“Singing,” Bilbo consoled an irate Frodo, “is anything but the frivolous exercise Lalia names it. After all, we are told that the Powers sang the whole universe into existence. Does that sound frivolous? And no matter what I’ve said in my stories to the children, there is nothing in the least frivolous in the singing of Elven lords. I’ve heard both Elrond of Rivendell and the King of Mirkwood singing, and both are capable of songs of power and majesty. So, piffle to the pronouncements of Lalia Clayhanger Took. They are but the whines of one who is tone deaf!”
