Eärendil

Описание: The next poem appears on page 233 of the 50th anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings.

(Note: this is the only case where I am sorry to say that I had to edit Tolkien's work and cut some verses given the extension of the poem. Even after that I ended up with an almost 9 minutes song which is more than 3x the duration of nowadays typical songs)

The hobbits and Strider have finally made it to Rivendell and, apart from many elves, there they find Gandalf and Bilbo.
The house of Elrond is a peaceful place where they can heal their wounds, have some rest and listen to many stories and songs. One of them is sung one night by Bilbo himself and talks about Eärendil the mariner:

Eärendil was a cunning half-elf that lived in Gondolin but when this city felled his family moved to the havens of the river Sirion in Arvernien. He quickly became the leader of his people and married Elwing, grand-daughter of Beren and Luthien, who kept one of the Silmarils. He fathered Elros and Elrond.
With the aid of Cirdan he built a ship named Vingilot. And when Arvernien was attacked by the sons of Fëanor (who were looking for the Silmaril) he sailed into the west in search for Valinor in order to obtain help from the Valar.
Elwing, his wife, throw herself to the sea in order to protect the Silmaril. This gesture was appreciated by Elmo, the god of the Sea, who turned Elwing into a bird so that she could fly free to help Eärendil.
Together they confronted storms and waves and passed from east to west until they finally found the way to Valinor, the Land across the Sea.
Eärendil first arrived at the city of Tirion, home of the Noldor elves. There he had some rest and was dressed in the way of the elves.
When he recovered he continued his journey towards Ilmarin, the city of the gods. There he dwelled in the timeless halls and was finally able to present his case before the Valar.
The decision was taken to confront Morgoth in a war so fierce that would change the face of Beleriand itself (after that Beleriand would be known as Middle Earth).
They built a new ship for him that could fly into the skies. With this ship he would take part in the War of Wrath by slaining Ancalagon the black, the greatest dragon at the service of Morgoth.
With the final defeat of Morgoth and the destruction of Beleriand finishes the First Age of the World.
The final fate of Eärendil would be to eternally patrol the Great Ocean in the sky bearing the Silmaril that Beren and Lúthien had wrested from Morgoth, to make sure that the latter would never return.
The bright of the Silmaril can still be seen as the Evening Star.

Musically speaking, as the last section of the song tells the story of how Eärendil becomes some kind of divine figure (being closer to the gods than to Middle-Earth), we hear again the chord progression of the Ainulindalë. This is the leitmotif of the music of the Ainur.
Also there is another use of leitmotif when Eärendil is about to start a journey. The first instance is when he receives the unexpected visit of his wife who gives to him the Silmari which allows him to find the way to Valinor. The second instance is a variation of the leitmotif when the Valar build a magical version of the ship Vingilot and he starts the journey to the stars with the Silmaril in front. This variation is much more ethereal.

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