
History tends to repeat itself. In the 1990’s fantasy author J.K. Rowling set pen to paper, or fingers to keys, to write some bedtime stories for her children. The rest is history. Her seven books concerning Harry Potter sold millions of copies and were turned into a very successful film series by Warner Bros. Pictures. There is nothing new under the sun, this was done before by the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien when between 1937 and 1949 he wrote The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The books and gained a cult following and were turned into a film trilogy by Peter Jackson.

In short the books narrate how the Rings of Power that were given to men, dwarves and elves ended up forged into One Ring by the main antagonist Sauron, the Dark Lord, in order to allow him to rule over all. In a quest to destroy this ring and bring down Sauron, hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, set out from the Sire with this mission in mind. Guided by Gandalf the Company of the Ring is formed in order to rally all factions to aid the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth against Sauron’s armies. Men are represented by Aragon and Boromir, the elves by Legolas and the dwarves by Gimli. Frodo has to fight a personal battle against the power exerted by the ring as he fights to accomplish the feat of destroying it in the fires of Mount Doom. Well, this is a very simplistic approach of telling the tale. It’s basically another take at describing in a fantastic way the battle between good and evil and the triumph of the former. I’m sure most of you have seen the films. Try your hand at reading the books. It’s a feat in itself, but truly worth your time.
Mysticism, fantasy and doomy Mordor were the perfect fodder for a heavy metal fire. Lord of the Rings books have directly and indirectly influenced innumerable bands and artists, here are a few metal bands that have taken this story at heart.
The song ‘The Wizard’ on Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut album was inspired by Gandalf. Geezer Butler was reading Lord of the Rings at the time and loosely based the lyrics to reflect the wizard ………. and allegedly the provider of narcotics who supplied the band with his ‘magic’ potions.

“Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul/ ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.” J.R.R. Tolkien went into such detail as creating fictional languages for the different races. Translated from the Black Speech spoken in Mordor this phrase would mean, “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them / One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” Varg Vikerns got the inspiration for the name of his black metal project Burzum from Tolkien. This should come as no surprise as his first band was named Uruk-Hai, with reference to the Orcs in Mordor. Also his pseudonym Count Grishnackh is a reference to the captain of the Orcs Grishnákh. Norwegian black mettalers Dimmu Borgir are more subtle in their approach but without a doubt their frontman’s namesake Shagrath is a play of words on the orc captain of Cirith Ungol, Shagrat.
Not to be left out of the most epic battle of all times, Swedish power metal band Sabaton included the track ‘Shadows’ in their 2007 album ‘Metalizeris.’ This song is about the army of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor.

“Facing the wind as they ride through the sky
Shadows of Mordor black horses they fly
Black Shadow King, find the ring
Search for the Halfling you lords of the dark
The hobbit with Sauron's ring he is your mark
Unholy light, in the night
Black Knights of Sauron
You're made of iron
Black shadows of Mordor
Wield one-eyed shields
Unholy ring wraiths with armor of steel
Kings of the past to no one you kneel
Hearts filled with hate, that's your fate
Facing the wind as they ride through the sky
Shadows of Mordor black horses they fly
Ride Shadow King, find the ring.”
Led Zeppelin also make references to Lord of the Rings for example in songs such as ‘Misty Mountain Hop’, referring to the Misty Mountains and ‘The Battle of Evermore’ and ‘Ramble On’, to name a few. Contrary to popular belief one of their most popular tracks ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is not Tolkien inspired. Not the same can be said on Megadeth’s ‘This Day We Fight’ from their 2009 album ‘Endgame.’ Dave Mustaine had Aragon’s battle speech from The Return of the King when he penned down the lyrics.

“...I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!”
It is not a secret that former Rush drummer Neil Peart (1952 – 2020) was into literature, including the epic Tolkien works. He incorporated Lord of the Rings themes into Rush songs such as ‘Rivendell’ (1975), named after the Elven city. A year later he penned ‘The Necromancer’, which is a reference to a nickname Gandalf coined for Sauron in The Hobbit. This musical opus comes in three parts, just like the novel.
Another band that have their namesake inspired by Lord of the Rings are the Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. Their name translates to ‘hill of doom’, which is another name for Orodruin, the volcanic ‘Mount Doom.’ Another band named after a landscape from Lord of the Rings is Gorgoroth, who get their inspiration form The Plateau of Gorgoroth, which is a wasteland of volcanic ash in the heart of Mordor. The place where Sauron’s army waits for commands to attack any potential intruders.

There are a multitude of other bands that have been inspired by Tolkien and his works, but none will outdo German power metal band Blind Guardian in their devotion. Not only do we find numerous references in their songs, but taking it a step further, the band even based a concept album based on the tales by Tolkien. Their sixth studio album, ‘Nightfall in Middle-Earth’, released in 1998, is based upon The Silmarillion, a book from the First Age of Middle-earth, recounting the troubled history of Beleriand, as the Elves battle the Dark Lord Morgoth. Apart from the songs the album includes narrated parts of the story. Rumors were milling that the Blind Guardian were to provide the score for the film series, but this never materialized.
All that remains is for you to create a playlist of Tolkien inspired metal songs and pay homage to the one who ruled they all by reading his books. Let the adventure begin!
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