We begin the chilling chapter “Fog on the Barrow-downs” on the hobbits’ last morning in the house of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. Soon they must be off again and into the haunted hills beyond; but they should be safe if they just keep to the west side of the barrows and get out of the downs before sunset, so let’s just see how that works out for them. Plus, more about wights than you ever wanted to know, another prophetic dream for Mr. Frodo Baggins, and a pair of incredible The Lord of the Rings–inspired parody songs that deserve better singers.
Thank you to Jordan Ellis Rannells for sponsoring this week’s episode! Visit his website www.learntolisten.net, contact him on Instagram @jrbassist or email him at JordanEllisRannells (at) Gmail (dot) com for more information.
A huge Prancing Pony Podcast thank-you to listener Tracey Stewart, who shared the The Lord of the Rings–themed parody lyrics featured in this episode’s Barliman’s Bag! Please check out Tracey’s website Stewartry (agoldoffish.wordpress.com) for blog posts on Tolkien and other geeky topics, and more parody (er, “filk”) lyrics… including “He Didn’t Mean to Adventure”, to the tune of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Complete lyrics to the songs we sang in this episode are reproduced below, with Tracey’s permission:
“Fly Me to Mount Doom” by Tracey Stewart
(to the tune of “Fly Me to the Moon”, written by Bart Howard)
Fly me to Mount Doom
Save me a long and weary trek
Let me just eject the Ring
From a perch upon your neck
In other words, pick me up
In other words, Gwaihir, fly me
There are Orcs along my path
And Gollum’s lurking ’round somewhere
We could do this in a day or two
If you’ll just take me by air
In other words, please come through
In other words, let’s go fly!
There was no reply.
“Springle-Ring” by Tracey Stewart
(to the tune of “Jingle Bells”, written by James Lord Pierpont*)
The Party Tree is lit
The wine is mighty strong
Bilbo’s giving us a speech
Let’s hope it’s not too long!
You know how he can get:
He’s liable to recite
Or spin a story of his past –
Let’s hope he won’t tonight!
O! Springle-ring, Springle-ring,
Springle-ring with me!
Bilbo’s paused amidst applause
So let’s assume we’re free
To
Springle-ring, Springle-ring,
– Springle-ring with me!
A cracker band! With bells in hand
We’ll dance a round or three.
The fireworks were grand
We’ve not had such in years
That dragon took my breath
But there was no time for tears
For supper then began
And the food it never failed
(I’ll ask Rosie for a dance –
No, I’ll just have another ale)
‘Eleventy-one years
Is far too short a time…’
If he ruins this night,
That would be a crime!
‘As well as you deserve’
Now, I wonder what that means
To one hundred forty-four of us
All gathered in this tent
Brandybucks and Tooks
Burrowses and Chubbs
Boffins and Bolgers
Goodbodies and Grubbs
Brockhouses and Proudfoots
And don’t forget Frodo
The Sackville-Bagginses as well – ?
Now where did Bilbo go??
O! Springle-ring, Springle-ring,
Springle-ring with me!
Bilbo’s paused amidst applause
So let’s assume we’re free
To
Springle-ring, Springle-ring,
– Springle-ring with me!
A cracker band! With bells in hand
We’ll dance a round or three.
*Didn’t know the name of the composer of “Jingle Bells”? Neither did we.
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Recommended Reading:
Carpenter, Humphrey. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (Houghton Mifflin, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (translator) Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (Mariner Books, paperback)
That. Was. Awesome.
Thank you!
We had a lot of awesome to work with. 🙂 Thank you, Tracey!
For the record, the term “filk” (or “filking”) is short for “filk music” (or “filk song”), which is a twist on “folk music.” According to Wikipedia, the word first originated as an accidental typo for “folk music” in the title of an article written in the early 1950s, which turned into an in-joke, and then caught on as a term specifically applied to parody songs dealing with fantasy and science fiction subjects. (I first saw “filk music” in writing sometime in the 1990s; I knew that the phrase came from “folk music,” but until I read the Wikipedia article just now, I never knew exactly where it came from.)
Too funny! Leave it to us sci-fi/fantasy nerds to keep a silly typo alive as a joke for decades. 🙂
Haha you guys got me on this one with the wight’s reply. “HERE!” I nearly fell off my bike…
Anyway, the description of the BW’s eyes in the dark… I just wondered if they were a wighter shade of pale?
I’ll get my coat…
Congrats, Rob – that’s today’s winning pun. 🙂