returnoftheshadow72

by Miguel

  Some notes that were scribbled down at Sidmouth in Devon in the late summer of 1938 (see Carpenter, Biography, p. 187) on a page of doodles evidently represent my father's thoughts for the next stages of the story at this time:

  Consultation. Over M[isty] M[ountains]. Down Great River to Mordor. Dark Tower. Beyond (?) which is the Fiery Hill.

  Story of Gilgalad told by Elrond? Who is Trotter? Glorfindel tells of his ancestry in Gondolin.

  'The Quest of the Fiery Mountain' (preceded by 'Consultation of hobbits with Elrond and Gandalf') was mentioned in the outline given on p. 126, but here is the first hint of the journey that was to be undertaken from Rivendell, and the first mention of the Great River in the context of The Lord of the Rings.

  My father had already asked the question 'Who is Trotter?' and he would ask it again. A hint of one solution, in the end rejected, has been met already in Bingo's words to Gandalf in this chapter: 'I keep on feeling that I have seen him somewhere before - that, that I ought to be able to put a name to him, a name different to Trotter'; and indeed earlier, in the inn at Bree (p. 154): 'He had a dark look - and yet there was something in it... that seemed friendly, and even familiar.'

  Also very notable is 'Glorfindel tells of his ancestry in Gondolin.' Years later, long after the publication of The Lord of the Rings, my father gave a great deal of thought to the matter of Glorfindel, and at that time he wrote: '[The use of Glorfindel] in The Lord of the Rings is one of the cases of the somewhat random use of the names found in the older legends, now referred to as The Silmarillion, which escaped reconsideration in the final published form of The Lord of the Rings.' He came to the conclusion that Glorfindel of Gondolin, who fell to his death in combat with a Balrog after the sack of the city (II.192 - 4, IV.145), and Glorfindel of Rivendell were one and the same: he was released from Mandos and returned to Middle-earth in the Second Age.

  A single loose page, which has nothing to connect it with any other writing, is perhaps the 'story of Gilgalad told by Elrond' mentioned in these notes, and I give it here. Other than the first, the changes noted were made subsequently, in pencil on the manuscript written in ink.

  'Now in the dark days Sauron the Magician [first written Necromancer, then Necromancer written again above Magician] had been very powerful in the Great Lands, and nearly all living things had served him out of fear. And he pursued the Elves that lived on this side of the Sundering Sea with especial hatred, for they did not serve him, although they were afraid. And there were some Men that were friends of the Elves, though not many in the darkest of days.'

  'And how,' said Bingo, 'did his overthrow come about [> was his power made less]?'

  'It was in this way,' said Elrond. 'The lands and islands in the North-west of the Great Lands of the Old World were called long ago Beleriand. Here the Elves of the West had dwelt for a long while until [> during] the wars with the Power of darkness, in which the Power was defeated but the land destroyed. Sauron alone of his chief servants escaped. But still after the Elves had mostly departed [> Although most of the Elves returned] again into the West, there were many Elves and Elf-friends that dwelt [> still dwelt in after days] in that region. And thither came many of the Great Men of old out of the Far West Island which was called by the Elves Numenor (but by some Avallon) [> out of the land of Westernesse (that they called Numenor)]; for Sauron had destroyed their island [> land], and they were exiles and hated him. There was a king in Beleriand of Numenorean race and he was called Elendil, that is Elf-friend. And he made an alliance with the Elf-king of those lands, whose name is Gilgalad (Starlight), a descendant of Feanor the renowned. I remember well their council - for it reminded me of the great days of the ancient war, so many fair princes and captains were there, yet not so many or so fair as once had been.'

  'You remember?' said Bingo, looking astonished at Elrond. 'But I thought this tale was of days very long ago.'

  'So it is,' said Elrond laughing. 'But my memory reaches back a long way [> to long ago]. My father was Earendel who was born in Gondolin seven years before it fell, and my mother was Elwing daughter of Luthien daughter of King Thingol of Doriath, and I have seen many ages in the West of the world. I was at the council I speak of, for I was the minstrel and counsellor of Gilgalad. The armies of Elves and Men were joined once more, and we marched eastward, and crossed the Misty Mountains, and passed into the inner lands far from the memory of the Sea. And we became weary, and sickness was heavy on us, made by the spells of Sauron - for we had come at last to Mordor, the Black Country, where Sauron had rebuilt his fortress. It is on part of that dreary land that the Forest of Mirkwood now stands,(17) and it derives its darkness and dread from the ancient evil [added: of the soil]. Sauron could not drive us away, for the power of the Elves was in those days still very great, though waning; and we besieged his stronghold for 7 [> 10] years. And at last Sauron came out in person, and wrestled with Gilgalad, and Elendil came to his rescue, and both were mortally wounded; but Sauron was thrown down, and his bodily shape was destroyed. His servants were dispelled and the host of Beleriand broke his stronghold and razed it to the ground. Gilgalad and Elendil died. But Sauron's evil spirit fled away and was hidden for a long while in waste places. Yet after an age he took shape again, and has long troubled the northern world [added: but his power is less than of old].

  If this extremely interesting piece is compared with the end of the second version of The Fall of Numenor ('FN II') in V.28 - 9 it will be seen that while an important new element has entered the two texts are closely related and have closely similar phrases:.citing the form in FN II, 'in Beleriand there arose a king, who was of Numenorean race, and he was named Elendil, that is Elf-friend'; the hosts of the Alliance 'passed the mountains and came into inner lands far from the Sea', 'they came at last even to Mordor the Black Country, where Sauron... had rebuilt his fortresses'; 'Thu was thrown down, and his bodily shape destroyed, and his servants were dispelled, and the host of Beleriand destroyed his dwelling', 'Thu's spirit fled far away, and was hidden in waste places.' Moreover in both texts Gil-galad is descended from Feanor. The new element is the appearance of Elrond as the minstrel and counsellor of Gil- galad (in FN II $2 Elrond was the first King of Numenor, and a mortal; a conception now of course abandoned, with the emergence of Elros his brother, V.332, $28). There is no suggestion here that any sort of 'Council' was in progress: it seems rather that Elrond was recounting the tale to Bingo, as Trotter had said on Weathertop (p. 179): you will hear it, I think, in Rivendell, when we get there. Elrond should tell it, for he knows it well.' But an element survived into FR (II) Chapter 2, 'The Council of Elrond': Bingo's amazement at the vast age of Elrond, and

  Elrond's reply, naming his lineage and recollecting the hosts of the Last Alliance.(18)

  NOTES.

  1. On this puzzling date see the Note on Chronology, p. 219.

  2. the Ring: changed from that ring.

  3. touching his right hand arith his left: on the wound having been originally in Bingo's right shoulder see p. 190.

  4. 'No, I did' changed from 'Yes'. Cf. the original sketch of the story (p. 126): 'Gandalf had sent the water down with Elrond's permission.'

  5. Rimbedir as the Elvish name for Trotter appears in the pencilled draft of the last chapter, p. ig8 note 5 (Padathir in the overwritten text in ink). This shows that the present text was written before my father had rewritten the last chapter, or at least before he had completed it. Later he replaced Rimbedir by Padathir in the present passage. - By 'I also sent Rimbedir' Gandalf must mean that he sent Trotter to them at The Prancing Pony.

  6. This passage was changed in the following text to the form in FR (p. 234), i.e. 'you yourself were half in the wraith-world, and they might have seized you', with the words 'and subject to their weapons' removed.

  7. From this point the manuscript was continued in rapid pencil.

  8. the Dark Tower of Mordor: see note 17.

  9. On the plural form dwarfs see V.277.

 
; 10. Gloin is missed out (so also in the third text, where his name was inserted subsequently). The companions of Thorin not named are (as in FR) Balin, Ori, and Oin.

  11. It was Trotter that told me: Gandalf left a letter for Bingo at Bree before he left on Monday 26 September, and in this he said that he had 'learned some news on the may' (from Hobbiton): 'Pursuit is getting close: there are 7 at least, perhaps more' (p. 154). When my father wrote this he cannot have had in mind Trotter's meeting with Gandalf on the Road on the Sunday morning (pp. 149, 154), because the first Black Rider did not come to Bree until the Monday evening (pp. 151, 157). It was no doubt when he decided that Gandalf learnt about the Black Riders from Trotter that he added the passages on p. 153, where Trotter says 'I first saw the Riders last Saturday away west of Bree, before I ran across Gandalf', and on p. 154, where he says that their conversation also included the Black Riders.

  12. more than a month (as in the first draft) replaced 30 odd days at the time of writing. See the Note on Chronology on p. 219.

  13. The Elves of Rivendell are indeed descendants of his chief foes: the Gnomes, the Elvenwise ones: see p. 71.

  14. My father added in pencil at the foot of the page, but it is impossible to say when: 'The Ring is another, and is becoming more and more important.'

  15. Cf. The Hobbit, Chapter X 'A Warm Welcome':

  At the southern end [of the Long Lake) the doubled waters [of the Running River and the Forest River] poured out again over high waterfalls and ran away hurriedly to unknown lands. In the still evening air the noise of the falls could be heard like a distant roar.

  16. An isolated note says: 'What of the sword of the Barrow-wights? Why did the Black Riders fear it? - because it belonged to Western Men.' Cf. The Two Towers III. 1, p. 17.

  17. Elrond's statement here that Mirkwood is itself in Mordor, 'the Black Country', and that the forest 'derives its darkness from the ancient evil' of the time when Sauron had his fortress in that region is interesting. Both here and in the very similar passage in the second version of The Fall of Numenor (V.29) Sauron is said to have 'rebuilt' his fortress(es) in Mordor, and I take this to mean that it was in Mordor that he established himself after the downfall of Morgoth and the destruction of Angband. That fortress was destroyed by the hosts of the Last Alliance; and in the first version of The Eall of Numenor (V.18) when Thu was defeated and his dwelling destroyed 'he fled to a dark forest, and hid himself.' In The Hobbit the 'dark tower' of the Necromancer was in southern Mirkwood. At the end of The Hobbit it is told that the white wizards 'had at last driven the Necromancer from his dark hold in the south of Mirkwood', but it is not said that it was destroyed. If 'it is on part of that dreary land [Mordor] that the Forest of Mirkwood now stands', it might be argued that (at this stage of the development of the story) Sauron had returned there, to 'the Dark Tower of Mordor' - in the south of Mirkwood. (There seems no positive evidence that the geography of Middle-earth had yet been extended south and east of the map of Wilderland in The Hobbit, beyond the conception of the Fiery Mountain, whose actual placing seems to be entirely vague; and it certainly cannot be assumed that my father yet conceived of the mountain-defended land of Mordor far away in the South-east.)

  But I do not think this at all probable. Not long after the point we have reached, my father wrote in the chapter 'Ancient History' (p. 253) that the Necromancer 'had flown from Mirkwood [i.e. after his expulsion by the white wizards] only to reoccupy his ancient stronghold in the South, near the midst of the world in those days, in the Land of Mordor; and it was rumoured that the Black Tower had been raised anew.' 'His ancient stronghold' was of course the fortress destroyed in the,War of the Last Alliance.

  18. For previous references to the story of Gil-galad and Elendil in the texts thus far see pp. 169, 179, 192.

  Note on the Chronology.

  In the first draft of this chapter Gandalf tells Bingo when he wakes up in Elrond's house that it is the morning of October 24; but this seems to be at variance with all the indications of date that have been given. (October 24 is the date in FR, p. 231, but this was differently achieved.)

  At Weathertop there is one day's difference between the original chronology and that of FR: they reached it on October 5 in the old version, but on October 6 in FR (see p. 175). The hobbits came back to the Road again from the lands to the south, and crossed it, on the sixth day from Weathertop (p. 192), i.e. October i x, whereas in FR they took an extra day (contrast 'At the end of the fourth day the ground began once more to rise' in the old version, p. 191, with FR p. 212, 'At the end of the fifth day'): thus there is now a lag of two days between the two accounts, and in FR they came back to the Road and crossed the Last Bridge on October 13. In the hills to the north of the Road, on the other hand, they took a day longer in the old version (see p. 193), and thus came down out of the hills, and met Glorfindel, on the evening of the 17th (the 18th in FR). There are no further differences in respect of chronology in this chapter, and therefore in the original story they reached the Ford on October 19 (October 20 in FR). How then can it be the 24th of October when Bingo wakes in Rivendell, if, as Gandalf says, he was 'brought in last night'?

  In the second and third versions of the opening of this chapter the date on which Bingo woke up in Elrond's house becomes October 26, and he says that it ought to be the 24th: 'unless I lost count somewhere, we must have reached the Ford on the 23rd.' Gandalf tells him that Elrond tended him for 'three nights and two days, to be exact. The Elves brought you to Rivendell at night on the 23rd, and that is where you lost your count'; and he refers to Bingo's having borne the splinter of the blade for 'fifteen days or more' (seventeen in FR). This does not help at all with the chronological puzzle, for in all the drafts for the opening of Chapter IX my father was assuming that the hobbits reached the Ford on October 23, and not, as the actual narrative seems clearly to show, on October r g. It is equally odd that Gandalf should say that Bingo had borne the splinter of the blade for 'fifteen days or more', if the crossing of the Ford actually was on the 23rd and Elrond finally removed the shard 'last night' (October 25): the total should be 20 (October 6 to 25); in FR the number is seventeen days (October 7 to 23).

  XIII. 'QUERIES AND ALTERATIONS'.

  In this chapter I give a series of notes which my father headed Queries and Alterations. I think that it can be shown clearly that they come from the time we have now reached.

  He had abandoned his third draft for Chapter IX (later to be called 'Many Meetings') at the point where Gloin was telling Bingo about King Brand of Dale; this is at the bottom of a page that bears the number IX.8. I have already noticed (p. 213) that on the reverse of this page, numbered IX.9, the conversation continues - but it is obviously discontinuous with what precedes, being written in different ink and a different script, and Gloin is now talking to 'Frodo', not 'Bingo'; and in fact, after this point in the narrative of The Lord of the Rings 'Bingo' never appears again.

  Now the first of these Queries and Alterations is concerned precisely with the conversation of Bingo and Gloin, and actually refers to the last page of the 'Bingo' part of the chapter, IX.8 (perhaps it had just been written). In another of these notes my father was for the first time considering the substitution of 'Frodo' for 'Bingo'; but he here decided against it - and when he came to write a new version of 'A Long-expected Party' (a question discussed in these same notes) Bilbo's heir was still 'Bingo', not 'Frodo'.

  I conclude, therefore, that it was just at the time when he abandoned Chapter IX that he wrote Queries and Alterations; that when he abandoned it he returned again to the beginning of the book; and that it was some considerable time - during which 'Bingo' became 'Frodo' - before he took up again the conversation with Gloin at Rivendell.

  There are two pages of these notes, mostly set out in ink in an orderly and legible way; but there are also many hasty pencilled additions, and these may or may not, in particular cases, belong to the same time (granting that the intervals of time are not likely to be great
: but in attempting to trace this history it is 'layers' and 'phases' that are significant rather than weeks or months). Some of the suggestions embodied in these notes han no future, but others are of the utmost interest in showing the actual cmergence of new ideas.

  I set them out in what seems to be the order in which they were written down, taking in the additions as convenient and relevant, and adding one or two other notes that belong to this time.

  (1) Dale Men and Dwarfs at Party - is this good? Rather spoils meeting of Bingo and Gloin (IX.8). Also unwise to bring Big People to Hobbiton. Simply make Gandalf and dwarfs bring things from Dale.

  For the 'great lumbering tow-haired Men' who went 'stumping on the hobbit road like elephants' and drank all the beer in the inn at Hobbiton see p. 20 (the account of them had survived without change into the fourth version of 'A Long-expected Party'). By 'Dale Men and Dwarfs at Party' my father meant 'in Hobbiton at that time', not of course that they were present at the Party. The Men would be abandoned in the next version of 'A Long-expected Party', but the Dwarves remained into FR (p. 33). Perhaps my father felt that whereas the Men would certainly have told Bingo the news from Dale, the Dwarves need have no particular connection with the Lonely Mountain.