All That Is Gold | Analysing "The Riddle of Strider"
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
- All that is gold does not glitter is not only a verse that is associated with Aragorn but one of the most recognisible verses in all of Tolkien's Legendarium. This video is my interpretation of these words, a line by line analysis of what these words mean to Strider, the history of his people, and the future of Middle-earth.all for Gandalf would have been more sinister and corruptive than the tyranny of Sauron.
► Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Tolkien's verses
2:21 - A brief history
3:12 - All that is gold does not glitter
4:12 - Not all those who wander are lost
5:16 - The old that is strong does not wither
6:14 - Deep roots are not reached by the frost
7:00 - From the ashes a fire shall be woken
8:08 - A light from the shadows shall spring
8:59 - Renewed shall be blade that was broken
10:15 - The crownless again shall be king
10:48 - Hope against darkness
11:46 - Outro
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► Thumbnail art :
Strider - CKGoksoy (artstation.com/ckgoksoy)
► Audio:
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: The Death Of A Dark Star by MusicLFiles
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Music: Thunder Dreams by Kevin MacLeod
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Music: Lost Time by Kevin MacLeod
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Music: Voice Of An Angel One by Alexander Nakarada
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#tolkien #aragorn #legendarium #strider #lotr - Zábava
This is my favorite Tolkien channel. It's a higher caliber
Mine as well. Grateful to have found it.
Yet another reason Tolkien stands head and shoulders above every other fantasy writer. Great video
After my first read of the Silmarilian I re-read the Lord of the Rings (for the hundredth time) and greatly appreciated the poems and songs even more. To tell the history of middle earth through songs and poem is a great reference to real world history. So much of our history was passed down through song and verse long before it was written down, and of course this is how Beowulf was passed down. I feel it is one of many reasons that Tolkein’s middle earth feels so authentic.
That's exactly why I like them too. I can't believe in my youth that I used to skip them. A good example is how the figure of Gil-galad is explained to us. It's through verse. It's not just a figure saying "ok, let's stop for a moment for some exposition". It's very natural and fitting that during the journey these verses are told, stories within the story.
@@TheRedBook Absolutely. I also like how Bilbo is made a part of this living history. He’s interacting with it and making his own verses with Aragorn’s help in the “Many Meetings” chapter.
Have you heard of the Tolkien Ensemble? They recorded a large amount of the songs and poems for the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Christopher Lee even reads some of the poems.
I agree with you 100%.😁👍
Amazing video! The first line just made me think about a very famous quote that says: “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”.
Sometimes we think that something is a real gold but it is not! It is just the fact that we are observing it from an outside perspective. Although, the quote relates to a good thing, This misinterpretation can also occur in the negative side. We can see something and think this is bad or not worthy, but. It can be just a problem of do not know it from the inside.
Thank you for this video! It made me reflect a lot.
I do appreciate your work Steven!
"All that is gold does not glitter" also indicates that not all that is pure and noble - serving the Good, the Beautiful, and the True - is necessarily recognizable as such to the casual and undiscerning eye. To those who can not, will not, or simply do not look, Strider the Ranger is a quirky figure of no real account.
"The old that is strong does not wither" I see that strong old lineage going back all the way to the divine Melian, and Luthien of whom it is said that her line shall never fail.
"A light from the shadows shall spring" to me says that the light will be both more easily seen as the Shadow grows (as a candle flame is more clearly seen at dusk than at noon) as well as that light coming forth in response to the threat of the Shadow.
Maybe I'll have more later. Excellent post, sir!
Very well put 👏
Only Tolkien could make such beautiful quotes
Lol its funny that you would say that because it's a play on lines from Shakespeares Merchant of Venice
@@NMahon Well, a line is. But even that line is older than Shakespeare. "Non omne quod nitet aurum est"
Thanks for doing this work. Great to have folks diving deeply into the Legendarium, particularly at this time.
We can't all do reviews of that tv show can we?
Love the poem. For the algorithm. Hope is sorely need these days.
You are not "overthinking it". I have read LOTR four or five times and learned some things I had never thought of before listening to this episode. I bought another copy yesterday and am making it five or six. Listening to another of your excellent expositions prompted that. Thank you.
'not everything that looks good, fair or true is so' recalled another quote:
King Osric - 'There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle,
when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison,
and all that is left is a father's love for his child.'
This poem is a great example of how richly layered Tolkien can be, with so many different possible meanings and connections, hidden in a seemingly simple set of likes.
Looks like Google changed your "lines" to "likes." They suck.....
I really enjoyed this one. The deeper meaning to me is not always understood initially, and this helps tie things together. I hope you do more of Tolkien's verses like this.
I'd like to! I was going to cover the Ring-verse but not really what it means...since that's obvious but just some other details about it. There are plenty of others though. If I had a spare month to make the video I would cover the Song of Eärendil.
Can't Can't deny that Tolkien was a linguistic genius
How did my brain forget that Bilbo wrote this? Oh, I love it so much. It gives me a chill and makes my heart skip a beat, every time. I love it in context of the story. It's so very beautiful and filled with meaning for Aragorn's character, journey, and destiny. But it also reminds me so much of Jesus Christ. I long for the day when the crownless again will be known as king, and by the whole world.
Amen!✝️
One of my favorite Tolkien poems. It immediately turned my interest level of the character of Strider from: Im moderately interested in what role he plays in the hobbits story
to: I would read a book solely based on this character.
When I first read the books 3 decades ago, I would skip the verse and songs. Now I read the books by only reading the songs. :)
In the Spanish version it's not well translated from the day it was released and it expresses exactly the opposite idea. I always thought it was weird as a kid. Like it was against the characters. "All that glitters is not gold" ("no es oro todo lo que reluce"). The translator probably wasn't thinking about the story, he or she just translated mindlessly. It's too common, that's why I prefer to read books in their original language as often as I can.
Hmmn... As was briefly touched on in the video the first line is actually an inversion of a common English saying, "all that glitters is not gold." I suspect that the translator simply misread the line as the well known saying and translated it as such.
@@lorentzfactor5118 Yep, but if a 9 year old kid stops reading because he feels it doesn't make sense, the translator should have noticed too.
The thing is, they didn't fix it. It's still like that in modern publications, at least those that I know and have been a few.
To be fair, translating a book as quintessentially and quixotically "English" as LOTR into another language, especially a non germanic language, sounds like a gigantic, titanic challenge and I don't envy that guy.
I've read Ringenes Herre (Danish translation) and there are moments when I realised that certain things just don't translate 1:1 if you know both languages well enough. I still think it's interesting enough to see how the works are translated. I never knew the Spanish one most likely used the wrong line though :D
I think that both in real life and in Tolkien's creations figures like Aragorn and Gandalf are sadly underestimated. It takes ages for them to get the recognition that they deserve, which is a shame. "All that is gold does not glitter" has always been my favourite Tolkien's quote, and a red line crossing all his ideas. And, seemingly unrelated to this video, but as I said, your videos retain an uncontrolable spark of inspiration in them, and I think I know now the answer to my own question about the greatest craftsmen of the race of Men now: there isn't one greatest among them because their craft is to shape their own fates and the fates of the others around them. So, in this sense, they are both the greatest craftsman, and the greatest craft.
According to the New Shadow parts of the new generation were already devaluing Aragorn right after his death.
Nice thoughts about that unanswerable question you had asked before. I had thought more about it and was thinking that the great craftsmen of the various races were very mythological in their nature and inspiration for the future. Men do not have one central figure in this way but that talent is throughout the race itself. Instead of one legendary craftsman, it's almost diluted throughout many. All from being the Secondborn, the ones to inherit the world and not shape it.
@@TheRedBook Yeah, I agree, and it seems to me that this distinctive feature ties nicely with Ainulindale - it's almost as if having seen the doubtful success of the two previous themes, where those with independent and strongly marked talents could not come to agreement, Eru intentionally deluted creativity among the Secondborn so that they could only achieve the pinnacle of knowledge and skill through union.
Yours very well may be the best Tolkien lore channel. Please do a video on the straight road ! That would be cool.
I AM the best Tolkien channel...and the most humble
The Straight Road, yeah that would be a good topic to cover. I'll add it to the gargantuan pile of ideas :D Thanks!
@@TheRedBook No one else has a video wholly devoted to it. As far as I can tell. Good luck!
@@TheRedBook
I can't wait for you to explain how Legolas and Gimli's swan ship got to the Undying Lands. Me thinks they sailed north to Mithlond and took a reliable ship to Tol Eressëa. I would find it hard to believe that any ship from anywhere on the West Coast of Middle Earth could just find this straight road, unless Maiar of Manwë are in the skies pulling their ships up into the heavens.
What are your thoughts on these words? Are there any other verses or passages you'd like to see given the same treatment on the channel? Let me know!
Related Aragorn video:
Of Andúril: The sword of kings: czcams.com/video/1cSjefVuTE4/video.html
Support The Red Book: www.patreon.com/theredbook
A nice interpretation! What about the poem for Beren and Luthien? I’d like you to analyse how well it synergises with what Christopher finalised in The Silmarillion.
1st time ever commenting on one of your videos but I am a long time listener.. The verse that says renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king. For me it is more personal I understand the context of tolkins words for his story but one thing that I feel Tolkien does really well is how words can relate to personal things in your life. I've recently started rebuilding my life so in my eyes I am the blade that was broken and I feel renewed. I do understand that's not what he meant when he wrote them but the Lord of the Rings and all his works have been a major influence on my life any time I have felt down on things I will read the books I have recently purchased the children of Huron, beren and luthian, and the fall of gallondon. I have them in hard cover I'm not going to read them I'm going to buy paperback versions to read and hold these for the future as a collector thing. I'm very thankful for your videos. I haven't watched all of them yet but trust me I will. I love how you focus more on the books and really not on the movies and that new show which I won't Speak of here. Don't get me wrong Peter Jackson's original trilogy was a very good adaptation still had its its flaws but are still amazing movies. I'm starting to ramble now and lost the whole point of my comment. Just want to say thank you.
Hello, not so much a line or verse, but I'm interested if you have any thoughts on how the rings, specifically the 3 elven rings were crafted. We know that Celebrimbor crafted the 3 without Sauron's direct aid so we know it can't just be Sauron's sorcery. We know that Celebrimbor was taught ring craft by Sauron, and we know that the knowledge has been lost in the 3rd age. This implies some sort of method or process, I feel it begs the question what did Sauron's teaching's entail. With the silmarils for example we have a partial knowledge of how they worked i.e they contained the light of the 2 trees, but we don't seem to have any information into how the rings worked. The expanation in rings of power where they just took mithril and fused it with gold seems highly implausable as a theory. Hope that makes sense and hope it doesn't sound like a silly question :)
I've hooked on this channel lately. Outstanding work
I really enjoyed this discussion…thanks for this enriching of lines so many of us know by heart.
"All those who wander are not lost" I never knew was written by Tolkien for the longest time, so as a fan of his, I'm happy he's the author. Also, the risk of overthinking is worth the opportunity to think in vivid detail :)
Such a beautiful verse. And lovely when set to music. Thanks for the excellent meditation on its meaning.
it's been too long since i was able to listen to your voice, and enjoy your content. thank you ♥
There is a very fine contrast between this and the ring poem. The themes mirror one another though subtly. Is power the appearance of beauty like the ring, the allure or is it the steadfast like the tree and the king. Ellessar is a great name for the king in the end, as is Telcontar, acknowledging the depths of his roots. Good stuff as ever Steven, thanks and keep up the good work.
"Deep roots are not reached by the frost" is an interesting one, deadly cold as a metaphor for or reference to am evil influence has to be something like Tolkien's third favourite notion of evil following shadow and flame/fire. I like to think that in this instance, cold also refers to the icy cold of the Bay of Forochel's bottom, and the Fell Winter. The Dúnedain of the North were a people who could attribute significant losses to cold, with Arvedui as the obvious example. But cold calamities could not overcome the regenerative potential that Elendil's line always had.
Nice to see another one of your great posts again. 😁 You made a great point about the "frost"
@@Enerdhil Thanks pal 😄
Folk musician Brooks Williams, on his 1992 album Back to Mercy, wonderfully adapts Tolkien's poem into a song ("All That is Gold"). Check it out.
Oh my. It's a beautiful song. Thanks for the recommendation.
Appreciated you covering this poem and would be good to see others of Tolkien covered thanks
Brilliant. You. Are. Amazing.
At last Frodo spoke with hesitation. "I believed that you were a friend before the letter came," he said, "or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would - well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand."
"I see," laughed Strider. "I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost."
I havent commented in a minute, but just to reiterate: most earnest and best channel. And your steady, calm narration is perfect to fall asleep to. And the art you use is also fire. So is the music.
another great video
Very interesting topic to discuss, you should do that with more songs from Legendarium, great video
love your interpretations. This is a great channel!
Beautiful video, a joy to listen and watch, thank you
"All is not gold that glitters, all is not pure that shines . . . "
The idea depicted in that song is widely referenced: I learned it first from BUGS BUNNY!
As always, well done. Thank you.
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.
I really love that it is Bilbo who wrote this poem. Given that the elves didn’t seem to usually really appreciate Bilbo’s poems for their quality (he says they don’t usually ask for second readings, it is interesting that it is so good and seems to border on prophetic with Gandalf actually quoting it to describe Aragorn to the hobbits, who had never met him. It would have been very simple to make it a poem written by Elrond or Glorfindel or something, but it adds an amazing level of nuance and depth to Bilbo because it is ascribed to him
Personally, I believe the Elves don't think English is a good language to communicate how they think and feel and they would be right.
loved the video! Often when I re-read Tolkien I'm reminded of how many songs and poems he included in his books
Sorry for the off-topic question, but it's been on my mind this week: are you a gamer, and if so have you played any games based on Tolkien's work or its adaptations that stood out as good? I'm a gamer but the landscape in terms of Tolkien seems pretty bare
Really?! There are a lot of Tolkien CZcamsrs covering the various games. Karl of Geek Zone just released a video about some new game. Matt of Nerd of the Rings is a gamer for sure. PhilosophersGames has done videos on the games. I think Council of Gondor also does game videos. Tolkien Tube is also a gamer but he hasn't doneany videos lately. I think Future Me covers Tolkien-relsted videos, too.
Intelligent opinion, as always.
In a way, Aragorn (and Arwen) knits together the entire history of Middle-earth and Arda. His lineage goes back even past Beren and Luthien (who was born in Doriath while the Two Trees flowered in Valinor), to one of the Firstborn to waken, Elwe, and his love and wife, Melian, one of the powers that created the world. That's some family tree.
"...The old that is strong does not wither..." No kidding
Bilbo is a master of riddles
Great video! How about grouping this with the one about the Barrow-Downs and the possible reference to Dagor Dagorath and starting a new series, "Poerty and Songs in the Legendarium" or something? 😉
Steven, you have shown us that you are a musician. Is there any chance that you have put any of the songs to music?🤔🙏 I'd love to hear what you have.😁👍
Another best video
are you using a new video layout?? it looks so beautiful!! great job as always my guy
It's the same kind of thing I've been doing for a while but I am always making little changes :D
@@TheRedBook
It looks like you've mastered the production of moving images. All your various moving images make it hard for me to take my eyes off the video and just listen, though I often still just listen to your videos. Can't wait until the next podcast.😁👍
It doesn't mean anything. You're overthinking it.
😁😁
It's a beautiful verse. It's also one I did not properly appreciate in my younger days reading LOTR. Sure, there is some room for interpretation but I believe yours is very fitting.
Yes. Nothing to see here. It is all just a coincidence.🤪
Cheers S
I'd be surprised at anyone saying it doesn't mean anything. Tolkien was too skilled a writer to just throw something like that out there for no purpose!
It's CZcams, I'll never be surprised at some of the comments I receive :D
Ha ha! So true.
@@TheRedBook
Wish I could give you a ♥️ for that one, Steven!
I would also like you to interpret the lines of the song in the Leithian epic between Sauron and Finrod.
Tolkien places importance in blood. Eg Denethor and Faramir, "blood of Numenor runs true" not so in Boromir. Prince Imhahil, legolas notices elven blood. 3 members of the same family with "different blood". "Deep roots" I think refers to Aragorns bloodline, which is untainted
Very true, I'd love to cover that distinction in a video. The idea of Faramir as a "Wizard's pupil", what made him closer to Aragorn than Boromir - and how Denethor is like a fallen version of that ideal, the blood running true but becoming tainted. It really interests me.
Look forward to that one
Also Eomer states that Boromir reminded him more of the rohirrim, meaning (in my opinion) the blood of "lesser men" or mingled blood ran truer in him.
@@Irish_Pete That could also be a comment on how Eomer himself views the nobility of Rohan - but in a good way. The heroic soldier over the scholar. Men of Rohan would look up to Brave Boromir over (maybe) a Ranger like Faramir - maybe :D
Great observation. I hope Steven does a video on this.
Let`s be honest here. We want them all eventually. It is just a matter of ordering and time.
Hope
It's a bit short, but: "Onen i Estel Edain. Ú chebin estel anim."
Is there much or any info on the relationships between Gandalf Saruon and the other Mia before Saruon became evil? Thanks
Do you mean the relationship between Sauron and the Istari (Wizards)?
0:35 I’m not convinced that Tolkien created a single one of the riddles used in “The Hobbit”. I think he got all of them from Norse and Anglo-Saxon sources.
I wouldn't be surprised either, but still he had to get them to rhyme.🤔
@@Enerdhil That's true. They'd have needed more massaging to rhyme in English, if they had been French or Russian or something, but still some would have been needed.
I think there's a lot of Christian suggestions in these lines. As ever with Tolkien he weaves his religion into the plot in a mysterious matter. All that is Gold does not glitter reminds you that even a carpenter or fisherman can be of the Royal House of David. Roots and Trees remind me of Christian idea that Viticulture and Christianity are interwoven, for example Communion and Holy Wine. Aaragorn is anyway a Holy King that heals, and thats about as Christ like as its possible to get, without straight out calling him Christ. The Phoenix rising from the ashes, reborn if you will, again its not hard to see what Tolkien might have been driving out there. Bilbo wrote some great lines here :)
@bee cee - Your post reminded me that I have often wondered how the Catholic Church viewed Tolkein's work. I was raised Catholic, attanded parochial school through eighth grade, taught by nuns (Sisters of St. Joseph...bigoted, dogmatic, condescending, and in some cases quite vicious and cruel; hardly paragons of compassion).
Anyhow, they were vehemently critical of the kinds of things (magic, wizardry, precognition, etc.), which they condemned as superstition, and the antithesis of what is prescribed by the "official" liturgy. All such things were routinely eschewed as being "works of the devil (Satan)". Mind you, this was in the mid-1950s to early 1960s, before the work had gained the wide popularity that rapidly grew in the mid to late-1960s, especially in the U.S, with the publication of the paperback versions.
By that time, I had liberated myself from Catholicism, so I had no idea what was the official Catholic verdict on Tolkein's work...and wouldn't have cared much had I known. But I suspect there are Tolkein aficionados who frequent this fine channel who know more about such things than I do, and I would be interested to know whether the Catholic Church condemned, praised, or stayed mum on his works.
@@Vito_Tuxedo I would be interested as well. It's amazing how many famous Fantasy writers are deeply religious. Tolkien of course, his great friend CS Ldewis, and JK Rowling. Against this we have writers who are staunchly atheistic like Pullman, Gaiman and Prachett. I am certain that other contributors to this channel can mention others.
@@Vito_Tuxedo Check out the Ryan Reeves youtube channel. It's a Catholic scholar guy who does a lot of videos on Tolkien. It might answer your question.
@@Vito_Tuxedo
Tolkien Road, John and his wife Greta, are devout Catholics and occasionally bring up things in the lore that have Catholic roots. I myself am an evangelical Christian and we tend to love Tolkien and his Legendarium.
@@Enerdhil That doesn't surprise me. Some of the most open-minded, high-quality, genuinely first-rate humanoids it has been my pleasure to know include Catholics and true Christians. Nothing I said in my original post is intended in any way to disparage or derogate such individuals. I was referring specifically to "the official position", as they say, of the Catholic Church...if indeed there was such a position with regard to Tolkien's work.
Jesus's line runs straight back to Adam and was unspoiled by Demons/fallen Angels, we other humans all have demonic/giant blood in us. We are kinda like Orcs serving the Dark Lord. We are made clean, redeemed and re-enobled by the blood of Christ. The beggar King who opens our way back from exile.
Well, back to Noah and then to Adam.
I am not an admirer of Peter Jackson's film adaptations, most especially in his enfeebling of the characters of Gandalf and Aragorn. If he and his other script writers had depicted them as Tolkien wrote them and yet still had them deeply fearful of Sauron, it would have made the Dark Lord more terrible than a stupid looking red lighthouse.
One change they did make, however, did make sense. Aragorn would not have been helped in his wandering into danger with a broken sword at his side. Also the shards of Narsil were an heirloom of his House and would therefore have been a treasure to be carefully guarded and not carried about. In this alone Jackson "improved" on Tolkien - I also found the film's Gollum to be more to be pitied than he was in the book. Apart from these, the films failed miserably in my opinion.
L THAT’S WHAT
O WE WANT:
R
E LORE
Is this a response to something?
@@TheRedBook oh, sorry. It was actually a response to the tv series! I should have made it clearer. I loved the video.
Yeah just not a fan of Tolkien doggerel.
I used to care.