J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Riddle of Strider" - Center Point Cemetery - Center Point, Texas USA - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the popular volumes of "The Hobbit" and The Lord of the Rings series composed of trilogy volumes: "The Fellowship of the Rings", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the Kings." Found within "The Fellowship of the Rings" is the poem "The Riddle of Strider" that Tolken works into the storyline. It is a short yet very important poem that drives many of the story lines underlying the trilogy. Tolken wrote this poem, but he used an ancient phrase as his first opening line that in itself is a study on its own.

The poem engraved upon the base of Sutherland's gravestone does have slight variances in a few of the lines but the integrity of the poem is true to the original poem penned by Tolken. The text engraved across the four sides of the monolith read as follows:

(front side)
ALL THAT IS GOLD
DOES NOT GLITTER,
NOT ALL THOSE WHO
WANDER ARE LOST.

(proper left side)
THAT WHICH IS STRONG
DOES NOT WITHER,
DEEP ROOTS ARE NOT
REACHED BY THE FROST.

(back)
FROM THE ASHES
A FIRE SHALL BE WOKEN,
A LIGHT FROM THE
SHADOWS SHALL SPRING;

(proper right side)
RENEWED SHALL BE
ALL THAT WAS BROKEN,
AND THE CROWNLESS
STAND AS A KING.

The differences in the poem above are attributed to space on the tombstone and perhaps poetic license by the one who wrote out what the engraved text would be. The "Riddle of Strider" poem by J.R.R Tolken is written as follows:

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.

There is a whole different literary discussion concerning the opening line. The origin of the phrase "all that is gold does not glitter" is the kind of thing for which literary scholars are still researching to gain a Masters or Doctorate degree!! However, it is worth including here since it is a phrase use by Tolken in his writing and by Sutherland in the etching of his tombstone.

Link to J.R.R. Tolken's poem "The Riddle of Strider":
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Link to the Wikipedia analysis of the phrase "all that is gold does not glitter":
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Link to Wikipedia link to biography of J.R.R. Tolken:
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Link to WM17G0E Stacy Keith Sutherland:
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Address: Center Point Cemetery in Center Point, Texas. Center Point, TX is within Kerr County in Texas. Center Point Cemetery's main gate is on the south end of Center Point where San Antonio Street divides into CR 480, turning right/Westward and Elm Pass Roas continuing South. The divide in the road occurs right where the cemetery gate is found. Website: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/17/2023 WayBetterFinder visited it