Poetry and song play a significant role in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. Throughout the larger work, including The Two Towers, and Return of the King, these songs and poems play role that not only foretells what events or dangers may occur, but also move the story along and help the reader digest the events and details that have happened or will happen in the story.
As an omen, poetry brings about the story opening. At the start of our tale, the young Hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits what seems to be a benign, gold ring among other possessions his uncle Bilbo has left him when Bilbo decides to disappear and escape on an adventure. At first, everyone around Frodo, including the wizard Gandalf, shows minimal concern about the ring. However, Gandalf knows how Bilbo came to have this ring—a tale described in The Hobbit. Gandalf disappears and comes back to give Frodo warning about the ring.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.(Tolkien,p.49)
This poem, although it has a nice beat and measure to it, has a great foreboding attached to it. It describes the evil that has come to the Shire. It also leads to the flow of the story, now there is conflict that needs to be remedied.
In a much typical fashion of larger works, like Lord of the Rings, some major life changing event occurs to make the story interesting. If Frodo had not inherited Bilbo’s ring, than there would have been no story and the continuance from The Hobbit would have just been for naught. But here, we have more explanation of this seemingly harmless ring that Bilbo conned Gollum out of in The Hobbit. This is the most evil thing in the whole of Middle Earth. This thing has made people turn into absolute monsters, and has costed many lives in the past. But this one poem, rather than telling a history or giving way to making for joy and passing of time, leans toward a more treacherous and sobering events that are to come in the story. However, it is not the only example of foretelling the future by giving a tale of the past.
Other poems throughout Fellowship also give history and move the story along to a conclusion. The Hobbits themselves used poetry and song to tell the tales of Bilbo’s adventure as described in The Hobbit. Samwise Gamgee, Frodo’s friend and Gardener, knew the songs and poetry of old, which play the role in moving the characters along from the Shire to Bree. Sam and Frodo bring in Pippin and the songs and poetry seem almost to motivate them and keep their spirits elevated. One such poem:
Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow,
And many miles be still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by.(Page, 88)
Not only does this poem/song lend toward lightening the story and travelers in the story, but it also tells of what the future may hold. The line “And many miles be still to go,” is a perfect example of foreshadowing that the burden of getting the Ring to Rivendell is not the true end of the tale. This song from the text is supposed to have been an old Hobbits tune, passed down as a little travelling ditty, however it gives the biggest hint at the overall context of the journey.
Poetry and Tom Bombadil
We can’t have a discourse on poetry and song in Fellowship without talking about Tom Bombadil. The character who not only saves the travel weary Frodo and company twice, but also has a funny way of talking, in nonsensical poetry.
Tom Bombadil introduces himself with poetry, “Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!/Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow!/Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!”(page 116). This particular poem, or extension of a much larger group of poems, doesn’t foreshadow or warn of danger, but more than explains the simple, yet funny character of Tom Bombadil. It shows that he is not an evil character, nor is he a character that stays involved in the story. But he is there to give aid to the four travelling Hobbits. He aids them in that he rescues them from the tree and from the Wights. He also proves that he is not interested in the affairs of Middle Earth, and does not give way to the Ring’s evil seduction. In fact, aside from being there in the story to help Frodo and company, Tom Bombadil shows that there was a choice for the Hobbits to stay away from the Ring. Tom’s poetry however, also gives rise to his mannerism and personality. He very much sings his songs, and tells the Hobbits to sing them when they are in need.
A Busy Reader 