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One Ring
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"Ring-bearer" and "The One Ring" redirect here. For the attendant in a wedding ceremony, see Page boy (wedding attendant). For the role-playing game, see The One Ring Roleplaying Game.
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The One Ring
Artist's unofficial representation of the One Ring
Plot element from the Lord of the Rings franchise
First appearance
The Hobbit (1937)
Created by
J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre
Fantasy
In-story information
Type
Magical ring
Function
Invisibility
Power augmentation
Will domination
Control over other Rings of Power
Specific traits and abilities
Plain gold ring; glowing inscription appears when ring is placed in flames
Affiliation
Sauron
Isildur
Déagol
Sméagol / Gollum
Bilbo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Samwise Gamgee
Celebrimbor
The One Ring is an artefact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit (1937), as a magic ring of invisibility. In the sequel, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien ascribes to the Ring a darker character, with malevolent power going far beyond conferring invisibility: it was created by Sauron the Dark Lord as part of his design to win domination over Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings concerns the quest to destroy the Ring to keep Sauron from fulfilling his design.
Contents
[hide]
1 Literature
1.1 Description
1.2 Appearance
1.2.1 Inscription
1.3 Ring-bearers
1.4 Internal history
1.5 Powers
1.6 Fate of the Ring-bearers
2 Symbolism
3 Adaptations
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
Literature[edit]
In The Lord of the Rings and the posthumously published The Silmarillion, Tolkien provides a detailed internal development from the forging of the Ring to its destruction. In the fictional context of Middle-earth, these events take place during several thousand years in the Second and Third Age of Arda.
Description[edit]
The One Ring was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron during the Second Age to gain dominion over the free peoples of Middle-earth. In disguise as Annatar, or "Lord of Gifts", he aided the Elven smiths of Eregion and their leader Celebrimbor in the making of the Rings of Power. He then forged the One Ring himself in the fires of Mount Doom.[1]
Sauron intended it to be the most powerful of all Rings, able to rule and control those who wore the others. Since the other Rings were themselves powerful, Sauron was obliged to place much of his own power into the One to achieve his purpose.[2]
Creating the Ring simultaneously strengthened and weakened Sauron's power. On the one hand, as long as Sauron had the Ring, he could control the power of all the other Rings, and thus he was significantly more powerful after its creation than before;[3] and putting such a great portion of his own power into the Ring ensured Sauron's continued existence so long as the Ring existed. On the other hand, by binding his power within the Ring, Sauron became dependent on it—without it, his power was significantly diminished.[1][3]
Appearance[edit]
The Ring seemed to be made simply of gold, but it was impervious to damage. It could be destroyed only by throwing it into the pit of the volcanic Mount Doom where it was originally forged. Unlike other rings, the One Ring was not susceptible to dragon fire.[4] Like some lesser rings forged by the Elves as "essays in the craft"—but unlike the other Rings of Power—the One Ring bore no gem. Its identity could be determined by a little-known but simple test: when placed in a fire, it displayed a fiery Tengwar inscription in the Black Speech of Mordor, with two lines from a rhyme of lore describing the Rings:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their 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.
The lines inscribed on the Ring (in boldface above) were pronounced by Sauron when he forged the Ring. The Elven smiths heard him chanting them, and thereupon became aware of his purpose and took off their own Rings to foil his plan.
A person wearing the Ring would enter a shadowy world revealing the physical world from a different aspect, from which physical objects were harder to see. The wearer was mostly invisible to ordinary beings, such as Men, but highly visible to the Nazgûl. The Ring dimmed the wearer's sight, while at the same time sharpening the other senses.
The enigmatic Tom Bombadil appeared to be unaffected by the Ring and to have some power over it; when he wore the Ring, it did not make him invisible, and Frodo could not become invisible to him by wearing the Ring. Also, Tom played with the Ring like a conjurer borrowing someone's watch for a trick, seemingly making it disappear and reappear.
The Ring slowly but inevitably corrupted its bearer, regardless of the bearer's initial intent. For this reason the Wise, including Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel, refused to wield it themselves, but determined instead that it should be destroyed. The corrupting power of the ring was apparently stronger on individuals more inclined to evil and selfishness: it took almost immediate hold of the greedy Sméagol as soon as he saw it, and corrupted Boromir after a few months of near proximity, while its effects were only starting to be seen in the well-meaning Bilbo after his sixty years' possession.
The Ring had the ability to change size. As well as adapting to fingers of varying size, from Sauron's to Frodo's, it sometimes suddenly expanded to escape from its wearer.[5]
Inscription[edit]
The words of the ring-inscription are in Black Speech, a language devised by Sauron and used in the land of Mordor. The inscription reflects the One Ring's power to control the other Rings of Power. The writing uses Elvish letters (tengwar), in a mode (i.e. orthography) adapted to the Black Speech.
Normally the One Ring appeared perfectly plain and featureless, but when heated its inscription appeared in fiery letters. A drawing of the inscription and a translation provided by Gandalf appears in Book I, Chapter 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past".
Gandalf speaks the words in Black Speech in Book II, Chapter 2, "The Council of Elrond":
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
Translated, the words mean:
One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
When Isildur took the Ring from Sauron's hand, it was burning hot, so the letters were legible. Isildur was able to transcribe the inscription before it faded as the Ring cooled. This transcription survived in a document Isildur left in Gondor before marching north to the Gladden Fields, where he was killed and the Ring lost.
Gandalf learned of the Ring's inscription when he read Isildur's account. When Gandalf subsequently heated the ring that Bilbo Baggins had left to Frodo, the inscription reappeared. The wizard then had no doubt that Frodo's ring was the One Ring. When Gandalf recited the inscription in Black Speech at the Council of Elrond, everyone trembled:
The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears.
The first Ballantine paperback edition of The Fellowship of the Ring printed the inscription upside-down. Some recent editions[6] accidentally omit the first half of the translation in Book I, Chapter 2. This error was corrected in the 50th Anniversary edition.
Ring-bearers[edit]
The term Ring-bearer is used in The Lord of the Rings to describe a person who has possessed the One Ring. The term is also used to refer to bearers of other Rings of Power.
In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins was appointed Ring-bearer by the Council of Elrond in Rivendell. His task was to carry the One Ring from Rivendell to the Crack of Doom in Mordor and to destroy it before Sauron or his servants could recover it. During this journey, Frodo's companion Samwise Gamgee also carried the ring briefly while Frodo was held captive in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Near the onset of this journey the Ring was handled also by Tom Bombadil, upon whom the Ring had no apparent effect, and by Gandalf, who cast it into Frodo's fireplace to verify that it was the One Ring.
Frodo inherited the Ring from his uncle Bilbo Baggins. In Tolkien's earlier novel, The Hobbit, Bilbo found the Ring in the caverns beneath the Misty Mountains. It had been lost in the caverns by Gollum, who used the invisibility it conferred to hunt orcs to eat. Gollum, a hobbit previously known as Sméagol, had kept the Ring for hundreds of years. He had murdered his friend Déagol to get the Ring shortly after Déagol found it in the river Anduin. Many centuries earlier the Ring had betrayed Isildur and fallen from his finger into the Anduin as he was eluding orcs—who killed him when he became visible. Isildur in turn had cut the Ring from the hand of Sauron, who had made the Ring and let much of his power flow into it. Sauron was the Ring's true master, and the only being who could bend it completely to his will.
Though Déagol and Gandalf had handled the Ring, the only individuals ever to wear it were Sauron, Isildur, Sméagol/Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, Tom Bombadil, and Samwise. None but Bilbo, Frodo, and Samwise are actually called "Ring-bearers" in any of Tolkien's works. As Ring-bearers, they were granted passage to the Undying Lands, though Sam lived in the Shire for many years after the departure of Bilbo and Frodo before making the journey himself.
Internal history[edit]
Further information: Timeline of Arda
After its original forging (about S.A. 1600) Sauron waged the War of the Elves and Sauron against the Elves and all who opposed him. Sauron invaded and destroyed Eregion, and killed Celebrimbor, the maker of the three rings of the Elves. However, King Tar-Minastir of Númenor sent a great fleet to Middle-earth, and with this aid Gil-galad destroyed Sauron's army and forced Sauron to return to Mordor.
In S.A. 3261, Ar-Pharazôn, the last and most powerful king of Númenor, landed at Umbar at the head of an immense army to do battle with Sauron. The sheer size and might of the Númenórean army was enough to force Sauron's armies to flee. Sauron surrendered to Ar-Pharazôn and was taken back to Númenor as a prisoner. Tolkien, in a letter written in 1958 (#211) wrote that the surrender was both "voluntary and cunning" so he could gain access to Númenor. Sauron was able to use the Númenóreans' fear of death as a way to turn them against the Valar, and manipulate them into worshipping his master, Morgoth, and performing human sacrifice.
Although Sauron's body was destroyed in the Fall of Númenor, his spirit was able to travel back to Middle-earth and wield the One Ring in his renewed war against the Last Alliance of Elves and Men between S.A. 3429 and 3441. Tolkien emphasized that Sauron used his ring in Númenor to gain complete control over its people; and while Sauron's body perished in the Fall, the Ring somehow made it back to Middle-earth. Tolkien wrote, "I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended." (letter #211).
Sauron was killed again by Gil-galad and Elendil at the end of the Last Alliance. The Ring was cut from Sauron's hand by Elendil's son, Isildur, on the slopes of Mount Doom. Though counselled to destroy the Ring, he was swayed by its power and kept it safe instead, "as weregild for my father, and my brother". A few years later, Isildur was ambushed by orcs by the River Anduin near the Gladden Fields; he put on the Ring to escape, but it slipped from his finger as he swam across the river, and, suddenly visible, he was killed by the orcs. Since the Ring indirectly caused Isildur's death, it was known in Gondorian lore as "Isildur's Bane".
The Ring remained hidden on the river bed for almost two and a half millennia, until it was discovered on a fishing trip by a Stoor hobbit named Déagol. His friend and relative Sméagol, who had gone fishing with him, was immediately ensnared by the Ring's power and demanded that Déagol give it to him as a "birthday present"; when Déagol refused, Sméagol strangled him and took it for himself. The Ring corrupted his body and mind, turning him into the creature known as Gollum. The Ring, which Sauron had endowed with a will of its own, manipulated Gollum into hiding in a cave under the Misty Mountains near Mirkwood, where Sauron was beginning to resurface. There Gollum remained for nearly 500 years, until the Ring tired of him and fell off his finger as he was hunting an orc.
As is told in The Hobbit, Bilbo found the Ring shortly afterward while lost in the tunnels near Gollum's lair. When The Hobbit was written, Tolkien had not yet conceived of the Ring's sinister history. Thus, in the first edition of The Hobbit, Gollum offers to surrender the Ring to Bilbo as a reward for winning the Riddle Game. When Tolkien revised the nature of the Ring for The Lord of the Rings, he realized that the Ring's grip on Gollum would never permit him to give it up willingly. Tolkien therefore revised the second edition of The Hobbit: after losing the Riddle Game to Bilbo, Gollum went to get his "Precious" (as he always called it) so he could kill and eat Bilbo, but flew into a rage when he found the Ring missing. Deducing from Bilbo's last question—"What have I got in my pocket?"—that Bilbo had found the Ring, Gollum chased him through the caves, not realizing that the hobbit had discovered the Ring's powers of invisibility and was following him to the cave's exit. Bilbo escaped Gollum and the goblins by remaining invisible, but when he rejoined Gandalf and the dwarves he was travelling with, he decided not to tell them that the Ring had made him invisible. In fact he told them a story that closely followed the first edition of The Hobbit: that Gollum had given him the Ring and showed him the way out. Gandalf was not convinced and later forced the real story from Bilbo; he was thus immediately suspicious of the Ring.
Gollum eventually left the Misty Mountains to track down and reclaim the Ring. He wandered for decades, and was drawn to Mordor, where he was captured by Sauron's forces. He was interrogated by Sauron himself, who learned that the Ring had been found and was currently held by one "Baggins" in the land of "Shire".
In T.A. 3001, the Ring was beginning to strain Bilbo, leaving him feeling "stretched-out and thin", and so he decided to leave the Shire, intending to pass the Ring to his adopted heir Frodo Baggins. He briefly gave in to the Ring's power, even calling it "my precious"; alarmed, Gandalf spoke harshly to his old friend to persuade him to give it up, which Bilbo eventually did, becoming the first Ringbearer to surrender it willingly.
By this time Sauron had regained much of his power, and the Dark Tower in Mordor had been rebuilt. Gollum, released from Mordor, was captured by Gandalf and Aragorn, and from him Gandalf learned that Sauron now knew where to find the Ring. To prevent Sauron from reclaiming his Ring, Frodo and eight other companions set out from Rivendell for Mordor in an attempt to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. During the quest, Frodo gradually became more and more susceptible to the Ring's power, and feared that it was going to corrupt him. When he and his faithful companion Samwise Gamgee discovered Gollum on their trail and "tamed" him into guiding them to Mordor, Frodo began to feel a strange bond with the wretched, treacherous creature, while Gollum warmed to Frodo's kindness and made at least some effort to keep his promise. Gollum eventually gave in to the Ring's temptation, however, and betrayed them to the spider Shelob. Believing Frodo to be dead, Sam bore the Ring himself for a short time and experienced the temptation it induced; he wore it briefly twice, but never succumbed to it.
Sam rescued Frodo from a band of orcs at the Tower of Cirith Ungol. The hobbits, followed by Gollum, eventually arrived at Mount Doom, where Frodo was overcome by the Ring's power and claimed it for himself. At that moment, however, Gollum attacked him and bit off his finger, taking back the Ring. Gollum was too close to the edge: as he gloated over his prize he fell into the fires of Mount Doom, taking the Ring with him, thus destroying it and Sauron's power.
Powers[edit]
The Ring's primary power was control of the other Rings of Power and domination of the wills of their users.[7] The Ring also conferred power to dominate the wills of other beings whether they were wearing Rings or not—but only in proportion to the user's native capacity. In the same way, it amplified any inherent power its owner possessed.[7]
A mortal wearing the Ring became effectively invisible except to those able to perceive the non-physical world, with only a thin, shaky shadow discernible in the brightest sunlight.[7] The Ring would also extend the life of a mortal possessor indefinitely by preventing natural aging. Gandalf explained that it does not "grant new life", but that the possessor merely "continues" until life becomes unbearably wearisome. However, the Ring could not protect its bearer from destruction; Gollum perished in the Crack of Doom while in possession of the Ring, and even Sauron himself could not preserve his body from destruction during the downfall of Númenor. Likewise, the Ring could not protect its bearer from physical harm; Frodo was seriously injured by the Witch-king on Weathertop, and lost a finger when Gollum bit it off—on both occasions while wearing the Ring. Sauron himself suffered the death of his physical body at the hands of Gil-galad and Elendil while wearing the Ring. Like the Nine Rings, the One Ring could physically corrupt mortals who wear it for extended periods of time, eventually transforming them into wraiths. Hobbits were more resistant to this process than Men: Gollum, who possessed the ring for five-hundred years did not become wraith-like because he did not wear the ring often after taking it to the tunnels of the Misty Mountains.[8]
The Ring might also have given its wielder the ability to read minds, as Galadriel suggested to Frodo when he wondered why he could not read the thoughts of others as she did.
Within the land of Mordor where it was forged, the Ring's power increased so significantly that even without wearing it the bearer could draw upon it, and could acquire an aura of terrible power. When Sam encountered an orc in the Tower of Cirith Ungol while holding the Ring, he appeared to the orc as a powerful warrior cloaked in shadow "[holding] some nameless menace of power and doom." The orc was so terrified that it fled. Similarly at Mount Doom, when Frodo and Sam were attacked by Gollum, Frodo grabbed the Ring and appeared as "a figure robed in white... [that] held a wheel of fire." Frodo told Gollum "in a commanding voice" that "If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom," a statement fulfilled when Gollum fell into Mount Doom with the Ring. Although the Ring was certainly invoked with this statement, it is unclear whether Frodo was prophesying (Frodo had previously seen less sinister visions while in possession of the Ring), or if Frodo was actively laying a curse upon Gollum.
As the Ring contained a large part of Sauron's power, it was endowed with a malevolent sentience of sorts. While separated from Sauron, the Ring would strive to return to him by manipulating its bearer to claim ownership of it, or by abandoning the bearer at an opportune moment.[9] For example, it slipped from Isildur's finger during the ambush at Gladden Fields; moments later he was killed by orcs, leaving the Ring's whereabouts unknown to Sauron's enemies. It also slipped off Gollum's finger when the time was right for it to be brought back into the world at large. Warned by Bilbo of the Ring's tendency to slip off, Frodo carried the Ring on a chain.
To master all of the Ring's capabilities, a Ring wielder would need a disciplined and well-trained mind, a strong will, and great native power. Those with weaker minds, such as Hobbits and lesser Men, would gain little benefit from the Ring, let alone realize its full potential. Even for someone with the necessary strength, it would have taken time to master the Ring's power to the point where he was strong enough to overthrow Sauron.[9] The prospect of mastery is the main appeal that the Ring holds for those who come in contact with it. The Ring appears as a symbol of hope, offering the power to defeat Sauron and bring peace to the world. Yet in the end, its inherent malevolence would twist its bearer into another Dark Lord as evil as Sauron, regardless of one's intentions at the outset.
Despite its power, the Ring did not render its bearer omnipotent. Three times Sauron suffered military defeat while bearing the Ring, first by Gil-galad in the War of Sauron and the Elves, again by Ar-Pharazôn when Númenórean power so overawed his armies that they deserted him, and again at the end of the Second Age with his personal defeat by Gil-galad and Elendil. Tolkien indicates, however, that such a defeat would not have been possible in the waning years of the Third Age, when the strength of the free peoples was greatly diminished. There were no remaining heroes of the stature of Gil-galad, Elendil, or Isildur; the strength of the Elves was fading and they were departing to the Blessed Realm; the Dwarves had been driven out of Moria and would have been unwilling to concentrate their strength in any event; and the Númenórean kingdoms had either declined or been destroyed, and had few allies.
Fate of the Ring-bearers[edit]
Of the several bearers of the One Ring, three were still alive following the Ring's destruction, the hobbits Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and Samwise Gamgee. Bilbo, having borne the Ring longest of the three, had reached a very advanced age for a hobbit. Frodo suffered both physical and psychological scars from his strenuous quest to destroy the Ring. Samwise, having only briefly kept the Ring, was affected the least and simply carried on a normal life following the Ring's destruction.
In consideration of the trials the Ring-bearers had endured, special dispensation was granted them by the Valar to travel to the Undying Lands, where it was hoped they could find rest and healing. At the close of The Return of the King, Bilbo and Frodo embark for the voyage to the West along with Galadriel, Elrond, and many of their folk, as well as Gandalf. Near the end of his life, Samwise is also said to have been taken to the Undying Lands, after living in the Shire for many years and raising a large family.
Tolkien emphasized that the restorative sojourn of the Ring-bearers in the Undying Lands would not have been permanent. As mortals, subject to the Gift of Men, they would eventually die and leave the world of Eä.[10]
Symbolism[edit]
Tolkien wrote the following about the idea behind the One Ring: "I should say that it was a mythical way of representing the truth that potency (or perhaps potentiality) if it is to be exercised, and produce results, has to be externalized and so as it were passes, to a greater or lesser degree, out of one's direct control." (Letter #211, 1958).
Tolkien always strongly held that The Lord of the Rings was not allegorical, particularly in reference to political events of his time such as World War II or the Cold War. At the same time he conceded "applicability" as being within the "freedom" of the reader,[11] and indeed many people have been inclined to view the One Ring as a symbol or metaphor. The notion of a power too great for humans to safely possess is an evocative one, and already in the 1930s there were technologies available to suggest the idea. By the time the work was published, though not when most of it was written, the existence of nuclear power and nuclear weapons were common knowledge, and the Ring was often taken as symbolic of them.[12] The effect of the Ring and its physical and spiritual after-effects on Bilbo and Frodo are obsessions that have been compared with drug addiction; actor Andy Serkis who played Gollum in the film trilogy cited drug addiction as an inspiration for his performance.[13]
Parallels have been drawn between the literary device of Tolkien's Cursed Ring and the titular ring in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.[14] Tolkien dismissed critics' direct comparisons to Wagner, telling his publisher, "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."[15] According to Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien, the author held Wagner's interpretation of the relevant Germanic myths in contempt.[16] In the contrary sense, some critics hold that Tolkien's work borrows so liberally from Wagner that Tolkien's work exists in the shadow of Wagner's.[14] Others, such as Tom Shippey[17] and Gloriana St. Clair,[18] attribute the resemblances to the fact that Tolkien and Wagner have created homologue works based in the same sources. However, Shippey and other researchers have written on an intermediary position, stating that both the authors, indeed, used the same source materials but that Tolkien was, in fact, indebted to some of the original developments, insights and artistic uses made upon those sources that first appeared in Wagner, and sought to improve upon them.[19][20]
Adaptations[edit]
The One Ring in Peter Jackson's films.
In the 1981 BBC Radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, the Nazgûl chant the Ring-inscription; it is also recited by them in part during Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, specifically during the film The Battle of the Five Armies.
In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the wearer of the Ring is always portrayed as moving through a shadowy realm where everything is distorted. In the book, neither Bilbo Baggins nor Frodo Baggins ever mentioned anything about this while using the Ring, but when Sam puts on the Ring at the end of The Two Towers he does experience something similar to this. Sam never wore the Ring on screen in Jackson's films. The actual Ring for the movies was designed and created by Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmith in Nelson, New Zealand, and was based on a simple wedding ring.
See also[edit]
Middle-earth portal
Ring of Gyges
Ring of the Nibelung
Notes[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), "The Shadow of the Past", ISBN 0-395-08254-4
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Silmarillion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", p. 287–288, ISBN 0-395-25730-1
^ Jump up to: a b Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, "Letter 131", p. 153, ISBN 0-395-31555-7
Jump up ^ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, "The Shadow of the Past", p. 61 (Houghton Mifflin, 50th Anniversary Edition, Boston & New York, 2004).
Jump up ^ J R R Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1968. ISBN 0-04-823087-1. Page 60.
Jump up ^ For example, The Fellowship of the Ring, ISBN 0-618-00222-7, from the Houghton-Mifflin boxed paperback set of 1999.
^ Jump up to: a b c Carpenter 1981, #131 pg 152
Jump up ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. p. 57.
^ Jump up to: a b Carpenter 1981, #246 pg 332
Jump up ^ Letters, Number 246, p. 328.
Jump up ^ Carpenter 1981, #203
Jump up ^ Carpenter 1981, #226
Jump up ^ "Andy Serkis BBC interview". BBC News. March 21, 2003. Retrieved January 6, 2010
^ Jump up to: a b Alex Ross, "The Ring and the Rings> Wagner vs Tolkien", The New Yorker, December 22, 2003
Jump up ^ Carpenter 1981, #229
Jump up ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (1977), Tolkien: A Biography, New York: Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-04-928037-6
Jump up ^ Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth, page 296
Jump up ^ "CMU Libraries: Book: Tolkien's Cauldron". Shelf1.library.cmu.edu. 2001-10-11. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
Jump up ^ "Project MUSE - Tolkien Studies - Roots and Branches: Selected Papers on Tolkien (review)". Muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
Jump up ^ Roots and Branches
References[edit]
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-31555-7
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Joseph N. Welch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Joseph N. Welch
Welch in 1960
Born
Joseph Nye Welch
(1890-10-22)October 22, 1890
Primghar, Iowa, US
Died
October 6, 1960(1960-10-06) (aged 69)
Cape Cod Hospital,
Hyannis, Massachusetts, US
Education
Grinnell College (1914)
Harvard Law School (1917)
Occupation
Lawyer
Known for
Army–McCarthy hearings
Spouse(s)
Judith Lyndon (c. 1890–1956)
Agnes Rodgers Brown
Joseph Nye Welch (October 22, 1890 – October 6, 1960) was an American lawyer who served as the chief counsel for the United States Army while it was under investigation for Communist activities by Senator Joseph McCarthy's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, an investigation known as the Army–McCarthy hearings. His confrontation with McCarthy during the hearings, in which he famously asked McCarthy "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" is seen as a turning point in the history of McCarthyism.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Army–McCarthy hearings
2.2 Acting
3 Personal life
4 Later references
5 Filmography
6 References
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Welch was born in Primghar, Iowa, on October 22, 1890, the seventh and youngest child of English immigrants Martha (Thyer) and William Welch.[1][2] He attended Grinnell College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1914, then attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 1917, magna cum laude, with the second highest grade point average in his graduating class.[1] Welch married Judith Lyndon on September 20, 1917. They had two sons, Joe and Lyndon.[3] He enlisted in the United States Army for World War I.[4] After joining as a private in August 1918, he applied for a commission.[5] Welch was attending officer training school at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky when the Armistice took place.[5] His services no longer required, Welch was discharged from the Army on November 27, 1918.[5]
Career[edit]
Beginning in 1923, Welch was a partner at Hale and Dorr, a Boston law firm, and lived in nearby Walpole, Massachusetts.
Army–McCarthy hearings[edit]
On June 9, 1954, the 30th day of the Army–McCarthy hearings, Welch challenged Roy Cohn to provide U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. with McCarthy's list of 130 Communists or subversives in defense plants "before sundown". McCarthy stepped in and said that if Welch was so concerned about persons aiding the Communist Party, he should check on a man in his Boston law office named Fred Fisher, who had once belonged to the National Lawyers Guild, which Brownell had called "the legal mouthpiece of the Communist Party".[6] Welch had privately discussed the matter with Fisher beforehand and the two agreed Fisher should not participate in the hearings. Welch dismissed Fisher's association with the NLG as a youthful indiscretion and attacked McCarthy for naming the young man before a nationwide television audience without prior warning or previous agreement to do so:
Welch (left) being questioned by Senator Joe McCarthy (right) at the Army–McCarthy hearings, June 9, 1954.
Until this moment, Senator, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Fred Fisher is a young man who went to the Harvard Law School and came into my firm and is starting what looks to be a brilliant career with us....Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel as to do an injury to that lad. It is true he is still with Hale and Dorr. It is true that he will continue to be with Hale and Dorr. It is, I regret to say, equally true that I fear he shall always bear a scar needlessly inflicted by you. If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty I would do so. I like to think I am a gentleman, but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me.
When McCarthy tried to renew his attack, Welch interrupted him:
Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyers Guild ... Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
McCarthy tried to ask Welch another question about Fisher, and Welch interrupted:
Mr. McCarthy, I will not discuss this further with you. You have sat within six feet of me and could have asked me about Fred Fisher. You have seen fit to bring it out. And if there is a God in Heaven it will do neither you nor your cause any good. I will not discuss it further. I will not ask Mr. Cohn any more witnesses. You, Mr. Chairman, may, if you will, call the next witness.
At this, those watching the proceedings broke into applause.
Acting[edit]
Welch played a Michigan judge in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959). He said he took the role because "it looked like that was the only way I'd ever get to be a judge."[1] Welch actually took the part on the condition that his wife, Agnes, would be in the film. She was cast as a juror.[7] He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer for the role.[8] He also narrated the television shows Omnibus and Dow Hour of Great Mysteries.[1]
Personal life[edit]
His first wife, Judith Lyndon, died on December 21, 1956, and he married Agnes Rodgers Brown in 1957.[3] After remarrying, he moved to Harwichport, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, where he lived until his death.
He suffered a heart attack and died on October 6, 1960, at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts, fifteen months after the release of Anatomy of a Murder.[1][9]
Later references[edit]
The documentary film Point of Order! (1964) includes excerpts from the Army–McCarthy hearings.
In the 1977 NBC biopic Tail Gunner Joe, Welch was played by Burgess Meredith.
The rock band R.E.M. sampled some of the audio from the Army-McCarthy hearings for their song "Exhuming McCarthy", on their album Document (1987).[10]
In the 1992 HBO film Citizen Cohn, Welch was played by Ed Flanders.
The 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, which dramatized the work of television journalists Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly at CBS, uses footage of the Army–McCarthy hearings, including Welch's challenge to McCarthy.
In a 2017 Op-Ed for the Washington Post, in which he announced his intention not to seek re-election, Senator Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) quoted Welch's remarks when criticizing the actions of President Trump and the state of the Republican Party.
Filmography[edit]
Anatomy of a Murder (1959) – Judge Weaver
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Died". Time. October 17, 1960. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
Jump up ^ Longden, Tom. "Joseph Welch". Desmoinesregister.com. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b "Joseph Nye Welch". Jrank.org. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
Jump up ^ Mead, Frederick S. (1921). Harvard's Military Record in the World War. Boston, MA: Harvard Alumni Association. p. 998.
^ Jump up to: a b c Harvard's Military Record in the World War, p. 998.
Jump up ^ Oshinsky, David M. (2005) [1983]. A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy. Oxford University Press. p. 459. ISBN 0-19-515424-X.
Jump up ^ "Mrs. Joseph Walsh". Internet Movie Database.
Jump up ^ "Awards for Anatomy of a Murder". Internet Movie Database.
Jump up ^ "Joseph N. Welch, Army Counsel In McCarthy Hearings, Is Dead". New York Times. 7 October 1960. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
Jump up ^ "R.E.M.: Document, 1987" Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine., Treblezine. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Joseph N. Welch
Joseph N. Welch on IMDb
McCarthy–Welch exchange: "Have You No Sense of Decency" (transcript and sound file)
History of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
Joseph Welch on the cover of Life Magazine
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 33436992
LCCN: n85183856
SNAC: w628353r
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_N._Welch&oldid=832304811"
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text:
The Skye Boat Song
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Skye Boat Song
An adaptation for bagpipes played by the Clan Stewart Pipe Band
Problems playing this file? See media help.
"The Skye Boat Song" is a modern Scottish song which has entered into the folk canon in recent times. It can be played as a waltz, recalling the escape of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) from Uist to the Isle of Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Contents
[hide]
1 Content
2 Origin
3 Recording history and covers
4 Lyrics
4.1 Original lyrics
4.2 Stevenson's poem
4.3 Other versions
5 References
6 External links
Content[edit]
The text of the song gives an account of how Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a serving maid, escaped in a small boat after the defeat of his Jacobite rising of 1745, with the aid of Flora MacDonald. The song draws on the motifs of Jacobitism although it was composed nearly a century and a half over the episode it describes.[1]
Origin[edit]
The lyrics were written by Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet, to an air collected in the 1870s by Anne Campbelle MacLeod (1855–1921), who became Lady Wilson by marriage to Sir James Wilson, KSCI (1853–1926), in 1888. The song was first published in Songs of the North by Boulton and MacLeod, London, 1884, a book that went into at least fourteen editions.[1] In later editions MacLeod's name was dropped and the ascription "Old Highland rowing measure arranged by Malcolm Lawson" was substituted. It was quickly taken up by other compilers, such as Laura Alexandrine Smith's Music of the Waters (published 1888). Lawson was the elder brother of artist Cecil Gordon Lawson.
According to Andrew Kuntz, a collector of folk music lore, MacLeod was on a trip to the isle of Skye and was being rowed over Loch Coruisk (Coire Uisg, the "Cauldron of Waters") when the rowers broke into a Gaelic rowing song Cuachag nan Craobh ("The Cuckoo in the Grove"). MacLeod set down what she remembered of the air, with the intention of using it later in a book she was to co-author with Boulton, who later added the section with the Jacobite associations. "As a piece of modern romantic literature with traditional links it succeeded perhaps too well, for soon people began "remembering" they had learned the song in their childhood, and that the words were 'old Gaelic lines'," Andrew Kuntz has observed.[2]
The song was not in any older books of Scottish songs, though it is in most miscellanies like The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. It is often sung as a lullaby, in a slow rocking 6/8 time.
Recording history and covers[edit]
It was extremely popular in its day, and from its first recording by Tom Bryce on April 29, 1899,[3] became a standard among Scottish folk and dance musicians. It was even more widely known from the 1960s onwards and has remained popular in mainstream music genres. It was performed to great acclaim and recorded by artist and social activist Paul Robeson in 1959 and 1960.[4]
Tom Jones recorded a version, which was arranged by Lee Lawson and Harold Boulton, on his debut album Along Came Jones in 1965. The same album, released in the U.S. as "It's Not Unusual" (and carrying only 12 of the original 16 tracks), did not give attribution for the arrangement but did characterize the song as "Trad.—2:57."[5]
Fans of Rangers FC in Glasgow used to sing a version of the song in praise of Danish player Kai Johansen (played 1965–70).
Among later renditions which became well known were Peter Nelson and The Castaways from New Zealand, who released a version in 1966, as did West Australian artist Glen Ingram. Both versions were in the Australian hit parade in 1966.
Esther & Abi Ofarim recorded the song in 1966 under the title "Bonnie Boat".[6]
Calum Kennedy included a version on Songs of Scotland and Ireland (Beltona 1971).
Rod Stewart recorded two versions of the song with The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band during the sessions for Atlantic Crossing, between 1974 and 1975. They were given an official release on the deluxe re-release of the album in 2009.
This song can be heard at the beginning of "Who Stole the Bagpipes," the second episode in season one of the early 1980s British cartoon Dangermouse.
Roger Whittaker's duet version with Des O'Connor, released in 1986, combined O'Connor's vocals with Whittaker's whistling version, a part of his repertoire since at least the mid-1970s. The track was recorded at London's Holland Park Lansdowne Studios (fr) (now a high-end residential underground property) with session drummer Peter Boita along with all the high-profile studio session players of the day. The cellist Julian Lloyd Webber recorded an instrumental version of the song in 1986 on the album Encore! / Travels With My Cello Volume 2.
The Shadows played an instrumental version of the song on their 1987 album Simply Shadows.
Singer Tori Amos covered the song as part of a song trilogy entitled "Etienne Trilogy" on her debut album Y Kant Tori Read (1988).
Scottish singer, Barbara Dickson, recorded this song in 2006.
James Galway and The Chieftains recorded an instrumental version (which was used as background music for a Johnnie Walker commercial) in February 1990 at Studios 301, Sydney, Australia, released on the album Over the Sea to Skye - The Celtic Connection. There is also a version on The Corries "In Concert / Scottish Love Songs" album (Track 19).
Stellan Skarsgård's character plays this song on the cello in the 1992 film Wind.
Canadian Punk band, The Real McKenzies covered this song on their 1995 debut album The Real McKenzies.
Sir Michael Tippett originally included "Over the Sea to Skye" in his arrangements of Four Songs from the British Isles for unaccompanied four-part chorus in 1957, in response to a commission from North West German Radio, Bremen, for a festival of European folk song. But the amateur choir for which they were intended found the songs too difficult, and the first performance took place only in July 1958, given by the London Bach Group, conducted by John Minchinton, at Royaumont in France. The recently published volume of Tippett’s Selected Letters, edited by Thomas Schuttenhelm, includes a progress report on the Four Songs to the composer’s German publisher, dated 28 July 1957, in which he says that he proposes to replace "Over the Sea to Skye" because it is “too strictly held by a publisher here”. It was only rediscovered after Tippett’s death in the offices of his London publishers Schott’s; it was published at the end of 2002, and first performed the following July in Dublin.
Marc Gunn recorded this song for the 2013 album Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion.
Bear McCreary adapted the song as the opening titles of the 2014 TV series Outlander, sung by Raya Yarbrough, changing the text of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone (1892) to fit the story.[7][8][1]
Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who played the song repeatedly on his recorder in Episode 6, Scene 10 of "The Web of Fear" (broadcast 9 March 1968).[9][10]
It can also be heard playing background instrumental in several episodes of the American serial killer television series Dexter.
Lyrics[edit]
Original lyrics[edit]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Skye Boat Song lyrics
[Chorus:]
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.
[Chorus]
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean's a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.
[Chorus]
Many's the lad fought on that day,
Well the claymore could wield,
When the night came, silently lay
Dead on Culloden's field.
[Chorus]
Burned are their homes, exile and death
Scatter the loyal men;
Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath
Charlie will come again.
Stevenson's poem[edit]
Robert Louis Stevenson's 1892 poem, which has been sung to the tune, has the following text:[11]
[Chorus:] Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.
Mull was astern, Rùm on the port,
Eigg on the starboard bow;
Glory of youth glowed in his soul;
Where is that glory now?
[Chorus]
Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone!
Give me the eyes, give me the soul,
Give me the lad that's gone!
[Chorus]
Billow and breeze, islands and seas,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone.
Other versions[edit]
There has also been a hymn adaptation of the tune, known as "Spirit of God Unseen as the Wind"; some of the lyrics vary.[12][13]
"The Skye Boat Song" has been parodied in song by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders on their comedy series French and Saunders.
A modified version of "The Skye Boat Song" is used as the theme music for the TV Series Outlander sung by Raya Yarbrough and arranged by Bear McCreary. Notably, the word "lad" used in the version by Robert Louis Stevenson is replaced by "lass" to reflect the story.
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c "10 facts about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites". History Extra. Immediate Media Company. May 12, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
Jump up ^ Andrew Kuntz. The Fiddler's Companion: A Descriptive Index of North American and British Isles Music for the Folk Violin and Other Instruments.
Jump up ^ "The Skye Boat Song by Paul Robeson". Second Hand songs. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
Jump up ^ McColl, Norton. "Discography". Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration. University of Chicago. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
Jump up ^ "Tom Jones – It's Not Unusual". Discogs. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
Jump up ^ http://www.esther-ofarim.de/Disco.htm
Jump up ^ Conrad, Erin (July 2014). "Outlander: Opening Title Sequence – Wait, Is That It?". ThreeIfBySpace.net. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Comic Con 2014 Highlights". BearMcCreary.com. July 29, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
Jump up ^ Haisman, Mervyn. "The Web of Fear". Doctor Who. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
Jump up ^ Smit, William. "Second Doctor plays recorder (Skye Boat Song)". YouTube. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
Jump up ^ "Sing me a Song of a Lad that is Gone - Poetry Foundation"
Jump up ^ "Spirit of God - HymnsWithoutWords"
Jump up ^ midiforworship.com: "Spirit of God"
External links[edit]
Pop Archives: Covers of "The Skye Boat Song"
"The Skye Boat Song", by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in the collection "Songs of Travel and Other Verses" at Project Gutenberg
Spirit of God - lyrics
Spirit of God - alternative lyrics
Roger Whittaker performs Skye Boat Song live in German
Michael Tippett – Over the Sea to Skye
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