The History of Middle Earth: Volume 7 - The Treason of Isengard
Page 25
There are also the isolated words Where Nenechui cold > Where cold Echuinen spills. Nen Echui has occurred as the Noldorin name for Cuivienen, the Waters of Awakening (V.366, 406); here my father was pondering its application to Mirrormere (for the much later Elvish name Nen Cenedril 'Lake Looking-glass' see VI.466, note 39).
On one of the pages of drafting for Gimli's song my father wrote: 'Gandalf on Ithil Thilevril (12) Mithril' (i.e. Gandalf is to speak on this subject). This is the first appearance of the name Mithril, replacing the passing Thilevril, Ithil, and the original Erceleb (see VI.458 and notes 34-5); and an isolated page of drafting shows my father developing Gandalf's account of it. This text begins with various forms of Gandalf's reply to Sam's question 'Are there piles of jewels and gold lying about here then?' Several answers to this question were tried. In one Gandalf said: 'There may be.... For the wealth of Durin was very great: not only in such things as were found in the Mines themselves. There was a great traffic to his gates from East and West.' In another he said: 'No. The dwarves carried much away; and though the dread of its dark mazes has protected Moria from Men and Elves it has not defended it from the goblins, who have often invaded it and plundered it.' Against these my father wrote: 'Mithril is now nearly all lost. Orcs plunder it and pay tribute to Sauron who is collecting it - we don't know why - for some secret purpose of his weapons notfor beauty.'(13)
The final version here, written in a rapid scrawl with pencilled additions and alterations, is as follows:
'No one knows,' said Gandalf. 'None have dared to seek for the armouries and treasure chambers down in the deep places since the dwarves fled. Unless it be plundering orcs. It is said that they were laid under spells and curses, when the dwarves fled.'
'They were,' said Gimli, 'but orcs have plundered often inside Moria nonetheless [added: and nought is left in the upper halls].'
'They came here because of Mithril,' said Gandalf. 'It was for that that Moria was of old chiefly renowned, and it was the foundation of the wealth and power of Durin: only in Moria was mithril found save rarely and scantily. Moria-silver or true-silver some have called it. Mithril was the Elvish name: the dwarves have a name which they will not tell. Its value was thrice that of gold, and now is beyond price. It was nearly as heavy as lead, malleable as copper, but the dwarves could by some secret of theirs make it as hard as [> harder than] steel. It surpassed common silver in all save beauty, and even in that it is its equal. [Added: It was used by the Elves who dearly loved it - among many other things they [?wrought] it to make ithildin. Also perhaps to be placed here: ... the dwarflords of Khazad- dum were wealthier than any of the Kings of Men, and the traffic to the Gates brought them jewels and treasure from many lands of East and West.) Bilbo had a corslet of mithril-rings that Thorin gave him. I wonder what he did with it. I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the Shire and everything in it.'(14)
[Added: Frodo laid his hand under his tunic, and felt the rings of the mail-shirt, and felt somewhat staggered to think he was walking about with the price [of the] Shire...]
The text of the passage that appears in the completed manuscript is very close to FR. It is still said that mithril was not found only in Moria: 'Here alone in the world, save rarely and scantily in far eastern mountains, was found Moria-silver.' The reference to Bilbo's having given his mailcoat to 'Michel Delving Museum' (not 'Mathom-house') appears.
But there is one important difference. It is said in this text: 'The dwarves tell no tale, but even as mithril was the foundation of their wealth so also it was their destruction: they delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled.'(15) This is exactly as in FR, but without the last two words: Durin's Bane. In this connection also, where Gandalf says in FR: 'And since the dwarves fled, no one dares to seek the shafts and treasuries down in the deep places: they are drowned in water - or in a shadow of fear', my father first wrote in this manuscript: '... some are drowned in water, and some are full of the evil from which the dwarves fled and of which they will not speak.' This was changed to: '... they are drowned in water - or in shadow.' The absence of the words 'Durin's Bane' does not of course prove that the conception of 'Durin's Bane' had not yet arisen; while a feeling that the words 'some are full of the evil from which the dwarves fled' are not really appropriate to the Balrog is too slight to build on. That there was a Balrog in Moria appears in the original sketch for the story given in VI.462. Even so, I think it probable that at this stage it was not the Balrog that had caused the flight of the Dwarves from the great Dwarrowdelf long before. The strongest evidence for this comes from the original version of the Lothlorien story, where it is at least strongly suggested (being represented as the opinion of the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien) that the Balrog had been sent from Mordor not long since (see further on this question p. 247 and note 11). Moreover, in the texts of the story of the Bridge of Khazad-dum from this time Gimli does not cry out 'Durin's Bane!' (pp. 197, 202-3).
I think also that Gandalf is represented as not knowing himself what was the evil from which the Dwarves fled (it cannot be said, of course, what my father knew).(16)
There is nothing else to note in the remainder of the chapter except the Runic inscription on the tomb of Balin (on which see the Appendix on Runes, pp. 456 - 7). Gandalf's words about the inscription differ from what he says in FR: 'These are dwarf-runes, such as they use in the North. Here is written in the old tongue and the new: Balin son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.' In FR he says: 'These are Daeron's Runes, such as were used of old in Moria. Here is written in the tongues of Men and Dwarves...'
The inscription is written on a strip of blue paper,(17) and since that could not be reproduced in black and white there is here reproduced instead the version from the typescript that followed the manuscript, this being very closely similar to the first in its design and identical in all its forms.
The inscription reads:
BALIN SON OF FUNDIN
LORD OF MORIA
Balin Fundinul Uzbad Khazaddumu.
NOTES.
1. Silverlode was changed in pencil to Blackroot; see p. 235. At the same time Ond was changed to Ondor.
2. On the First Map the name was first Iren, changed to Isen; see p. 298.
3. Gandalf's cry as he tossed the blazing brand into the air (FR p. 312) here takes the form: Naur ad i gaurhoth!
4. The references to the 'power that wished now to have a clear light in which things that moved in the wild could be seen from far away', and Gandalf's remark that 'here Aragorn cannot guide us; he has seldom walked in this country', are lacking; while a comment is made in this text on the fact of the land in which Gandalf sought for the Sirannon, the Gate-stream, being 'bleak and dry': 'not a flake of snow seemed to have fallen there.'
5. The change in the present text of 'outside the moon has long sunk' to 'outside the moon is sinking' implies the corrected view of the moon's phase, but none of the previous references were emended on the manuscript.
6. This is a convenient place to mention a textual detail. Gimli says that Dwarf-doors are invisible when shut, 'and their own makers cannot find them or open them, if their secret is forgotten.' Makers is certain (but could be misread), and seems altogether more appropriate and likely than masters. This, appearing in the first typescript of the chapter, was clearly an error, perpetuated in FR (p. 317).
7. The name ithildin was devised here. My father first wrote starmoon or thilevril (on thilevril see p. 184 and note 12).
8. This has been previously reproduced by Humphrey Carpenter, Biography, facing p. 179. - The writing on the arch, but nothing more, appears in the original version of the chapter, VI.450.
9. The trees in the design reproduced on p. 182 are of a highly stylized form seen frequently in my father's pictures (for example, the tree in the drawing of Lake-town in The Hobbit). These trees might be further formalized into geometrical shapes, or their surfaces cut into planes (so that they appear like rocks rising from trunk
s). The tree pencilled in above the arch, with distinct branches, single large leaves, and a crescent moon as its topmost growth, was the model for a second version of the design (also at Marquette University), which differs from the first only in the form of the trees. It may be that it was to this that the corrected text in the manuscript refers, since the trees are said to bear crecent moons. In a third version (in the Bodleian Library) the trees, much larger, still bear a crescent moon at the summit, but the branches also curl over into crescents (as in the final form). A fourth version (also in the Bodleian) differs from the final form only in that the branches pass behind and do not entwine the pillars.
It can be seen in the narrative passage above the first version of the design that the name Narvi was first spelt Narf[i], as in the original text (VI.449). The stroke through the first m of Celeb- rimbor in the transcription of the tengwar at the bottom of the page removes an erroneous m; the stroke through the second removes a necessary m. - The second tengwa in the penultimate word of the inscription, transliterated as i-ndiw, is used in the words ennyn and minno to represent nn, not nd. Perhaps to be connected with this is the form of the eighth tengwa in Celebrim- bor, which would naturally be interpreted as mm, not mb.
10. The origin of Gandalf's sword Glamdring is still referred to here, as in VI.454, since the passage where it occurs in FR (p. 293), the account of the arms borne by the members of the Company, had not yet been added to the previous chapter.
11. Cf. VI.466, note 36.
12. Thilevril was thus a rejected possibility for both ithildin and mithril (see note 7).
13. Another draft puts this slightly more fully: 'They give it in tribute to Sauron, who has long been gathering and hoarding all that he can find. It is not known why: not for beauty, but for some secret purpose in the making of weapons of war.'
14. This is the point (at least in terms of actual record) at which the connection was made between mithril or 'Moria-silver' and Bilbo's mailcoat, ultimately leading to an alteration in the text of The Hobbit, Chapter XIII: see VI.465 - 6, notes 35, 38. The mailcoat will no longer be called 'elf-mail' (see p. 173, note 13).
15. A final draft for this passage ends illegibly: 'The dwarves will not say what happened; but mithril is rich only far down and northward towards the roots of Caradras, and some... [?think] they disturbed some [?guarding]'. - Caradras is spelt thus also in the text of the passage in the completed manuscript; see p. 174, note 18.
16. In the fifth version of 'The Council of Elrond' (p. 142) Gloin says that the Dwarves of Moria 'delved immeasurably deep', and 'under the foundations of the hills things long buried were waked at last from sleep'.
In FR there seems to be some ambiguity on the question of what Gandalf knew. He says that the Dwarves fled from Durin's Bane; but when the Balrog appeared, and Gimli cried out 'Durin's Bane!', he muttered: 'A Balrog! Now I understand.' (These words, like Gimli's cry, are lacking in the versions of the scene from this time, pp. 197, 202 - 3). What did Gandalf mean? That he understood now that the being that had entered the Chamber of Mazarbul and striven with him for the mastery through the closed door was a Balrog? Or that he understood at last what it was that had destroyed Durin? Perhaps he meant both; for if he had known what Durin's Bane was, would he not have surmised, with horror, what was on the other side of the door? - 'I have never felt such a challenge', 'I have met my match, and have nearly been destroyed.'
17. The blue paper is from the cover of one of the booklets of the 'August 1940' examination script, which my father was still using for drafting. The strip was pasted onto the manuscript page, covering an earlier form of the Runic inscription; for this see the Appendix on Runes, p. 457.
X. THE MINES OF MORIA (2): THE BRIDGE.
We come at last to the point where my father took up the narrative again beside Balin's tomb in Moria. A sketch for the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbul was in existence (VI.443), going back to the time when he wrote the original text of 'Moria (i)', and this sketch he now for the most part followed closely. There was also a sketch from the same time (VI.462) of Gandalf's encounter on the bridge and his fall, when his opponent was to be a Black Rider.
The new chapter, numbered XVII, was entitled 'The Mines of Moria (ii)', and corresponds to Book II Chapter 5 in FR, 'The Bridge of Khazad-dum'. The original manuscript is in pencil, ink, and ink over pencil, and was written on the same 'August 1940' examination script as was used for so much of the preceding work. It is a very rough draft indeed: parts of it would be quite beyond the limits of legibility were it not for clues provided by later texts. Some very minor editorial alteration is made here in respect of punctuation and the breaking of sentences, increasing the readability and comprehensibility of the text though disguising the furious haste in which it was written.
That this manuscript followed the new text of 'The Ring Goes South' is seen at once from the occurrence of the name Blackroot (the later Silverlode) in the Book of Mazarbul; for Blackroot replaced Redway as that text was being written (p. 166). For evidence that it followed the second version of 'Moria (i)' see note 3.
Two notes are written at the head of the first page: '2 West Gates' (see note 3), and 'No dates in Book'.
THE MINES OF MORIA (ii).
The Company of the Ring stood some time in silence beside the tomb of Balin. Frodo thought of Bilbo and his friendship with the dwarf, and Balin's visit to Bilbo long ago.
After a while they looked about the chamber to see if they could discover any tidings or signs of Balin's people. There was another door on the other side, under the shaft. By both doors they now saw that in the dust were lying many bones, and among them broken swords, and axe-heads, cloven shields and helms. Some of the swords were crooked: orc-weapons with black blades.
There were recesses and shelves cut in the wall, and in them were large iron-bound chests: all had been broken open and plundered; but beside the broken lid of one lay the tattered fragments of a book. It had been hewn with a sword and stabbed, and was so stained with dark marks like old blood that only little of it could be read. It only a cover [sic](1) and much was missing or in small pieces. Gandalf laid it carefully on the slab and pored over it; it was written in dwarvish and elvish script by many different hands.
'It is a record of the fortunes of Balin's folk,' said the wizard, 'and seems to begin with their coming to the Great Gate 20 years ago. Listen!
'We drove out Orcs from ... first hall. We slew many under the bright sun in the Dale. Floi was killed by an arrow. He slew... We have occupied [> taken] the Twenty-first Hall of North-end [added: to dwell in]. There is there ... shaft is... Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul... gold... Durin's axe. Balin is Lord of Moria... We found true- silver... Well-forged... (To)morrow Oin is... seek [> Oin to seek] for the upper armouries and treasury of the Third Deep ... mithril.
'There are one or two more rather ill-written and much- damaged pages of that sort. Then there must be a number missing, and some I cannot read. Let me see. No, it is burned and cut and stained. I can't read that. Wait! Ah, here is one more recent, well-written. Fifth year of their colony. Look - a large hasty hand and using elvish character!
'Balin Lord of Moria fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in Mirror-mere. an orc shot him from behind a stone. We slew the orc, but many... up from East up Blackroot... Now two lines are gone. We have barred the Gates. No more is clear on that page. What is this? The last written page - rest seems blank [> stuck to the cover]. We cannot get out. We cannot get out. The Pool is up to the Wall in the West. There lies the Watcher in the Water. It took Oin. We cannot get out.
'They have taken the Gates. Frar and Loni and Nali (2) fell there... noise in the Deeps. Poor things. They could not get out by either Gate. It was perhaps well for us that the water had sunk somewhat, and that the Watcher was guarding the Dwarf- door not the Elfdoor we came by.(3) The last thing written,' said Gandalf, 'is a hasty scrawl in elf-letters. They are coming.' He looked round. 'They seem to have made a
last stand by both the doors of this chamber,' he said. 'But there were not many left by that time. So ended the attempt to re-take Moria. It was brave but foolish. The time is not yet. Their end must have been desperate. But I fear we must now say farewell to Balin son of Fundin: he was a noble dwarf. Here may he lie in the halls of his fathers. We will take this book, and look at it more carefully later. You had better keep it, Frodo, and give it to Bilbo. It will interest him though I fear it will grieve him.(4) I think I know where we are now. This must be the Chamber of Mazarbul and that hall the 21st Hall of the North-end. Then we ought to leave either by the south or the east arch in the hall, or possibly by this other eastward door here. I think we will return to the Hall. Come, let us go! The morning is passing.'
At that very moment there was a great sound, a great rolling boom that seemed to come from far below and to tremble in the stone at their feet. They sprang to the door in alarm. But even as they did so there was an echoing blast; a great horn was being blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard in the corridors; there was a hurrying sound of many feet. 'Fool that I have been!' cried Gandalf, 'to delay here. We are nicely trapped just as they were before. But I was not here then: we will see what - '
Boom came the shuddering noise again, and the walls shook. 'Slam the doors and wedge them!' shouted Trotter. 'And keep your packs on: we may get a chance to cut a way out.'
'No!' said Gandalf. 'Wedge them but keep them just ajar. We must not get shut in. We'll go by the further door if we get a chance.'