Melodies of the Valar
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Deed Lore
- The first four pages of this book can be found on enemies scattered across Angmar, Eregion, and Moria. The last four pages of this book can be found on enemies scattered across Forochel, Moria, and the Misty Mountains.
It is said in the most ancient of tales that the world was formed in a great chorus of song, but this story is ancient and shrouded in myth even to the oldest among the living Elves, and no one in Middle-earth today could claim to know the truth of it. Towards the end of the Second Age, during the War of the Last Alliance, there was born a fair woman who sang in such wonderous tones that even the Elves would stop and listen in silence for so long as she would sing for them. Stranger still, she had no teaching in song or music, and yet could compose such melodies as to bring tears to the powerful and the Wise. She claimed that she composed no songs, and that she was simply trying to duplicate a music that she could hear -- a music that she claimed arose from the world itself, from mountains, streams, wind, and tree alike, in infinite variety.
Melodies of the Valar is the book that contains these songs as the Elves transcribed them, but most of the copies of this book have been taken away into the West, and very few remain in Middle-earth today. Alas, this one has been damaged, but an Elven minstrel of renown might well be able to shed some light on the matter.
To complete this deed perform the following objective(s)
- Melodies of the Valar, page 12
- Like many of the songs in Melodies of the Valar, this one is wordless, guiding the voice of the performer as an instrument.
The song itself seems to conjure in the mind of the listener the image of a babbling brook beneath the foothills of some distant and long-forgotten mountain.
- Like many of the songs in Melodies of the Valar, this one is wordless, guiding the voice of the performer as an instrument.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 14
- The lyrics of the song upon this page are in some strange language even the Elves do not recognize. While in some respects it sounds similar to Sindarin, it is nevertheless alien.
When listening to the words a sense of unmeasurable ages settles upon you, as if the singer were attempting to describe a time before even the Elves set foot upon the lands of Middle-earth.
- The lyrics of the song upon this page are in some strange language even the Elves do not recognize. While in some respects it sounds similar to Sindarin, it is nevertheless alien.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 23
- This song is meant to be sung in a chorus of voices, starting with one and each entering the chorus in turn.
It is said that when it is performed correctly beneath the light of the stars, the sound rises ever upwards drawing the listeners with it into a rapt contemplation of the vastness of the star-strewn sky.
- This song is meant to be sung in a chorus of voices, starting with one and each entering the chorus in turn.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 24
- This quiet piece evokes a sense of suspended tension in the air, much as one might feel in the rumbling forerunners of a summer storm flickering upon the horizon.
How a woman's voice could convey such feelings is unclear, but the effect is unmistakably powerful.
- This quiet piece evokes a sense of suspended tension in the air, much as one might feel in the rumbling forerunners of a summer storm flickering upon the horizon.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 27
- This page presents a slow and sonorous melody. It is hard to imagine how a woman's fair voice could have created such a deep tone.
Its words are mysterious and no known language describes them, but the listener may find themselves transported into an ancient realm beneath the earth, seemingly accompanied by the tread of heavy boots upon stone and the glimmer of vast caverns formed of lime and crystal, seen as if for the first time by any living eyes. In time, the chant reaches its end and the listener finds himself awakening as if from a deep slumber.
- This page presents a slow and sonorous melody. It is hard to imagine how a woman's fair voice could have created such a deep tone.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 29
- This song wells with deep sadness, speaking of honour long fallen to pride and a people lost in dreams of forgotten glory. The music meanders along a bittersweet path that seems to lead inevitably towards the swelling roar of the ocean, along a mythic shore lost beneath the endless waves ages ago.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 30
- This song is strikingly different from all those that come before. It speaks to the listener of valour, strength, and the achievements of great craft. Clear and certain tones strike a chord deep within any who would lead or who strive to achieve.
Yet from this lofty beginning it continues without abatement, speaking of the authority of Kings and of the unquenchable pride of one who must master all they attempt. The tones become uncomfortably assertive, assailing the listener, seeming to place a weight upon their shoulders, pushing ever more firmly downwards.
The final chord reaches a victorious peak as the voice of the singer booms out over the audience with unquestionable authority, demanding submission and adulation from all who listen. It is a powerful, stirring piece, yet some of those who hear it also find it to be profoundly disturbing.
- This song is strikingly different from all those that come before. It speaks to the listener of valour, strength, and the achievements of great craft. Clear and certain tones strike a chord deep within any who would lead or who strive to achieve.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 32
- This last piece is most unusual. It is sung in a single voice that conjures forth the image of an infinitely patient crafter building a castle out of tiny pebbles upon the beach, that time and again is dashed away by angry tides. Yet with each passing of the tide the structure grows, becoming ever more grand over ages of quiet labour.
In the end, the song describes an ancient and beautiful fortress, weathered with the passage of tide and time, inhabited by an elegant, noble people and bearing the banners of a hundred honourable houses upon its walls, standing impregnable upon the edge of an ocean whose tides still crash below -- still violent, but humbled by the crafter's patient art.
Given that the song offers no words to be understood by mortal (or Elven) ears, it seems odd that such concepts might be conveyed, and yet it does so with remarkable clarity.
- This last piece is most unusual. It is sung in a single voice that conjures forth the image of an infinitely patient crafter building a castle out of tiny pebbles upon the beach, that time and again is dashed away by angry tides. Yet with each passing of the tide the structure grows, becoming ever more grand over ages of quiet labour.
- Melodies of the Valar, page 12
Rewards
 10 LOTRO Points |
Additional Information
- This deed is available for Minstrels at level 39.This deed starts by acquiring the legendary book Melodies of the Valar, then pages need to be collected, see the Legendary Book Pages for more information on page locations.