Tolkien’s poignant epilogue to The Lord of the Rings.

Bilbo’s Last Song is a poem written by Bilbo, hero adventurer of The Hobbit, before he leaves Middle Earth to take a ship to the Undying Lands beyond the sunset, at the end of The Lord of the Rings. The song is both a longing to set forth on his ultimate journey and a tender farewell to friends left behind.

Ship, my ship! I seek the west,

And fields and mountains ever blest.

Farewell to Middle-earth at last,

I see the Star above your mast!!

Stunningly illustrated by Pauline Baynes, a friend of Tolkien’s for many years, her magical, jewel-like paintings depict the journey that brings the ring bearers and the company of elves to The Grey Havens, and the ship that is waiting to take them on their final journey.

Publication will coincide with the release of the second Lord of the Rings movie, The Two Towers.