J.R.R. Tolkien reads Riddles In The Dark (Whole -

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2013
  • The legend himself, J.R.R. Tolkien reads this iconic chapter from The Hobbit.
    [DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THIS VIDEO. ALL RIGHTS TO THE MATERIAL BELONG TO THE TOLKIEN ESTATE AND HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHING LTD.]
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ความคิดเห็น • 159

  • @12classics39
    @12classics39 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    JRR Tolkien’s official vocalization of “Gollum” alone makes this one of the most valuable recordings in human history. So glad it’s preserved here.

  • @PaulWayper
    @PaulWayper 8 ปีที่แล้ว +382

    This is how the book should sound - an old man reading stories to younger people. And Tolkien's knowledge of that story comes through in every word. The ending in particular is chilling - "we hates it forever!"

    • @VaryaEQ
      @VaryaEQ 7 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Paul Wayper He reminds me of my grandad reading.

    • @jaygon8656
      @jaygon8656 6 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      I have this head-canon of an old man reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings to his grandchildren, sometime in England in the 40s (this part probably came from Narnia lol). He's got the Red Book of Westmarch, so I guess he's a distant, distant descendant of one of the charcters in the book. He tells them these stories one night, and little do they know that this is long lost ancient history of a forgotten world.

    • @gavroshtheswift9959
      @gavroshtheswift9959 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Rob Ingles narrated the entire series and it was amazing, it felt like Tolkien reading.

    • @verasverrucktevideos1810
      @verasverrucktevideos1810 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@jaygon8656 Exactly my feelings about Tolkien...

  • @samuelroveda9706
    @samuelroveda9706 3 ปีที่แล้ว +174

    Great to see how "gollum" really sounds from Tolkien himself

    • @rickoshay5525
      @rickoshay5525 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I think this version of Gollum sounds like Yoda. 😏

    • @meshzzizk
      @meshzzizk 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      best gollum voice is brother theodore in the 1977 animated version 🧌

    • @MistaGrim
      @MistaGrim 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      No disrespect to the man, but it sounds like a cartoon character. This is the reason for voice actors.

    • @meshzzizk
      @meshzzizk 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      @@MistaGrim so did andy serkis

    • @MistaGrim
      @MistaGrim 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@meshzzizk Nope.

  • @Bluemilk92
    @Bluemilk92 6 ปีที่แล้ว +246

    "He knew, _of course,_ that the riddle game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it"
    You just got to love the way Tolkien writes and thinks. It's almost the logic of a small child, and it gives it this really fairy-tail like quality.

    • @LordQueezle
      @LordQueezle 5 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      I agree. I recently rediscovered this when reading the start to Tolkien's _Roverandom_ about a dog turned into a toy. He writes so matter-of-factly that of course toys talk to each other with other toys. Loooong before toy story was even thought of.

    • @combineadvisorwithinternet6040
      @combineadvisorwithinternet6040 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@LordQueezle When I first read the Roverandom, I felt so weird. It was a book that is weird as amazing.

    • @letz5464
      @letz5464 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      The Hobbit is a children's book

    • @combineadvisorwithinternet6040
      @combineadvisorwithinternet6040 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@letz5464 And? Everybody knows that, i guess.

    • @mr.ricky_l_rick1560
      @mr.ricky_l_rick1560 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@LordQueezle I particularily liked the line: „Rover wanted to blush but he couldn‘t because he was a dog“ that one really caught me off guard

  • @MMuraseofSandvich
    @MMuraseofSandvich 4 ปีที่แล้ว +106

    Sir Ian McKellen based his performance of Gandalf on Professor Tolkien, and he nailed it.

    • @roel.vinckens
      @roel.vinckens 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Sir Ian McKellen has a habit of nailing it, whatever it may be. From Shakespeare over Tolkien to the Wolf Brother series and everything in between.

  • @Gram668
    @Gram668 8 ปีที่แล้ว +139

    The story seems to come alive when hearing it from the mouth of the author himself.

  • @222ableVelo
    @222ableVelo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +91

    Tolkien doing the Gollum voice, amazing. I guess it's safe to say this is the authoritative version on what Gollum was supposed to sound like -- voiced by the author himself. It's great to have a recording like this.

    • @coreywho2972
      @coreywho2972 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Yeah and I think it's fantastic how much it shows Andy analyzed and mastered the voice

    • @theothertonydutch
      @theothertonydutch 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Andy Serkis's Gollum reminds me of Stitch.

  • @tonygibson8086
    @tonygibson8086 7 ปีที่แล้ว +80

    This recordings so atmospheric, he brings Gollum alive.

  • @Stampistuta
    @Stampistuta 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    We are so lucky to have recordings like this, getting to hear Tolkien do Gollums voice.

  • @CallMeCrazyCallMePoor
    @CallMeCrazyCallMePoor 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    "Long, long ago before the goblins came, and he was cut off from his friends far under the mountains."
    That is hauntingly mysterious.

  • @VaryaEQ
    @VaryaEQ 7 ปีที่แล้ว +276

    1 dislike. Must be Sauron.

    • @AionShanks
      @AionShanks 7 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      probably melkor

    • @zindi1138
      @zindi1138 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Melkor used Grond as a staff!

    • @alexpalmer7704
      @alexpalmer7704 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      zindi1138 But not that Grond, the great battering ram was merely named after the original

    • @fotbalmfotbalm
      @fotbalmfotbalm 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Probably a troll

    • @MrDuck797
      @MrDuck797 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Kinshira who’s Melkor

  • @fotbalmfotbalm
    @fotbalmfotbalm 5 ปีที่แล้ว +93

    I have known this recording since I was a child, but something has just struck me for the first time: Tolkien is doing a welsh accent for Gollum.

    • @Palendrome
      @Palendrome 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Mhm. And idk, it seems like with goblins and other such creatures, that he almost writes them in a Welsh "commoner" tongue.

    • @rimservices
      @rimservices 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Are they hissing a lot in Wales?

    • @Palendrome
      @Palendrome 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      @@rimservices Yes

    • @garywait3231
      @garywait3231 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Well, Celtic, anyway; but whatever the dialect, it adds a deliciously chilling tone to the story.

    • @celebrim1
      @celebrim1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Gollum is from an older world and so speaks with an older tongue.

  • @bunsonbaker4156
    @bunsonbaker4156 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    I like to think Tolkien read this to his children and grandchildren like this

    • @blazemordly9746
      @blazemordly9746 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Bunson Baker He has....for generations.

    • @thealmightyaku-4153
      @thealmightyaku-4153 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      He did! Although famously Tolkien wrote out the first line on a whim one afternoon, the rest of the Hobbit's story started as a bedtime story for his 3 boys . He started writing it down when the oldest, Christopher, kept correcting him when he couldn't keep the details consistent.

  • @Linkskyfyre
    @Linkskyfyre 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I think Tolkien would have appreciated the films. He may not have loved them, but surely appreciated that so many would come to love his work and try their best to remain true to his vision of the characters. Gollum for example. You can totally tell Andy tried to mimic this rendition. Such a great legendarium.

  • @luciewhale
    @luciewhale 5 ปีที่แล้ว +43

    a three-foot high jump is actually pretty impressive, especially for a hobbit

    • @celebrim1
      @celebrim1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They are built rather more like Chimps than ordinary humans, and as such are stronger than they might appear for their size - and sink rather readily in water, which is why they fear it.

    • @yellowhazeproductions
      @yellowhazeproductions ปีที่แล้ว +1

      the ring already granting him power

    • @Blokewood3
      @Blokewood3 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yeah, that's as high as Bilbo is tall!

  • @ResolvedToDew
    @ResolvedToDew 10 ปีที่แล้ว +63

    His work...his voice...This is one of the best things I have ever heard. Tolkien, you never cease to blow my mind.

  • @elenamartel1822
    @elenamartel1822 4 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    While listening to this one scene came to my mind, when Bilbo (in The Lord of the rings movie) is telling the kids his story with the trolls at his birthday party.

  • @urahara_daioh
    @urahara_daioh ปีที่แล้ว +5

    His Gollum voice actually reminds me of Yoda a lot of the time, when he's pretending to be an old loon to test Luke.

  • @Emeraldpickaxegaming
    @Emeraldpickaxegaming 6 ปีที่แล้ว +65

    What a wonderful recording. His voice contains such genuine joy and passion for this story he wrote for children. He seems to have written it for himself even more so. One can tell he's having a lot of fun doing Gollum.

  • @69trolololololololol
    @69trolololololololol 11 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    his voice is so majestic

  • @MrTree1779
    @MrTree1779 9 ปีที่แล้ว +89

    Before Andy Serkis, before (Brother) Theodore Gottlieb...the horrid voice of Smeagol was Tolkien himself.

    • @karmasauce6288
      @karmasauce6288 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      I think Andy sounds ALOT like Tolkien's version.

  • @donavanhillman7607
    @donavanhillman7607 4 ปีที่แล้ว +32

    I could listen to him read the entire book. ❤

    • @majkus
      @majkus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      The good news is that if you listen extensively to Tolkien's recordings, you can sort of internalize his speech patterns and voice. After that, you can read just about any passage and 'hear' it in Tolkien's voice, or a mental facsimile thereof.

  • @jophielnicholls276
    @jophielnicholls276 6 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    it is highly amusing hearing him imitate Gollum's shrill and fiendish voice

  • @JMDinOKC
    @JMDinOKC 7 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    This was not a formal studio recording. It was not originally intended to be released. It was the 1950s and tape recorders for private use were still uncommon. JRRT was visiting a friend who had purchased a tape recorder, the first one JRRT had ever seen. His readings were just an impromptu tryout of the machine.

    • @garywait3231
      @garywait3231 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thanks for the background! 😉🤔

    • @slinkerdeer
      @slinkerdeer ปีที่แล้ว +3

      And now it is priceless.

    • @fermintenava5911
      @fermintenava5911 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Not quite right, I'm afraid. The first part is true, he only learned about tape recorders from a friend. But later he had one of his one and did these recordings for private fun.

  • @Matt571
    @Matt571 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I also like to hear Tolkien singing The Troll Song, he sounded like he was having fun being Sam in the song. "It looks like the shin o' me nuncle Jim who should be a lyin' in graveyard"

  • @davidbahamondes4297
    @davidbahamondes4297 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    This is an invaluable record and it gives us an idea of how J.R.R. Tolkien conceived the voice of Gollum, which is a key aspect of the character. You can almost see his pale, round eyes coldly glittering in the darkness. Kudos to Andy Serkis for his memorable performance.

  • @zindi1138
    @zindi1138 7 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    i heard this in 77"
    my brother bought 2 cassettes, originals.
    it changed everything!

  • @Fairith
    @Fairith 11 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Thank you, Tolkien.

  • @Dan_G.R.S.
    @Dan_G.R.S. 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    25:32 "... by accident", the way he says that is pure genius!

  • @LordQueezle
    @LordQueezle 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I was going to do homework... but I found this...
    best way to procrastinate, ever!

  • @ServantofLIberty125
    @ServantofLIberty125 7 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    When he does the Smeagol voice...

  • @DarkZtorm
    @DarkZtorm 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    3 dislikes, must be Sauron, Saruman and Melkor.

    • @marcosdiogenes9380
      @marcosdiogenes9380 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      There's 5 now. Gollum and Smeagol joined the party

  • @nickgreen4731
    @nickgreen4731 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I like his Zoom background. That's probably one bookcase worth checking out.

  • @PleaseNThankYou
    @PleaseNThankYou 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    A remarkable talent in reading with drama. I love to read but nowadays my tongue speaks before my brain reads the words and it says what it wants. I have saved this for the grandchildren. Thank you... Both.

  • @Concetta20
    @Concetta20 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Still one of my favorite parts in the book because it’s so exciting a chilling. The tense, almost claustrophobic atmosphere Tolkien builds in the scene and the suspense! I get the same sense of eeriness from the Barrow Wight scene in FOTR.

  • @Necrodius
    @Necrodius 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The Professor always amazes

  • @Chrispbacon94
    @Chrispbacon94 6 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    The audiobooks by Rob Inglis are really good! They have that "English old man" quality.

    • @letz5464
      @letz5464 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The pronunciation is all messed up

  • @Hello_there_obi
    @Hello_there_obi 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This just shows how andy serkis NAILED gollum's voice

  • @Lopyswine
    @Lopyswine หลายเดือนก่อน

    I got this on a cassette tape in the 80s. I listened to it over and over.

  • @LindyLime
    @LindyLime 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I think someone who's amazing at impressions should record a whole audiobook "narrated by Tolkien"

  • @TheTrekkie42
    @TheTrekkie42 10 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    This needs all the views. Bring classiness back to the world.

  • @BinkyTheElf1
    @BinkyTheElf1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    How many times he read stories to his children, even stories which he wrote himself for them. You can hear it in his delight in doing the voices. I wish I’d heard his voicing of Gandalf and other characters.

  • @fourloomies4427
    @fourloomies4427 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I am so happy to have come across this today!! Very precious it is!!!

    • @garywait3231
      @garywait3231 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I first heard Tolkien read it a couple of decades ago, and am so glad I rediscovered it -- exactly as I remembered it! 😊😉

  • @mattrich680
    @mattrich680 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I sure hope I haven't violated any rights by watching this video, but it is wonderful to hear this masterpiece read by its creator!

  • @salvatoredebella4502
    @salvatoredebella4502 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Hearing this from the mouth of the master himself is such a wonderful treat! Thank you for posting this. I love Tolkien's voice for Gollum.

  • @macdansav1546
    @macdansav1546 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    How wonderful to hear Tolkien read his own word! Thanks for posting!

  • @elrond3737
    @elrond3737 9 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    This need to have more volume

    • @zindi1138
      @zindi1138 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      crank it!

    • @gabrielrangel956
      @gabrielrangel956 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Compression, noise reduction are all common-place things in all DAWs

    • @googygok
      @googygok 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @blindwillie99 Why would you lose your manners over such a thing?

  • @kylewhitehead1684
    @kylewhitehead1684 7 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    Sorry to bring the films up on this hallowed ground, but I can't help but wonder if Andy Serkis ever heard these.

    • @ServantofLIberty125
      @ServantofLIberty125 7 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      I know right? It's how he does the Smeagol voice!

    • @LordQueezle
      @LordQueezle 5 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      I wonder that as well. Also Martin Freeman as Bilbo going back and forth with Andy Serkis was by far one of the best scenes in movie history. It is so good even with the liberties they take in the story.

    • @Palendrome
      @Palendrome 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I think he had to have heard them. Jackson and co surely had tons of Tolkien material, no doubt including excerpts like these of him reading some of the characters. With how similar Serkis's voice is, I think he definitely lifted directly from Tolkien's impression.

  • @sylvanaire
    @sylvanaire 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thank you for uploading this to TH-cam, so that we all could hear it when we wanted to!

  • @garywait3231
    @garywait3231 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    My favorite passage of all this Master Storyteller's tales, so perfectly recited by its author !!!🤔🤔😳😮😯 Thanks, JRRT !!

  • @edraith
    @edraith 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That's precious

  • @Wulfstan01
    @Wulfstan01 ปีที่แล้ว

    joelandrews successfully makes use of this portrait of the Author, who is opening the Japanese translated version of his work! You can see that the back cover of this hard-back edition has the very pictures that tell each answer of the Riddles in the Dark (if you can get one you can see them more clearly). Fantastic! Thank you, Joel!

  • @mrreindeer1844
    @mrreindeer1844 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    How fantastic! Reminds me of 1960/70s children's TV - Oliver Postgate and Michael Horden.

  • @SethMcFartlane
    @SethMcFartlane 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Who knew Gollum was Welsh.

  • @andrewodonnell7675
    @andrewodonnell7675 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    An excellent narrator

  • @schifrinlopez9952
    @schifrinlopez9952 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I love this man !!!!!

  • @maryhales4595
    @maryhales4595 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "What has it got in its pocketses?!"

  • @sethfrederiksen
    @sethfrederiksen ปีที่แล้ว +1

    0:05 Excuse me, but I do believe you are quite aware of where Gollum came from, Prof. Tolkien.!

    • @robokill387
      @robokill387 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Not at the point he originally wrote the hobbit.

  • @rupakpandit445
    @rupakpandit445 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    genius...

  • @rickoshay5525
    @rickoshay5525 ปีที่แล้ว

    The voice of Gollum from Tolkien himself sounds like Master Yoda. 😁

  • @matthewallen1044
    @matthewallen1044 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    11:00 to 11:05

  • @slinkerdeer
    @slinkerdeer ปีที่แล้ว

    I feel like I finally know what Gollum is supposed to sound like. Andy did a good job but Tolkien's voicing of the character is certainly different

  • @camerakitty8167
    @camerakitty8167 5 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Why can't I find him reading Beowulf in old English?

    • @jariusreece1931
      @jariusreece1931 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Was he ever recorded doing it? I was led to believe only his class was privvy to that majesty

    • @camerakitty8167
      @camerakitty8167 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@jariusreece1931 Not that I can see, but he would belt it out at the beginning of every semester.

  • @somewhatreallycoolguy7439
    @somewhatreallycoolguy7439 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    ya know, someone could probably use this to make a tolkien ai voice and make him read the whole book.

  • @Katiaxxxxxx
    @Katiaxxxxxx 11 ปีที่แล้ว

  • @benlyons1120
    @benlyons1120 8 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    : )

  • @martusiiiiiakce
    @martusiiiiiakce 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    One minus. Nice try Sauron.

  • @mirkecWii
    @mirkecWii 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Damn Rob Inglis sounds exactly like him

  • @ddiddy5456
    @ddiddy5456 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is why I never got an A in English. I deserved the D.

  • @DanielLopez-zt4ig
    @DanielLopez-zt4ig 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    It is not the whole chapter.

  • @johnnyleaman1071
    @johnnyleaman1071 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Sup

  • @strydyrhellzrydyr1345
    @strydyrhellzrydyr1345 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    In case someone doesn't know what riddles in the Dark is...it's a chapter name... In TLoTR

    • @JonGunnarssonDotA
      @JonGunnarssonDotA 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      It's a chapter from The Hobbit, not Lord of the Rings.

    • @strydyrhellzrydyr1345
      @strydyrhellzrydyr1345 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JonGunnarssonDotA ummm. Sorry... No

    • @JonGunnarssonDotA
      @JonGunnarssonDotA 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@strydyrhellzrydyr1345 Uhmm, sorry, yes. lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Riddles_in_the_Dark_(chapter)

    • @strydyrhellzrydyr1345
      @strydyrhellzrydyr1345 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JonGunnarssonDotA it's funny... Lmao... It's funny how even the resource you used.. the link.... The web site...
      Has... Lord of the Rings... In the fuking link. . . That you chose...
      How... Now that's true stupidity. Lol

    • @strydyrhellzrydyr1345
      @strydyrhellzrydyr1345 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JonGunnarssonDotA just proves my point... Even more so. But thanks for trying

  • @senorsardonico6153
    @senorsardonico6153 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Andy Serkis' voice performance was grating & annoying - just one of the myriad things wrong with Jackson's films.

    • @robokill387
      @robokill387 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I don't think Gollum is supposed to have a beautiful voice.