KMC Forums - Battle of Evermore and Tolkien

Has anyone ever heard of the Led Zepplin song Battle of Evermore? For years I listened to that song and liked it but never actually thought it had much to do with the Lord of the Rings.

Queen of Light took her bow
And then she turned to go,
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom
And walked the night alone.
The Queen of Light is Eowyn, who bids Aragorn goodbye and then turns to join the Rohan army. The Prince of Peace is Aragorn, and he embraces the gloom of the Paths of the dead.

Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morn-ing light.
The dark Lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all.
Obviously, either Sauron or the Leader of the Ringwraiths is the said dark Lord.

Oh, throw down your plow and hoe,
Rest not to lock your homes.
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all.
At the start of the seige of Gondor, the workers on the fields flee to the Tower for protection. Then, the citizens watch and wait for the onslaught of Mordor to arrive.[I]

I hear the horses' thunder
Down in the valley below,
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon,
Waiting for the eastern glow.
[I]This is self-explanatory. Curiously, though, there is no mention of Avalon in any of Tolkien's works.

The apples of the valley hold
The seeds of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care,
Repay, do not forget, no, no.

Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light.
The apples turn to brown and black,
The tyrant's face is red.

Oh the war is common cry,
Pick up you swords and fly.
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know.
There are Ringwraiths swarming around Gondor, little of whom any of the men of Gondor know.

Oh, well, the night is long
The beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise,
Waiting for the eastern glow.
Another self-explanatory line, speaking of the soldiers waiting for the blackness of Mordor to fall away.

The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The ringwraiths ride in black,
Ride on.
The use of the term"ringwraith" is the concrete evidence of this song's relation to Tolkien, since JRR Tolkien coined the particular word.

Sing as you raise your bow,
Shoot straighter than before.
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold.
Gondor begins to fall behind some as the battle progresses, and they all know something dramatic must occur for their victory to take place.

Oh dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the mornin' light.
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back.
Bring it back.
There are two schools of thought on this line. Frodo's Ring has magic runes, and when it is destroyed, the balance of power in the world is restored. Also, Merry's sword has runes written on it, and his stabbing the Leader of the Ringwraiths restores the balance of power in the battle.

At last the sun is shining,
The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes.
The first half of this verse talks about how, when the battle is won, the sky clears again, as the blackness of Mordor again retreats to its homeland. The second half remains a mystery. It is most likely stating metaphorically that Sauron's army must retreat as the sun rises again.

Also Zepplin has made other songs based from Tolkien's works like if you want to check them out here they are:

Misty Mountain Hop

Over the Hills and Far Away

Ramble On

A Look at Other Indicators, Like Dogs