Summoning is a band that I would generally put into a darker category, and yet I really like them. I think it is the depth of sound in their tracks which makes me so well disposed towards them. As a brief introduction it is worth noting that the vast majority of their titles concern themselves with the world Mr Tolkien built and created, and this has also spoken well in favour of the band.
One of the tracks I really enjoy by them is called ‘Arkenstone’. Now, there’s a story that comes with this track as there is a story with every item and phrase from Middle Earth. In this case, the Arkenstone is the Heart of the Mountain and the most guarded treasure that has been found under the Lonely Mountain. It is quite literally the embodiment of the Lonely Mountain as I see it — the Arkenstone represents the collective hopes and wishes of the Dwarves who live under the Mountain.
That is at least how I see the Arkenstone — what Thorin Oakenshield’s actions in ‘The Hobbit’ have made the stone be to me. I think it could be described as the sole reason for the Quest to take the treasure back from Smaug and that would probably not be entirely wrong. In fact, I think it might be a more honest measure of the Dwarves’ goals than much else of what was said or done — even if everything else failed, they would have succeeded had they only glimpsed the Arkenstone!
What Summoning has managed to accomplish for me in this song is to make this sense of depth of the Arkenstone a reality. I can imagine the beauty and splendor of the Heart of the Mountain when I listen to these sounds, and I can see light reflecting back from it in a thousand fragmented rays. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine my hand reaching out to the Arkenstone and grasping it — but it would be slightly out of reach. Just slightly out of reach, because unfortunately it is too brilliant for our mortal realm. It is too beautiful to exist in anything but our wishes.
And that is the reason why we have to have our imagination run free!
