The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack - 01. The Prophecy

The opening track, The Prophecy sets a tone for the first film; that of darkness. This tone is evident throughout the first movie. While this plays, some background information on the setting and history of Middle Earth is displayed, with obvious emphasis placed on the history of the Rings. The One Ring's path and history is recounted briefly, along with its attachment to Sauron.

This opening song does not have the grandeur that the opening of other movies have, such as Star Wars, yet it has a powerful presence that alerts the listener to a dark time. Howard Shore's first track is a smooth beginning that fits the events occurring in the movie well.

The filmmaker's originally shot Fellowship's prologue as a shorter sequence for which Shore wrote a self-contained four minute composition. During the film's editing, it was decided that a lengthier sequence would set up the film's story with a more detailed and visceral punch. The film's Prologue was expanded, and so Shore went back and composed a new work to match the edit. The first composition (featuring the text, "The Battle of Dagorlad") was presented on The Fellowship of the Ring's original soundtrack album in 2001, but never appeared in the final film.

It may interest you to know that the original title of this text was "The Battle of Dagorlad