Led Zep's Tolkien-Inspired "The Battle of Evermore"

Plus Music-Inspired RPG Crowdfunding from Greedy Gorgon Press & Stefan Surratt

Sep 11, 2024

A recent Far Out magazine article addresses the question “Which war was Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Battle of Evermore’ about?” I suspect many Critical Hit Parader readers are aware of the J.R.R. Tolkien inspiration for the song, but the article includes the following details:

Plant didn’t just suck this legendary battle out of his thumb, however. He draws heavily on Tolkien’s high-fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, including specific details in certain lines of the lyrics that indicate exactly which battle he’s referring to. They open with a reference to the “Prince of Peace”, a heroic moniker for Aragorn, the Ranger of the North in Tolkien’s novel. In the second verse, he and Denny sing about “the dark Lord”, a common epithet for Sauron, the evil antagonist in the book. And they later mention “Ringwraiths” who “ride in black”, namechecking the nine men under Sauron’s control.

Lord of the Rings fans pinpoint Plant’s descriptions as a lyrical account of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, which serves as the climactic battle in the War of the Ring during the third volume of the novel. This account follows a slightly less faithful reflection of the geopolitical situation in Middle Earth in the lyrics of the song ‘Ramble On’ on Led Zeppelin II.

Speaking of J.R.R., this Slash Film article suggests that The Rings of Power series composer Bear McCreary is looking to remake the Glenn Yarbrough-penned song "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" from the 1980 Rankin/Bass The Return of the King animated TV movie.

Killer of Giants

Greedy Gorgon Press has a current crowdfunding campaign for Killer of Giants. It is a “a hitman game of Titanic Targets” for 5E. I think it’s safe to assume that the title is taken from the Jake E. Lee-era Ozzy Osbourne song of the same name, as Greedy Gorgon Press makes their music inspirations well known:

“We are a platonic love triangle of TTRPG enthusiasts dedicated to bringing a little more rock and roll to your RPG romps. We bring a touch of barbaric rage against the machine, a hint of Megadeth-saving rolls and a smattering of AC/DC to your, well, AC and DC.”

For Killer of Giants, music connections include “a Talking Heads Ettin, a Diamond Head Stone Giant and a Red Hot Chilli Peppers troll (cos they both like to hang out Under the Bridge.” You can pledge your support here.

Lullaby for the Volcanic Wyrm

Stefan Surratt has an active Kickstarter going on for Bloody Barbershops & Sanguine Scissors. It is a zine “full of magic items, spells, a new PC class, and a level-0 funnel for Dungeon Crawl Classics.” The campaign has two add-on options, including one that has a music connection. Lullaby for the Volcanic Wyrm is an adventure in which the characters will have to locate special instruments and perform a song in order to defeat a dragon.