For 87 years, readers have been captivated by the dragons, elves, dwarves and, of course, the Hobbits of Middle Earth. Called the “father of modern fantasy,” J. R. R. Tolkien created an enduring fantasy world, as well as archetypes ubiquitous in the genre today, in prose, song and verse. You may recognize this poetic excerpt from a letter left for Frodo by Gandalf:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost…

In this service, we’ll sample excerpts from Tolkein’s work and modern renditions of some of his songs, and explore lessons we still have to learn from him.