The Passing of the Elves (Sindarin lyrics with translation) Song is from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I do not own song or picture used. They belong to their owners.
Fun Fact! When the Elves first awoke in Cuivienen, the first thing that their eyes beheld were the stars of heaven. Therefore they love the starlight and revere Elbereth (Varda) above all the Valar. So that is why they sing specifically to her.
Just imagine being an elf for a second - imagine living in a world as an immortal surrounded by beings who vanish in what seems to you but an instant. Knowing that the only fate destined for an elf on Middle Earth is to let go and diminish, all because of Melkor’s corruption on the Vala’s creation. Absolutely heartbreaking but sheer genius concept of Tolkien’s. I feel this music in perfectly encapsulates what this really means.
I'm afraid to die, but better to enjoy everything while it lasts than live and watch everyone/everything perish while you remain trapped as an ageless being for eternity.
it mirrors the Christian sense of sorrow over living in a world that was meant to be beautiful and perfect, but was corrupted through sin. Now we must pass through it, in all its miseries, on our way to our eternal home. Just a guess, but Tolkien's deep Catholicism makes me think this might have inspired the elves' stories.
@@kaylarose1081 Tolkien's Catholic beliefs did indeed inspire a great deal of his Middle-Earth stories. The Marring of Arda, the Elves' story, and the Marring of Men to name some. But it makes sense when you consider that Middle-Earth is actually meant to be our earth only thousands of years ago. The similarities between Tolkien's mythology and the Bible are not coincidence. I think it's pretty cool. But then, I'm a nerd :)
Did you know it's not healthy for the brain to be locked in a closet for 10,000 years? So that might be why you would have trouble composing a song that way. You might consider practicing composing for 10,000 and you might produce something that slightly resembles the quality of this song but I agree, it would be hard to even come close to this beautiful song.
When Sam says: "I don't know why.. It makes me sad." After watching these movies for almost twenty years (since I first saw them in theaters when I was a kid) I've just recently started seeing that as a foreshadowing of Frodo leaving Middle Earth.. Never to return.
I always thought that line was an eyebrow raiser for being unnatural. Don't know why? Who exactly wouldn't find some reason to be a bit sad Elves were going to disappear and never ever return... maybe Sauron? You really don't have a clue why you feel sad, Sam?
@@joemcdermott1213 Maybe because he didn't know any Elves (that was the first time he ever saw them) and they had no real bearing on his life, yet he still felt grief at their departure. Sam wasn't the smartest character in the books but even he could see, though he couldn't put words to it, that the Elves leaving was a mournful thing. I think it was Tolkien's way of expressing how universally sad it was, even to a hobbit gardener.
It's also strongly reflective of the story of the Hebrews exodus from Egypt to a Promised Land. So do the elves have an exodus to depart the world for their own promised land--albeit delayed across a much longer period of time.
@@HolyMith Sam isn't dumb, but he's supposed to be just a hobbit gardener. He has a good head on his shoulders but not the same type of intelligence Frodo has, if you get what I mean. And yeah, Sam always had difficulty putting his emotions into words, which makes him even more charming and likeable tbh.
Shit, reading the Silmarillion and understanding the true woe of the elves just makes this all the more bittersweet and sorrowful. It's sad knowing the Valar warned the Noldor of all they would suffer many long millenia ago, and it is as if they have languished in a very slow purgatory, until the 'weariness' becomes too much to bear and they return to Valinor.
Just remember Howard Shore made the music, but yes Tolkien's language and creation is astonishing. Shore captures it beautifully imho Edit: Genius.com says it was composed by David Donaldson, David Long, Janet Roddick and Steve Roche. Performed by Plan 9. Howard Shore did score for entire films though.
@@TheShamansQuestion many of the lyrics are taken from some of Tolkien’s elvish songs, and those that he wrote in elvish then translated into English for lotr readers.
So many comments - hardly anyone talking about Howard Shore. His scores for these movies were his magnum opus. Give him the respect he deserves. This amazing piece alone defines "ethereal".
@@DysmasTheGoodThiefnope. Elvish is based on a mix of Paganistic Celtic and Welsh culture. No Christianity here🙃. Christianity in Europe lent itself much from their paganistic origins
I have recently read the Silmarillion and listening to this is taking me back. To the valar, the waking of the elves, the horror of the kinslaying, the wars with melkor, the sinking of beleriand. I have so much perspective now. If you love lotr I am genuinely asking you to either read or listen to the Silmarillion. It is astounding.
@@johnt.inscrutable1545ake that Godless nonsense out of here. That has nothing to do with elvish hymns to the valar. Don’t go directing people in what they should be doing.
The Elves are Magical ethereal beings. They are immortal, and as such they must continue to live while everything around them withers and dies, they grow weary and melancholy as they linger in sadness.
@@jandunn169 - Too true. Elves, Fae, Dwarves, and the many magical races were/are tightly bound to the earth, water, fire, and sky and these are things that have always been destined to fade, but yet while they live, with their incredible memories of all that has gone before they cannot but wonder “what might have been?” This is especially true when one individual through pride or other character flaw brings doom to many, because they are loved in spite of that flaw and do the doom becomes as a contagion and whole ages are brought to ruin all for such vanity. Pride, arrogance, greed, lead to aversion, subjugation, and personal over reaching that ultimately leaves one more bit of sadness in the memories of those who live on and in the marks made upon the world. This last brings this sorrow into the global sub-conscious and taints the very light that shines, or maybe it taints the eyes of those left to see and so the world simply looks more bleak by the moment. Or not! Metta, JTI
Nienna in her Western house be crying and harmonising like: Basically this is exactly how I imagine elven and ainulindalë to sound, so beautiful and full of harmony
Elbereth is the Sindarin name for Varda, the Valier (godess) of Light and Stars.The most revered by the Elves since they woke up when she lighted the stars in the sky.
Fun fact, the varda are angels not Gods. Eru is the One God. They are productions of His thought and knew only that part of His mind from which they came, and sang about that. Those songs he then used to create existence. Your paganry doesn’t understand. Tolkien was Christian. You can’t really liken the theology of middle earth to paganism since it’s a monotheistic Christian parallel. Melkor was the fallen Angel who rebelled against God, who Eru uses to His own end for example
@@DysmasTheGoodThief I already know. But thanks for lore vomiting xD and why do you assume I am pagan and not Christian? OR that I didnt know Tolkien was deeply Christian? What kind of fan you think I am not to know this haha. The Valar arent Gods not they are Angels. They are high Spirits. They represent catholic saints or High Angels/Arcangels? (they were 12 too) while the Maiar are Spirits but you could say they are Angels, yeah could be thought us such if you want to but Tolkien never said it although it can be interpreted that way. I said "goddess" just so people understood what I meant.
@@Phoenix_prince_truth I know, I know the lore of Tolkien, I know Eru is supose to represent God with big G..... Ugh... people I said "goddess" so people better understand what the hell is a Valier or what it could be compared too. Religion in middle earth wasnt really monotheistic, as the Elves worshipped Varda almost like a god and revered the Valar almost as gods. So yeah but no. So chill and dont have the necesity to lore vomiting the lore to me, I know it VERY well.
This song is probably the last thing we'll ever hear before it passes into legend. That scene with the "Wood Elves" just shows what we could've seen; the Lamps, the Two Trees, Aman, the Silmarils, maybe even Numenor. But all we have is art, stories and our imaginations to show us what Eä was before mankind became the remaining race to rule the earth.
This song, and may it be are embodiments, much like Tolkien's broader works, of the Welsh word "Hiraeth". A nostalgic longing for a home that is no more, or maybe never was.
It's the LAdy of the HEavens thing which the Bible mentions. Watch out - Israel was hard pressed to keep their relationship with God, when she was ruling through Jezebel. Beautiful indeed… said the old fish about the bait!
The Elves themselves are just so good at resembling a sense of nostalgia so deep and otherwordly, that we as human beings cannot even comprehend the beginning of it. Thus, when they sing, they imbue all of their sorrow and longing for a time long past in it and that's why I too feel somewhat afraid of their singing. It is just so meaningful and ambiguous I believe I could lose myself within it and just decay the same way the Elves themselves do.
I don't really see there being any Celtic mythology in lotr. It's mostly Germanic (Norse and English). Although because Germanic and Celtic mythologies are both Indo-European you will see some close parallels
Varda of the Valar upon realising the firstborn (Elves) would awake in darkness made the stars in the sky to give them light. So the Elves love her more than any of the Valar. Here they sing in praise of her, as they journey to Valinor to be with her and the rest of the Valar
How magical is the fact that it is making some people so sad, as I read the comments down, but at the same the time bringing peace and serenity to others. Guess music does resonate different with different people.
I wonder what Varda thought of this breathtaking hymn (among many other Elvish ones) to her. They're singing about her light in their past, but a life in ever-fading ages. A life they'll have to leave. Arda was their home for so long, it must feel like being reborn.
After reading the Silmarilion, it makes me realize how much it must suck to be an elf. Everyone and everything you love will wither and die before you, and you must languish for centuries until you can depart home to Valinor. Damn.
There is a reason for that... Lord Tolkien, being the linguist that he was, deliberately applied the sound shifts of Welsh to the High Elven language (Quenya) to create the Common Elvish language (Sindarin); while Quenya itself was based upon the Finnish language. So basically what he ended up creating in Sindarin was 'Welshified Finnish'! ;D
@@jasongeorgiou1375 Wonderful.... making a language without vowels sound like a laguage with way too many of them. 🤣 All kidding aside, the languages Tolkien created are truly beautiful in their utter breadth and the sheer detail that encompasses them.
Translation lyrics Snow-white! Snow-white! O lady clear! O queen beyond the Western seas! O light to us that wonder there Amid the world of woven trees O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! Clear are thy eyes and bright is breath Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee In a far land beyond the sea O stars that in the sunless year With shining hand by thee were sown In windy fields now bright and clear We see your silver blossom blown O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees Thy starlight on the Western seas
I literally typed "the song the elves sing about the undying lands" because I wasn't sure what it was called, and this was the first to pop up. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for uploading this beautiful song ❤❤
I've been learning to write in Sindarin, but other than the movies I never get to hear how its pronunciation, I absolutely love this song if nothing more than for learning their syllable structure
Peter Jackson or whoever could not have chosen music better to represent the Elves of Tolkien. Please, I want a whole album, go into trance and put it on repeat for eternity.
pete jackson told in the interviews dvd that he choose the music and instruments of India to represent elves cos India is the most ancient culture of this world, quite quite old than China culture, and elves represent a very very old world quite old that men world, so that way we can hear notes and acords of indian music and chants in this song, in some song and music of the movies also we can hear sitars and other indian instruments
@@rabiyaashraf950 hello Rabiya, well, in the extended edition DVD of The Return of the King he was asked about that by the interviewer and Pete told him about that same as i write above, he told more about it actually, while he talk the interview show some images and filmations of people of India that join the big orchestra of Howard Shore with those super old instruments, is a very interesting interview, in the scene when the fellowship arrive to Lothlorien there are chants and sitars in the complete orchestral music, that is one of the many times when india music and instrumet take part, greetings ;)
"Oh light to us who wander here... In a far land beyond the Sea" In this line of hope mingled with loneliness and woe, I find I'm my closest to understand my naked-jawed brothers.
I learned this song by heart as a teenager, completely forgot about it, and then got smacked in the face when I re-watched the extended editions for the first time in over a decade this week. Sucha beautiful melancholic song.
Enya should make her version of this tune.. It would be beyond beautifull. Allthough this is alleready some of the most beautifull i`ve heard for years....
This song, despite the fact that the lyrics have little to do with it, makes me feel the fatigue and pain that the elves feel when remembering their ancient legends, The Silmarills, the doom of Mandos, the battle of Alqualonde and the Feanor's betrayal of Fingolfin's house in Helcaraxe.
“...and as the Orcs came charging from Mount Doom, the frontline stood tall, nothing will get by them. ‘No shadow of evil shall cross us men! FOR MIDDLE EARTH!!!’”
I am also French, and I never understood why foreigners like our language so much. For me English is much more musical. Obviously, neither could even compare to Sindarin and Quenya
@@RinaDreftscott So interesting to hear that. For me as a Brit, French has a rhythm and flow to it that I think English definitely lacks. (Italian also has this rhythm) When I was learning German at school, my friends and I used to speak German with a French accent because it was interesting to us :D
Even by this time there was only a few thousand left, scattered and full of memory, anguish and hard learned wisdom from their many mistakes and the many tragedies and glories they now reminisce.
Me, being a sucker for languages in general, can really hear that the elven language was inspired by finnish just from the way they pronounce the letter "y". It's really cool if you think about it, just like Tolkien himself intended. Kudos to the choir and, of course, to the master behind the language. I hope to learn it one day!
This song is sang in Sindarin, and Sindarin was built mostly out of just Welsh. Quenya is the one based on Finnish, Latin and Greek. Sindarin has no finnish influence. So you are bit wrong man haha.
Me too. Try these as well if you like: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Zjt5oCmPvPo.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fm4DY_4UeO0.html
Thanks so much for posting! I had always wanted to know what the lyrics meant, and how to actually write it out, since as a Tolkien geek I know how to transcribe from English to Elvish but not how to write or speak the actual Elvish languages. The thing that amazes me most about this song (besides the amazing harmonies, etc) is how it somehow manages to rhyme in both English AND Elvish, and still make sense when translated! And for the record this is EXACTLY the same words that appear in the book. Just goes to show how much work went into making the music for these films, which is I think one of the greatest assets of the trilogy. This scene lasts what? a grand total of about a minute? And that only in the extended edition, not even the theatrical release. But they still went to such great lengths to make it amazing. One of the many reasons I love LOTR. They don't do a lame job just because something doesn't make the final cut.
Sorry for the lack of clarity, I was referring to the actual clip in the movie, which (sadly) only uses part of the piece. Although you are perfectly correct about the real length of the song :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Kzx2KQ7VM5E.html for the scene (51 seconds haha)
I almost bursted down in tears and a wild warm tickeling shattered through my body while listening to this. How in the hell can you disslike something of such pure beauty?!
Is there other music like this? I love the soothing sounds of the elves. I put my headphones on at night and just listen to this song on repeat and fall asleep to it. I need more like this.
I always wished I was an elf. Or any mystical character. Anything but a human. Elves are so cool and BEAUTIFUL yet sad at the same time. That’s what I love about them.
Thank you for posting this. I've just been watching the film again & this piece really gave me shivers as it always does. It's so nice to be able to hear the whole piece, thank you.
Maybe it is the genial fusion of these two concepts demonstrating the conditio humana, that underlining carpet of deep existential meaning that makes Tolkien's epic so extremely fascinating and touching and so far superior compared to any other fantasy novel.
I'm pretty sure this song was composed and performed by Plan 9. They were the temp composers for the trilogy and also wrote the The Misty Mountains Cold for The Hobbit which ended up becoming the main theme for the Hobbit trilogy! Incredibly underrated composers and performers!
The movement of the Elves west is sort of like what historians used to think the Celts did, they went west into Wales, Cornwall or across the sea to Ireland to escape the incoming Anglo Saxons. We know now the Celts adapted to Saxon ways and intermingled
@04nbod You might also say that due to overpopulation, floods, stormy what not the various Ingvaeonic tribes which founded the English ethnic group moved west.. into Britain. Many elves in Tolkien's world even bear Ing's name. Ing was a chief deity to the English and other Germanic ethnic groups. King of the elves (the illustrious dead ancestors), Lord of the dead of barrows, a fertility and death God. But I wouldn't be so bold as to misrepresent Tolkien ofc haha
