All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
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Reading through each lines gives me a lot of thoughts..I really admire this piece..shown a lot of wisdom in it..-Lieu
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Full version?
From guest 2hawks (contact)
If I am not mistaken, and I may be in that I don't have a copy of the book in front of me to reference, isn't this poem described as a part of a much larger poem that refers to Aragorn? Or is it that Aragorn metnions it is part of a larger poem. I would like to see the full verison of it. Gah I forget now if it is a part of a greater whole. -
The Best poem in Tolkien
From guest Jerusla (contact)
This poem i as a teenager theach my self (in my origin languge from transaltion (i must say it fits well) ). Yes, Tolkien RULEZ!!! And will rule til the end of literature... I must say, I havent read anything beter than Tolkine (in a field of fiction and in the field of non-scientific genre) PS: Sorry for my strange english, I hope everybody knows what I mean ;) PS: I have to mention that also great poem Fall of the Gil-Galad... -
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Suberb
Suberb write. Floss, rymes. Very strong and full of meaning. Makes one look at ones life and think. See thing through a differnt prespective. Very good Job, well done. -
My Favy
This is by far my favorite Tolkien poem. Except that one about drinking...I forget what it's called...I have a question though: Who gets these comments? does someone receive them, or do they just hang out here on this poem? Hmm... -
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Your comments are accessed in 3 ways.
Anyone who reads the same poem as you will be able to see the comments made by others and it might help them gain an insight into the poem.
anyone who logs into the Oldpoetry site and goes to the bottom left of the front page will be able to check on the recently made comments and see what other people are reading.
Also the team can keep an eye on things to answer questions such as yours that haven't been put through as questions in the usual way.
Enjoy reading
Jim
Oldpoetry Research Team
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I ADORE this poem! It is one of my all time favorites!! I was very pleased when they used this poem in the Lord of the Rings movie!!
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I am a big fan of this poem. If you notice the poem acctually pays referance to some of the races of middle earth.
All that is gold does not glitter- Dwarves
Not all those who wander are lost- Wizards ( as they often have the tendancy to wonder)
The old that is strong does not wither- The Elves as they are immortal
Deep roots are not reached by the frost- The Ents
What a wonderful piece of poetry. I also agree with what J.R.R.Tolkien said, the English language is a literary disaster because it got too 'Frenchyfied'
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I love this poem! Its was in the Return of the King Special Edition but I didnt know it was actually by tolkien...maybe i should brush up on my reading...TOLKIEN RULES!!!!!!!!!!!
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this is simply in genius. Tolkien always knew how to put the word together. I love to read his work and maybe even be as good as him some day.
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Tolkien is simply a genius...Tolkien Rulzzz
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There's not much I can say in the face of such wisdom, but to you others, do not speak about him as though he can't feel us. We can still feel him, can't we, through his books? I am going to take some of my books to him when I have them published, and read some to him.
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This is one of my favorites of his poems, and it really reminds me of so many lovely stories that I have heard during my years of studying fairytales and legends. An absolutely marvelous poem that has no comparison among nost modern poetry that I have seen.
~Amanda -
Ahhh Tolkiens my hero. Greatest author ever to walk the Earth! This poem is probably my favorite by him even though the song of Nimradel is a close second.
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J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my inspirations, and reasons I started writing. Out of all of his writings, this poem is one of my favorite. The line "All that is gold does not glitter." has stuck with me ever since I first read the Lord of the Rings stories.
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He is an amazing writer! I personally have never read his books. A couple chapters, but not much. This is so beautiful though! I have seen the movies, and can understand it quite beautifully!
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I really like this poem it is full of wisdom. The flow was excellent as was the rhyming of the whole piece.
The very first line is the same as the adage that say "Not all tha glitters is gold" It simply means that judging something or someone by the surface or appearnace will not give you the true picture of what the things' real worth is. It is always better to know somone by spending time with them than to make assumptions of what they might be or be like, don't bother chasing after shadows. The second line is the same meaning with the first one judging by outward appearance their wandering might be for quest rather than being lost.
Thge third line just means that strenght is survival, having strenght to overcome obstacles that come running against you is the enduring power of survival. Having wisdom and strenght at old age is suppose to mean that they will stand the test of time, they will stand and talk with their head held high.
Having a firm foundation means that you will not be easily shaking, i think it's also like saying that blood is thicker than water, being from a strong background, means that theyt shopuld have a strong resolve to overcome challenges like those before them.
The fifth line is also talking about not judging from appearnaces, is like you would expect a fire to light from thick logs and sticks but the opposite is that it also light from ashes. Which means that those that are down will rise again to be more powerful than they were before like from grass to grace.
Sixth line is similar to the fifth line above. It might lok dim it will become very bright and overwhelming.
Bonds friendship and families that were broken apart shall be reunited, become one again, becaus the sword was broken in two piece, it will be mended to become one again.
He has gone true challanges and faced many obstacles, and has paased and come out more powerful than he was before, and the crown that was lost which made him, crownless shall be restore and he will arise with crown , the sign of authority one more.
Because someone does not meet what we think they should be or that they are not what they should have been does not mean that thye will not be that still, it is only a matter of time.
You should not disrespect or disgrace people because you are better than they are today because tomorrow is ahead and you don't know what they will become or who they are even now, could be somone of authority or power but in low key. -
This an awesome piece of work, I really liked the line that said:All that wander are not lost.
It's true, because I wander all the time and I'm not lost! lol.
Chelsea -
This is one of my favourite poems, it is so short but it says so much, it can't be more completed. I love it. Good job JRR Tolkien!
~Lana
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Excellent!!! I am a fan of the LOTR. Youre a great writer. Well done. This is an excellent piece. I love your style.
BRAVO!!!
Lady anairO
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so beautiufl. tolkin really has a way with words! i just discovered old poetry and am glad i did. it is interesting to read poems about a story that is so well known.
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I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of lines three and four. You say that they refer to Aragorn's physical age, but to me they seem to refer to his lineage. His line is ancient, from the time of Isildur, yet the Heirs are atill strong and worthy. This also covers the line about 'deep roots'.
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I've always thought that the lines of this were pretty clear - not really needing any explanation.
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Hum... if you have read (or watched, though it hasn't got the same effect) The Lord Of The Rings, this is given as Gandalf's description of Aragorn... well, actually, it IS the description of Aragorn, but the one who writes these words is no other than Gandalf (in a letter that's given to Frodo at The Prancing Pony, in order that he KNOWS that Aragorn is who he is, and he's not being mislead). So, actually, all there is to understand is Aragorn's character, who he is, his origins, etc. I'll try to explain it, though I'm no teacher or master of english language (or any other, not even spanish that's my mother-tongue).
1) All that is gold does not glitter
This one is a really used quote, you must have realysed. But in this case, it is describing Aragorn's appearences... the fact that from the outside he's just a wanderer, and actually he's no other but the heir of Isildur himself. So, appearing not more than a wanderer, he hides his lineage.
2) Not all those who wander are lost
Well, as I have just explained, Aragorn's but a wanderer to everybody, and actually that is all that he has been doing after he left Rivendell (where he was raised). He wanders, but he knows where he's going. This one was an easy one
3) The old that is strong does not wither
If I get straight to the point: age doesn't affect strong people. In the case of Aragorn... let's say he's no young lad when we get to meet him in the Prancing Poney, but yet he's always so great... his fighting skills, between many other things he does, are quite amazing, and let's face it: life has given him some "age wisdom" if you know what I mean. But wait! Aragorn's strong enough and years do not easily affect him
4)Deep roots are not reached by the frost
More or less the same meaning than the last line, though less explicit.
Well, now that I get to this part, I'd like to say that this poem could be divided into two parts... the first 4 lines explaining what Aragorn looks like and who he is NOW, at the moment we're reading the poem. While the next 4 lines say what Aragorn will become, what's meant to be... let it be called his destiny or whatever you may call it. The second part is summed up with the last line The crownless again shall be king. For this, you should read a little about what's been of Aragorn's family since the last king of Gondor. If you want me to make it easier for you, I can tell you a little about what has been of Aragorn (not of his family because it's way too much). He had been raised by elves, at Elrond's house, and he's always been like a son to him, and his sons have been like Aragorn's brothers. But when Aragorn meets Arwen (daughter of Elrond, but she wasn't living with him), he immediatly falls in love. In fact, when he saw her, he thought that he had encountered the same Luthien Tinuviel (the first elf woman who had fallen in love with a Man). And when Elrond realized of this, he told him that he wouldn't marry Arwen unless he became king of Gondor. So, Aragorn left Rivendell and went wandering. Before the Quest for the Ring he met Arwen by chance in Lorien but that has no extremely big importance as to explain here. So, Aragorn will be King of Gondor, which is summed up with the last line.
Hope you understood more or less what this is about. Sorry if I made some mistake, hope it's been of some use at least.
Maru
Edited on Sep 07, 2:17 p.m. because ''. -
This is a great poem, I really like it. The words are woven beautifully! This is really cool!
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Erika ~~~~~
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I remember this one fonderly. I was reading his book for this time, and this one really stood out to me.
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Cool!
Wow! This is such a great poem! This is one of my fave lines in the ROTK Movie. Arwen was the one who delivered this line. Great! -
I love this poem, even when you take it away from the context of the story, it is beautiful.
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This is my favourite JRR Tolkien's poem!!! It speaks about Aragorn -and he is my fav. character!!!!
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