13. The form Ondor (as written ab initio) occurs in the fifth version of 'The Council of Elrond' (p. 144 and note 6).
14. In a rejected form of this passage Keleborn takes up Ingold's remark that he doubted whether even Gandalf had had any clear plan:
'Maybe,' said Keleborn. 'Yet he knew that he would have to choose between East and West ere long. For the Great River lies between Mordor and Minas Tirith, and he knew, as do you Men at least of this Company, that it cannot be crossed on foot, and that the bridges of Osgiliath are broken down or in the hands of the Enemy since the late assault.'
15. On 'the Land of Seven Streams' see p. 177 and pp. 310-12.
16. Here and again below ('Ingold thanked Keleborn many times') Ingold was not changed to Elfstone because the passage was rejected before my father decided to abandon the name Ingold (see pp. 277 - 8).
17. This is the first mention of the great falls in Anduin (apart from a very doubtful hint of their existence referred to in note 1).
18. As the text was written Sam's attitude to the boats was different from what it had been in the previous version (where he felt 'a little alarm') and from what it is in FR:
Even Sam felt no alarm. Not long ago crossing a river by a ferry had seemed to him an adventure, but since then he had made too many weary marches and passed through too many dangers to worry about a journey in a light boat and the peril of drowning.
This was subsequently changed to the passage in FR.
19. The name of the Sword of Elendil reforged, Branding, was first devised here, and then written into 'The Ring Goes South' at the time of the reforging in Rivendell: 'and Elfstone gave it a new name and called it Branding' (p. 165). Branding is obviously an 'English' name (Old English brand 'sword'), and consorts with the names Ingold, Elfstone: see my father's notes on this subject cited on p. 277.
20. The drawing, in pencil, is now very faint. I have reinforced the drawing on a photocopy, and the reproduction is based on this.
21. In the original account of the first meeting of the Company with the Lord and Lady of the Galadrim (pp. 246 ff.) Galadriel addresses no words to Gimli. These first appear in the fair copy manuscript of 'Galadriel', where she says just as in FR (p. 371) 'Dark is the water of Kheled-zaram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nala...': a further indication that that text was already in existence.
22. Although Earendil appears in the fair copy manuscript of 'Galad- riel' (p. 266 note 34), Earendel is the spelling here, both in the draft and in the fair copy. In my copies of these chapters made in 1942 I wrote Earendil in Chapter XIX and Earendel in Chapter XX.
23. The meaning of Galadriel's words to Trotter is plainly that Elfstone was his real name. The fact that the final version of the passage begins ' "Here is the gift of Keleborn to the leader of your Company," she said to Elfstone' - before the green gem, the Elfstone, has been mentioned - is decisive.
24. This change has often been remarked in earlier parts of this book.
The first examples of Aragorn > Elfstone are p. 80 note 17 (at Bree) and pp. 146 ff. (the fifth version of 'The Council of Elrond'). It was carried through the fair copy manuscripts of 'The Ring Goes South' (p. 165; including Trotter > Elfstone), and of the two 'Moria' chapters (pp. 176, 204, the change here being always Trotter > Elfstone).
25. With the statement in both these notes that Trotter's real name must not be 'Elvish' or 'Gnome-elvish' ('like Aragorn') contrast LR Appendix F ('Of Men'): 'The Dunedain alone of all races of Men knew and spoke an Elvish tongue; for their forefathers had learned the Sindarin tongue, and this they handed on to their children as a matter of lore, changing little with the passing of the years', together with the footnote to this passage: 'Most of the names of the other men and women of the Dunedain [i.e. those whose names were not Quenya], such as Aragorn, Denethor, Gilraen are of Sindarin form...'
26. In the first draft following this outline it is said of Gimli and Legolas that they 'had grown more and more friendly during their stay in Lothlorien'; in the following version (vii) that they 'had grown strangely friendly of late'. In FR they 'had now become fast friends'. - The complement of each boat is now as in FR, and not as in outline (b) to this chapter (p. 268), although there already Legolas and Gimli were placed together in the third boat.
27. In the fair copy manuscript of 'Farewell to Lorien' the text here is:
On the further shores the woodlands still marched on south- wards, as far as eye could see; but beyond the Tongue and upon the east side of the River all the boughs were bare. No mallorn-trees grew there.
The intended meaning seems clear: on the west bank beyond the confluence of Silverlode and Anduin, and all along the east bank of Anduin, there was still forest, but the trees not being mallorns they were leafless. So Keleborn says that as they go down the River they will find that 'the trees will fail', and they will come to a barren country. In the following manuscript, which I made (undated, but clearly following on my copy of 'Galadriel' dated 4 August 1942, p. 261), the sentence reads 'all the banks were bare'. This, I think, must have been a mere error (as also was 'the eye could see' for 'eye could see', retained in FR), since (in relation to 'the woodlands still marched on southwards') it is obviously a less well-chosen and somewhat ambiguous word: 'bare banks' suggests treeless banks, not wooded banks in winter. Probably in order to correct this, but without consulting the earlier manuscript and so not seeing that it was an error, my father at some stage changed 'further shores' to 'further western shores' on my copy, but this still gives a confused picture. The text in FR (p. 387) removes the reference to the west shores of Anduin altogether, but retains the 'bare banks', which must therefore be interpreted as 'wooded banks in winter'.
28. In the earliest draft for the scene in the first 'Lothlorien' chapter in which the Company encounters the Elvish scouts near the falls of Nimrodel (p. 239 note 26) the lowest boughs of the trees 'were above the reach of Boromir's arms; but they had rope with them. Casting an end about a bough of the greatest of the trees Legolas ... climbed into the darkness.'
29. There is no more than the briefest outline sketch of Galadriel's 'refusal in the garden' in the original 'Lothlorien' chapter (p. 254), whereas in the fair copy the scene is fully formed (p. 260).
30. This reference to the once far greater extent of the Forest of Lothlorien is not found in FR (see note 34). Perhaps to be compared is Unfinished Tales, p. 236: the Nandorin realm of Lorinand [Lorien] ... was peopled by those Elves who forsook the Great Journey of the Eldar from Cuivienen and settled in the woods of the Vale of Anduin; and it extended into the forests on both sides of the Great River, including the region where afterwards was Dol Guldur.'
31. Ingold here can only have been a slip for Elfstone.
32. The Seventh River has been mentioned in the fifth version of 'The Council of Elrond', p. 149. See pp. 310 - 12.
33. Tharbad has been named in the second version of 'The Ring Goes South', p. 164 and note 8.
34. These passages were actually written when the fair copy had reached this point. In the fair copy a page ends with the words 'you will find that for a while the trees march on. For of old the Forest of Lorien'. It was at this point that my father wrote the first of these passages, which was in fact simply the top of the next page of the fair copy. Deciding however to cut out the reference to the once much greater extent of Lothlorien, he struck out these words at the bottom of the preceding page in the fair copy, and wrote the second draft given here.
35. In the original workings the fourth line was And by the mere of Tirion there grew the golden tree. Another version of the fifth line was Beneath the Hill of Ilmarin lies Aelinuial - Aelinuial 'Lakes of Twilight' being the name of the region of great pools at the confluence of the rivers Aros and Sirion in Beleriand; cf. the Shadow-meres in the seventh line. In Bilbo's song at Rivendell occur the lines
beneath the hill of Ilmarin
where glimmer in a valley sheer
the lights of Elven Tirion
the ci
ty on the Shadowmere
and also From Evereven's lofty hills (see pp. 93, 98; FR pp. 247 - 8).
36. Boromir's words 'I have not myself been there' (referring to Fangorn), p. 282, were changed to 'I have not myself ever crossed Rohan.'
Additional Notes on the name Elfstone.
A puzzling detail in the fair copy manuscript of this chapter is that while Trotter is referred to as Trotter throughout the narrative (see pp. 277 - 8), on the two occasions where he is named by Keleborn the name is Ingold. According to the explanation advanced on pp. 277-8 he should now, if called by his true name, be Elfstone. Moreover when we come to the scene of the Parting Gifts in this manuscript Galadriel's words to Trotter remain exactly as in the draft text on p. 276 ('Elfstone is your name ... and it is a fair name. I will add this gift of my own to match it'). How then can Keleborn call him Ingold?
The answer, I feel sure, is (as I have suggested, p. 267) that the fair copy manuscript itself grew in close relation to the drafts, where the names were not stable; and that it was not carefully revised in this point. In the first case, near the beginning of the chapter, where in the draft text Keleborn names 'Boromir of Ondor and Ingold the traveller' among those of the Company accustomed to boats, Ingold was changed subsequently to Elfstone (p. 273), but in the fair copy 'Ingold the traveller' remained unchanged. In the second case also, towards the end of the chapter, where in the draft Keleborn says 'it may be that Ingold and Boromir know the lands well enough to need no counsel' - which can only have been a casual inadvertence, note 31 - Ingold was corrected to Elfstone in the draft but not in the fair copy.
Later, my father corrected the second Ingold on the fair copy to Aragorn but did not notice the first. Without knowledge of the earlier texts this hasty and incomplete revision of names can produce incomprehensible tangles later on, when amanuenses such as myself simply followed what they saw before them: so in the next text of this chapter, a manuscript that I made (note 27), I wrote Ingold at the first occurrence and Aragorn at the second.
Galadriel's words at the gift-giving, Elfstone is your name, Eldamir in the language of your fathers of old, and it is a fair name, were struck out on the fair copy, with the curious result that in the manuscript that I wrote in 1942 Galadriel says: 'The blade that is drawn from this sheath shall not be stained or broken even in defeat. I will add this gift of my own to match it.' Later on, my father wrote on his fair copy manuscript (but not on the one that I made), against the description of Galadriel's gift and her words concerning it (retained exactly from the draft on p. 276): Make this the reason for his taking the name Elfstone; and after the words 'yet many things that now appear loathly will appear otherwise to you hereafter' he wrote in: 'And [Eldamir >] Elessar shall be a name for you hereafter, Elfstone in [the tongues of common speech >] your speech. Long may it be remembered.'
XV. THE FIRST MAP OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
Of the various small-scale maps of the western regions of Middle- earth that my father made, one is very easily seen to be the earliest; and I have no doubt at all that this was not only the earliest of the maps that are extant, but was in fact the first one that he made (other than the hasty sketches of particular regions published in Vol. VI). This 'First Map' is a strange, battered, fascinating, extremely complicated and highly characteristic document. To gain understand- ing of it, its construction must first be described. It consists of a number of pages glued together and on to backing sheets, with a substantial new section of the map glued over an earlier part, and small new sections on top of that. The glue that my father used to stick down the large new portion was strong, and the sheets cannot be separated; moreover through constant folding the paper has cracked and broken apart along the folds, which are distinct from the actual joins of the map-sections. It was thus difficult to work out how the whole was built up; but I am confident that the following account is correct. In this account I refer to the figure 'Construction of the Original Map of The Lord of the Rings' on p. 297. This is a diagram and not a map, but I have inserted a few major features (the sea-coast, Anduin, Mirkwood, the rough outlines of the mountainous regions) as a guide.
The original element in the map consisted of two pages glued together along their vertical edges, and is the big rectangle framed in the figure by a black and white line and lettered A. East of the vertical line of squares numbered 22 it extended for a further three lines, but these were left blank.
A new section (made up of three portions glued together) extended the original map to North and West. (I say 'new section', since the paper is slightly different, and it was obviously added to what was already in existence.) This section is marked B on the figure and framed in double lines. It extends north of what is shown on the figure by five more horizontal lines of squares (A-E, I - 17).
As already mentioned, a third section, marked C on the figure and framed in double lines (squares o-w, 9-19), was superimposed on a part of the original map 'A', obliterating almost all of its southern half.
This new section 'C' extends further south than did 'A', by three horizontal lines of squares (U-W, 9 - 19). Fortunately, a good part of this section has no backing paper, and by shining a bright light through it it has been possible to make out certain names and geographical features on the 'lost', southern half of 'A'. This is a difficult and confusing operation, and the results are very incomplete, but they are quite sufficient to show the essentials of what lies beneath 'C'. All that I can make out after long peering is shown on the map numbered III (A) (p. 308).
The small rectangle lettered D on the figure and framed in dots was replaced over and over again, and is by far the most complex part of the map, as the region covered is also crucial in the story: from the Gap of Rohan and Isengard to Rauros and the mouths of Entwash.
The original element in the First Map
The First Map was my father's working map for a good while, and thus as it stood when he left it - as it stands now - it represents an evolution, rather than a fixed state of the geography. Determination of the sequence in which the map was built up does not, of course, demonstrate that names or features on 'A' are necessarily earlier than names or features on 'B' or 'C', since when 'A' + 'B' + 'C' were in being the map was a single entity. There are, however, certain clues to relative dating. The earliest layer of names is recognisable from the style of lettering, and also to some extent from the fact that my father at that stage used red ink for certain names, chiefly in the case of alternatives (as for example Loudtwater in black ink, Bruinen beside it in red). On the directly visible part of 'A', virtually all of which is shown on Map II (p. 305), all the names are 'original' with the exception of the following: Torfirion (Westermanton); North Downs, Fornobel (Northbury); Forodwaith (Northerland); Enedwaith (Mid- dlemarch); Caradras; Nimrodel, Silverlode; Mirkwood the Great, Southern Mirkwood, Rhovanion; Rhosgobel, Dol Dughul (but Dol Dugol in red ink, struck out, on M 15 - 16 is original); Bardings; Sea of Rhunaer and Rhun. Notable is the case of Silverlode: here the original name was Redway, struck out and changed in the same script to Blackroot, and this change is very precisely documented in the second version of 'The Ring Goes South', p. 166.
In this 'original layer' of names are a few others which I have not included in the redrawn map (II) since I could not find room for them without unnecessarily confusing it, the scale being so small: these are Chetwood, Midgewater, Forest River, Woodmen, Wood Elves, Dale. F.I. (so written in the original) on the Road east of Bree stands for Forsaken Inn. On the River Rushdown (Rhimdad) cf. V.384, VI.205, where the form is Rhimdath (also Rhibdath).
Three of the original names were changed, and I have entered the later form. These are the river Isen, first written Iren on P 8 (Old English, 'iron', which varied with Isen); Andrath on L 8, where the original form is unclear since a broken fold of the map runs through it, but seems to have been Amrath (as in a draft for a portion of the chapter 'Many Meetings', see pp. 69 - 70 and note 7); and Anduin (M-N 13, Maps II and IV ), first written Andon (see
p. 299).
Of geographical features, most of what is represented on the directly visible part of 'A' goes back to the beginning, and of course a substantial part of that was derived from the Map of Wilderland in The Hobbit. Elements that are not 'original' are the highlands in the North-west of Map II (I 8-9, J 7 - 8); the markings representing the Iron Hills (though the name itself is original); the Sea of Rhunaer, the mountainous region to the South-west of it, the river flowing into it from the Iron Hills, and the lower course of the (unnamed) River Running, which as the map was first made scarcely extended beyond the eastern edge of the Wilderland Map in The Hobbit.
Some other geographical features are slightly doubtful, but the western arm of the Misty Mountains across squares I 10-11 was probably a subsequent addition, and the vast region of highland between Mirkwood and the Sea of Rhunaer, together with the streams flowing from it into the Dead Marshes (N 16), almost certainly so. The original siting of the name Dol Dugol (M 15; see p. 296) probably had nothing to do with these highlands (at the first occurrence of the name on p. 178 Gandalf speaks of Sauron's 'older and lesser dwelling at Dol- Dugol in Southern Mirkwood'): faint traces of green colour suggest to me that originally Mirkwood extended much further to the South- east, covering L 15 and a good part of M-N 15 - 16, and that this region of the forest was erased. The hills that emerge onto N 15 from the area which I have left blank on Map II are also additional: this region will be discussed later in this chapter.
The History of Middle Earth: Volume 7 - The Treason of Isengard Page 39