Thematic Analysis Of The Fellowship of the Ring

[ridan 0]

this is an analysis of all of the themes i could identify within the body of the first lord of the rings movie. i don't claim this to be complete, as there are so many themes i could easily have missed one.

Thematic Analysis Of The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lothlorien Theme

An exotic, choral theme, used to represent Galadriel and the Woods Of Lothlórien

The lyrics are an elvish poem called ?A Elbereth Gilthoniel? The General lyrics are as follows:

Chorus in Sindarin

A Elbereth Gilthoniel,

silivren penna miriel

o menel aglar elenath,

na-chaered palan diriel

o galadhremmin ennorath

nef aear, sí aearon,

Fanluilos, le linnathon

Nef aear, sí aearon!

'O Elbereth Star-kindler,

(white) glittering slants-down sparkling-like-jewels

from firmament glory [of] the star-host,

to-remote-distance after-having-gazed

from tree-tangled middle-lands,

on-this-side [of] ocean, here [on this side of] the Great Ocean,

Fanuilos, to thee I will chant

on-this-side [of] ocean, here [on this side of] the Great Ocean!'

The One Ring Theme

A mysterious, sad theme, often played in the movie to track the journey of the Ring and it affects if Sauron ever were to reclaim it.

Danger motif

An alternating, high-low two-note motif, played when the forces of good are endangered.

The Mordor theme

An evil, devilish theme, played on high strings, very threatening. Used thrice in the movie.

Ringwraith (Nazgûl) theme

A Gothic Choral theme, sung in an ancient tongue of man, full of terror and fear, and complemented by bold brass and tense under-strings, occasionally used as a theme for the rings power, and accompanied by a secondary motif similar to the danger motif. General lyrics are as follows:

Chorus in Adûnaic:

Nêbâbîtham Magânanê

Nêtabdam dâurad

Nêpâm nêd abârat-aglar

îdô Nidir nênâkham

Bârî 'n Katharâd

'We deny our maker.

We cling to the darkness.

We grasp for ourselves power and glory.

Now we come, the Nine,

Lords of Eternal Life.

Gollum?s theme

An evil, slithering string theme, but while also sounding evil, also sounds pitiable and sad.

Used to represent Gollum when he is discussed or on screen.

Journey motif

A short simple, traveling theme, used whenever The quest is discussed or foreshadowed, or when a group is traveling

The Shire theme

A slightly Celtic theme, often played on wood flutes, other times on string and horn, used to represent the hobbits and the Shire.

Frodo?s theme

Extremely similar to the Shire theme, nearly indistinguishable, so much so that I assign it according to it?s use in the movie.

The Ring Seduction Theme

A mysterious, seductive, choral theme, used to represent the temptation of the power of the Ring

The Fellowship theme

A Grand, heroic theme, often played on brass, used in it?s fragmentary form when the fellowship begins to form: when Sam leaves the cornfield, when Merry and Pippin show up and roll down a hill, and when Strider (Aragorn) joins the group. As the Fellowship forms at the council of Elrond, it is used in a brassy, grand statement, and similarly when the leave Rivendell, are seen on a mountain trail, as they run for the bridge after defeating the cave troll, and after Aragorn and Frodo leap onto the edge of the stairs as the section behind them falls. After Gandalf falls, you only hear it in its fragmentary form again, this time saddened by the loss, and is heard on the great river and after Boromir dies.

Isengard theme

A large, threatening evil theme, off-kilter, played on trombone and hammer, used to represent Saruman, his fortified Isengard, his Uruk-hai, and his forest killing ?development?

Nature theme

A high choral motif, played when the moth finds Gandalf on top of the tower of Orthanc.

General lyrics are as follows:

Chorus in Sindarin

Rithannen i geven

thangen i harn

na fennas i daur

ôl dûr ristannen

eryn echuiannen

i ngelaidh dagrar

ristar thynd, cúa tawar

dambedir enyd i ganed

si linna i 'waew trin 'ylf

Isto i dur i chuiyl

i ngelaidh dagrar

'Earth shakes

Stone breaks

The forest [is] at [your] door

The dark sleep is broken

The woods have awoken

The trees have gone to war

Roots rend, wood bends

The Ents have answered the call

Through branches now the wind sings

Feel the power of living things

The trees have gone to war'

Arwen?s theme

A high, slow, beautiful theme, used twice in the movie to represent the Arwen. General lyrics are as follows:

Chorus in Sindarin

Tinúviel elvanui

Elleth alfirin edhelhael

O hon ring finnil fuinui

A renc gelebrin thiliol...

'Tinúviel [the] elven-fair,

Immortal maiden elven-wise,

About him cast [her] night-dark hair,

And arms [like] silver glimmering...'

Rivendell theme

A beautiful choral motif, played twice in the movie, both times within rivendell. The same lyrics as Lothlórien.

Mt Doom

A very loud, harsh theme, mostly two high-lower notes with low brass and under-strings, used once in the movie when Isildur refuses to give up the Ring.

Gondor

A noble French horn theme, played whenever Gondor or Minas Tirith is mentioned.

Misty Mountain theme

A weary, 3-2-3 note theme, used to represent the mightiest mountain range in middle-earth

Dwarrowdelf theme

A loud, Khuzdûl chorus theme, with brass and strings, used for the mightiest stronghold of the dwarves

Used twice in the movie when Gandalf shows them the city with "more light", and after the cave troll stabs Frodo

Balrog theme

A evil, threatening, foreboding theme, played on drums and brass, 5-5-4-4-4-1 notes, played when Gandalf stops on the bridge, and when the Balrog drags him down into the Abyss with him. Used to represent the Balrog or Morgoth and its power.

Aragorn?s theme

A noble brass motif, used once (as far as i can tell) when Aragorn saves Boromir for a few seconds when he jumps out of the woods and kills Lurtz.

The Ring Verse:

Not really a true theme, but sung whenever the Ring is shown to have power away from Sauron, and when Saruman and Gandalf fight (because Saruman wants the Ring.) Also chanted by the ring itself occassionally General lyrics are as follows:

Chorus in Black Speech :

Shre nazg golugranu kilmi-nudu

Ombi kuzddurbagu gundum-ishi

Nugu gurunkilu bard gurutu

Ash Burz-Durbagu burzum-ishi [2:55-3:51]

Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.

[Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,

ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul]

Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.

Gû kîbum kelkum-ishi, burzum-ishi. Akha - gûm-ishi ashi gurum.

Nubin sherkuk, rakhizinash, matizinashûk, matizin Umbrûk.

'Three rings for-Elven-kings under-sky

Seven for-dwarf-lords in-halls

Nine for-mortals doomed to-die

One for-Dark-Lord in-darkness

in-Mordor where 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-Mordor where shadows lie.'

'There-is-no life in-the-cold, in-the-dark. Here - in-the-void only death.

I-smell your-blood. I-shall-devour-it, eat-it-all - eat-all the-world.'

[MSM 126]

And what exactly is the link with John Williams?

[Elmo Lewis 6]

It's quite obvious. John Wiliams writes music in pentagrams, just like Howard Shore. And they use brass from time to time.

[ridan 0]

"And what exactly is the link with John Williams?"

I don't know, maybe... "IT Doesn't Have A Link!"

it does say, right under the title of this board: JOHN WILLIAMS, Film Music, Movies, Music...

[Lurker 5]

Ridan is correct.

MSM......

Neil

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Interesting list of themes. Several of those I never noticed. You wouldn't have timings for the CD?

Marian - who will watch the movie again soon, probably several times.

[hitman20 0]

Damn good job ridan! If you plan on doing so, please add the Two Towers score. How long did this take you by the way? I mean you have the lyrics and all, so it doesn't look like something that you'd be able to do in an hour. Anyways, once again, good job.

[ridan 0]

"Interesting list of themes. Several of those I never noticed. You wouldn't have timings for the CD? " no, not yet. i will have them, if you want them, by tomorrow morning, though (for those on the soundtrack album.)

"If you plan on doing so, please add the Two Towers score. How long did this take you by the way? I mean you have the lyrics and all, so it doesn't look like something that you'd be able to do in an hour"

yes, i am adding the TT score, after i analyze it. it took me about, a month to analyze the whole FOTR score (yes, i have a complete score analysis, i am in the process of typing it), and after that, i took all of the themes and tried to describe them, and the end result is seen above. as for the lyrics, it wasn't me who did them, but i got them off of a great LOTR movie languages website:

http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/movie.htm

this has all of the Known lyrics and dialogues in Tolkien language and english translation.

[jsawruk 0]

I did post the transcribed sheet music to both FOTR and TTT here somewhere before, to complement this discussion here. If you want them again, let me know (they were what ultimately started the JW themes website).

[Incanus 5,715]

Very nice analysis ridan! I have been thinking about writing about LOTR themes myself but your analysis is quite comprehensive so I don't think I 'll bother . I did not notice you missed any of the themes( actually you have spotted even more themes than I have). The first movie was so shock full of themes and motifs the Two Towers felt hollow in comparison with only 2 or 3 new thematic ideas and Shore used the old ones(expect the Fellowship theme) sparingly. Who knows maybe the TTT Extended Edition will allow Shore to write new thematic material and augment the old.

Few little observations. the One Ring theme is actually refered the History of the Ring theme((though it is The One Ring's theme) as Shore calls it that on the commentary in the beginning of the Extended Edition of FOTR. He also says it is a Gondorian theme in essence ???(I don' t see what he means by this though it is played when the fellowship reaches the Argonath to represent the Kings of old).

The Mordor theme is used atleast thrice in the movie. Once when we first see Barad-Dur and once in the Counsil of Elrond when the counsil begins to argue about the fate of the ring and Frodo senses the rings evil as it creates this mistrust and strife amoung the people and when Frodo looks into the Mirror of Galadriel and the Eye of Sauron appears.

As for the Moria/Dwarrowdelf theme it is used the second time when Gimli runs to the Tomb of Balin and the third time just after the Cave troll hits Frodo with the spear and the rest of the Fellowship defeat the troll. It was a suggestion from Fran Walsh that it would be appropriate to use it. It is a pretty subtle but it is there.

the Danger motif you refer to is little ambiguous since it is used in several places not related to danger. For instance it is used in the Prologue when we see the Numenoreans marching against the Host of Mordor(This could be counted as dangerous though ) and when Bilbo struggles to give up the Ring. It could be a motif for the Ring's presence or Numenoreans since 3 of the Nazgul were of Dunadan birth.

One actual Danger motif used two or three times is the motif that appears when Arwen flees the Nazgul. This is reprised atleast when the Crebain spy the Fellowship.

The Balrog motif/theme was one theme I never actively noticed before but as you pointed it out it seemsto me it is the backbone of the whole sequence of Bridge of Khazad Dum. Even the choir element is weaved around it throughout the whole escape.

There is also one motif that you did not include which has to do with the Weakness of Men that Isildur represents. This motif is heard in the Prologue when Isildur is seen riding with the Ring on a chain around his neck and the second time when Aragorn reveals his fears and selfdoubts to Arwen in Rivendell about the quest and the Ring.

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

MSM and Ender both have a point and yet I agree with Indy. First of all, to me Ridan, these boards' new member, doesn't appear to have appeared here for John Williams' music originally. As little as his so-far 17 posts can tell about him, in hardly more than 3 occurrences he took part in threads concerning strictly John Williams' music, two being the Hook discussions and the other one wound around some critic's article dissecting themes of a Harry Potter score and pointing out similarities. The remaining posts Ridan have so far posted were for the threads dealing with The Lord of the Rings subject.

:roll:

Well, anyone is allowed to be here for whatever reason, spanning from music to possible crush somebody might have on someone else. What I want to say is that the mere fact of "spotting another LOTR fan" around may cause such casual reaction such as MSM's (though it may have other grounds than I would imagine), especially if you're not a LOTR die-hard fan. May I remind you that the hardest LOTR fans don't dread to taunt JW's scores every once in a while, I have witnessed it countless times before and it doesn't take sailing non-stop across zillion internet discussion boards to stumble upon a lone such derision. And of course it can be vice-versa, depends on with whom you side.

I am here because of John Williams' music. I think there's nothing wrong about it; hence JOHN WILLIAMS is indicated in capital letters in the header of the discussion boards if nowhere else. My problem is I feel hurt about coming across thorough and well-done analysis of the LOTR themes in the land where I would love to see some rarer JW's scores analyzed in such way. Funny thing about it is that it's like arranging a meeting with Michael Douglas to ask him about Brad Pitt, or almost like that.

LOL

As much as I welcome Ridan here, I doubt we'll often cross our paths under the same topics. And it's not because I plan to shun discussing JW's music in the foreseeable future, it's because I rarely take part in discussions concerning music from The Lord of the Rings.

:?

The above is just my biased stance. I can only encourage Ridan in posting here and taking it here like his second home. Nothing of what I said was meant to discourage him or anyone else from talking about what they will to.

[ridan 0]

yeah, i am a LOTR fan, but also a great admirer of JW. it's just that i don't own many albums of JW's music, and only about 4 movies. there's not many place to buy soundtracks near my house, and the only reason i got LOTR is because the store got them instead of a rap CD by mistake. (i hate rap). and don't worry, after i finish this, i will do a harry potter complete score analysis, if no one beats me to it. (most of my CD's are from the library).

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Then you really are a promising donator of analysis! If you're going to write as in-depth analysis of each score you're going to buy and eventually get enthralled by, I'm sure you'll beat a lot of review-writers around...

Keep the enthusiasm driving you up...!

Roman.-)

[ridan 0]

here ar the track time for the first soundtrack albumized themes:

Track Times

Lothlorien: 14 0:00

The one Ring theme: 15 1:53

Danger motif: 5 1:06, 6: 135

Mordor: 3: 1:13

Ringwraith: 3 1:33, 5 1:06, 6 1:56, 7 0:14, 8 2:31.

Gollum?s theme: 1 2:15, 3 0:14, 2:15, 12 1:21

Journey: 1 2:42, 4 0:51, 14 3:55

Shire: 1 3:35, 4 1:25, 9 2:26, 10 2:55

Frodo: 2 0:05, 2:16, 9 0:41, 1:51

Ring seduction: 4 0:01, 16: 0:02

Fellowship: 4 1:39, 10 2:28, 3:18 11 1:15 13 0:00, 3:36 15 0:51 16 4:28

Isengard: 7 1:33 16 2:07

Nature: 7 2:16

Arwen: 8 0:00, 3:32

Rivendell: 9 0:00, 2:05

Dwarrowdelf: 12 2:11

Balrog: 13 4:22

Ring verse: 4 2:55

[Elmo Lewis 6]

MSM and Ender both have a point and yet I agree with Indy.

I agree with Neil, too, and actually my post was written to make a point opposite to MSM's. I think Neil noticed.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Thanks ridan, I'll check those out later.

Marian - a JW fan who comes here for JW and film music in general.

[Justin 2]

BTW for you guys who like the LOTR scores Howard Shore will be conducting LOTR music from all 3 movies (I believe all 3) in March with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Justin -Waiting for a bit more info before purchasing his tickets...

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

All three? The world premiere of the complete suite was supposed to be in Berlin next summer or fall. Either they changed that, or he won't perform ROTK in March.

Marian - who'll go to Berlin if possible.

[Justin 2]

Hmm I hope he does. Either way it will be cool. Plus it's only 2 hours away.

Justin

[King Mark 3,631]

y. it's i will do a harry potter complete score analysis, if no one beats me to it. (most of my CD's are from the library).

www.jwfan.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=85

[ridan 0]

actually, i said "complete SCORE analysis. not just the themes. i saw that like the first day it came out

[ChrisAfonso 186]

All three? The world premiere of the complete suite was supposed to be in Berlin next summer or fall. Either they changed that, or he won't perform ROTK in March.

Marian - who'll go to Berlin if possible.

Where did you get that information?? Will this really take place??

If yes, I'll be there definitely. *drool*

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

I stupidly forgot the URL, but it was definitely announced. I can't remember the exact date though. I hope it won't be too difficult to get tickets.

Marian - listening to Korngold's violin concerto.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I stupidly forgot the URL,

You idiot!!!

Marian - listening to Korngold's violin concerto.

Classical music rots your brain.

Stefancos-

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Hmm, so film music does too? This concerto is based on 4 themes from his film scores.

Marian - who thinks Stefan's brain is rotting because of a lack of "classical" music.

[Justin 2]

Marian:

Justin -Wondering how Steef listens to Braveheart without "brain rot" considering it's theme is a direct rip off from Holst's classical piece Jupiter...

[Lurker 5]

[steef]Horner made it better.[/steef]

:roll:

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Neil, please delete your last comment.

[MSM 126]

I'm sorry for replying this late but I've been away for some days.

I apologize to everybody who feels offended by my remark about LotR being discussed on this board, especially to Ridan. I honestly thought the General Discusssion part was for discussing only JW related stuff, and Other Topics for other topics. I should have read better. I am a LotR fan (although not a die-hard indeed) but just thought it was off-topic in this place.

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Hmm, so film music does too? This concerto is based on 4 themes from his film scores.

Marian - who thinks Stefan's brain is rotting because of a lack of "classical" music.

I'm not going to imply any ambiguousness within this post, but Steef is right, and in a way "rotting your brain" with dinkum classical music armors it against pastiche. I mean, if you listen that much to classical music and you eventually embrace it, which is my case and perhaps Marian's as well, you just don't fall for many scores that are cherished among film music die-hards because you simply find them second-rate, unappealing. Inside out, if you keep on eschewing classical music, you'll probably fall for the film scores that you'd normally pass by.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Aragorn's theme  

A noble brass motif, used once (as far as i can tell) when Aragorn saves Boromir for a few seconds when he jumps out of the woods and kills Lurtz.

I don't remember the music at that point, but is this the same theme that plays when Aragorn rides to Helm's Deep in TTT (it's on the TTT CD)? Because i just noticed that this same theme is interpolated into the Gondor theme in the cue Shore wrote for the ROTK trailer.

Marian - who likes that.

[ridan 0]

actually, i think that it is. incidentally, i think i heard this theme also when aragorn jumps in to save frodo from the witchking (lead wraith) and the cave troll.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

So what about the dark bit of music when Frodo first spots Strider in the Prancing Pony? Sounds a bit related to it, at least it's also an ascending motif.

[ridan 0]

Hmm... possibly.... i think i will have too check that when i watch it again...

[ridan 0]

i listened to it, but i just don't hear it. it could be becaus eht eosund affects (although not many), such as the dialogue, but i don't hear it.