Music and the Fictive Dream - Misty Mountains

 Misty Mountains, also known as Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold, is a song performed in the 2012 film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It, like the rest of the music in the film, was composed by Howard Shore. However, the song itself was written by the author of the book, J.R.R. Tolkien, as a poem. As it appears in the movie, the song is an excerpt of this poem, consisting of two stanzas. The film was released on November 28, 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand, which is the country of origin. The book was released in 1937 in England.

 

To give a little background on the song, in case anybody has not seen the movies/read the books, the Misty Mountains are a fictional mountain range in The Hobbit. This mountain range is between the dwarves and their home, which is a single mountain in a different area. The dwarves, in Tolkien's series, are characterized by their greed. These dwarves had collected a lot of gold, which belonged to a dragon. The dragon came and took the gold back, and destroyed the home of the dwarves.

 Setting

The song seems to be in the setting of a traditional folk song. It tells the story of an impactful event in the cultures history, but in this case it also tells the story of what is to come for these dwarfs. Adding to this, it is sung without any instruments, by a couple of voices. This really lends it the feel of a couple of elders in a culture remembering this event as they prepare to attempt to avenge it.

Storytelling

While the song in the movie is just a small excerpt of the original poem, it still manages to tell a bit about what is to come, as well as a bit about what has happened. 

"Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold.

The pines were roaring on the height,
The winds were moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
The trees like torches blazed with light."

The first verse is telling what is to come. The dwarves are about to embark on a long journey, through deep dungeons and caverns that used to be inhabited by their peoples, to try to reclaim the gold that they lost to the dragon. The second verse, by contrast, tells the story of what happened. The pines were roaring with the wind of the dragons wings as it came to take its treasure, burning everything in its path.

Social Commentary

Every Tolkien book is rich with social commentary, and every one of the movies has a great score. However, focusing on just this song, it tells of the perils of greed, through the story of the dwarves. Throughout the movies, we encounter the results of the greed of the dwarves. In the Lord of the Rings movies, we see it in the mines of Moria, where the dwarves got too greedy, dug too deep, and ended up destroying themselves. In the Hobbit movies, we see Thorin more willing to wage war than to give up the treasure. All of that greed can be seen in the subtext of this song, and even clearer in the original poem. The first half of the poem details the great treasure that the dwarves amassed, while the second half shows the consequences for all of the greed. Furthermore, the original poem also expands on the feeling of remembrance by elders of a once-great society, looking back on what they once had.

"Far over the misty mountains cold, To dungeons deep and caverns old. We must away ere break of day, To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, While hammers fell like ringing bells. In places deep, where dark things sleep, In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord, There many a gleaming golden hoard. They shaped and wrought, and light they caught, To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

On silver necklaces they strung, The flowering stars, on crowns they hung. The dragon-fire, in twisted wire, They meshed the light of moon and sun.

Far over the misty mountains cold, To dungeons deep and caverns old. We must away, ere break of day, To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Goblets they carved there for themselves, And harps of gold; where no man delves. There lay they long, and many a song, Was sung unheard by men or elves.

The pines were roaring on the height, The winds were moaning in the night. The fire was red, it flaming spread; The trees like torches blazed with light.

The bells were ringing in the dale, And men looked up with faces pale; Then dragon’s ire more fierce than fire, Laid low their towers and houses frail.

The mountain smoked beneath the moon; The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom. They fled their hall, to dying fall, Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.

Far over the misty mountains grim, To dungeons deep and caverns dim. We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!"

References

Baldwin, Emma. “Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold by J.R.R. Tolkien.” Poem Analysis, 25 Mar. 2023, poemanalysis.com/j-r-r-tolkien/far-over-the-misty-mountain-cold.

Gateway, Tolkien. “Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold - Tolkien Gateway.” Tolkien Gateway, 19 Oct. 2022, tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Far_over_the_misty_mountains_cold.