returnoftheshadow72

by Miguel

  'Keep close beside the fire, with your faces outwards! ' said Trotter. 'Get some of these pine-wood sticks ready in your hands! ' For a long while they sat there silent and alert with their backs turned to the little fire, which was thus almost.entirely screened. Nothing happened. There was no sound or movement. Bingo was just about to whisper a question to Trotter, who sat next to him, when Frodo gasped: 'What's that?' 'Sh,' said Trotter.

  It was just as Odo had said: over the lip of the hollow, on the side away from the hill, they felt a shadow rise, one shadow or more than one. They strained their eyes, and the shadows seemed to grow. Soon there could be no doubt: three or four tall black figures were standing there, on the slope above them. Bingo fancied that he heard faintly a sound like breath being drawn in with a hiss. Then the shapes advanced slowly.

  Terror seized Odo and Frodo, and they threw themselves flat on the ground. Merry shrank to Bingo's side. Bingo was no less afraid; he was quaking as if he was bitter cold. But his fear was swallowed up in a sudden temptation to put on the Ring. It seized him, and he could think of nothing else. He did not forget the Barrow, nor the message of Gandalf, but he felt a desperate desire to disregard all warnings. Something seemed to be compelling him; he longed to yield. Not with the hope of escaping, or of doing anything, good or bad. He simply felt that he must take the Ring, and put it on his finger. He could not speak. He struggled for a while, but resistance became unbearable; and at last he slowly drew out the chain, unfastened the Ring, and put it on the forefinger of his left hand.

  Immediately - though everything else remained as before, dim and dark - the shapes became terribly clear. He seemed able to see beneath their black wrapping. There were three tall figures: in their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their black mantles were long grey robes, upon their grey hair were helms of silver;(10) in their haggard hands were swords of steel. Their eyes fell upon him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword; and it seemed to him that it flickered redly as if it was a fire-brand. Two of the figures halted. But the third was taller than the others. His hair was long and gleaming, and on it was a crown. The hand that held the long sword glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down upon Bingo.

  At that moment Bingo threw himself forward onto the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud (though he did not know why): Elbereth! Gilthoniel! Gurth i Morthu.(11) At the same time he struck at the feet of his enemy. A shrill cry rang out in the night; and he felt a pain like a dart of poisoned ice touch his [added: left] shoulder. Even as he swooned Bingo caught a glimpse of Trotter leaping out of the darkness with a flaming fire-brand in each hand. With a last effort he slipped the Ring from his finger, and closed his hand on it.

  NOTES.

  1. This passage, from 'Better still, under the fuel they found a wooden case', is an insertion on a slip, certainly written at the same time as the main text, replacing the (ink) text as first written:

  Gandalf, it would seem, had taken thought for them. It was the presence of fuel that decided them to go no further that day, and to make their camp in the dell.

  With the passage here about cram, not found in FR, cf. The Hobbit, Chapter XIII 'Not at Home':

  If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe, but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys.

  In the Etymologies (V.365) cram, defined as 'cake of compressed flour or meal (often containing honey and milk) used on long journeys', appears as a Noldorin word (stem KRAB- 'press'). - In FR the fire-wood, alone of the stores found on Weathertop, survived, but it had been left by Rangers, not by Gandalf.

  2. Strider gives a much more elaborate and informed account of the perceptions of the Ring-wraiths in FR (p. 202). See p. 173, note 7.

  3. See p. 169 and note 25.

  4. Beren's name Camlost or Gamlost ('Empty-handed') occurs in the Quenta Silmarillion (interrupted at the end of 1937); for the variation in the initial consonant see V.298, 301.

  5. For the text and textual history of Light as Leaf on Lindentree see III.108 - 10, 120 - 3.

  6. To the silver flute of Ilverin: in Light as Leaf on Lindentree (III. 108) Dairon is named here. The name Ilverin occurs in The Book of Lost Tales as one of the many names of Littleheart, the 'Gong-warden' of Mar Vanwa Tyalieva (I.46, 255), but there seems no basis to seek any kind of connection. In the margin my father at some point pencilled other names: Neldorin, Elberin, Diarin. See note g, at end.

  7. Trotter has mentioned no song, but it is of course the Lay of Leithian that is meant.

  8. Struck out at the time of writing:

  But her spirit came to the Halls of Waiting, where are the places appointed for the Elven-kin beyond the Blessed Realms in the West, on the confines of the world. And she knelt before the Lord [of the Halls of Waiting]

  9. This concluding paragraph of Trotter's tale is very close to the account of the Choices of Luthien that my father had written while the Quenta Silmarillion was with the publishers at the end of 1937, and which appears in the published Silmarillion on p. 187; see V.293, 303-4.

  There are other very roughly written texts giving a resume of a part of 'The Silmarillion' found among the papers at this point. They attempt to condense a much greater part of the history of the Elder Days than that strictly concerned with the story of Beren and Luthien, and have interesting features which must be mentioned, though their discussion scarcely falls within the history of the writing of The Lord of the Rings. Most notable is the following passage:

  For as it is told the Blessed Realms of the West were illumined by the Two Trees, Galathilion the Silver Cherry, and Galagloriel that is Golden Rain. But Morgoth, the greatest of the Powers, made war upon the Gods, and he destroyed the Trees, and fled. And he took with him the immortal gems, the Silmarils, that were made by the Elves of the light of the Trees, and in which alone now the ancient radiance of the days of bliss remained. In the north of the Middle-earth he set up his throne Angband, the Halls of Iron under Thangorodrim the Mountain of Thunder; and he grew in strength and darkness; and he brought forth the Orcs and goblins, and the Balrogs, demons of fire. But the High Elves of the West forsook the land of the Gods and returned to the earth, and made war upon him to regain the jewels.

  The names Galathilion and Caladloriel first appear in the Quenta Silmarillion (V.209 - 10) as the Gnomish names for Silpion and Laurelin. 'Silver Cherry' and 'Golden Rain' are not the actual meanings of the names (as seems to be implied here): see the Etymologies in Vol. V, stems GALAD- (where the form Galagloriel is also given), LAWAR-, THIL-. That the blossom of Silpion was like that of a cherry-tree, and the flowers of Laurelin like those of the laburnum ('Golden Rain') was however often said (see e.g. V.209). On Morgoth 'the greatest of the Powers' see V. 157 and note 4. Very curious is the statement here that when Morgoth returned to Middle-earth after the destruction of the Trees 'he brought forth the Orcs and goblins, and the Balrogs, demons of fire.' It was certainly my father's view at this period that the Orcs were then first engendered (see V. 233, $62 and commentary), but the Balrogs were far older in their beginning (V. 212, $18), and indeed came to rescue Morgoth from Ungoliante at the time of his return: 'to his aid there came the Balrogs that lived yet in the deepest places of his ancient fortress.'

  The term 'High Elves' is here used to mean the Elves of Valinor, not, as in the Quenta Silmarillion, the First Kindred (Lindar, Vanyar): see V. 214, $25 and commentary.

  A very surprising point is the mention, a little later in this text, of Finrod Inglor the fair (see p. 72). In the first edition of LR (Appendices) Finrod was still the name of third son of Finwe, as in the Quenta Silmarillion, and his son was Felagund (in QS also named Inglor); it was not till the second edition of 1966 that Finrod son of Finwe became Finarfin, and his son Inglor Felagund became Finrod Felag
und.

  In another of these drafts the minstrel of Doriath is named Iverin, not Dairon; see note 6.

  10. My father first wrote here: 'upon their long grey hair were crowns and helms of pale gold'. This was no doubt changed at once, with the emergence immediately below of the tall king, a crown on his long hair. See p. 198 note 6.

  11. For Morthu see V.393, stem THUS-.

  *

  My father's practice at this time of overwriting his first pencilled drafts largely denies the possibility of seeing the earliest forms of the narrative. In this chapter the underlying text can only be made out here and there and with great difficulty; but at least it can be seen that the opening passage quickly declined into an abbreviated outline for the story. Trotter's tales were only to be concerned with animals of the wild; and then follows at once: 'Fight in dell', with a sketch in a few lines, scribbled down at great speed, of which however something can be disinterred:

  Bingo is tempted to put on ring. He does so. The riders [?come] at him. He sees them plain - fell white faces..... He draws his sword and it shines like fire. They draw back but one Rider with long silver hair and a [? red hand] leaps forward. Bingo..... hears himself shouting Elbereth Gilthoniel..... struck at the leg of the Rider. He felt ..... cold [? pain] in the shoulder. There was a flash.....

  The attack on the dell entered before the idea that Trotter should chant to them, and tell them a tale of ancient days; and the material of his tale remains in this manuscript in a very rough state, the primary stage of composition, obviously demanding the compression that it afterwards received.

  More developed pencilled drafting takes up again from the point where Trotter comes to an end, and from what can be read it seems that the final story of the attack by the Ring-wraiths was now fully present. Then, apart from a few details (as that there are three Ring-wraiths, not five), the text written in ink on top of the draft achieved the finished story: no element in the potent scene, the fearful suspense on the cold hillside in the moonlight, the dark shapes looking down on the hobbits huddled round the fire, the irresistible demand on the Ringbearer to reveal himself, and the final revelation of what lay beneath the black cloaks of the Riders, is absent - and all is told virtually in the very words of The Fellowship of the Ring. The significance of the Ring, in its power to reveal and to be revealed, its operation as a bridge between two worlds, two modes of being, has been attained, once and for all.

  The completeness, and the resonance, of this scene on Weathertop Hill is the more remarkable, when we consider that (in relation to The lard of the Rings as it was ultimately achieved) all was still extremely restricted in scope. If the nature of the Ring in its effect on the bearer was now fully conceived, there is as yet no suggestion that the fate of Middle- earth lay within its tiny circle. It is indeed far from certain that the idea of the Ruling Ring had yet arisen. Of the great lands and histories east and south of the Misty Mountains - of Lothlorien, Fangorn, Isengard, Rohan, the Numenorean kingdoms - there is no shadow of a hint. I very much doubt that when the Ring-wraiths rose up over the lip of the dell beneath Weathertop my father foresaw any more of the Journey than that the Ring must pass over the Mountains and find its end in the depths of the Fiery Mountain (p. 126). In October 1938 he could still say to Stanley Unwin (see p. 173) that he had hopes of being able to submit the new story early in the following year.

  XI. FROM WEATHERTOP TO THE FORD.

  The manuscript of the original Chapter VIII continues, without any break, in the same form, ink over pencil. While in the earlier part of this chapter I have given the full original text even in the concluding passage, where there is scarcely any material difference from FR (since the attack of the Ring-wraiths is a scene of exceptional importance), in this part I do not do so throughout. The narrative is very close to that of FR Chapter 12, 'Flight to the Ford' (with a fair number of minor differences and some less minor), and for much of its length the wording almost the same. In those parts where the original text is not given, however, it can be understood that all differences of any significance are remarked. After it is told that the hobbits (Sam in FR) heard Bingo's voice crying out strange words, it is further said that they 'had seen a red flash; and Trotter came dashing up with flaming wood.' So also in the fragmentary outline given on pp. r 88 - g 'There was a flash'; but this is absent in FR. Perhaps the reference is to Bingo's sword that 'flickered redly as if it was a firebrand' (p. 186), a detail preserved in FR p. 208. Trotter's first return to the dell is slightly differently told, but this is chiefly because Sam's distrust of Strider is of course absent, and there is nothing in the old version corresponding to Strider's words to Sam apart (FR pp. 209-10). When Trotter lifted the black cloak from the ground he said only: 'That was the stroke of your sword. What harm it did to the Rider I do not know. Fire is better.'

  Athelas is not said to have been brought by Men of the West to Middle- earth: 'it is a healing plant, known only to Elves, and to some of those who walk in the wild: athelas they name it.'(1) A curious detail is that when athelas was applied to Bingo's wound he 'felt the pain and the sense of frozen cold lessen in his right side'; and again later in the chapter 'his right arm was lifeless' (FR p. 215). Similarly, when Bingo drew his sword and faced the Riders at the Ford, my father first wrote: 'His sword he had hung at his right side; with his left hand he gripped the hilt and drew it', though this he struck out. He evidently decided that it was Bingo's left shoulder that was stabbed, and therefore wrote in the word 'left' in the description of the actual wounding (p. 186); but he did not correct the occurrences of 'right' just mentioned.

  When they left the dell beneath Weathertop they took Gandalf's firewood with them ('For Trotter said that from now onwards fire-wood must always be a part of their stores, when they were away from trees'). Nothing is said of the rejuvenation of Bill Ferny's pony (if indeed it was Bill Ferny's, p. 175). The distant cries of Black Riders which they heard as they crossed the Road in FR (p. 211) are absent from the old version. The description of the eastward journey from Weathertop is at first fairly close to that in FR, though the timing is slightly different; but the geography was to be significantly altered. I give the passage following the words 'Even Trotter seemed tired and dejected' (FR p. 212) in full.

  Before the first day's march was over Bingo's pain began to grow again, but for a long time he did not speak of it. In this way three or four days passed without the ground or the scene changing much, except that behind them Weathertop slowly sank, and before them the distant mountains loomed a little nearer. The weather remained dry, but was grey with cloud; and they were oppressed with the fear of pursuit. But of this there was no sign by day; and though they kept watch by night nothing happened. They dreaded to see black shapes stalking in the dim grey night under the waxing moon veiled by thin cloud; but they saw nothing, and heard nothing, but the sigh of withering leaves and grass. It seemed that, as they had hardly dared to hope, their swift crossing of the Road had not been marked, and their enemy had for the moment lost their trail.

  At the end of the fourth day the ground began once more to rise slowly out of the wide shallow valley into which they had come. Trotter now bent their course again towards the north-east; and before long, as they reached the top of a slow-climbing slope, they saw ahead a huddle of wooded hills. Late on the fifth day they came to a ridge on which a few gaunt fir-trees stood. A little below them the Road could be seen curving away towards a small river that gleamed pale in a thin ray of sunshine, far away on their right. Next day, early in the morning, they again crossed the Road. Looking anxiously along it, westward and eastward, they hurried quickly across, and went towards the wooded hills.

  Trotter was still leading them in as straight a line as the country allowed towards the distant Ford. In the hills their path would be more uncertain, but they could no longer keep to the south side of the Road, because the land became bare and stony and ahead lay the river. 'That river,' he said, 'comes down out of the Mountains, and flows through Rive
ndell.(2) It is not wide, but it is deep and strong, being fed by the many small torrents that come out of the wooded hills. Over these the Road goes by little fords or bridges; but there is no ford or bridge over the river until we come to the Ford under the Mountains.' The hobbits looked at the dark hills ahead, and though they were glad to leave the cheerless lands behind them, the land ahead seemed threatening and unfriendly.

  In the developed geography, the Road traverses two rivers between Weathertop and Rivendell: the Hoarwell or Mitheithel that flowed down out of the Ettenmoors, crossed by the Last Bridge, and the Loudwater or Bruinen, crossed by the Ford of Rivendell; these rivers joined a long way to the south, becoming the Greyflood. In the original story, on the other hand, there is only one river, not named, flowing down through Rivendell and crossed at the Ford.

  In FR the travellers came down, early in the morning on the seventh day out from Weathertop, to the Road (i.e. approaching it from the south), and went along it for a mile or two to the Last Bridge, where Strider found the elf-stone lying in the mud; they crossed the bridge, and after a further mile turned off the Road to the left and went up into the hills. In the original story, they came to the Road early on the sixth day and crossed it, going up into the hills; there is no river (Hoarwell) and no bridge. Some sort of explanation is given why they had to cross the Road here and stay no longer to the south of it: 'the land became bare and stony and ahead lay the river.' But the fact of there being no ford or bridge over the river except that below Rivendell only meant that that is where they would have to cross; it does not in itself explain why they could not stay south of the Road until they got there. Thus it is only the 'bare and stony' nature of the land south of the Road that really offers an explanation: Trotter sought to pass through country that provided more concealment? The 'real' explanation, it might be said, why they crossed the Road and went up into the wooded hills is quite other: my father had already suggested, when sketching out the story from the Barrow-downs to Rivendell (p. 126), that the hobbits should 'foolishly turn aside to visit Troll Stones'. On the other hand, Trotter was taking the straightest line to the Ford that he could (p. 191), and the sketches on p. 201 show clearly that the great southward loop of the Road (already mentioned in the original text, p. 199) must force him to cross it and go up into the hills to the north. - On the different chronology in the two versions see the Note on Chronology, p. 219.