With a sudden upward sweep of staggered brass, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas turn to attack the interloper, but their assaults are effortlessly turned away. A pulsing pedal tone beats below dense minor harmonies as intense white light engulfs the trio. Following one last tuft of aleatoric strings, the music dissolves into clear, pure brightness. High strings consolidate into octaves while female voices chant in repeating triplet figures. In four arcing measures, Shore introduces the music for Gandalf the White (In Nature). The music rises in unchecked splendor, tempered only by the brevity of its appearance. This theme articulates the same simple directness as does Nature’s Reclamation, but the chorus carries an embedded secret: the text is drawn from Tolkien’s “The Call,” and has been translated into Old English. Throughout The Lord of the Rings, the chorus lyrics used for Gandalf regard the wizard’s position as a mediator, a character that moves between cultures to influence Middle-earth. In Lothlórien, he was referenced in Sindarin and Quenya texts. In Moria, the Dwarves’ Khuzdul accompanied his movements. But here in Fagorn, Gandalf the White is met by choral lyrics in the same adapted Old English associated with Rohan. The wizard has now been sent back as an agent of Nature and, as such, has a greater grasp of the mysteries of Middle-earth. he knows he must lead the remaining members of the Fellowship through Rohan.
But first, Gandalf must account for his reappearance. The Wizard recounts his ordeal with the Balrog and their climb to the summit of Zirakzigil. Shore’s score supplies the vaguest hint of Dwarvish music—plangent timpani strokes over open fifth harmonies—but, this is not the same intense fight that began upon the Bridge of khazad-dûm. After two days and nights, the combatants are worn. Summoning its last bits of strength, the score exerts a final choral thrust, drawing again from Boyens’ text, “The Fight,” and gandalf smites the Balrog’s ruin upon the mountainside.
Gandalf, too, collapses, but the score neither celebrates nor mourns the battle’s end. Instead, with a thousand pinpricks of woodwinds and violins, it trickles back to life. After wandering the less tangible corners of existence, strong melodic figures in the massed low voices of the orchestra pass Gandalf’s sprit back into his body, and Gandalf the White is brought into the world.
So the road to Edoras is laid before the Fellowship. The music snaps to with a sense of rhythmic purpose, but Gimli protests, recalling their original purpose for entering the forest. Bits of hobbit music, including the End Cap figure, can be heard forming like the thoughts in the Dwarf’s mind before they reach his mouth. “Are we to leave those poor hobbits here…?” The score takes one more detour to Ent music—reduced to a gnarring collection of celli, contrabasses, timpani and log drums—as Gimli again manages to insult his hosts. But the son of Glóin’s barbs are well meant. He doesn’t like the idea of leaving Merry and Pippin lost in Fangorn. Gandalf, however, is content—the hobbits have joined with the Ents for a purpose. His nature-based metaphor (“The coming of Merry and Pippin will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains,”) is preceded by the same succoring four chords (F♯ minor, G major, F♯ minor, A minor) that will begin “The Dreams of Trees,” but here they build into a profoundly elevating choral line that, like Gandalf the White (In Nature), foreshadows more the potent variations of Nature music to come. Shore, in dioramic form, introduces a powerfully symbolic foretoken—the simple goodness of these two hobbits will arouse Nature’s retribution. But like Gandalf’s words, the chart of this course is still shrouded in mystery.
Once again, however, the music stays one step ahead of the plot. As the chords build in the chorus, Shore utilizes a text, “The Mearas,” that references a more immediate manifestation of the natural world—the imminent arrival of Gandalf’s steed, Shadowfax. Gandalf rides with the Three Hunters, and the Fellowship has officially increased its count to four members. Upon this mark, Shore introduces a new variant of the Fellowship theme: Gandalf the White (In the Fellowship). “Gandalf now relates to the mystery of the story,” Shore explains of the broad, regal melody, which, like Gandalf the White (In Nature), features Nature’s high clear tones. “He’s the character that’s trying to figure everything out, always riding out to find information and bring it back. He’s part of the unknown—he’s been reborn and we really don’t know much about him.” Built off the opening down-and-back-up pitches of the Fellowship’s theme, Gandalf the White (In the Fellowship) creates the bridge between the will of Nature and the responsibilities and deeds of the Fellowship of the Ring.
UNUSED CONCEPT:
The sustained musical build from Legolas’ line, “The trees are speaking to each other,” to the assault on the White Wizard is replaced in the film with sound effects, as is Gandalf’s final battle with the Balrog and his mystical odyssey through the cosmos. “The score needed to pause,” Shore explains. “We don’t always know this until we’ve assembled all the elements of the film, and we don’t do that until very late in the process.”
Another editorial decision, however, resulted in a happy accident in the music for Gandalf’s return to Middle-earth. During The Two Towers’ production, Shore scored individual scenes as the film was edited, which meant that he wasn’t always writing in story order. He had already completed a long series of rising choral triplets for Gandalf’s pending arrival at Helm’s Deep when the filmmakers began to edit Gandalf’s first appearance in Fangorn. The editors took the completed Helm’s Deep music and edited it into Fangorn, finding, in the process, that it struck exactly the mood they sought. So when Shore came to score this scene, he incorporated the rising triplets, creating, in the process, a recurring theme for Gandalf the White (In Nature). As it happened, however, the theme was eventually removed from the Helm’s Deep scene. And so, only on this CD set do both iterations of Gandalf the White (In Nature) exist, binding Gandalf’s two most prominent moments of reappearance.
The final alteration to this composition involves Shadowfax’s approach, though in this case the sequence was simply rewritten with a slightly different approach. Shore’s first draft of this music can still be heard on The Two Towers’ 2002 original soundtrack CD.
TEXTS
THE CALL
Text by J.R.R. Tolkien
Old English Translation by David Salo
First Heard: Disc Two | Track Thirteen
Hwæ ´r cwóm helm? hwæ ´r cwóm byrne? | Where is the helm and the hauberk,
Hwæ ´r cwóm feax flówende? | and the bright hair flowing?
Hwæ ´r cwóm hand on hearpestrenge? | Where is the hand on the harpstring,
Hwæ ´r cwóm scír fyyr scínende? | and the red fire glowing?
Hwæ ´r cwóm lencten and hærfest? | Where is the spring and the harvest
Hwæ ´r cwóm héah corn weaxende? | and the tall corn growing?
Hwá gegaderath wuduréc of wealdholte byrnende? | Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning?
Oththe gesiehth of gársecge thá géar gewendende? | Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
THE FIGHT
Text by Philippa Boyens
Quenya Translation by David Salo
First Heard: Disc One | Track One
Cuiva Olórin | Awake Olórin
Nárendur | Servant of fire
Tira nottolya | face your foe
Tulta tuolya | Summon forth your strength
An mauya mahtie | For you must fight
Ter oiomornie | Through endless dark
Ter ondicilyar | Through chasms of stone.
Mettanna. | To the end.
Nurunna! | To the death!
THE MEARAS
Text by Philippa Boyens
Old English Translation by David Salo
First Heard: Disc Two | Track Thirteen
Híe hine sáwon feorran | In the distance they saw him,
And hwíte sunnan in mane | White sun caught in his mane.
Híe lange hine clipodon | Long they called him –
ac hé ne wolde cuman | but he would not come.
For thon hé wæs Sceadufæx | For he was Shadowfax –
Hláford ealra Méara | Lord of all Horses.
and hé ne andswarode bútan ánne. | And he answered to only one.
(c) The Annotated Score (The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films)
Gandalf the White
Howard Shore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
text by J.R.R. TOLKIEN, translation by DAVID SALO
( OLD ENGLISH )
Hwær cwóm helm? Hwær cwóm byrne?
Hwær cwóm feax flówende?
Hwær cwóm hand on hearpestrenge?
Hwæ cwóm scí fyyr scínende?
(( Where is the helm and the hauberk,
And the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring,
And the red fire glowing? ))
Hwær cwóm lencten and hærfest?
Hwær cwóm héah corn weaxende?
Hwá gegaderath wuduréc of wealdholte gyrnende?
Oththe gesiehth of gársecge thá géar gewendende?
(( Where is the spring and the harvest,
And the tall corn growing?
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning?
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning? ))
- - -
THE MEARAS
text by PHILIPPA BOYENS, translation by DAVID SALO
( OLD ENGLISH )
Híe hine sáwon feorran
And hwíte sunnan in mane
Híe lange hine clipodon
Ac hé ne wolde cuman
(( In the distance they saw him,
White sun caught in his mane.
Long they called him -
But he would not come. ))
For thon hé wæs Sceadufæx
Hláford ealra Méara
And hé ne andswarode bútan ánne.
(( For he was Shadowfax -
Lord of all Horses.
And he answered to only one. ))
The song "Gandalf the White" is composed by Howard Shore and features two parts. The first part is called "The Call" and features lyrics in Old English, originally written by J.R.R. Tolkien, translated by David Salo. The lyrics evoke a sense of loss and longing by asking where important things and people have gone. The helm and hauberk, the harpstring and red fire, the spring and harvest with tall corn growing, and the ones who gather the smoke of the dead wood burning or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning all seem to have disappeared. The repetition of the question "hwær" (meaning "where") heightens the mysterious atmosphere and suggests that the answer may be elusive or unknown. The haunting melody of the choir and the use of different vocal textures and dynamics add to the emotional impact of the lyrics, giving voice to the yearning for what has been lost.
The second part of the song is called "The Mearas" and features lyrics in Old English by Philippa Boyens, translated by David Salo. The lyrics describe the Mearas, a fictional breed of horses in the Middle-earth universe, and one horse in particular: Shadowfax. The lyrics convey awe and reverence for the beauty and power of the Mearas, who are said to be able to run faster than the wind and understand the speech of men. Shadowfax, in particular, is described as "lord of all horses" and his mane is said to catch the white sun. However, despite the calling of men who long to ride him, Shadowfax only answers to one person, who remains unnamed. The use of the choir and the orchestra emphasize the grandeur and majesty of the Mearas, who are not mere animals but symbols of hope and freedom in a world beset by darkness and oppression.
Line by Line Meaning
Where is the helm and the hauberk,
And the bright hair flowing?
Looking around, where is the protective helmet or chainmail armor that was usually worn with the warrior, and where is the long, shining hair that characterizes the great hero of the people?
Where is the hand on the harpstring,
And the red fire glowing?
Where is the sound of the stringed instrument that permeated their society along with the symbolic fiery blood necessary to make life's experiences feel alive?
Where is the spring and the harvest,
And the tall corn growing?
Spring and harvest seasons bring the sense of growth, success and prosperity to the land, but now there is a striking realization that none of this is present.
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning?
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
Fearing the absence of growth and the prosperity it brings, people wish to find someone who can symbolically capture the essence of those times and recall those moments from the past.
In the distance they saw him,
White sun caught in his mane.
From a distance, people witnessed the entrance of the king, who radiated the light of the sun from his horse's mane.
Long they called him -
But he would not come.
The people desperately called to him to come closer, but he did not have the intention to advance towards them.
For he was Shadowfax -
Lord of all Horses.
And he answered to only one.
The people soon understood that he was the great king, and only answered to one person, which is an indication of his authority over all people under his rule.
Contributed by Tristan T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.