To make sense of the songs they sing after his parting, it is important to understand the manner and the circumstances of his death. During their travels, the fellowship are forced to enter the Mines of Moria, a once warm and gleeful Dwarven cavern below the mountains, where Gimli’s cousin Balin lived with his people in merriment and delight.
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However, by the time the fellowship arrive, the mine has turned to a tomb, filled with orcs and goblins wielding cave trolls and a plethora of lethal weapons. The fellowship, barely managing to survive the attack, flee from their enemies to the bridge of Khazad-dum, where Gandalf is confronted with his inevitable end. A firey demon from deep underground, awoken when the greedy dwarves dug too deep under the mountain, appears from the shadows. The mighty Balrog threatens to kill them all, until Gandalf makes his final stand, and with the famous line ‘You shall not pass!’ breaks the bridge, sending both himself and the creature toppling through the long chasm beneath them.
This is referenced in the Sindarian verse of the elven song of grieving, which says ‘I reniad lín ne mór, nuithannen’ and can be translated to ‘your journey has ended in darkness.’ There are many other lines of the melancholic melody that relate to the wizard, and both his life and the events of his death. A few others include ‘Mithrandir, Mithrandir A Randir Vithren’ which in the common tongue means ‘My friend, My friend, O Pilgrim Grey’ and obviously refers to his life as a wanderer who travels the kingdoms of Middle Earth bringing tidings of good and bad news about the war of the One Ring. These tidings, although completely necessary and meant in good faith, made him a dreaded guest in both the kingdoms of Rohan, and of Gondor, as they often spelled the start of much trouble and difficulty being bought to light. But to the elves, he was always welcome.
Another line that seems highly significant, especially when considering Galadriel’s warning that ‘the quest stands on the edge of a knife, stray but a little and you will fail, to the ruin of all’ is a line that states ‘In gwidh ristennin, i fae narchannen’ meaning ‘the bonds cut, the spirit broken’. This raises the question, is it the bond of the fellowship that has been cut? In which case, did Galadriel see in her mirror that the death of Gandalf would lead to the subsequent death of Boromir, and a split into two factions for the remaining members of the company? Many Lord of the Rings fans believe this to be the case, and believe that she judged the gifts that she gave to the 8 on their parting accordingly. This also accounts for why the words were too difficult for Legolas to translate to the others, because they in part spell out the fellowship’s doom, and the divergence of their paths that is only a matter of time since the glue that was holding them together (namely Gandalf) is no longer there.
One final line of note, within the lament is ‘I lach Anor ed ardhon gwannen’ which in the language of Men means ‘The Flame of Arnor has left this world. Theories and interpretations of this line differ. Some argue that it is simply saying that Gandalf is a being of light, a guiding beacon, through the use of the word ‘Arnor’ which is the Sindarian word for ‘sun’. Others however argue that it is more likely a reference to the ring that Gandalf possesses, one of the three elven rings of power, named Nenya. His ring is known as the ring of fire, and so the line may refer to losing the ring, and it’s magical properties, from the world as it also falls into the dark alongside the grey wizard.
At the time of the lament, however, the elves seem not to know that Gandalf will be returned to Middle Earth after his death, in the form of Gandalf the White, a wizard of a higher order, with more power and wisdom to help unite the kingdoms and bring about the destruction of the One Ring, and subsequently the Evil Lord Sauron along with it. Perhaps Galadriel did not see this in her mirror, or perhaps she did, but she knew that all would reveal itself in the right time for the quest to succeed.
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