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In former times Gandalf had always been held responsible for the occasional regrettable accidents of this kind; but now Bilbo got a large share of the blame, and after Peregrin's disappearance most of his younger relations were kept away from him. Though in fact Bilbo was probably more troubled by the loss of Peregrin than all the Boffins put together.
He had, however, other young friends, who for one reason or another were not kept away from him. His favourite soon became Frodo Baggins, grandson of Mirabella the third of the Old Took's remarkable daughters, and son of Drogo (one of Bilbo's second cousins). Just about the time of Peregrin's disappearance Frodo was left an orphan, when only a child of twelve, and so he had no anxious parents to keep him out of bad company. He lived with his uncle Rory Brandybuck, and his mother's hundred and one relatives in the Great Hole of Bucklebury: Brandy Hall.
Here this new opening ends. A slightly shorter version is found as a rider to the manuscript of the third phase version itself: there are some differences of wording but none of substance. Bilbo is here said to have taken the delinquent back to Northope and apologised to Paladin Boffin, when Peregrin 'sneaked round to him secretly', and Bilbo 'stoutly denied having anything to do with the events.'
The village of Northope later became Overhill, and was so corrected on the second of these texts.(10) - Paladin is already fixed as the name of the father of Peregrin: these Boffins are - as names - the origin of Paladin and Peregrin Took in LR. Donnamira Took, second of the Old Took's daughters, appears in the family tree of the Tooks given on p. 317, where she is the wife of Hugo Boffin (as in LR, but there without recorded issue): their son was Jago Boffin, and his son was Fosco, Bilbo's first cousin (once removed), who was 54 at the time of the Party. In the third phase version of 'Ancient History' (p. 319) Jo Button, who saw the 'Tree- men' beyond the North Moors, is said to have worked for Fosco Boffin of Northope, and this is presumably the same person as the Fosco Boffin of the family tree, grandson of Donnamira. In this case Peregrin Boffin (Trotter) - who was 64 at the time of the Party (see note g), though of course he had then long since disappeared from the Shire - has stepped into Fosco's genealogical place, and his father Paladin into that of Jago. But only into the genealogical place: the Boffin of Northope for whom Jo Button was working has obviously nothing to do with the renegade Peregrin.
It will be seen that in this account Frodo and Trotter were second cousins, and both were first cousins once removed of Bilbo.(11)
NOTES.
1. With 'unexpected party' for 'long-expected party' cf. p. 245, note 1.
2. Actually, the third and fourth drafts of the first phase: by 'original draft of the Tale' my father meant the form of 'A Long-expected Party' as it stood when submitted to Allen and Unwin (see p. 40).
3. I do not understand the force of this sentence.
4. The reference to The Hobbit is to Chapter I 'An Unexpected Party', a passage already cited (p. 224).
5. the Rivers: the plural form is clear.
6. That Bilbo wore his 'elf-armour' under his cloak when he went is
said in $2; see pp. 371 - 2.
7. This is the wording of the sixth (third phase) version, little changed from that of the fifth (p. 239).
8. Radagast had occurred in The Hobbit: in Chapter VII 'Queer Lodgings' Gandalf spoke to Beorn of 'my good cousin Radagast who lives near the Southern borders of Mirkwood.'
9. Peregrin Boffin was five years old when Bilbo returned from his great adventure. The calculation is: 51 to 79 ('the spring of his eightieth year') = 28, plus 5 = 33 ('coming of age'). According to this story Peregrin/Trotter was Sr years old when Frodo and his companions met him at Bree (Bilbo finally departed when he was x r x; Peregrin/Trotter was then 64, and Frodo left the Shire 17 years later). As he said at Bree, 'I'm older now than I look' (pp. 153, 342); Aragorn was 87 when he said the same thing (FR p. 177).
10. Northope > Overhill also on p. 319. - The name Northope appears here on my father's original map of the Shire (p. 107, item I), but it was struck out and replaced, not by Overhill, but by The Yale. This is a convenient place to notice the history of this name. Long after, my father wrote in The Yale on the Shire map in a copy of the First Edition of FR, placing it south of Whitfurrows in the Eastfarthing, in such a way as to show that he intended a region, like 'The Marish', not a particular place of settlement (the road to Stock runs through it); and at the same time, on the same copy, he expanded the text in FR p. 86, introducing the name: 'the lowlands of the Yale' (for the reason for this change of text, which was published in the Second Edition, see p. 66, note 10). The Shire map in the Second Edition has The Yale added here, but in relation to a small black square, as if it were the name of a farm or small hamlet; this must have been a misunderstanding. I cannot explain the meaning of The Yale. Northope contains a place-name element hope that usually means 'a small enclosed valley'.
11. My father's earlier suggestion concerning Trotter (p. 223) also made him Bilbo's first cousin (Fosco Took).
THE STORY CONTINUED.
XXIII. IN THE HOUSE OF ELROND.
In the next stage of the work it is difficult to deduce the chronology of composition, or to relate it to important further revisions made to the 'third phase' of the story as far as Rivendell. Determination of the chronology depends on the form taken by certain key elements, and if these happen to be absent certainty becomes impossible.
At any rate, after 'Bingo' had become 'Frodo' my father continued Frodo's interrupted conversation with Gloin at the feast in the house of Elrond (see p. 369). This continuation is in two forms, the second closely following the first, and already in the first form the latter part of 'Many Meetings' in FR is quite closely approached; but there are certain major differences. I give here the second form (in part).(1)
'And what has become of Balin and Ori and Oin?' asked Frodo.
A shadow passed over Gloin's face. 'Balin took to travelling again,' he answered. 'You may have heard that he visited Bilbo in Hobbiton many years ago(2): well, not very long after that he went away for two or three years. Then he returned to the Mountain with a great number of dwarves that he discovered wandering masterless in the South and East. He wanted Dain to go back to Moria - or at least to allow him to found a colony there and reopen the great mines. As you probably know, Moria was the ancestral home of the dwarves of the race of Durin, and the forefathers of Thorin and Dain dwelt there, until they were driven by the goblin invasions far into the North. Now Balin reported that Moria was again wholly deserted, since the great defeat of the goblins, but the mines were still rich, especially in silver. Dain was not willing to leave the Mountain and the tomb of Thorin, but he allowed Balin to go, and he took with him many of the folk of the Mountain as well as his own following; and Ori and Oin went with him. For many years things went well, and the colony throve; there was traffic once more between Moria and the Mountain, and many gifts of silver were sent to Dain. Then fortune changed. Our messengers were attacked and robbed by cruel Men, well-armed. No messengers came from Moria; but rumour reached us that the mines and dwarf-city were again deserted. For long we could not learn what had become of Balin and his people - but now we have news, and it is evil. It is to tell these tidings and to ask for the counsel of - of those that dwell in Rivendell that I have come. But to-night let us speak of merrier things! '
At the head of the page my father wrote the words that stand in this place in FR (p. 241): '"We do not know," he answered. "It is largely on his account that I have come to ask for the counsel of - of those that dwell in Rivendell. But for to-night let us speak of merrier things."' In FR the story of Balin was taken up into 'The Council of Elrond' and greatly enlarged.
Gloin's account of the works of the Dwarves in Dale and under the Lonely Mountain (FR pp. 241 - 2) is present in the old version.(3) At the end, when Gloin said: 'You were very fond of Bilbo, weren't you?' Frodo replied simply 'Yes', and then 'they went on to talk about the old adventures of Bilbo with the dwarves, in Mirkwood, and am
ong the Wood-elves, and in the caverns of the Mountain.'
The entrance into the Hall of Fire, and the discovery and recognition of Bilbo, are already very close to FR (for early references to Bilbo at Rivendell see pp. 126, 225). The Hall of Fire is said in both texts to be nearly as large as the 'Hall of Feasting' or 'Great Hall', in the second this hall 'appeared to have no windows'; and in both there were many fires burning: Bilbo sat beside the furthest, with his cup and bread on a low table beside him (in FR there were no tables).
Bilbo says 'I shall have to get that fellow Peregrin to help me' (cf. p. 369) and Elrond replies that he will have Ethelion (4) found (in Chapter XI of the 'third phase' Glorfindel calls Trotter Dufinnion, p. 361). 'Messengers were sent to find Bilbo's friend. It was said that he had been in the kitchens, for his help was as much esteemed by the cooks as by the poets.' It had been said in the earlier part of the chapter (p. 365) that Frodo could not see Trotter at the feast, and his absence survived into FR (p. 243), but with a very different reason for it.
Whatever Bilbo may have had to say of himself is not reported in the original story. The entire passage (FR pp. 243 - 4) in which Bilbo tells of his journey to Dale, of his life in Rivendell, and his interest in the Ring - and the distressing incident when he asks to see it - is absent.
They were so deep in the doings of the Shire that they did not notice the arrival of another hobbit. For several minutes he stood by them, looking at them with a smile. Suddenly they looked up. 'Ah, there you are, Peregrin!' said Bilbo. 'Trotter!' said Frodo.
'Both right! ' laughed Trotter.
'Well, that is tiresome of Gandalf! ' exclaimed Frodo. 'I knew you reminded me of some one, and he laughed at me.(5) Of course, you remind me of yourself, and of Folco, and of all the Tooks. You came once to Buckland when I was very small, but I never quite forgot it, because you talked to Old Rory about lands outside the Shire, and about Bilbo who you were not allowed to see. I have wondered what became of you. But I was puzzled by your shoes. Why do you wear them? '
'I shall not tell you the reason now,' said Trotter quietly.
'No, Frodo, don't ask that yet,' said Bilbo, looking rather unhappy. 'Come on, Perry! I want your help. This song of mine has got to be finished this evening.'
At this point, while in the middle of writing the second text, my father wrote across it: '?? Trotter had better not be a hobbit - but a Ranger, remainder of Western Men, as originally planned.' Of course, looking back over the texts from Trotter's first appearance, there is no possibility that my father had 'originally planned' to make Trotter anything but a hobbit. The first suggestion that he might not be appears in Queries and Alterations (p. 223, $6). But by 'originally planned' my father may well have been thinking no further back than to the drafts for the opening of the 'Bree' chapter in the third phase (p. 331), where the idea that the Rangers were Men, 'the last remnant of the kingly people from beyond the Seas', first emerged, though this was not taken up in the chapter as actually written at that time. It may be that he had felt for some time that Trotter should not be a hobbit, but (as he said of the name 'Bingo', p. 221) he was now too used to the idea to change it. Even now, he did not follow up his directive, and Trotter remains Peregrin Boffin.
As in FR, Frodo sits alone and falls asleep during the music; but the song Earendil was a mariner is not present (though the word '? Messenger' written at the top of the page is a hint of it).(6)
He woke to the sound of ringing laughter. There was no longer any music, but on the edge of his waking sense was the echo of a voice that had just stopped singing. He looked, and saw that Bilbo was seated on his stool, set now near to the middle fire, in the centre of a circle of listeners.
'Come now, tell us, Bilbo!' said one of the Elves, 'which is the line which Peregrin put in?'
'No! ' laughed Bilbo. 'I leave you to guess - you pride yourselves on your judgement of words.'
'But it is difficult to discriminate between two hobbits,' they laughed.
'Nonsense!' said Bilbo. 'But I won't argue the matter. I'm sleepy, after so much sound and song!' He got up and bowed and came back beside Frodo.
'Well, that's that,' he said. 'It went off better than I expected. As a matter of fact, quite a lot of it was Peregrin's.'
'I am sorry I did not hear it,' said Frodo. 'I heard the Elves laughing as I woke up.'
'Never mind,' said Bilbo. 'You'll hear it again, very likely. Just a lot of nonsense, anyway. But it is difficult to keep awake here, until you get used to it - not that hobbits ever acquire the Elves' appetite for song and poetry and tales of all sorts. They will be going on for a long while yet.
The words of the chant to Elbereth (identical in both texts) are different from the form in FR:
Elbereth Gilthoniel sir evrin pennar oriel
dir avos-eithen miriel
bel daurion sel aurinon
pennaros evrin eriol.
The sweet syllables fell like clear jewels of mingled word and sound, and he halted for a moment looking back.
'That is the opening of the chant to Elbereth,' said Bilbo. 'They will sing that and other songs of the Blessed Realm many times tonight.'
Bilbo led Frodo back to his upper room. There they sat for some while, looking at the bright stars through the window, and talking softly. They spoke no longer of the small and happy news of the Shire far away, but of the Elves, and of the wide world, and its perils, and of the burden and mystery of the Ring.
When Sam came to the door (at the end of the chapter in FR) Bilbo said:
'Quite right, Sam! Though I never expected to live long enough to be ordered about by Ham Gamgee's boy. Bless me, I am near 150 and old enough to be your great-grandfather.'
'No sir, and I never expected to be doing it.'
'It is Gandalf's fault, said Frodo. 'He chose Sam to be my companion in adventure, and Sam takes his task seriously.'
This was replaced at the time of writing by the ending in FR. Bilbo was in fact 128.
Both texts continue on briefly into what became 'The Council of Elrond' in FR (the title that my father had given to the 'third phase' text Chapter XII, p. 362, afterwards called 'Many Meetings', when he anticipated that it would contain the Council as well as the 'many meetings' that preceded it).
Frodo awoke early next day, feeling refreshed and well. Sam brought him breakfast, and would not allow him to get up till he had eaten it. Then Bilbo and Gandalf carne and talked for a while. Suddenly a single bell rang out. [All the remainder of the text from this point was struck out; see p. 399.]
'Bless me! ' said Gandalf. 'The council is in half an hour. That is the warning. I must be off. Bilbo will bring you to the place, as soon as you are ready. Sam had better come with you.'
The council was held in a high glade among the trees on the valley-side far above the house. A falling stream ran at the side of : the meeting place, and with the trickling and bubbling of the water was mingled the sound of many birds. There were twelve ˛ seats of carved stone in a wide circle; and behind them many other :- smaller seats of wood. The ground was strewn with many red and yellow leaves, but the trees above were still clothed with fading green; a clear sky of pale blue hung high above, filled with the light of morning.
When Bilbo, Frodo and Sam arrived Elrond was already seated, and beside him, as at the feast, were Gandalf and Glorfindel. Gloin was there also with [an attendant >] a younger dwarf, whom Frodo later discovered was Burin son of Balin.(7) A strange elf, a messenger from the king of the Wood-elves... Eastern Mirkwood was seated beside Burin.(8) Trotter (as Frodo continued to call him instead of Peregrin or the Elvish equivalent Ethelion) was there, and all the rest of the hobbit party, Merry, Folco, and Odo. There were besides three other counsellors attendant on Elrond, one an Elf named Erestor, and two other kinsmen of Elrond, of that half-elvish folk whom the Elves named the children of Luthien.(9) And seated alone and silent was a Man of noble face, but dark and sad.
'This is Boromir,' said Elrond. 'He arrived only yesterday, i
n the evening. He comes from far away in the South, and his tidings may be of use to us.'
It would take long to tell of all that was spoken in that council under the fair trees of Rivendell. The sun climbed to noon and was turning westward before all the tidings were recounted. Then Elves brought food and drink for the company. The sun had fallen low and its slanting light was red in the valley before an end was made of the debate and they rose and returned down the long path to the house.
Both texts end at this point. At the end of the second my father wrote: '(The Council must be behind closed doors. Frodo invited to presence of Elrond. Tidings of the world. They decide Ring must be destroyed.)'
While Trotter is Peregrin Boffin, and the long-awaited 'recognition' between Trotter and Frodo takes place, Odo is still present: but in the papers dated August 1939, where the identification of Trotter with Peregrin Boffin first appears, Odo appears to be emphatically abandoned. Once again, Odo seems to have proved unsinkable, even though, as discussed on p. 375, Folco had effectively assumed his character. - Of course, these 'Rivendell' manuscripts may very well belong to the same time, and a step-by-step reconstruction cannot be expected. In any case, the removal of Odo and (much more) the identity of Trotter were questions long revolved, and such notes as 'Trotter had better not be a hobbit' or 'Odo must be cut out' are rather the traces of a long debate than a series of clear-cut, successive decisions.