Words of Wisdom: Gold

 

The Smart Witch

Words of Wisdom: Gold

“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.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien,

The Riddle of Strider,

The Lord of the Rings: The

Fellowship of the Ring

Notes:

(1) John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE, FRSL (1892-1973) was an English academic, philologist, poet and writer. He is best known as the author of the high fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien’s poem - from which these Words of Wisdom are an excerpt - emphasized that gold may be hidden or mistaken for something else, as opposed to gaudy facades being mistaken for real gold. If you are familiar with Tolkien’s work - or the more recent movie versions - you will recall Strider, secretly the rightful king of Gondor, who appears to be a mere Ranger.

The complete version of the poem is:

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.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

(2) Since possibly at least since the time of Æsop, this expression has been known in various forms, for example, in Latin: Non omne quod nitet aurum est.

(3) Other expressions of the idea that not everything that appears precious or true turns out to be so are known from at least the 12th–13th century. The current aphorism is derived from a 16th-century line by William Shakespeare, "All that glisters is not gold".

In Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, which employs the word "glisters," a 17th-century synonym for "glitters,” the line comes in a scroll inside the golden casket, the puzzle of Portia's boxes (Act II – Scene VII – Prince of Morocco). It reads:

All that glisters is not gold—

Often have you heard that told.

Many a man his life hath sold

But my outside to behold.

Gilded tombs do worms enfold.

Had you been as wise as bold,

Young in limbs, in judgment old,

Your answer had not been inscrolled

Fare you well. Your suit is cold

(4) In their untitled fourth studio album, usually called Led Zeppelin IV (1961), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page reference the phrase in the opening line of Stairway to Heaven: "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold". The woman is an allegory of an arrogant, materialistic society that believes that everything - including a path to heaven - can be acquired with money alone.

Occultists have argued that the ambiguous female figure was a metaphor for a Pagan initiation. This was countered by the references to Christianity in the overall song, and so many others believed that the lady was the Virgin Mary, who also has been called the May Queen.

(5) In his song Don’t be Denied on the Time Fades Away (1973) album, Neil Young sang, "Well, all that glitters isn't gold / I know you've heard that story told" to express his realization that fame, money and success would not bring him happiness.

[Image: Autumn Leaves (1902) watercolor by Tom Scott, R.S.A., R.S.W. (1854-1927). Public domain.]

The Smart Witch by Elizabeth