Queen of Light took her bow
And then she turned to go,
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom
And walked the night alone.
Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light.
The dark Lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all.
Oh, throw down your plow and hoe,
Rest not to lock your homes.
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all.
I hear the horses' thunder
Down in the valley blow,
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon,
Waiting for the eastern glow.
The apples of the valley hold,
The seas of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care,
Repay, do not forget, no, no.
Oh,---dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light.
The apples turn to brown and black, the tyrant's face is red.
Oh the war is common cry, pick up you swords and fly.
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know.
Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.
The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The ring wraiths ride in black, ride on.
Sing as you raise your bow,
Shoot straighter than before.
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold.
Oh dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the mornin' light.
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back, bring it back.
At last the sun is shining, the clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes.



Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 06:24

"The Battle of Evermore" as written by James Patrick (jimmy)/plant Page

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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The Battle of Evermore song meanings
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  • +1
    My Interpretation:Well, aside from its obvious reference to LotR, the Ringwraiths, I think it's about the battle at Minas Tirith, and the events surrounding it, if not in exact chronological order. After having listened to the song many times while I was reading through the series, I noticed things in the song that seem like direct (or at least indirect) references to the text when I actually reached that section of the book (book five, the first half of Return of the King). I can see why some would say it was Helm's Deep, but the Ringwraiths weren't in that battle.

    The Queen of Light and the Prince of Peace are metaphors, both have left; the darkness encroaches the sky, and battle looms in the dark of the night Gandalf says will not have dawn until victory is had.

    The city of Minas Tirith prepares for the fight, sending those not fighting off as refugees and receiving assisting fighters.

    The surrounding farms must be abandoned, for only the strong city walls stand a chance of survival.

    Friendly armies gather to defend Minas Tirith, the last major stronghold against Sauron's power, from the forces of darkness.

    The horses' thunder could refer to all the horses of the arriving Riders of Rohan (whose specialty is horses) to assist, and could also refer to Shadowfax's strength and power.

    The waiting for dawn is something that had to be done, since as Gandalf told Pippin, the dawn would not come until the darkness of Sauron was repelled.

    The fields and orchards of Pelennor were carefully tended, as Gandalf noted in the text. He told the guards escorting him to put down their farming tools (throw down your plow and hoe) and prepare to fight for the city.

    The repayment mentioned in the song could refer to the debt owed Aragorn by the dead, who broke their oath to fight the forces of Sauron, then recruited to fight again by Aragorn to repay their debt.

    The orchards and fields were ruined by the forces of Sauron in the battle, in which his power keeps the sky dark until his defeat. His servants, the Winged Nazgul, rule the skies.

    The beads of time passed slowly as those remaining in the city waited for the long night to end and the battle to be over.

    The rest, I'm not sure about, but it could be something along the lines of the Ring being destroyed and Sauron being defeated. I'm sure the fire in the cracks of doom held no comfort (or it could be the watch fires in the night, but that was before the battle happened), and balance was restored with Sauron's defeat. Oh, and the ringwraiths did ride in, which they didn't in the battle of Helm's Deep.
    Flag Usernomeon April 28, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:But Arwen's story is for the song that follows BATTLE OF EVERMORE.

    It is so immersed in symbolism the listener has to have read the book a few times. No way to get the meaning of STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN from the movies.

    READ THE NOVEL.....READ IT MORE THAN ONCE. TELL YOUR TEENAGERS TO READ IT HOPEFULLY BEFORE THE MOVIES.

    STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN IS A DIFFICULT SONG TO EXPLAIN AND INTERPRET. BUT ARWEN DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE MIDDLE EARTH BECAUSE OF HER LOVE FOR ARAGON. LET IMAGINATION TAKE IT FROM THERE.
    Flag watchermanon August 02, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Keep in mind THE LORD OF THE RINGS was not written as a trilogy. It has been sold as a 3 book set in paperback and of course Hollywood made it into three as well. But Tolkien wrote it as one novel.

    And yes, I agree with Truth by Design. Tolkien was a great storyteller. I've read the book three times and each time see something new...especially regarding the elvish language he created (but that's another topic)..

    Tolkien was a Christian and a friend of C.S. Lewis. The novel is filled with literary symbols to the struggle between good and evil...duh. Depending on how read you are there are references to some biblical scripture. BUT, the book is not an allegory! It is a great tale maybe the greatest of all time.

    Before the novel was re-introduced as a novel (with the movies to follow) Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were immersed not only in the book but in the Celtic origins of Tolkien's elvish language. They wrote what was to become "ZOSO" in one night in front of Jimmy's fireplace at his castle. ONE NIGHT.

    I did a little research on Celtic languages until I just got lost.

    But Tolkien went so deep in creating the tale of MIDDLE EARTH and the history before MIDDLE EARTH it must have been a gift given to him. The gift he was given was for the reader whose mind understood that "imagination is better than knowledge" (Eisenstein).

    If I fall in love with a character in a novel I'm reading, something good is happening. I fell in love with Arwen...I was smitten.

    I'm not sure if Hollywood did us a favor with the movies but if it caused people to go out and READ the novel then it was good.

    The "Battle of Evermore" is probably about the "BATTLE OF HELMS DEEP". I don't want to go into a long explanation. Just one question: Who was Aragon waiting to arrive at sunrise on the fifth day? Who was blinded by whom?
    Flag watchermanon August 02, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i listened to this song countless times as a teenager and just liked it for the mandolin, sandy & robert's voices melding together and just the nice feeling it gave me. as an adult, who has since discovered the LOTR trilogy, it gave me immense pleasure to re-visit the song from an entirely different perspective. some of the comments on here demonstrate an impressive familiarity w/tolkien's writings and ascribe meanings to the lyrics that are so thoroughly considered w/respect to their possible LOTR references that it makes me wonder whether a very young & frequently stoned robert plant could've actually been capable of such impressive symmetry. i'd love to know if any of the band members have ever publicly discussed the connections b/t the lyrics to this (or other) songs to the LOTR trilogy. at any rate, great job by many of the contributors on here.
    Flag jmsesqon April 18, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:The female is Sandy Dennis. She had major problems with drugs and alcohol (like John Bonham). While she was visiting her mother's hose in the UK, she fell down a staircase and died. She was quite young and she died not too long after she performed this fabulous Led Zepplin song.
    Flag jeff57on February 08, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Never imagined so many nerds would gather to talk about Zep.
    Flag Millionsixon October 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:I dig the comments people are saying but one thing I have GOT to correct.....

    Tolkien's works are NOT allegory.
    He despised it and he hated it when people compared his works to the Bible or end times, etc. So NO folks. No end of times/Armageddon, no pipeweed/chronic, no orcs/Nazis, etc... none of it.

    By all means, don't believe me, the random dude on the internet. Do your research and you will see that this is true. I loved Tolkien and truly enjoyed his books, truly life changing. I'm glad Led Zep loves the guy so much as well. Great subject matter for a song.
    Flag TruthByDesignon April 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:lighthousebaptistchapel.com/tag/led-zeppelin/ interesting doc on satanism in music industry. Obvisouly produced by Christian right wingers but interesting as hell none the less.
    Flag thanos81on January 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: Obviously Satan or lucifer related song.
    "The sky is filled with good and bad that mortals never know." could be interpereted as Aliens?
    prince of darkness line?
    dark lord line?
    also what about stairway to Heaven? for those that don't know listen to this song on you tube backwards.
    Also Jimmy page bought Alastair Crowley's former house, a well know satanist and self proclaimed "most evil man in the world"?
    the morning light is a reference to satan?
    Also a Dragon is a reference to Satan, specificlly a red dragon (check most all royalty crests ans seals, they almost all have Red dragon they paying homage to).
    One last thing i recently watched the "It Might Get Loud" doc featuring Page, and what I found interesting was that when asked about his creative process while writing a song, he looks suddenly puzzled and was silent, then he just said NO, I can't tell you my creative process. why the hell not? it seemed a harmless question besides Jack white had no problem at all letting us know his as well as the edge on the doc. Does he have something to hide considering the content of some of his past lyrics to songs? Is he in a seance with satan while writing some of these songs? We will never know unless he tells us, which he obviously isn't going to do.
    to me it is abundantly clear and I was actually quite surprised of the lyrics when I read them having done research on satanism and luciferianism recently. Ps I am not a Christian at all, just interested.
    Flag thanos81on January 26, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:This is what I think:
    Queen of Light: Galadriel
    Prince of Peace: Frodo
    Dark Lord: Witch King or Sauron
    Horses in the valley below: Helm's Deep
    Tired Eyes on the Sunrise: The men of Minas Tirith waiting for the sun to break through the everlasting darkness.
    Dance in the Dark Night: Gandalf encouraging the men of Minas Tirith to have hope.
    Ring Wraiths: Ring Wraiths.
    With flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunlight blinds his eyes: The last breath of Sauron through Orodruin (Mount Doom) and the first sunlight hitting Frodo's eyes.
    Hope this makes a bit of sense.
    Flag eggoroxon June 09, 2010   Link

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