The History of Middle Earth: Volume 7 - The Treason of Isengard
Page 7
'Indeed! Let's hear it then!' said Frodo, a little impatient with the slow unravelling of Mr Butterbur's thoughts.
'A round-bellied little fellow with red cheeks,' answered the landlord with a grin. 'Begging your pardon; but he said it, not me.' Folco [> Pippin] chuckled, but Sam looked angry.
'He said it? And who was he?' asked Frodo quickly.
'Oh, that was old Gandalf, if you know who I mean. A wizard they say he is, but he is a right good friend of mine, whether or no. Many a good turn has he done me. "Barney," he says to me, it would be a matter of a month and more ago, in August,(7) if I recollect rightly, when he came in late one evening. Very tired he was, and uncommon thirsty. "Barney," he says, "I want you to do something for me." "You've only to name it," said I. "I want you to look out for some hobbits out of the Shire," said he. "There may be a couple, and there may be more. Nigh the end of September (8) it will be, if they come. I hope I shall be with them, and then you'll have no more to do than draw some of your best ale for us. But if I'm not with them, they may need help. One of them will be Frodo Baggins, if it is the right party: a great friend of mine, a round-bellied..." ' 'All right!' said Frodo, laughing in spite of his impatience. 'Go on! We've heard that already.'
Mr Butterbur paused, put out of his stride. 'Where was I?' he said. 'Ah yes. "If this Frodo Baggins comes," said he, "give him this"; and he handed me a letter. "Keep it safe and secret, and keep it in your mind, if your head will hold anything so long," says he. "And don't you mention all this to anybody." I've kept that letter by me night and day, since he gave it to me.' 'A letter for me from Gandalf!' interrupted Frodo eagerly. 'Where is it?'
'There now!' cried Mr Butterbur triumphantly. 'You don't deny the name! Old Barney can put two and two together. But it's a pity you did not trust me from the beginning.' Out of an inner pocket he brought a sealed letter and handed it to Frodo.(9) On the outside it was inscribed: TO F. B. FROM G.
'There's another thing I ought to say,' Mr Butterbur began again. 'I guess you may be in trouble, seeing how Gandalf isn't here, and they have come, as he warned me.'
'What do you mean?' said Frodo.
'The black horsemen,' said Butterbur. ' "If you see horsemen
in black," says Gandalf to me, "look out for trouble! And my friends will need all the help you can give." And they have come, sure enough: yesterday and the day before.(10) The dogs all yammered, and the geese screamed at them. Uncanny, I call it. They've been asking for news of a hobbit called Baggins, I hear. And that Ranger, Trotter, he has been asking questions, too. Tried to get in here, before you had had bite or sup, he did.' 'He did!' said Trotter suddenly, coming forward into the light. 'And a lot of trouble would have been saved, if you had let him in, Barnabas.'
The landlord jumped with surprise. 'You!' he cried. 'You're always popping up. What do you want?'
'He's here with my leave,' said Frodo. 'He's offering us his help.'
'Well, you know best, maybe,' said Mr Butterbur, looking doubtfully at Trotter. 'Of course, I don't know what's going on, or what these black fellows want with you. But they mean no good to you, I'll swear.'
'They mean no good to anyone,' answered Frodo. 'I am sorry I can't explain it all. I am tired and very worried, and it is a long tale. But tell Gandalf everything, if he turns up, and he will be very grateful, and he may tell you more than I can. But I ought at least to warn you what you are doing in helping me. The Black Riders are hunting me, and they are perilous. They are servants of the Necromancer.'
'Save us!' cried Mr Butterbur, turning pale. 'Uncanny I knew they were; but that is the worst bit of news that has come to Bree in my time! '
This version now attains the form in FR (p. 181) as far as Butterbur's departure to send Nob out to look for Merry with scarcely any deviation. Trotter speaks of 'the Shadow in the South', not 'in the East', and refers of course to 'Mr Green', not 'Mr Underhill', and after Butterbur's remark that there are others in Bree quicker in the uptake than Nob is, he adds: 'Bill Ferney was here tonight, and he's an ugly customer.' - It will be seen that with the structural change in the ordering of the chapter (bringing the landlord to the hobbits' room at a later point) the information about the Black Riders (itself very brief) is now given by Trotter, while Butterbur himself is left with only a few words on the subject.(11) In previous versions his account of the coming of the Riders to the inn door was a chief element in the conversation; now there is no mention of it (though it reappears briefly in FR, p. 180).
In this version, the landlord before leaving the room asks if Trotter
is going to stay there, to which Trotter replies: 'I am. You may need me before the morning.' 'All right, then,' said the landlord, 'if Mr Green is willing.' When Butterbur has gone:
'Well, now you ought to guess the answer to the question I spoke of before he came in,' said Trotter. 'But aren't you going to open the letter?'
Frodo looked carefully at the seal before he broke it. It seemed certainly to be Gandalf's. Inside, written in the wizard's thin long-legged script,(12) was the following message. Frodo read it aloud.(13)
The Prancing Pony, Bree,. Tuesday, September 12th.(14) Dear F. I am starting back tomorrow, 6' should reach you in a day or two. But things have become very dangerous, and I may not get through in time. (He has found the Shire: the borders are watched, and so am I.) If I fail to come, I hope that will be sufficient warning to you, and you will have sense to leave Shire at once. If so, there is just a chance you will get through as far as Bree. Look out for horsemen in black. They are your worst enemies (save one): they are Ringwraiths. Do not use It again: not for any reason at all. Do not move in the dark. Try and find Trotter the ranger. He will be looking out for you: a lean, dark, weatherbeaten fellow, but one of my greatest friends. He knows our business. He will see you through, if any one can. Make for Rivendell as fast as possible. There I hope we may meet again. If not, Elrond will advise you.
Yours
PS. You can trust Barnabas Butterbur and Trotter. But make sure it is really Trotter. The real Trotter will have a sealed letter from me with these words in it
All that is gold does not glitter,
all that is long does not last,
All that is old does not wither,
not all that is over is past.
PPS. It would be worse than useless to try and go beyond Bree on your own. If Trotter does not turn up, you must try and get Butterbur to hide you somewhere, and hope that I shall come.
PPPS. I hope B. does not forget this! If he remembers to give it to you, tell him I am very grateful, and still more surprised. Fare well wherever you fare.
'Well, that is from Gandalf all right, quite apart from the hand and the signature,' said Frodo as he finished. 'What about your letter, Trotter?'
'Do you need it? I thought you had made up your mind about me already! If not, you ought not to have let me stay; and you certainly ought not to have read that aloud to me.'
'I haven't made up my mind,' said Sam suddenly. 'And I am not going to see Mr Frodo made fun of and put upon. Let's see that letter, or Sam Gamgee'll take a hand!'
'My good Sam,' said Trotter. 'I've got a weapon under my cloak, as well as you! And I don't mind telling you that if I was not the real Trotter, you would not have a chance, not all three of you together. But steady there!' he said, as Sam sprang up. 'I have got a letter, and here it is!'
Onto the table he tossed another sealed letter, outwardly exactly like the other. Sam and Folco [> Pippin] looked at it, as Frodo opened it. Inside there was a small paper in Gandalf's hand. It said:
All that is gold does not glitter;
all that is long does not last;
All that is old does not wither;
not all that is over is past.
This is to certify that the bearer is Aragorn son of Celegorn,(15) of the line of Isildur Elendil's son, known in Bree as Trotter; enemy of the Nine, and friend of Gandalf.
Frodo stared at the words in amazement. 'Of the line of Ele
ndil!' he said, looking with awe at Trotter. 'Then It belongs to you as much as to me, or more!'
'It does not belong to either of us,' said Trotter; 'but you are to keep it for a while. For so it is ordained.'(16)
'Why didn't you show this to us sooner? It would have saved time, and prevented me, and Sam, from behaving absurdly.'
'Absurdly! Not at all. Sam is very sensible: he doubted me to the last, and I think he still does. Quite right, too! If you'd had more experience of your Enemy, you would not trust your own hands, except in broad daylight, once you knew that he was on your track. I had to make sure of you, too. That was one reason why I delayed. The Enemy has set snares for me before now. But I must admit that I tried to persuade you to take me as a friend, for my own sake without proofs. A hunted wanderer wearies sometimes of distrust, even while he is preaching it.(17) But there, I fear my looks are against me.'
There follows the ill-judged intervention of Folco/Pippin - 'Hand- some is as handsome does we say in the Shire', which had remained unchanged from Odo's original remark in VI.155; then follows:
Folco [> Pippin] subsided; but Sam was not daunted, and he still eyed Trotter dubiously. 'You could make yourself look like you do, if you were play-acting,' he said. 'What proof have we had that you are the real article, I should like to know?' Trotter laughed. 'Don't forget Butterbur's letter, Sam! ' he said. 'Think it out! Butterbur is certainly the real Butterbur, unless the whole of Bree is bewitched. How could the words all that is gold appear in Butterbur's letter and in mine, unless Gandalf wrote them both? You may be sure Gandalf did not give a spy a chance of knowing that Butterbur's letter existed. Even if he did, a spy could not know the key-words, without reading the letter. How could that have been done without Butterbur's knowledge?'
Sam scratched his head long and thoughtfully. 'Ah!' he said at last. 'I dessay it would have been difficult. But how about this: you could have done in the real Trotter and stolen his letter, and then popped it out, like you did, after hearing Butterbur's and seeing how the land lay? You seem mighty unwilling to show it. What have you got to say to that?'
'I say you are a splendid fellow,' said Trotter. 'I see why Gandalf chose you to go with your master. You hang on tight. I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam, is this: if I had killed the real Trotter, I could kill you, and I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I was after the Ring, I could have it - now! ' He stood up, and seemed suddenly to grow taller. In his face there gleamed a light, keen and commanding. They did not move. Even Sam sat still, staring dumbly at him. 'But I am the real Trotter, fortunately,' he said, looking down at them with a sudden kindly smile. 'I am Aragorn son of Celegorn, and if by life or death I can save you, I will.' There was a long silence.
At last Frodo spoke hesitatingly. 'Did those verses of Gan- dalf's apply to you, then?' he asked. 'I thought at first they were just nonsense.'
'Nonsense, if you will,' answered Trotter. 'Don't worry about them. They have served their turn.'
'If you want to know,' said Frodo, 'I believed in you before Butterbur came in. I was not trying to trust you, but struggling not to trust you, to follow your own teaching. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of those would... would, well, seem fairer and feel fouler. You... well, it is the other way round with you.'
'I look foul and feel fair, is it?' laughed Trotter. 'We'll leave it at that, and say no more about round bellies!'
'I am glad you are to be our guide,' said Folco [> Pippin). 'Now that we are beginning to understand the danger, we should be in despair without you. But somehow I feel more hopeful than ever.'
Sam said nothing.
Afterwards my father abandoned this spider's web of argumenta- tion, arising from there being two letters from Gandalf, and handled the question of the verse of recognition All that is gold does not glitter and Aragorn's knowledge of it extremely adroitly by making Aragorn use the words himself (not having seen or heard Gandalf's one letter) a propos Frodo's remark (already present in this version) about 'foul and fair' (FR p. 184). But the complication of the two letters survived the crucial decision that Gandalf's letter to Frodo was written to be received by him before he left Bag End and failed in delivery through Butterbur's forgetfulness.
After 'Sam said nothing' this version is the same as FR (p. 184), with Trotter's words about the leaving of Bree and the making for Weathertop. But his answer to Frodo's question about Gandalf is much slighter:
Trotter looked grave. 'I don't know,' he said. 'To tell you the truth, I am very troubled about him - for the first time since I have known him. He meant to arrive here with you two days sooner than' this. We should at least have had messages. Something has happened. I think it is something that he feared, or he would not have taken all these precautions with letters.'
From Frodo's question 'Do you think the Black Riders have anything to do with it?' the remainder of FR Chapter 10 was now attained except in a few minor particulars, the chief of which occurs in Merry's account of his experience. This story now returns to the original version (VI.161-2), according to which the Rider went eastwards through the village and stopped at Bill Ferney's house (whereas in the 'third phase' version, VI.353-4, it went in the other direction to the West-gate); but it differs from FR (p. 185) in that when Merry was about to bolt back to the inn 'another black shape rose up before me - coming down the Road from the other gate - and ... and I fell over.' In this version Trotter says: 'They may after all try some attack before we leave Bree. But it will be dark. In the light they need their horses.'(18) For the subsequent history of this chapter see pp. 76 - 8.
Chapter XI: 'A Knife in the Dark'.
This chapter was another of those that my father at this time reconstituted partly from the existing 'third phase' text (the latter part of Chapter X and the first part of Chapter XI, see VI.359) and partly from new manuscript pages, and as with the previous chapters in this form some rejected pages of the older version became separated and did not go to Marquette.
The new text opens with the attack on Crickhollow, which with the change in its date had been moved from its original place in Chapter VII (see p. 36). For the previous form of the episode see VI.328; this was almost identical to the original text, VI.303 - 4. To both of these my father pencilled in glimpses of the story that Odo left with Gandalf as he rode after the Black Riders - a story that seems only to have entered the 'third phase' narrative when the 'Bree' chapter was reached: see VI.336. But in the second version Crickhollow was not empty: a curtain moved in a window - for Odo had stayed behind. I give first a preliminary draft of the attack on Crickhollow written for its new place in the story.
As they slept there in the inn of Bree, darkness lay on Buckland. Mist strayed in the dells and along the river-bank. The house at Crickhollow stood silent. Not long before, when evening had just fallen, there had been a light in a window. A horse came quickly up the lane, and halted. Up the path in haste a figure walked, wrapped in a great cloak, leading a white horse. He tapped on the door, and at once the light went out. The curtain at the window stirred, and soon after the door was opened and he passed quickly in. Even as the door closed a black shadow seemed to move under the trees and pass out through the gate without a sound.(19) Then darkness slowly deepened into night, a dead and misty night: no stars shone over Buckland.
There came the soft fall of hoofs, horses were drawing near, led slow and cautiously. The gate in the hedge opened, and up the path filed three shapes, hooded, swathed in black, and stooping low towards the ground. One went to the door, one to each corner of the house-end on either side; and there they stood, silent as the black shadows of stones, while time went slowly on, and the house and the trees about it seemed to be waiting breathlessly.
There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a cock crowed. The cold hour before dawn had come.(20) Suddenly the figure by the door moved. In the dark, without star or moon, the blade that was d
rawn gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered.
'Open in the name of Sauron!' said a voice, cold and menacing. At a second blow the door yielded, and fell back with its lock broken and timbers burst. The black figures passed swiftly in.
At that moment, nearby among the trees a horn rang out. It rent the night like fire on a hill-top, echoing over the land. Awake! Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake! Someone was blowing the Horn-call of Buckland, which had not been sounded for a hundred years, not since the white wolves came in the Fell Winter when the Brandywine was frozen. Far away (21) answering horns were heard. Distant sounds of waking and alarm came through the night. The whole of Buckland was aroused.
The black shapes slipped swiftly from the house. In the lane the sound of hoofs broke out, and gathering to a gallop went racing into the darkness. Behind them a white horse ran. On it sat an old man clad in grey, with long silver hair and flowing beard. His horn still sounded over hill and dale. In his right hand a wand flared and flickered like a sheaf of lightning.(22) Behind him, clinging to his cloak, sat a hobbit. Gandalf and Hamilcar were riding to the North Gate, and the Black Riders fled before them. But they had found out what they wished to know: Crickhollow was empty and the Ring had gone.
The story here must be that Gandalf and Hamilcar left the house by the back door, as Fredegar Bolger did in FR (p. 188), but then waited among the trees surrounding the open space in which the house stood. A note added to the time-scheme B (p. 11) seems to fit this version: 'The Black Riders creep into Buckland, but too late to see Frodo depart. They track him to Crickhollow and guard it, and see Gandalf enter. But Gandalf (and Ham pretending to be Frodo) burst out on night of Sept. 29.'