J.R.R. Tolkien sings 'Troll Sat Alone On His Seat Of Stone'

This is a recording of J.R.R. Tolkien singing 'Troll Sat Alone On His Seat Of Stone', the poem recited by Sam Gamgee in 'The Lord of the Rings: Flight to the Ford'.

"Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he had gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,
And meat was hard to come by.

Up came Tom with his big boots on.
Said he to Troll: 'Pray, what is yon?
For it looks like the shin o' my nuncle Tim,
As should be a-lyin' in graveyard.
Caveyard! Paveyard!
This many a year has Tim been gone,
And I thought he were lyin' in graveyard.'

'My lad,' said Troll, 'this bone I stole.
But what be bones that lie in a hole?
Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o' lead,
Afore I found his shinbone.
Tinbone! Thinbone!
He can spare a share for a poor old troll,
For he don't need his shinbone.'

Said Tom: 'I don't see why the likes o' thee
Without axin' leave should go makin' free
With the shank or the shin o' my father's kin;
So hand the old bone over!
Rover! Trover!
Though dead he be, it belongs to he;
So hand the old bone over!'

'For a couple o' pins,' says Troll, and grins,
'I'll eat thee too, and gnaw thy shins.
A bit o' fresh meat will go down sweet!
I'll try my teeth on thee now.
Hee now! See now!
I'm tired o' gnawing old bones and skins;
I've a mind to dine on thee now.'

But just as he thought his dinner was caught,
He found his hands had hold of naught.
Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind
And gave him the boot to larn him.
Warn him! Darn him!
A bump o' the boot on the seat, Tom thought,
Would be the way to larn him.

But harder than stone is the flesh and bone
Of a troll that sits in the hills alone.
As well set your boot to the mountain's root,
For the seat of a troll don't feel it.
Peel it! Heal it!
Old Troll laughed, when he heard Tom groan,
And he knew his toes could feel it.

Tom's leg is game, since home he came,
And his bootless foot is lasting lame;
But Troll don't care, and he's still there
With the bone he boned from its owner.
Doner! Boner!
Troll's old seat is still the same,
And the bone he boned from its owner!"

Brought to you by: http://www.chamber-of-records.com

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• john
• ronald
• reuel
• tolkien
• jrr
• lord
• of
• the
• rings
• lotr
• hobbit
• silmarillion
• middle
• earth
• samwise
• sam
• gamgee
• troll

[Gawaine687]

well as chamberofrecords put what was in the book, this must be an earlier version of the song, as tolkien did do a fair piece of revising. i learned the tune for this and all the other songs from the great rob inglis who did the audio books, but this is wonderful as well. well, its tolkien singing it, so it would be.

[chamberofrecords]

Indeed, I accidentally copy-pasted the wrong version. As you say, the text to the right is from the book, and the audio an earlier version.

[pippinsbabe]

i love this song! my grandpa loved lotr and he used to sing this to me as a lullaby when i was a little lass!!

[HockeyfanX94]

Yeah, he did, but it's not funny.

Back when this was written, almost every word in the English language didn't mean something bad.

[Aldris247]

He's got a fine Irish accent on him there.

[kobidobidog]

@vampirehunteramanda I forgive you. What else can I do?

[vampirehunteramanda]

@kobidobidog There is nothing wrong with sexual expression, nor did I state it was revolting in any way. I merely stated my annoyance over immature viewers who automatically giggled over the current usage of the word boner and not even bothering to realise Tolkien meant something completely different. I apologise if I wasn't clearer in my explanation.

[kobidobidog]

@vampirehunteramanda Pray tell what is wrong with sexual? Please tell me. Would it be we thought about war in the way you are repulsed by sexual innuendo.

[DemiathDoomhammer]

It sounds like he's really havin' a good time, reading this, almost as if he was dancing around in his library with a half-full glass in his hand.. lol

[vampirehunteramanda]

@AndrewzDescent I respectfully disagree, friend. This is when the immature English speakers become the majority of posters. >_< I am an American in my twenties who bothers to read the old classics such as Beowulf and other such works. Never once do I attach sexual meanings to these songs.

Huzzah for J.R.R Tolkien! Namarie!

[GeneralNerd]

Interesting. Some of the words are different. I do know the Lord of the Rings was edited to be more consistent more than once; most notably he probably changed the names because John and Jim don't work as hobbit names.