<P> Older editions of The Lord of the Rings indexed the poem as "The Riddle of Strider". From the 50th anniversary edition of 2005 on, the new, enlarged index by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull list it as "All that is gold does not glitter". </P> <P> The early versions of the poem are recorded in The Treason of Isengard, part of The History of Middle - earth book series by Christopher Tolkien . The first draft of the poem, which at that stage of composition was the only content of Gandalf's letter, reads: </P> <Dl> <Dd> All that is gold does not glitter; </Dd> <Dd> all that is long does not last; </Dd> <Dd> All that is old does not wither; </Dd> <Dd> not all that is over is past . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> All that is gold does not glitter; </Dd>

A light from the shadows shall spring meaning