kerelybonto
doo-di-doo-di-dum doo-di-dum doo-di-doo-di-dum
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I've been spending a lot of time with my Zeppelin discs lately, and as I'm already intimately familiar with the instrumentals, I've been paying more and more attention to the lyrics. I noticed the band's lyrical allusions to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy very soon after hearing the songs for the first time, but I've found quite a few more sublte references as I've been paying more attention.
The most obvious allusions are in "Ramble On." In the song's last stanza, Plant sings the following verse: Quote:
That's a pretty explicit reference, and it justifies looking for others.
So on to "The Battle of Evermore." From what I've read about the song, it's supposed to be related to Celtic mythology. But it obviously has mixed sources, evidence by it's mention of "the angels of Avalon," which is a reference to the Arthurian paradise of English lore. There are lots of things in the song that could be construed as Lord of the Rings material, such as "The Queen of Light" and "The Prince of Peace," which if my memory serves me correctly (I haven't read the books in quite a few years), were names for Eowyn and Aragorn. But without stretching things, there's the mention of "the Dark Lord" and "ringwraiths," the latter of which is a word I don't think has any meaning other than the one Tolkien gave it.
"Misty Mountain Hop" could also be an allusion. The title could refer to the Misty Mountains of Tolkien's Middle Earth geography or the mountains of the same name in Wales, where both Tolkien and Plant lived.
I can't think of any other explicit references right now. But besides the Tolkien allusions there are many references to Norse, Celtic, and British mythology, indicating that Plant did have an interest in such things. Do any of you know of any other allusions or if anyone from the band has ever said anything about them?
kerelybonto
The most obvious allusions are in "Ramble On." In the song's last stanza, Plant sings the following verse: Quote:
| 'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor I met a girl so fair but Gollum and the Evil One crept up and slipped away with her. |
That's a pretty explicit reference, and it justifies looking for others.
So on to "The Battle of Evermore." From what I've read about the song, it's supposed to be related to Celtic mythology. But it obviously has mixed sources, evidence by it's mention of "the angels of Avalon," which is a reference to the Arthurian paradise of English lore. There are lots of things in the song that could be construed as Lord of the Rings material, such as "The Queen of Light" and "The Prince of Peace," which if my memory serves me correctly (I haven't read the books in quite a few years), were names for Eowyn and Aragorn. But without stretching things, there's the mention of "the Dark Lord" and "ringwraiths," the latter of which is a word I don't think has any meaning other than the one Tolkien gave it.
"Misty Mountain Hop" could also be an allusion. The title could refer to the Misty Mountains of Tolkien's Middle Earth geography or the mountains of the same name in Wales, where both Tolkien and Plant lived.
I can't think of any other explicit references right now. But besides the Tolkien allusions there are many references to Norse, Celtic, and British mythology, indicating that Plant did have an interest in such things. Do any of you know of any other allusions or if anyone from the band has ever said anything about them?
kerelybonto
