returnoftheshadow72

by Miguel

  'Yes!' laughed Gandalf. 'There are many powers greater than mine, for good and evil, in the world. I was caught in Fangorn and spent many weary days as a prisoner of the Giant Treebeard. It was a desperately anxious time, for I was hurrying back to the Shire to help you. I had just learned that the horsemen had been sent out.

  'Then you did not know of the Black Riders before.'

  'Yes, I knew of them. I spoke of them once to you: for what you call the Black Riders are the Ring-wraiths, the Nine Servants of the Lord of the Ring. But I did not know that they had arisen again, and were let loose on the world once more - until I saw them. I have tried to find you ever since - but if I had not met Trotter, I don't suppose I ever should have done so. He has saved us all.'

  'We should never have got here without him,' said Frodo. 'I was suspicious of him at first, but now I am very fond of him, though he is rather mysterious. It is an odd thing, you know, but 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.' 'I daresay you do,' laughed Gandalf. 'I often have that feeling myself, when I look at a hobbit: they all remind me of one another, if you know what I mean.'

  'Nonsense!' said Frodo, sitting up again in protest. 'Trotter is most peculiar. And he wears shoes! But I see you are in one of your tiresome moods.' He lay down again. 'I shall have to be patient. And it is rather pleasant resting, after all. To be perfectly honest I wish I need go no further than Rivendell. I have had a month of exile and adventures, and that is nearly four weeks more than enough for me.'

  He fell silent and shut his eyes.

  For the remainder of Frodo's conversation with Gandalf this text is mostly very close indeed to FR, and only a few differences need be noticed.

  The 'Morgul-knife' (FR p. 234) is still the 'knife of the Necromancer' (p. 211), and Gandalf says here: 'You would have become a wraith, and under the dominion of the Dark Lord. But you would have had no ring of your own, as the Nine have; for your Ring is the Ruling Ring, and the Necromancer would have taken that, and would have tormented you for trying to keep it - if any torment greater than being robbed of it was possible.'

  Among the servants of the Dark Lord Gandalf still includes, as in the previous version, 'orcs and goblins' and 'kings, warriors, and wizards' (p. 211)..

  Gandalf's reply to Frodo's question 'Is Rivendell safe?' derives from the former text, but moves also towards that of FR:

  'Yes, I hope so. He has less power over Elves than over any other creature: they have suffered too much in the past to be deceived or cowed by him now. And the Elves of Rivendell are descendants of his chief foes: the Gnomes, the Elvenwise, that came out of the West; and the Queen Elbereth Gilthoniel, Lady of the Stars, still protects them. They fear no Ring-wraiths, for those that have dwelt in the Blessed Realm beyond the Seas live at once in both worlds; and each world has only half power over them, while they have double power over both.'(9)

  'I thought I saw a white figure that shone and did not grow dim like the others. Was that Glorfindel then?'

  'Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the mighty of the Elder Race. He is an elf-lord of a house of princes.'

  'Then there are still some powers left that can withstand the Lord of Mordor,' said Frodo.

  'Yes, there is power in Rivendell,' answered Gandalf, 'and there is a power, too, of another kind in the Shire....

  At the end of this passage Gandalf still says: 'the Wise say that he is doomed in the End, though that is far away' (see p. 212).

  In Gandalf's story of what happened at the Ford he says, as in FR, 'Three were carried off by the first assault of the flood; the others were now hurled into the water by their horses and overwhelmed.' It thus appears that the rewriting of the end of the preceding chapter (p. 362) had already been carried out.

  At the end of his conversation with Gandalf the story of Odo reappears:

  'Yes, it all comes back to me now,' said Frodo: 'the tremendous roaring. I thought I was drowning, together with my friends and enemies. But now we are all safe! And Odo, too. At least, Glorfindel said so. How did you find him again?'

  Gandalf looked [oddly )] quickly at Frodo, but he had shut his eyes. 'Yes, Odo is safe,' the wizard said. 'You will see him soon, and hear his account. There will be feasting and merrymaking to celebrate the victory of the Ford, and you will all be there in places of honour.'

  Gandalf's 'odd' or 'quick' look at Frodo can only relate to his question about Odo, but since the story of Odo's vanishing from Weathertop and his subsequent reappearance (rescue!) was never told it is impossible to know what lay behind it. There is a suggestion that there was something odd about the story of his disappearance. Gandalf's tone, when taken with his 'look' at Frodo, seems to have a slightly quizzical air. Glorfindel says (p. 361): Certainly there is a hobbit of that name with him., but I did not hear that he had been lost'. yet surely the capture of a hobbit by the Black Riders and his subsequent recovery was a matter of the utmost interest to those concerned with the Ring-wraiths? But whatever the story was, it seems to be something that will never be known. - It is curious that the wizard's sudden quick look at Frodo was preserved in FR (p. 236), when the Odo-story had of course disappeared, and Frodo's words that gave rise to the look were 'But now we are safe! '

  Gandalf's slip of the tongue ('The people of Rivendell are very fond of Bilbo') and Frodo's noticing it are retained from the first version (p. 212), as is Frodo's recollection of Trotter's words to the troll as he fell asleep.

  When Frodo goes down to find his friends in a porch of the house(10) the conversation is retained almost exactly from the original form (p. 209). Odo takes over from Merry 'Three cheers for Frodo, lord of the Ring!' and further says, as does Pippin in FR, 'You have shown your usual cunning in getting up just in time for a meal', but despite Odo's increased prominence in Frodo's reception (in FR given to Pippin) there is no reference to his adventures. Frodo might surely be expected to make some remark about Odo's extremely perilous and altogether unlooked-for experiences since he had last seen him at the entrance into the Old Forest, especially since Gandalf had refrained from telling him what had happened on Weathertop and after.

  The description of Elrond, Gandalf, and Glorfindel at the banquet had already appeared in almost the final form in the earlier text. The mention of Elrond's smile and laughter (p. 213) was at this time still retained; and there is of course still no hint of Arwen. In the description of the seating, the statement in the former version (ibid,) that Bingo 'could not see Trotter, nor his nephews. They had been led to other tables' was retained; but when Frodo 'began to look about him' he did see them, though not Trotter (the latter passage surviving into FR):

  The feast was merry and all that his hunger could desire. He could not see Trotter, or the other hobbits, and supposed they were at one of the side tables. It was some time before he began to look about him. Sam had begged to be allowed to wait on his master, but was told that he was for this night a guest of honour. Frodo could see him sitting with Odo, Folco and Merry at the upper end of one of the side tables, close to the dais. He could not see Trotter.

  Frodo's conversation with Gloin proceeds exactly as in FR as far as 'But I am equally curious to know what brings so important a dwarf so far from the Lonely Mountain.' In the original texts Gloin said that he wondered much what could have brought four hobbits on so long a journey (Bingo, Frodo Took, Odo, Merry; Trotter being excluded - presumably as being so altogether distinct, and not a hobbit of the Shire). The number is four in FR (Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry); but four is also found in the present text, where the hobbits (excluding Trotter) were now five: Frodo, Sam, Folco, Odo, Merry. Either 'four' was a slip, or Gloin excluded Odo since he knew that Odo had not arrived at Rivendell with the others. Gloin's reply to Frodo's question remains less grave than in FR:

  Gloin looked at him, and laughed, indeed he winked. 'You'll soon find out,' he said; 'but I am not allowed to tell you - yet. So w
e will not speak of that either! But there are many other things to hear and tell.'

  The conversation (so far as it goes in the portion of the manuscript dealt with here) remains almost exactly as it was, with the short extension at the end of the third of the early texts (p. 213), the only difference of any substance being that Dain had now, as in FR, 'passed his two-hundred-and-fiftieth-year'.

  It will be seen that from the series of once fine manuscripts that constitute the 'third phase' of the writing of The Lord of the Rings a wholly coherent story emerges. The following are essential points in that story in respect of the intricate later evolution:

  - Gandalf did not return to Hobbiton in time for Frodo's small final party.

  - Merry and Odo Bolger went off to Buckland in advance.

  - Frodo, Sam, and Folco Took walked from Hobbiton to Buckland.

  - At Buckland, Odo decided not to go with the others into the Old Forest, but to stay behind at Crickhollow and wait for Gandalf to come.

  - Gandalf came to Crickhollow at night on the day that Frodo and his companions left (Monday 26 September), drove off the Riders, and rode after them with Odo on his horse.

  - Gandalf and Odo (whose name was given out to be Odo Baggins) spent the night of Tuesday 27 September at Bree. Near Bree they encountered Trotter.

  - Gandalf and Odo left Bree on Wednesday 28 September, meeting Trotter near Archet, as had been arranged.

  - Frodo, Sam, Merry and Folco arrived at Bree on Thursday 29 September, and met Trotter, who gave Frodo Gandalf's letter.

  - Trotter was a hobbit; Frodo found him curiously familiar without being able to say why, but there is no hint of who he might really be.

  - Gandalf reached Weathertop on Monday 3 October, and left on 5 October.

  - Trotter, Frodo and the others reached Weathertop on Thursday 6 October and found Gandalf's note telling that Odo had disappeared.

  - They learned from Glorfindel that Gandalf had reached Rivendell, with Odo, coming down from the north by way of 'Dimrilldale'.

  - At Rivendell, Gandalf explained that he had been delayed in his return to Hobbiton (having learned that the Ring-wraiths were abroad) through having been held prisoner in Fangorn by Giant Treebeard.

  - The Shire hobbits at Rivendell are Frodo, Sam, Merry, Folco, and Odo.

  NOTES.

  1. After 'I had to make quite sure that you were genuine first, before I handed over the letter. I've heard of shadow-parties picking up messages that weren't meant for them...' Trotter now adds: 'Gandalf's letter was worded carefully in case of accidents, but I didn't know that.' Thus Gandalf no longer names Weathertop in the letter, but calls it the 'appointed place'.

  2. Barbara Strachey, in Journeys of Frodo (Map i x) says:

  At this point I must note what I believe to be a real discrepancy in the text itself. In Bree... Aragorn tells Sam that Weathertop is halfway to Rivendell. I am sure that this was a slip of the tongue and that he meant halfway to The Last Bridge. Everything falls into place on this assumption, since the travellers took 7 days between Bree and Weathertop (involving a detour to the north) and 7 days from Weathertop to the Bridge (with Frodo in a wounded condition and unable to hurry) while there was a further stretch of 7 days from the Bridge to Rivendell. Aragorn was well aware of the distance, as he said later (A Knife in the Dark; Bk. I), when they reached Weathertop, that it would then take them 14 days to the Ford of Bruinen although it normally took him only 12.

  But it is now seen that Aragorn's words 'about halfway from here (Bree) to Rivendell' in FR go back to Trotter's here; and at this stage the River Hoarwell and the Last Bridge on the East Road did not yet exist (p. 360). I think that Trotter (Aragorn) was merely giving Folco (Sam) a rough but sufficient idea of the distances before them. - The relative distances go back to the original version (see pp. 170- 1 ): about 120 miles from Bree to Weathertop, close on zoo from Weathertop to the Ford.

  3. A draft for Gandalf's message has: 'Last night Odo vanished: suspect capture by horsemen.'

  The message was changed in pencil to read:

  Wednesday morning Oct. 5. Bad news. We arrived late Monday. Baggins vanished last night. I must go and look for him. Wait for me here for [a day or two >] two days. I shall return if possible. If not go to Rivendell by the Ford on the Road.

  Merry then says: 'Baggins! Does that mean that the Riders have got Odo?'

  Gandalf's message that he would return to Weathertop if he could may have been intended as an explanation of why they decided to stay there; see note 4. This pencilled revision preceded the writing of the next chapter; see p. 359.

  4. This was changed in pencil to read:

  there is nothing we can do but] wait at least until tomorrow, which will be two days since Gandalf wrote the note [see note 3]. After that if he does not turn up we must [make for Rivendell as best we may.

  5. The title 'A Knife in the Dark' was pencilled in later, as also on the original chapter, VIII (p. 177).

  6. The passage about cram was retained in this text, but placed in a footnote.

  7. On Dimrill-dale see pp. 432 - 3, notes 3, 13.

  8. It may be noted that the name Asfaloth of Glorfindel's horse now appears.

  9. On the conclusion of this passage see p. 225.

  10. The porch still faced west (p. 209), not east as in FR, and the odd statement that the evening light shone on the eastern faces of the hills far above was repeated, though struck out, probably in the act of writing.

  XXII. NEW UNCERTAINTIES AND NEW PROJECTIONS.

  The first phase or original wave of composition of The Lord of the Rings carried the story to Rivendell, and broke off in the middle of the original Chapter IX, at Gloin's account to Bingo Bolger-Baggins of the realm of Dale (p. 213):

  In Dale the grandson of Bard the Bowman ruled, Brand son of Bain son of Bard, and he was become a strong king whose realm included Esgaroth, and much land to the south of the great falls.

  This sentence ended a manuscript page; on the reverse side, as noted on p. 213, the text was continued, but in a different script and a different ink, and it begins:

  'And what has become of Balin and Ori and Oin?' asked Frodo.

  Since in the second phase Bingo was still the name of Bilbo's heir, and since 'Bingo' never appears in any narrative writing falling later in the story than the feast at Rivendell, it is certain that there was a significant gap between 'much land to the south of the great falls' and 'And what has become of Balin and Ori and Oin?'

  It is therefore very curious that in Chapter XII of the third phase there is a marked change of script at precisely the same point. Though still neatly and carefully written, it is immediately obvious to the eye that '"And what has become of Balin and Ori and Oin?" asked Frodo' and the subsequent text was not continuous with what preceded. Moreover, the latter part of this Chapter XI I is not coherent with what precedes, either: for Bilbo says - as my father first wrote out the manuscript - 'I shall have to get that fellow Aragorn to help me' (cf. FR p. 243: 'I shall have to get my friend the Dunadan to help me.')

  I do not think that it can possibly be a mere coincidence that both versions halt at precisely the same point; and I conclude that the third phase, in the sense of a fine continuous manuscript series, ended at the same place as the first phase had done - and did so precisely because that is where the first phase ended. For this reason I stopped at this point in the previous chapter. I have suggested earlier (p. 309) that when my father said (in February 1939) that by December 1938 The Lord of the Rings had reached Chapter XI I 'and has been rewritten several times' it was to the third phase that he was referring.

  The textual-chronological questions that now arise are of peculiar difficulty, and I doubt whether a solution demonstrably correct at all points could be reached. There is no external evidence for many months after February 1939, and nothing to show what my father achieved during that time; but we get at last an unambiguous date, 'August 1939', written (most unusually) on every page of a collection o
f rough papers containing plot-outlines, questionings, and portions of text. These show my father at a halt, even at a loss, to the point of a lack of confidence in radical components of the narrative structure that had been built up with such pains. The only external evidence that I know of to cast light on this is a letter, dispirited in tone, which he wrote to Stanley Unwin on 15 September 1939, twelve days after the entry of England into war with Germany, apologizing for his 'silence about the state of the proposed sequel to the Hobbit, which you enquired about as long ago as June 21st.' 'I do not suppose,' he said, 'this any longer interests you greatly - though I still hope to finish it eventually. It is only about 3/4 written. I have not had much time, quite apart from the gloom of approaching disaster, and have been unwell most of this year...' There is nothing in the 'August 1939' papers themselves to show why he should have thought that the existing structure of the story was in need of such radical transformation. Proposals made at this time for new articulations of the plot were set down in such haste and so elliptically expressed that it is sometimes not easy to understand their bearings (here and there one may suspect a confusion between what had been written in the latest wave of composition and what had been written earlier); and determination of the order in which these notes and outlines were set down is impossible. To take first the most drastic proposals: