V: A Conspiracy Unmasked
(cloth) p. 116, line 21 to line 34
(paper) p. 151, line 19 to line 33
"Farewell we call to hearth and hall!"0:28 Band 7: Book One, Chapter VI: The Old Forest
(cloth) p. 130, line 21 to line 34 &p. 132, line 12 to line 19
(paper) p. 168, line 3 to line 16 &p.170, line 6 to line 13
"Hey! Come merry dol!..." and "Hop along, my little friends..."1:02 Band 8: Book One, Chapter IX: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
(cloth) p. 170, line 26 to p.172, line 10
(paper) p. 216, line 35 to p. 218, line 25
"There is an inn..."1:53 Band 9: Book One, Chapter XI: A Knife in the Dark
(cloth) p. 197, line 38 to p.198, line 8
(paper) p. 250, line 21 to line 32
"Gil-galad was an Elven-king."0:25 Band 10: Book One, Chapter XI: A Knife in the Dark
(cloth) p. 203, line 38 to p. 205, line 32
(paper) p. 258, line 1 to p. 260,line 8
"I will tell you the tale of Tinuviel..."3:06 Band 11: Book One, Chapter XII: Flight to the Ford
(cloth) p. 219, line 4 to p. 220, line 22
(paper) p. 276, line 21 to p. 278, line 4
"Standing up, with his hands behind his back..."2:40 Band 12: Book Two, Chapter I: Many Meetings
(cloth) p. 250, line 15 to line 26
(paper) p. 312, line 25 to line 37
"They got up and withdrew..."0:30 Band 13: Book Two, Chapter IV: A Journey in the Dark
(cloth) p. 329, line 32 to p. 330, line 36
(paper) p. 411, line 30 to p. 412, line 36
"The world was young, the mountains green..."1:42 Band 14: Book Two, Chapter VI: Lothlorien
(cloth) p. 354, line 1 to p. 355, line 16
(paper) p. 440, line 26 to p. 442, line 4
"An Elvin-maid there was of old..."1:44 Band 15: Book Two, Chapter VII: The Mirror of Galadriel
(cloth) p. 374, line 35 to p. 375, line 12
(paper) p. 465, line 26 to p. 466, line 12
"When evening in the Shire..."1:00 Band 16: Book Two, Chapter VII: The Mirror of Galadriel (Unpublished poem) 0:24 Band 17: Book Two, Chapter VIII: Farewell to Lórien
(cloth) p. 394, line 1 to line 17
(paper) p. 489, line 3 to line 19
"Ai! laurië lantar..."0:47
first published in THE HOBBIT
DESIGN: N. B. Ward Design Studio
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS #: 75-750493
© Caedmon Records, Inc., 1975
SOURCE: Entire contents of this record including music: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, England.
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Revision: 13 May 2005
Last modified: 13 May 2005