There was another harsh horn-call and shrill cries coming down the corridor. There was a ring and clatter as the Company drew their weapons. [Added: Glamdring and Sting were shining with whitish flames, glinting at the edges.] Boromir thrust wedges of broken blades and splinters of wooden chest under the bottom of the western door by which they had entered. Then Gandalf went and stood behind it. 'Who comes here to disturb the rest of Balin Lord of Moria?' he cried in a loud voice. There was a rush of hoarse laughter like the fall of a slide of stones into a pit, but amid the clamour there was one deep voice. Boom boom boom went the noises in the deep. Swiftly Gandalf went to the opening and thrust forward his staff. There was a blinding flash that lit the chamber and the passage beyond. For an instant Gandalf looked out. Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back.
'There are goblins: very many of them,' he said. 'Evil they look and large: black Orcs.(5) They are for the moment hanging back, but there is something else there. A troll, I think, or more than one. There is no hope of escape that way.'
'And no hope at all if they come at the other door as well,' said Boromir.
'But there is no sound outside,' said Trotter, who was standing by the eastern entrance listening. 'The passage here goes down steps: it [?prob(ably)] does not give on to the hall at all. Our only chance is to gather here. Do what damage we can to the attackers and then fly down these steps. If only we could block the door as we went: but they both open inwards.'
Heavy feet were heard in the corridor. Boromir kicked the wedges away from the west door and heaved it to.(6) They retreated toward the still open eastern door, first Pippin and Merry, then Legolas, then Frodo with Sam at his side, then Boromir, Trotter, and last Gandalf. But they had no chance to fly yet. There was a heavy blow at the door, and it quivered; and immediately it began to move inwards grinding at the wedges and thrusting them back. An enormous arm and shoulder with dark green scaly skin (or clad in some horrible mesh) thrust through the widening gap. Then a great three-toed foot was thrust in also. There was dead silence outside.
Boromir leaped forward and hewed the arm with his sword (7) but it glanced aside and fell from his shaken hand: the blade was notched.
Frodo suddenly, and very unexpectedly, felt a great wrath leap up in his heart. 'The Shire,' he cried, and ran forward with Sting stabbing at the hideous foot. There was a bellow and the foot jerked back, nearly wrenching the blade from his hand: drops dripped from it and smoked on the stone.
'One for the Shire!' cried Trotter delightedly. 'You have a good blade, Frodo son of Drogo.' Sam looked as if for the first time he really liked Trotter. There was a crash and another crash: rocks were being heaved with huge strength against the door. It staggered back and the opening widened. Arrows came whistling in, but struck the north wall and fell to the ground. The horns rang again, there was a rush of feet, and orcs one after another leaped in. Then Legolas loosed his bow. Two fell pierced through the throat. The sword of Elendil struck down others.(8) Boromir laid about him and the orcs [? feared] his sword. One that dived under his arm was cloven ... by Gimli s axe. Thirteen orcs they slew and the others fled. 'Now is the time if ever,' said [Trotter o] Gandalf, ' - before that Troll-chief or more of them return. Let us go! '
But even as they retreated once more a huge orc-chief, almost man-high, clad in black mail from head to foot, leaped through the door. Behind him but not yet daring to advance stood many followers. His eyes were like coals of fire. He wielded a great spear. Boromir who was at the rear turned, but with a thrust of his shield the orc put aside his stroke and with huge strength bore him back and flung him down. Then leaping with the speed of a snake he charged and smote with his spear straight at Frodo. The blow caught him on the right side. Frodo was hurled against the wall and pinned. Sam with a cry hewed at the spear and it broke.... but even as the orc cast the shaft aside and drew his scimitar the sword of Elendil drove down upon his helm. There was a flash like flame and the helm burst. The orc- chieftain fell with cloven head. His followers who were ... by the now nearly open door yelled and fled in dismay. Boom, boom went the noises in the Deep. The great voice rolled out again.
'Now!' said Gandalf. 'Now is the last chance!' He picked up Frodo and sprang through the eastern door. The others fol- lowed. Trotter the last to leave pulled the door behind him. It had a great iron ring on either side, but no lock to be seen. 'I am all right,' gasped Frodo. 'Put me down!'
Gandalf nearly dropped him in amazement.
Without striking out this last passage my father at once went on to rewrite it:
'Now!' cried Gandalf. 'Now is the last chance!' Trotter picked up Frodo and sprang through the eastern door. Even in the heat of battle Gimli bowed to Balin's tomb. Boromir heaved the door to: it had a great iron ring on each side but the key was gone and the lock broken.
'I am all right,' gasped Frodo. 'Put me down!'
Trotter nearly dropped him in amazement. 'I thought you were dead,' he cried. 'Not yet,' said Gandalf turning round. 'But there is no time [struck out: to count (sc. wounds)].(9) Get away down these stairs, and look out! Wait a moment for me and then run: bear right and south.'
As they went down the dark stairs they saw the pale light gleam from the wizard's staff. He was still standing by the closed door. Frodo leaning on Sam halted a moment and peered back. Gandalf seemed to be thrusting the tip of his staff into the ancient keyhole.
Suddenly there was a flash more dazzling... [than] any that they had ever conceived of. They all turned. There was a deafening crash. The swords in their hands leaped and wren- ched in their fingers, and they stumbled and fell to their knees as the great blast passed down the stairway. Into the midst of them fell Gandalf.
'Well, that's that,' he said. 'It was all I could do. I expect I have buried Balin. But alas for my staff: we shall have to go by guess in the dark. Gimli and I will lead.'
They followed in amazement, and as they stumbled behind he gasped out some information. 'I have lost my staff, part of my beard, and an inch of eyebrows,' he said. 'But I have blasted the door and felled the roof against it, and if the Chamber of Mazarbul is not a heap of ruins behind it, then I am no wizard. All the power of my staff was expended [?in a flash]: it was shattered to bits.'
Here the text in ink stops for the moment. My father at once heavily rewrote the passage beginning 'Suddenly there was a flash...' in pencil and then continued on in pencil from the point he had reached (cf. note 4). There is of course no question that the story was coming into being in these pages, and the handwriting is so fast as to be practically a code, while words are missed out or misrepresented, so that one must try to puzzle out not merely what my father did write, but what he intended.
Suddenly they heard him cry out strange words in tones of thunder, and there was a flash more dazzling... [than] any that they had ever conceived of: it was as if lightning had passed just before their eyes and seared them. The swords in their hands leapt and wrenched in their fingers. There was a deafening crash, and they fell or stumbled to their knees as a rush of wind passed down the stairway. Into the midst of them fell Gandalf.
'Well, that's that,' he said. 'I have buried poor old Balin. It was all I could do. I nearly killed myself. [Struck out as soon as written: It will take me years to recover my strength and wizardry.] Go on, go on! Gimli, come in front with me. We must go in the dark. Haste now!'
They followed in amazement feeling the walls, and as they stumbled behind him he gasped out some information. 'I have lost part of my beard and an inch of my eyebrows', he said. 'But I have blasted the door and felled the roof against it, and if the Chamber of Mazarbul is not a heap of ruins behind it, then I am no wizard. But I have expended all my strength for the moment.
I can give you no more light.'
The echoes of Gandalf's blast seemed to run to and fro,... ing in the hollow places of stone above them. From behind they heard boom, boom, like the beating and throbbing of a drum. But there was no sound of feet. For an hour the
y [?hurried on guided by Gandalf's nose]; and still there was no sound of pursuit. Almost they began to hope that they would escape.
'But what about you, Frodo?' asked Gandalf, as they halted to take a gasping breath. 'That is really important.'
'I am bruised and in pain, but I am whole,' said Frodo, 'if that is what you mean.'
'I do indeed,' said Gandalf. 'I thought it was a heroic but dead hobbit that Aragorn picked up.'
'... it seems that hobbits or this hobbit is made of a stuff so tough that I have never met the like,' said Trotter. 'Had I known I would have spoken softer in the Inn at Bree. That spear thrust would have pierced through a boar.'
'Well, it has not pierced through me,' said Frodo, 'though I feel as if I had been caught between a hammer and anvil.' He said no more. His breath was difficult, and he thought explanations could wait.
From this point ('They now went on again', FR p. 342) the original text is very largely lost for some distance, because my father overwrote it (and largely erased it first) as part of a revised version, but something can be read at the end of this section:
There was no time to lose. Away beyond the pillars in the deep [? gloom] at the west end of the hall to the right there came cries and horn calls. And far off again they heard boom, boom and the ground trembled [? to the dreadful drum taps]. 'Now for the last race!' said Gandalf. 'Follow me!'
The remainder of the original text is in ink and is at first fairly legible, but towards the end becomes in places impossible to decipher, being written at great speed, with small words indicated by mere marks, word-endings omitted, and scarcely any punctuation.
He turned to the left and darted across the floor of the hall. It was longer than it looked. As they ran they heard behind the beat and echo of many feet running on the floor.(10) A shrill yell went up: they had been seen. There was a ring and clash of steel: an arrow whistled over Frodo's head.
Trotter laughed. 'They did not expect this,' he said. 'The fire has cut them off for the moment. We are on the wrong side!' 'Look out for the bridge!' cried Gandalf over his shoulder. 'It is dangerous and narrow.'
Suddenly Frodo saw before him a black gulf. Just before the end of the hall the floor vanished and fell into an abyss. The exit door could not be reached save by a narrow railless bridge of stone that spanned the chasm with a single curving leap of some fifty feet. Across it they could only pass in single file. They reached the chasm in a pack and halted at the bridge-end for a moment. More arrows whistled over them. One pierced Gan- dalf's hat and stuck there like a black feather. They looked back. Away beyond the fiery fissure Frodo saw the swarming black figures of many orcs. They brandished spears and scimitars which shone red as blood. Boom, boom rolled the drum- beats now advancing louder and louder and more and more menacing. Two great dark troll-figures could be seen [?towering] among the orcs. They strode forward to the fiery brink. Legolas bent his bow. Then he let it fall. He gave a cry of dismay and terror. Two great dark troll-shapes had appeared; but it was not these that caused his cry.(11) The orc-ranks had opened as if they themselves were afraid. A figure strode to the fissure, no more than man-high yet terror seemed to go before it. They could see the furnace-fire of its yellow eyes from afar; its arms were very long; it had a red [?tongue]. Through the air it sprang over the fiery fissure. The flames leaped up to greet it and wreathed about it. Its streaming hair seemed to catch fire, and the sword that it held turned to flame. In its other hand it held a whip of many thongs.
'Ai, ai,' wailed Legolas. '[The Balrogs are >] A Balrog is come.'
'A Balrog,' said Gandalf. 'What evil fortune - and my power is nearly spent.'
The fiery figure ran across the floor. The orcs yelled and shot many arrows.
'Over the Bridge,' cried Gandalf. 'Go on! Go on! This is a foe beyond any of you. I will hold the Bridge. Go on!'
When they gained the door they turned, in spite of his command. The troll-figures strode across the fire carrying orcs across. The Balrog rushed to the Bridge-foot. Legolas [?raised] his bow, and [an] arrow pierced his shoulder. The bow fell useless. Gandalf stood in the midst of the bridge. In his hand Glamdring gleamed. In his left he held up his staff. The Balrog advanced and stood gazing at him.
Suddenly with a spout of flame it sprang on the Bridge, but Gandalf stood firm. 'You cannot pass,' he said. 'Go back [struck out probably as soon as written: into the fiery depths. It is forbidden for any Balrog to come beneath the sky since Fionwe son of Manwe overthrew Thangorodrim]. I am the master of the White Fire. The red flame cannot come this way.' The creature made no reply, but standing up tall so that it loomed above the wizard it strode forward and smote him. A sheet of white flame sprang before him [?like a shield], and the Balrog fell backward, its sword shivered into molten pieces and flew, but Gandalf's staff snapped and fell from his hand. With a gasping hiss the Balrog sprang up; it seemed to be [?half blind], but it came on and grasped at the wizard. Glamdring shore off its empty right hand, but in that instant as he [?delivered the stroke] the Balrog [?struck with] its whip. The thongs lashed round the wizard's knees and he staggered.
Seizing Legolas' bow Gimli shot, [but] the arrow fell ... Trotter sprang back along the bridge with his sword. But at that moment a great troll came up from the other side and leaped on the bridge. There was a terrible crack and the bridge broke. All the western end fell. With a terrible cry the troll fell after it, and the Balrog [?tumbled] sideways with a yell and fell into the chasm. Before Trotter could reach the wizard the bridge broke before his feet, and with a great cry Gandalf fell into the darkness.(12)
Trotter [?recoiled]. The others were rooted with horror. He recalled them. 'At least we can obey his last command,' he said. They [?passed] by the door and stumbled wildly up the great stair beyond, and beyond [? up there] was a wide echoing passage. They stumbled along it. Frodo heard Sam at his side weeping as he ran, and then he [? realized] that he too was weeping. Boom, boom, boom rang the echo of... behind them.
On they ran. The light grew. It shone through great shafts. They passed into a wide hall, clear-lit with high windows in the east. [?Through that] they ran, and suddenly before them the Great Gates with carven posts and mighty doors - cast back.
There were orcs at the door, but amazed to see that it was not friends that ran they fled in dismay, and the Company took no heed of them.
The original draft of the chapter ends here, and does not recount the coming of the Company into Dimrill Dale. There is a pencilled note written on the manuscript against the description of the Balrog: 'Alter description of Balrog. It seemed to be of man's shape, but its form could not be plainly discerned. It felt larger than it looked.' After the words 'Through the air it sprang over the fiery fissure' my father added: 'and a great shadow seemed to black out the light.' And at the end of the text - before he had finished it, for the concluding passage is written around the words - he wrote: 'No - Gandalf breaks the bridge and Balrog falls - but lassoos him.'
It will be seen that for much of its length this chapter was very fully formed from its first emergence; while scarcely a sentence remained unchanged into FR, and while many details of speech and event would be altered, there really was not very far to go. But in certain passages this earliest draft underwent substantial development in the narrative. The first of these is the account of Gandalf's blocking of the east door out of the Chamber of Mazarbul (FR pp. 340 - 1), where there was as yet no suggestion that some greater power than any orc or troll had entered the chamber, and where the blasting of the door and felling of the roof was not caused by competing spells of great power, but was a deliberate act on Gandalf's part to preserve the Company . from pursuit down the stair.
It cannot be said precisely how the story stood in the lost passage (p. 196), though from a word still decipherable here and there it can be seen that Gimli saw a red light ahead of them, and that Gandalf told them that they had reached the First Deep below the Gates and were come to the Second Hall. Clearly then the essential elements of the
final narrative were already present.
The second passage in which the original draft would undergo major development is the narrative of the final attack on the fugitives and the battle on the Bridge of Khazad - dum (FR pp. 343 - 5). That there was a bridge in Moria, that Gandalf would hold it alone against a single adversary of great power, and that both would fall into an abyss when the bridge broke beneath them, had been foreseen in the original sketch (VI.462); but the final form of the famous scene was not achieved at a stroke. Here, the trolls do not bring great slabs to serve as gangways over the fiery fissure, but carry orcs across (it may be noted incidentally that 'orcs', rather than 'goblins', becomes pervasive in this text: see note 5); the form of the Balrog is clearly perceived; there is no blast of Boromir's horn; Legolas is pierced in the shoulder by an arrow as he attempts to shoot; and Aragorn and Boromir do not remain with Gandalf at the end of the bridge. The physical contest between Gandalf and the Balrog is differently con- ceived: Gandalf's staff breaks at the moment when the Balrog's sword shivers into molten fragments in the 'sheet of white flame', and though the whip catches Gandalf round his knees it is not the cause of his fall. Here, it is the great troll leaping onto the bridge that causes it to break, carrying with it troll, Balrog, and wizard together. But even before he had finished the initial draft of the chapter my father saw 'what really happened': 'Gandalf breaks the bridge and the Balrog falls - but lassoos him'. He thereupon moved the 'sheet of white flame' and the snapping of Gandalf's staff from the initial clash between the adver- saries to the point where Gandalf broke the bridge.
It is clear that my father turned at once to the making of a fair copy of the original draft text - that he did so at once, before continuing the story, is seen from the fact that Sam's wound in the affray in the Chamber of Mazarbul only appears in the new version but is present at the beginning of 'Lothlorien'.
The History of Middle Earth: Volume 7 - The Treason of Isengard Page 26