Epic — & ANZAC Day Observed
As a reader and writer, I love the way the poems and books I heart always stay with me.
Some of you may have picked up that I like to get out into the great outdoors as well – and yesterday I set out amid a late afternoon that very much resembled Keats’ “season of mist and mellow fruitfulness”, with the mountains blue and clear across the plain, and the poplar leaves a burnished gold along the river.
A coastal environment is always a dynamic one, however, and just as I turned back a southerly squall hit, ripping in off the Southern Ocean. So I found myself walking along a clifftop high above the river and into the teeth of the southerly, amid a swirl and spiraling of golden leaves – while not too far ahead of me, the ocean was transformed from mirror glass into whitecaps and spindrift.
Seized by the energy of the moment, I found myself reciting (although shouting might be more accurate, given no one else was near to hear 😉 ) lines from Galadariel’s song, in The Lord Of The Rings, into the wind.

Galadriel farewells the fellowship…
You know, the one from the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, when she and Celeborn farewell the fellowship from Lothlorien:
“I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew,
Of wind I sang, a wind there came, and in the branches blew,
Beyond the sun, beyond the moon, the foam was on the sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin, there grew a golden tree…”
The leaves and the sea are doubtless reason enough for shouting those words into the wind, but given the grandeur and wildness of the unexpected squall, I did wonder if it might not be a moment for lines that appear later, in The Return of the King:
“Horns, horns, horns…great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.”
That particular passage still gives me goosebumps, even though I’ve read it many times. The weather was not the only reason it suited the day either. Yesterday was ANZAC Day, which commemorates the New Zealanders and Australians that served in the First and Second World Wars, in particular, but also more recent wars. Tolkien served in WW1, and his account of the siege of Minas Tirith, which concludes with the arrival of the Rohirrim, encapsulates a darkness, desperation, and terror that was very likely grounded in his own experience of war.
ANZAC Day Observed
If you would like to reflect further on ANZAC Day itself, the following link to ANZAC reflections, including poetry, that I’ve posted in other years:
NZEF Trooper 203453 by Leigh Vickridge
ANZAC Day & “The Walk Home” on Radio New Zealand National
The ANZAC Memorial: The Words of M. Kemal Ataturk
Some ANZAC-themed NZ Children’s Books

The Ataturk Memorial, Wellington, NZ
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Note: The Lord of the Rings quotes are from memory, so if not ec-zackerly right, that be why. I believe, though, that little fault may be found with the spirit of the quotations… 😉
I love the image of you shout-reciting lines from The Lord of the Rings into the wind as the leaves swirled around you.
I’m also thinking that it might be time for me to reread TLOTR, as I’m ashamed to say I did not recognize the quote(s)…
I *thought* you might enjoy it, Beth. 😀 Best of all, it is a true and faithful account, without authorial embellishment or exaggeration.
I hope your reread is rewarding, in terms of the quoted and/or parapahrased passages in particular — I had to correct the Galadriel lines, as recollection prompted me to remember that it was “branches” the wind blew in or through, not “grasses”…
I think I must be due for a reread too, since I didn’t recognise the Galadriel quote. I do always get goosebumps (if not downright cry) when the Rohirrim arrive in ROTK! I’d never made the connection before between Tolkien and the ANZACS, so that’s pretty cool too.
Tolkien was from South Africa originally as well, so not quite an ANZAC but a definite Southern Hemisphere connection.:)