PART THREE.
MINAS TIRITH.
I.
ADDENDUM TO
'THE TREASON OF ISENGARD'.
After the publication of 'The Treason of Isengard' I came upon the
following manuscript page. It had ended up in a bundle of much later
writings concerned with the events of Books V and VI, and when
going through these papers I had failed to see its significance. It is in
fact the concluding page of the first of the two outlines that I gave
under the heading 'The Story Foreseen from Fangorn' in VII.434 ff.;
and since it represents my father's earliest recorded conception of the
events of Book V this seems the best place to give it. I repeat first the
conclusion of the part printed in Vol. VII (p. 437):
News comes at the feast [at Eodoras] or next morning of the siege
of Minas Tirith by the Haradwaith.... The horsemen of Rohan
ride East, with Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Merry and
Pippin. Gandalf as the White Rider.... Vision of Minas Tirith
from afar.
The text begins in the same pale ink as was used for the earlier part of
the outline but soon turns to pencil. At the head of the page is written
(later, in a different ink): Homeric catalogue. Forlong the Fat. The
folk of Lebennin' (see p. 287).
Battle before walls. Sorties from city. Aragorn puts the
Haradwaith to flight. Aragorn enters into Minas Tirith and
becomes their chief. Recollection of the boding words (as
spoken by Boromir).
The forces of Minas Tirith and Rohan under Aragorn and
Gandalf cross the Anduin and retake Elostirion. The Nazgul.
How Gandalf drove them back. Wherever the shadow of the
Nazgul fell there was a blind darkness. Men fell flat, or fled. But
about Gandalf there was always a light - and where he rode the
shadow retreated.
The forces of West worst Minas Morghul [written above:
Morgol] and drive back the enemy to the Field of Nomen's
Land before Kirith Ungol. Here comes the embassy of Sauron.
He sends to say that [Here the ink text ends and is followed by
pencil, the word that crossed out] to Gandalf and Aragorn that
he has got Frodo the Ringbearer captive. (Dismay of Aragorn.)
Sauron's messenger declares that Frodo has begged for deliver-
ance at any price. Sauron's price is the immediate withdrawal of
all forces west of Anduin - and eventual surrender of all land up
to west of Misty Mountains (as far as Isen). As token Sauron's
messenger shows Sting (or some other object taken - the phial?)
taken when Frodo was prisoner - this would have to be
something Sam overlooked [written in margin: mithril coat].
But Gandalf utterly rejects the terms.
'Keep your captive until the battle is over, Sauron! For verily
if the day goes to me and we do not then find him unharmed, it
shall go very ill with you. Not you alone have power. To me
also a power is given of retribution, and to you it will seem very
terrible. But if the day is yours then you must do with us all that
remain alive as you will. So indeed you would do in any case,
whatever oath or treaty you might now make.'
Gandalf explains that Frodo is probably not captive - for at
any rate Sauron has not got the Ring. Otherwise he would not
seek to parley.
The story must return to Sam and Frodo at the moment when
Gandalf and Aragorn ride past Minas Morghul. ? And go
down to moment when Ring is destroyed.
Then just as Gandalf rejects parley there is a great spout of
flame, and the forces of Sauron fly. Aragorn and Gandalf and
their host pour into Gorgoroth.
Part of Battle could be seen by Frodo from [?his] tower while
a prisoner.
With the last part of this text compare the second part of the outline
'The Story Foreseen from Fangorn', VII.438.
This pencilled continuation was obviously written all at one time,
and it was written therefore after May 1944, when Faramir, whose
return to Minas Tirith is mentioned here, entered the story of The
Lord of the Rings: it is new work on the story after Book IV had been
completed. That the brief initial passage in ink ('Pippin looked out
from Gandalf's arms ...') should be separated from its pencilled
continuation by a long interval seems to me so unlikely as to be out of
the question. Far more probably my father abandoned it because he
had changed his mind about Gandalf's riding by day, and (as he often
did in such cases) then sketched out the changed conception very
rapidly (see the Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter).
This was followed by a further draft of the opening ('B'), a single
page roughly written in ink that went no further than the errand-riders
racing from Gondor to Edoras. I give this brief text in full, ignoring a
few subsequent changes in pencil.
Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak. He
was awake now, though he had been sleeping, but he felt that he
was still in a swift-moving dream. Still the dark world seemed to
be rushing by, and a wind sang loudly in his ears. He could see
nothing but the wheeling stars, and away to the right vast
shadows against the sky, where the mountains of the south
marched by. Sleepily he tried to reckon the time, but he could
not be sure of his memory. This was the beginning of the second
night of riding since he had seen the pale gleam of gold in the
chill dawn and had come to the great empty house upon the hill
in Edoras. There he had slept only dimly aware of much coming
and going and of the great outcry when the winged flier had
passed over. And since then riding, riding in the night.
A pale light came in the sky, a blaze of yellow fire was lit
behind dark barriers. For a moment he was afraid, wondering
what dreadful thing lay ahead; he rubbed his eyes, and then he
saw it was the moon rising full out of the eastern shadows. So
they had ... for four hours since dusk!(1)
'Where are we, Gandalf?' he asked.
'Anorien the realm of Gondor is still fleeting by,' said
Gandalf.
'What is that?' said Pippin, suddenly clutching at Gandalf's
cloak. 'Fire! I thought for a moment it might be a dragon. I feel
that anything might happen in this land. Look there is another!'
'On, Shadowfax!' cried Gandalf. 'We must not rest this night.
Those are the beacons of Gondor calling for aid. War is kindled.
See, there is the light on Amon Thorn, and a flame on Elenach;
and look there they go speeding west, Nardol, Penannon,
Orodras, and Mindor Uilas on the borders of Rohan. Haste!'
And Shadowfax leaped forward, and as he sprang forward he
neighed pricking his ears. Neighing of horses answered and like
shadows flying on a wild wind riders went by them thundering
west in the gloom.
'Those are post riders,' said Gandalf, 'riding from message
post to message post - bearing tidings and summons. The
message will reach Edoras by nightfall tonight.'(2)
This text was followed by another single page ('C'). This was typed
by my father in the 'midget type' which he used in his letters to
me from 7 July 1944 (see the beginning of no. 75 in Letters) and
frequently until October of that year; and thus this one sheet carries
the story as far as the point where Shadowfax passes through the
narrow gate in the Pelennor wall (RK p. 21) - the text stopping just
before the name Pelennor would appear (see p. 277). The final text
was now very closely approached. The names of all the beacons (now
seven, not six) are here in the final form: Amon Din, Eilenach, Nardol,
Erelas, Minrimmon, Calenhad, and Halifirien on the borders of
Rohan. There are however a few differences. Gandalf here tells Pippin
that the message-posts were at distances of 'every fifty miles or so,
where errand-riders were always in readiness to carry messages to
Rohan or elsewhere' (in RK, p. 20, no distance is mentioned, and
Belfalas is named as another destination of such errands). The passage
in which Pippin, falling asleep, thinks of Frodo runs thus:
He wondered where Frodo was and if he was already in Mordor,
little thinking that Frodo on that same night saw from afar the
white snows under the moon; but the red flames of the beacons
he did not see, for the mists of the Great River covered all the
land between.
On this see the Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter.(3)-The
leader of the men at the Pelennor wall is here named Cranthir, not
Ingold.
The next stage in the evolution of 'Minas Tirith' was a complete, or
nearly complete, draft text; that the page 'C' preceded it and was not
an abortive start to a typescript of it is certain `e.g., the leader of the
men at the wall is now Ingold).
My father here set a most curious puzzle. The datum is that (as he
said) he abandoned 'Minas Tirith' about the end of 1942, as 'the
beacons flared in Anorien': the story only went 'as far as the arrival in
Gondor'. A single typescript page ('C') does precisely that, and when I
first studied these papers I felt certain that it was the 'abandoned
opening', but it is clear and obvious that 'C' was developed from 'B'
and that from 'A', and in 'A' there is a reference to Faramir, who only
entered the story in 1944. Moreover 'C' was typed with a special type
which my father seems only to have begun using in 1944. The
emphatically underlined words in A 'Beacons. Messengers riding
West' certainly suggest that this is where those ideas actually arose;
but how could they have done so, since 'the beacons flared in Anorien'
already in the original opening of 1942? I was therefore forced to the
conclusion that that was lost.
But this conclusion is wrong; and there is very clear evidence that
my father erred in his recollection. The solution lies in a passage from
his letter of Thursday 12 October 1944, which I have cited before
(p- 100), but not in full:
I began trying to write again (I would, on the brink of term!) on
Tuesday, but-I struck a most awkward error (one or two days) in the
synchronization, v. important at this stage, of movements of Frodo
and the others, which has cost labour and thought and will require
tiresome small alterations in many chapters; but at any rate I have
actually began Book Five (and last: about 10 chapters per 'book').
I had taken (in view of what he said years later) the words that I have
italicised to mean that my father had begun 'Minas Tirith' anew, and
supposed that in this brief reference he simply passed over the fact that
the beginning of the chapter (and the beginning of 'The Muster of
Rohan') was long since in existence - or else that the earlier beginning
had now been rejected and set aside. But the words are much more
naturally taken to mean what they say: 'I have actually begun Book
Five'- on 10 October 1944, ab initio; and if they are so taken the entire
problem disappears. The abandoned opening is not lost, and it is indeed
the curious isolated page 'C' in 'midget type'; but it was written in
1944, not 1942. The page 'A', preceding 'B' and 'C', is indeed where
the ideas of the beacons and the westbound errand-riders first emerged
- and since it was written in 1944 the appearance of Faramir repre-
sents no difficulty. Thus in his letter of 29 November 1944 cited on
p. 219 my father could say that 'Book Five and Last opens with the
ride of Gandalf to Minas Tirith ... Some of this is written or
sketched': it had been 'written or sketched' in the previous month.
The reason for this error, made many years later, is easy to see: for
there was indeed a long hiatus in the writing of 'Minas Tirith' (and
'The Muster of Rohan'). But it fell not in the long halt of 1943-4,
between Book III and Book IV; it fell in the long halt between October
1944 and the summer of 1946 (see pp. 219-20), after Book IV was
completed. That this is so is strongly supported by the time-schemes.
I have argued (p. 141) that the schemes C and D preceded the
chronological problems that emerged in October 1944, while scheme
S represents their resolution. All three, however, deal both with Frodo
and Sam on the one hand and the events in Rohan and Gondor on the
other; and it seems therefore very probable that they are all to be
associated with the new narrative opening at that time. It was precisely
because my father was now, in the latter part of 1944, returning 'west
of Anduin' for the first time since he finished 'The Palantir' that the
need for all this chronological synchronisation arose. See further the
Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter.
The first full draft of 'Minas Tirith' belongs of course to the final
period in the writing of The Lord of the Rings. This text was left
behind in England; but apart from this, almost all manuscript material
from the final period (Books V and VI), including outlines and initial
draftings, went to Marquette University in the original consignment of
papers.
(ii) The Muster of Rohan.
The original draft for the opening of 'The Muster of Rohan', here
called 'A', is a rapidly pencilled text in my father's most difficult script,
some of which has defied repeated attempts to decipher it; I give it here
as best I can. The opening paragraph was rejected as soon as written,
but it was not struck through. It may be mentioned before giving the
text that it had long been known that Theoden would return from
Isengard through the mountains to Dunharrow: see the outlines given
on pp. 70, 72 (written before Gandalf's sudden departure for Minas
Tirith on Shadowfax had entered). In LR the journey of Theoden,
Aragorn and their company from Dol Baran is described in 'The
Passing of the Grey Company', but that had not yet been written.
Morning was come again, but dim still lay the deep dale
about them. Dark and shadowy the great woods of fir climbed
upon the steep sides of the ... hills. Long now it seemed to the
travellers since they had ridden from Isengard, longer even than
[? the] time of their weary journey.(4)
Day again was fading. Dim lay the high dale about them.
Night had already come beneath the great woods of murmuring
firs that clothed the steep mountain-sides. But now the travellers
rode down a steep track and passing out of the scented sighing
gloom of the pines they [?followed a] ...... they found them-
selves at the... where it passed into a wider vale. The long vale
of Harrowdale. Dark on the right loomed the vast tangled
mass of Dunharrow, its great peak now lost to sight, for they
were crawling at its feet. Lights twinkled before them on the
other side of the valley, across the river Snowborn (5) white and
fuming on its stones. They were come at last at the end of many
days to the old mountain homes of folk forgotten - to the Hold
of Dunharrow. Long it seemed since they rode from Isengard.
[?It was] ... days since they rode from Isengard, but it seemed
..., with little else but weary riding. So King Theoden came
back to his people.
As dusk fell they came to the river and the old stone bridges
that [?were there]. There they sounded a horn. Horns answered
gladly from above. Now they climbed up a winding path which
brought them slowly up to a wide upland field set back into the
side of the great [?bones of Dunharrow. Treeclad walls half
embraced it].(6) The Snowborn issued and fell down with a
waterfall. The rock behind was full of caves that had been bored
and cut with great labour in the rock walls. Legend said that
here was a dwelling and a [?holy] place of forgotten men in the
Dark Years - [? before ever] the ships came to Belfalas or
Gondor was built. What had become of them? Vanished, gone
away, to mingle with the people of Dunland or the folk of
Lebennin by the sea. Here the Eorlingas had made a stronghold,
but they were not a mountain folk, and as the days grew better
while Sauron was far away they passed down the vale and built
Edoras at the north of Harrowdale. But ever they kept the Hold
of Dunharrow as a refuge. There still dwelt some folk reckoned
as Rohir, and the same in speech, but dark with grey eyes. The
blood of the forgotten men ran in their veins.
Now all [? about] the vale on [? flat] sides of the Snowborn
they saw ... and ... of men, fires kindled. The [?upland plain]
was filled [? too]. Trumpets rang, glad was the cry of men to
welcome Theoden.
Eowyn comes forth and greets Theoden and Aragorn.
Gandalf's message tells her to hold assembly at Dunharrow.
This is not the House of Eorl. But [? that is guarded]. Here
we will [?hold) the feast of victory so long delayed, and the
[ale >] ... ale (7) of Hama and all who fell.
The torchlit stone hall.
Merry sat beside Theoden as was promised.(8)
Eowyn brings in the cup for the drinking.
Even as Theoden drains it the messenger comes.
Aragorn had already arrived and greets King Theoden (9) side
by side with Eowyn.
Halbarad sister-son of Denethor.(10) He asks for ten thousand
spears at once.
Men are [? gathering] in the East beyond the Inland Sea of
Nurnen, and far north. Eventually they may assail the East
Emnet, but that would not come yet. Now Orcs have passed
south through Nargil pass in the Southland beyond [? River]
Harnen.(11)
I postpone discussion of this earliest conception of Harrowdale and
the Hold of Dunharrow to the end of the next version. This, which I
will call 'B', began as a fully articulated narrative in ink and in clear
script, but swiftly collapsed. The opening passage was much corrected
both at the time of writing and subsequently; I give it here as it seems
to have stood when my father abandoned it.
Day was fading. The high valley grew dim about them. Night
had already come beneath the murmuring firwood that clothed
the steep mountain-sides. Their path turning a sharp shoulder of
rock plunged down into the sighing gloom under dark trees. At
last they came out again and saw that it was evening, and their
journey was nearly at an end. They had come down to the edge
of the mountain-stream, which all day they had followed as far
below it clove its deep path between the tree-clad walls. And
now through a narrow gate between the mountains it passed
out, and flowed into a wider vale.
'At last! ' said Eomer. 'We are come
Here my father stopped. Perhaps at once, he added in pencil 'to
Harrowdale', then struck out Eomer's words and continued the text in
pencil, which soon becomes difficult to read, and finally as nearly
impossible as text A.
They followed it, and saw the Snowborn white and fuming
upon its stones rush down upon its swift journey to Edoras at
the mountains' feet. To their right, now dark and swathed in
cloud, loomed the vast tumbled mass of great Dunharrow, but
his/its tall peak and cap of snow they could not see, for they
were crawling under the shadow of his knees. Across the dale
before them lights were twinkling.
'Long now it seems since we rode from Isengard about this
hour of the day,' said Theoden. 'We have journeyed by dusk
and night and by day among the hills, and I have lost count of
time. But was not the moon full last night?'
'Yes,' said Aragorn. '[Five >] Four days have we passed on
the road, and now six remain before the day that you appointed
for the assembly at Edoras.'
'Then here at Dunharrow maybe we can rest a while,' said the
King.
They came now [?under] dusk over a stone bridge across the
river; and when the head of [?his] long line had passed it a man
sounded a loud call upon [a] horn. It echoed in the valley, and
horn[s] answered it from far above. Lights sprang out and men
rode forward to meet them. King Theoden was welcomed back
with joy, and he rode on with Eomer and Aragorn and his
company up the steep winding path that led to the Hold of
Dunharrow on the mountain's knee. No foe could climb that
way while any defended it from above. [Looking back] Merry
was riding now on a pony furnished for him at Helm's Deep.
With him [? went] Legolas and Gimli. They looked back and
long after they had climbed high they could descry in the grey
dusk below the long winding line of the Riders of Rohan still
crossing by the bridge. Many men had followed Theoden from
Westfold.
So at last they came to the Hold - the mountain homes of
long forgotten folk. Dim legends only now remembered them.
Here they had dwelt [and had made a dark temple a temple
and holy place in the Dark Years] in fear under the shadow of
the Dark Years, before ever a ship came to Belfalas or Gondor
of the Kings was built. That was in the first [?reign] of Sauron
the [?Great] when Baraddur first was founded, but they had ...
[?him] and built a refuge ...... [?that no enemy] could take.
There was a wide upland [field > ?slope] set back into the
mountain - the lap of Dunharrow. Arms of the mountain
embraced [it] except only for a space upon the west. Here the
[?green bay] fell over a sheer brink down into Harrowdale. A
winding path led up.' Behind the sheer walls of the vale were
..... caves - made by ancient art. [?Water fell in a fall over the
........... and flowed ... the midst ...]
When the men of Gondor came [?there] the men of this place
lived for a while [?owning] no lord of Gondor. But what became
of them no legend knew. They had vanished and gone far away.
As my father wrote the end of this text he drew two little sketches of
the Hold of Dunharrow, and this page is reproduced on p. 239 (see
also note 6). These sketches show his earliest imagining of the Hold
very clearly: a natural 'amphitheatre' with caves in the further rock-
wall, and a stream (in text A stated to be the Snowbourn) falling
down from the heights behind and over the central door, thence
crossing the open space ('the lap of Dunharrow') and falling again
over the lower cliff up which the path climbs. It is less easy to be sure
of the situation of the Hold in relation to Harrowdale. When Theoden
and his company enter the dale 'the vast tumbled mass of great
(Dunharrow.)
Dunharrow' is on their right; Dunharrow is the name of the mountain
(on the First Map, IV(E), VII.319, 'Dunharrow' is written against the
mountain at the head of the great valley extending south-west from
Edoras). They crossed the Snowbourn by a stone bridge; the path,
steep and winding, then led them up to the Hold 'on the mountain's
knee'; and the 'amphitheatre' was open to the west. The most natural
interpretation is that the Hold was on the far (eastern) side of
Harrowdale, and near the head of the valley.
The references in A to the Hold having been preserved as a refuge,
and to 'the torchlit stone hall' in which the feast was held, are
explained and expanded in subsequent texts.
Text B was followed, no doubt immediately, by a third version ('C'),
clearly written in ink, which however again stops at the same point.
Here the entry of the Riders into Harrowdale is described in very
much the same way as it is in B:
They followed it [the mountain-stream] and saw it spring with a
last leap into the Snowbourn River that white and fuming on its
stones rushed down upon its swift journey to Edoras far below.
To their right, dark and swathed in cloud, loomed the vast
tumbled mass of great Dunharrow, but its peak and cap of snow
they could not see, for they were crawling under the shadow of
its knees. Across the valley upon the mountain-side lights were
twinkling.
It was now Eomer, not Aragorn, who replied to Theoden's question
'But was it not the full moon last night?'; for Aragorn was no longer a
member of the King's company.
'No, the night before,' said Eomer. 'Five days we have passed
on the road: it has been slow since we took to the mountain-
paths; five days remain until the day that you appointed for the
muster at Edoras.'
'Then here at Dunharrow maybe we can rest a while,' said the
King.
'If you would take my counsel, lord,' said Eomer, 'you would
remain here until the war that threatens is over, lost or won.
[Struck out at once: You have ridden far and taxed your
strength in the war with Saruman. Victory will have little joy for
me, or for your people, unless we can lay our swords at your
feet.]'
'We will speak of that later,' said Theoden.
They rode on. Merry looked about him. He was tired, for he
was riding himself now, on a sturdy hill-pony furnished for him
at Helm's Deep; but he had enjoyed the journey among the
passes and high dales, the tall pine-woods, and the bright
waterfalls. He loved mountains, and the desire to see and know
them had moved him strongly when he and his friends had
plotted to go with Frodo, far away in the Shire.
He rode with the King's company, and often he had jogged
along beside Theoden himself, telling him of the Shire, and the
doings of hobbit-folk. They had got on well together, although
much of Merry's language was hard for Theoden to understand.
But all the same, and in spite of the honour, he was lonely,
especially at the day's end. Aragorn had ridden on far ahead
with the swifter riders, taking Legolas and Gimli; and he missed
Pippin deeply. The fellowship seemed now altogether scattered.
They came now in the dusk to a stone bridge across the
Snowbourn ...
It would be interesting to know why (at this stage in the develop-
ment of the narrative, when they would all meet again at Dunharrow)
Aragorn with Legolas and Gimli and others went on ahead (see note
9), but no explanation is given.
Text C now follows B very closely, and is largely identical with it.
The mention of Legolas and Gimli riding with Merry is of course
removed. Of the ancient men of Dunharrow it is said that 'their name
was lost', and that here they 'had their refuge and hidden fane'; 'those
were the days when Sauron first was lord, and Baraddur was founded;
but they had not served him, making here a refuge that no foe could
take.' The 'wide upland slope' is again named 'the Lap of Dunharrow',
and it is again said to open on the west; 'There there was a sheer brink
that fell some hundreds of feet down to the Snowbourn. Up this the
winding path climbed. Inside the amphitheatre (?) was clasped by
sheer walls of rock rising at the back to a great precipice; and the
walls'
Here text C stops; there is thus no mention here of the falling stream
referred to in A (where it is actually the Snowbourn) and B and shown
on one of the accompanying sketches, nor of the relations of the men
of Dunharrow with the men of Gondor.
A fourth text ('D') followed, in which the actual words of the opening
of 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK were quite closely approached for the
most part, but this extends no further than a single page, ending with
Merry's 'listening to the noise of water, the murmur of dark trees, the
crack of stone, and the vast waiting silence that brooded behind all
sound.' The most notable feature of this brief text is the following
passage:
To their right, dark and swathed in cloud, loomed the vast
tumbled mass of [struck out immediately: great Du] mighty
Starkhorn, [struck out: the grim mountain,] but its gnarled and
jagged peak they could not see, for they were crawling under the
shadow of its knees. Across the valley upon the lap of the great
mountain lights were twinkling.
At this point, it is clear, the great mountain 'Dunharrow' became
the Starkhorn, and though the text does not extend far enough to
make the matter certain the last sentence of this extract suggests
strongly (especially from the use of the word 'lap') that the Hold of
Dunharrow, in which lights were twinkling, was situated on the lower
slopes of the Starkhorn.
The next stage seems to have been two pages of notes in very rapid
pencil ('E'), some but not all of which my father overwrote clearly in
ink, and against some names and words putting queries.
When the Eorlingas came first to Dun Harrow they had found
only one old man living in a cave, speaking in a strange tongue.
None could understand him. Often he spoke and seemed to
desire to tell them something, but he died before any could read
his words. Where were all the rest of his folk?
Aragorn and Eowyn meet the King. They say that Riders are
mustering at Dun Harrow - Gandalf's command: he had
passed by Edoras some days ago. Many have already come in -
and many strange folk. I do not .... understand how, but a
summons went forth long ago. Rangers have come and Dun-
landers and messengers from the Woodmen of Mirkwood.
They say that but for the shadow of the new war they would
make a feast of victory. Even so they will feast and rejoice
because of the King's return.
Torchlit stone hall.
Merry sat beside Theoden as promised.
The following was overwritten in ink, apparently only to clarify the
pencilled text (parts of which can be made out), not to alter or expand
it. Several of the names have queries against them in the ink
overwriting, and some of the pencilled words my father could not
interpret.
Eowyn bears wine to him, bidding him drink and be glad.
Even as Theoden drinks the cup, the messenger of Minas
Tirith arrives.? Barahir ? Halbarad.
He asks for ten thousand spears at once! The Swertings have
come. The forces of Sauron have crossed the Nargul ? Pass and
raised the men of Harad and of ? Umbor. A fleet has put out
from the Havens of Umbor - once Gondor's, but long lost - and
sailed up the Anduin and reached Anarion, at the same time
more enemies have crossed the river and taken the fords of
Osgiliath again - won back hardly in the winter. [In margin, ink
over pencil:] Swertings are only just moving, and a few pre-
liminary ravages of Lebennin. Spies report a great fleet ?
[concluding pencilled words were illegible]
Theoden replies that that is more than he could have mus-
tered in a ? [pencilled word was illegible] at his height, and
before the war with Saruman.
Eowyn says that women must ride now, as they did in a like
evil time in the days of Brego son of [mark showing name
omitted] Eorl's son, when the wild men of the East came from
the Inland Sea into the Eastemnet.
[Pencilled text struck through and not ovewritten:] Theoden
decides to pass over the [struck out: Rath] Scada pass to the vale
of Blackroot into Lebennin and fall on enemy in rear.
[Ink over pencil:] Aragorn [in margin: Eomer?] begs leave to
take a force over the Scada Pass and fall on the enemy's rear. 'I
will go with you in my brother's stead' said Eowyn [added: to
King Theoden].
[Ink text original:) As had been promised him at Isengard,
Merry sat beside [written above: near] the King himself. On
either side of the King were Eowyn and Eomer, and Aragorn
beside Eowyn. Merry sat with Legolas and Gimli not far from
the fire and spoke together - while all about rolled the speech of
Rohan.
[Ink over pencil:] They had been bidden to the King's table
but said that the lords would wish to talk high matters, and they
wished to talk together. ? Legolas ? [in margin: No, King
surely?] tells history of Dunharrow: how the men of Dun-
harrow lived in the valley; how Dunharrow was furnished; how
the Kings of the Mark had once dwelt here - and still returned
once a year in autumn. But Theoden had not kept this custom
for several years. The Feast-hall had been long silent [pencilled
text: But Theoden had not done so for many years].
Eowyn brings wine.
[Ink text original:] Remembering his promise at Isengard,
Theoden summoned Merry and set him at his left hand at the
high table upon the stone dais. On the King s right sat Eowyn
and Eomer, and at the table's end Aragorn. Legolas and Gimli
sat beside Merry. The three companions spoke much together in
soft voices, while all about them the speech of Rohan rolled
loud and clear.
These notes - very much a record of 'thinking with the pen' - have
several curious features. The conception of the Hold of Dunharrow as
a great redoubt of the Kings of the Mark, with a hall of feasting in its
caverns (whence came the lights twinkling on the mountain-side),
reappears from text A, and the last survivor of the ancient people of
Harrowdale emerges.
Aragorn (with Gimli and Legolas) has ridden on ahead to Dun-
harrow, as in text C (p. 241); and in these notes is the first mention of
the coming south of a body of Rangers. Eowyn's reference to the assault
on Rohan long before, when in the days of Brego 'the wild men of the
East came from the Inland Sea into the Eastemnet', is a sign that the
history of Rohan had been evolving unseen. In LR (Appendix A (II),
'The Kings of the Mark') Eorl the Young fell in battle with the
Easterlings in the Wold of Rohan, and his son Brego, builder of the
Golden Hall, drove them out. In the outline 'The Story Foreseen from
Fangorn' (VII.435) and in drafting for 'The King of the Golden Hall'
(VII.445) Brego, builder of the hall, was the son of Brytta. In the
present notes Brego is the grandson of Eorl, and a blank is left for the
name of his father.
Among other names that appear here, I cannot certainly explain the
queries that my father set against the first occurrence of Umbor and
against Nargul (Pass).(13) For Anarion as the name of a region of
Gondor see VII.309-10, 318-19; Anarion on both the First Map and
my 1943 map is given not only to Anorien (north of Minas Tirith) but
also to the region south of Minas Tirith. For the former, Anorien
appears already in the draft A of the opening of 'Minas Tirith', p. 231.
The Scada Pass leading over the mountains into the Blackroot Vale is
not named on any map.(14) It is here that the possibility first appears
that Aragorn (or Eomer) will lead some part of the forces mustering at
Dunharrow across the mountains, rather than ride to Minas Tirith
along their northern skirts, in view of the news brought by the
messenger from Gondor (see further pp. 252-3). The name proposed
here for the messenger, Halbarad (beside Barahir), has appeared
already in the original draft A of 'The Muster of Rohan': see p. 236
and note 10.
A new version of the narrative ('F') was now begun, clearly written
at the outset but soon collapsing into a scrawl; in this the story extends
rather further. In the opening passage of this text lights still twinkle
across the valley 'on the lap of the great mountain'; Eomer still
informs Theoden that the moon was full two nights before, that they
have passed five days on the journey, and that five remain to the
muster at Edoras; and the Riders still cross the Snowbourn by a stone
bridge (not as in RK by a ford), here described as 'a bare arch, wide
and low, without kerb or parapet'. The horns blown from far above
answering the blast blown as the King's company passed over the
bridge now become 'a great chorus of trumpets from high above' that
'sounded in some hollow place that gathered them into one great voice
and sent it forth rolling and beating on the walls of stone.' When this
was written, as will be seen shortly, the 'hollow place' was the interior
of the Hold of Dunharrow - in the sense that my father originally
intended by that name: the rock-ringed recess or 'amphitheatre' and
the great caverns in the cliff; but the description survived into RK
(with the addition of the words 'as it seemed' after 'some hollow
place'), when the Hold of Dunharrow was used to refer to the
Firienfeld, the wide upland reached by the twisting road, where the
upper camps were set. There is no mention (at this point) of Gandalf's
passage through Edoras, nor of the great encampment of Riders in
Harrowdale (cf. RK pp. 66-7, and see note 16); after the words 'So
the King of the Mark came out of the west to Dunharrow in the hills'
the text continues at once with 'Leading up from the valley there was a
road made by hands in years beyond the reach of song.'
The description of the climbing road here reached virtually its form
in RK, and now appear the Pukel-men described word for word as in
RK apparently without any previous sketching. But they were called
by the Riders of Rohan Hoker-men (Old English hocor 'mockery,
derision, scorn') - changed subsequently to Pookel-men.(15)
I give the remainder of this text in full.
After a time he [Merry] looked back and found that he had
mounted some hundreds of feet above the valley, but still far
below he could dimly see a winding line of riders crossing the
bridge. Many men had followed Theoden from Westfold to the
muster of Rohan.(16)
At last they came to a sharp brink and the road passed
between walls of rock and led them out onto a wide upland: the
Lap of Starkhorn men called it, [rising gently beyond the sheer
wall of the valley towards a great northern buttress of the
mountain >] a green mountain-field of grass and heath above
the sheer wall of the valley that stretched back to the feet of a
high northern buttress of the mountain. When it reached this at
one place it entered in, forming a great recess, dasped by walls
of rock that rose at the back to a lofty precipice. More than a
half-circle this was in shape, [and its entrance looked west, a
gap some fifty yards wide between sharp pinnacles of stone >)
its entrance a narrow gap between sharp pinnacles of rock that
opened to the west. Two long lines of unshaped stones marched
from the brink of the cliff [up to the slope to the Hold-gate >]
towards it, and [in the middle of the Hold one tall pointed stone
stood alone >] in the middle of its rock-ringed floor under the
shadow of the mountain one tall menhir stood alone. [Beyond it
in the eastern wall >] At the back under the eastern precipice a
huge door opened, carved with signs and figures worn by time
that none could read. Many other lesser doors there were at
either side, and peeping holes far up in the surrounding walls.
This was the Hold of Dunharrow: the work of long-forgotten
men.(17) No song or legend remembered them, and their name
was lost. For what purpose they had made this place, a town, or
secret temple, or a tomb of hidden kings, no one could say. Here
they had dwelt under the shadow of the Dark Years, before ever
ship came to the mouths of Anduin or Gondor of the Kings was
built; and now they had vanished, and only the old Hocker-men
[later > Pookel-men] were left, still sitting at the turnings of the
road.
As the King climbed out upon [the Lap of Starkhorn >] the
mountain's lap, and Snowmane paced forward up the long
avenue of stones, riders came down to meet him, and again the
trumpets sang. [Struck out: Now Merry saw that they were
blown inside Dunharrow, and understood the great echo that
they made.](18)
He looked about and marvelled, for there were many lights
on either side of the road. Tents and booths clustered thick on
the slopes and the smokes of little fires curled up in the dim air.
Then again the trumpets rang, echoing in the hollow of the
Hold, and riders came forth to meet him [Theoden] as Snow-
mane paced forward up the long avenue of stones.
As they drew near Merry saw to his delight that Aragorn rode
at their head, and beside him was a woman with long braided
hair, yet she was clad as a warrior of the Mark, and girt with a
sword.
Very glad was the meeting of the lady Eowyn with Theoden
the King and with Eomer her brother; but Merry did not wait
for leave, while they spoke together he rode forward.
'Trotter, Trotter,' he cried. 'I am glad to see you again. Is
Pippin here? or Legolas and Gimli?'
'Not Pippin,' said Aragorn. 'Gandalf has not been here [later
> to Dunharrow], but Legolas and Gimli are here. You may
find them in Dunharrow [later > the Hold] if you like to go and
look, but don't wander in through the doors if they are not in
the open. Without a guide you will get lost in that place, and we
might spend days looking for you.' Merry rode on up the line of
stones and Aragorn turned back to the King.
'Is there any news, Aragorn?' said Theoden. 'Only this,' said
Aragorn. 'The men of Rohan are mustering here as you see. The
Hold is full and the fields round about will soon be covered
over. This is Gandalf's doing. It seems that he passed by Edoras
going East many days ago and gave word that no great
gathering of men should be held on the edge of the plain, but
that all should come to meet you here. Many have already
come, and with them many strange folk not of Rohan. For in
some manner the rumour of war has long been abroad and men
from far away say that they have had summons / a word that all
who hate Mordor should come to Edoras, or to Minas Tirith.
There are Dunlanders here, and some even of the Woodmen from
the borders of Mirkwood, and wandering folk of the empty
lands; and even some of the Rangers of the North, last remnant
of Elendil's race: my own folk: they have come seeking me.'
'And you, Eowyn, how has it fared with you?'
'Well, Theoden King,' she answered. 'It was a long weary
road for the people to take from their homes, and there were
many hard words but no evil deeds. Then hardly had we come
to Dunharrow and ordered ourselves when tidings came of your
victory, and the fall of Isengard. There was great rejoicing,
though I thought the tale had grown as it travelled along the
road, until Aragorn came back as he promised.(19) But all have
missed you, lord, especially in the hour of victory. It is
overshadowed now by new fear, yet not dimmed altogether.
Tonight all are preparing the feast. For you do not come
unexpected. Aragorn named the very hour at which we might
look for you. And behold you come.' She clasped his hand.
'Now I will admit, Theoden, brother of my mother, that it is
beyond any hope I had when you rode away. This is a glad
hour. Hail, Lord of the Mark, may I never again be taken from
your side while you live still and rule the Eorlingas. Father you
are to me since Eothain my father fell at Osgiliath far away. (20)
Come now - all is prepared for you. And though Dunharrow is
a dark place, full of sad shadow, tonight it shall be filled with
lights.'
So they passed on, through the pinnacles of the gate, and
beside the Middle-stone, and dismounting before the dark
portal they went in. Night gathered outside.
Far within Dunharrow there was a great cavern enlarged by
many hands [added later: at different ages] until it ran back
deep into the mountain, a great hall with pillars of living stone.
At the far end it rose by [?steep short steps] to a platform of
rock that rose far up above the light of torch. There was no
hearth and no louvre for the smoke that could be seen; but fires
of pinewood were lit all down the centre between the pillars,
and the air was full of the scent of burning pinewood, but the
smoke rose and escaped through fissures or channels that could
not be seen. Torches blazed on wall and pillar. Three thousand
men could stand there when the hall was cleared; but at the
feast when all the benches and tables were arranged five
hundred sat that night at the King's feast.
Here this text ends, and was followed, no doubt at once, by a
second version ('G') of the latter part of F, beginning at the description
of the Hold of Dunharrow (p. 245) and ending at the same point
('some five hundred sat that night at the King's feast').
While the description of the Hold was repeated virtually unchanged
from F (as emended) - the 'Hoker-men' or 'Hocker-men' become
'Pookel-men' - the story that follows was rearranged and expanded.
Merry does not now have any speech with Aragorn when he appears
with Eowyn, and it is Eowyn that Theoden first addresses; in her reply
she says:
There were hard words, for it is long since war has driven us
from the quiet life of the green hills and the fields; but there have
been no evil deeds. We had scarcely come to Dunharrow and all
was still in turmoil, when tidings came of your victory at Helm's
Deep. There was great rejoicing, and many at once went back to
the lowlands, caring nothing for rumours of greater perils to
come. I hindered as many as I could, for I thought that the tale
had grown as it travelled - until Aragorn returned, yesterday
morning, even as he said. Then we learned of the fall of Isengard
and many other strange happenings. And we missed you, lord,
desiring to make merry....
The remainder of her words are as in F, but she does not now mention
her father. When she has finished speaking the text continues:
Now they rode on. Aragorn. was beside the King, and Eowyn
rode beside her brother exchanging many glad words. Merry
jogged along behind, feeling forlorn: Aragorn had smiled at
him, but he had no chance to get a word with him, or find out
what had become of Legolas or Gimli, or Pippin.
'Have you gathered any tidings by the way, Aragorn?' asked
the King. 'Which way did you ride?'
'Along the skirts of the hills,' said Aragorn. 'Being few we did
not take to the mountain-paths, but came to Edoras and then up
the Harrowdale. No enemy has been to Edoras or harmed your
house. A few men have been left to hold the walls, and send
word if any evil thing is seen in the plains. But the men of Rohan
are mustering here, as you see. The Hold is full, and the uplands
round about are covered with the camps of men. This is
Gandalf's doing. We found that he had passed by Edoras before
us, riding East, and had given orders in your name that no great
gathering should be held on the edge of the plains, but that all
men should come to meet you here. Most were willing enough.
The dark shadow that we saw flying to Isengard was seen there
also; and it, or another like it, has been seen twice again,
darkening the stars. They say that men cower with fear as it
passes, men who have never feared any enemy before.
'Not all your folk that can come have assembled yet, for the
Last Quarter of the Moon was the day set; but most have
already arrived. And with them have come also strange folk that
are not of Rohan. For in some manner, the rumour of war seems
to have gone far abroad long days ago, and men in distant
countries have heard the word go forth that all who hate
Mordor should come to Edoras or Minas Tirith. There are tall
warriors of Dunland, some that fought against you, and some
that never listened to Saruman, hating the Orcs far more than
the Rohir! There are even Woodmen from the borders of
Mirkwood, and wanderers of the empty lands. Last and fewest,
but to me not least, there have come seven Rangers out of the
North, my own folk, remnant of Elendil's race: they have
sought me here.'
'How many spears and horses can we muster, if sudden need
should come?' asked Theoden.
'Somewhat short of ten thousand,' answered Aragorn: 'but in
that count I reckon only men well-horsed, fully armed, and with
gear and provision to ride to battle far away, if needs be. As
many again there are of men on foot or with ponies, with sword
and shield, or bowmen and light-armed men of the dales: a
good force to defend strong places, if war should come to the
land of Rohan itself. If your Riders leave the land, then, lord, I
should gather all your home-keeping men in one or at most two
strong places.'
'It is my purpose to hold the Hornburg and Dunharrow,' said
Theoden. 'I have left Erkenbrand and three hundred good men
in Helm's Deep, together with many stout country folk, and
yeomen of Westfold; and men skilled in the mountains are to
keep watch on the tracks and passes that lead from there to
here. The guard at Edoras I shall strengthen, commanding them
to hold it as long as they may, and defend the mouth of
Harrowdale. But here, where now the most part of my people
who are willing to leave their homesteads and seek refuge is
now gathered, I will leave the main host of my men that do not
ride away. Not while any crumb of food remains will any foe
overtake us here.'
'Not without wings,' said Aragorn.
So at length they passed the pinnacles of the gate, and the tall
Middle Stone, and dismounted before the dark portals of
Dunharrow. The king entered, and they followed him. Night
drew down outside.
The description of the great hall in Dunharrow was scarcely
changed from that in the text F (p. 248). The platform of stone at the
far end was 'reached by seven shallow steps'; and 'two thousand men,
maybe, could have stood in that place' when no tables and benches
were set out.
It is interesting to observe that the picture in crayon of 'Dunharrow'
in Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien (1979), no. 29, reproduced as second
frontispiece, represents this original conception: the dark cleft to
which the double line of standing stones leads is (as I think) the 'gate
of the Hold', the 'Hold' itself, the 'recess' or 'amphitheatre' with doors
and windows in the cliff at the rear, being in this picture invisible.
Lastly, there is a typescript ('H') typed in the same 'midget type'
as was used for the text 'C' of 'Minas Tirith' (see p. 233); this is only
a little longer than the other, and the two texts are so closely similar in
every respect that I think it certain that they come from the same time
- i.e., this typescript of the present chapter belongs with all this
original material for the opening of 'The Muster of Rohan', composed
before my father again abandoned work on The Lord of the Rings
towards the end of 1944.
It is therefore remarkable that in this typescript (which in other
respects closely followed the previous version F, pp. 244-6) my
father had already abandoned an essential element in the conception
he had devised. No lights now twinkled on the far side of the valley as
the King and his company came into Harrowdale; and after the
description of the Pukelmen (so spelt) at the turns of the climbing road
the text reads thus:
At last the king's company came to a sharp brink, and the
road passed between walls of rock and led out onto a wide
upland. The Firienfeld men called it, a green mountain-field of
grass and heath high above the sheer wall of the valley. Beyond
it was a dark wood that climbed steeply on the sides of a great
round hill; its bare black head rose above the trees far above
and on it stood a single pinnacle of ruined stone. Two long lines
of unshaped stones marched from the brink of the cliff towards
it and vanished in the gloom of the trees. Those who followed
that road came in the sighing darkness of the Firienholt to a
huge doorway in the side of the black hill of Firien,(21) signs and
figures were above it, worn by time, that none could read.
Within were vast caverns, so men said, though in living memory
none had ever dared to enter. Such was the dark Dunharrow,
the work of long-forgotten men.
Then follows the passage cited from text F on p. 246 ('No song or
legend remembered them ...'), which was little further changed in RK
(p. 68); and the typescript breaks off at the words 'As the king climbed
out upon the upland field'.
What was the thought that lay behind this change, whereby 'dark
Dunharrow' was now set within 'the black hill of Firien', a pinnacle of
stone on its bare head, and became, so far from a place of feasting for
the lords of Rohan, a place of fear that no man dared to enter? Perhaps
my father felt that there was too much likeness between Dunharrow as
first conceived and Helm's Deep: 'There are caves in Helm's Deep
where hundreds may lie hid' (TT p. 134), 'Behind us in the caves of the
Deep are three parts of the folk of Westfold... great store of food, and
many beasts and their fodder, have also been gathered there' (TT
p. 136). Perhaps also the idea that Aragorn would pass over the moun-
tains by the Scada Pass, as proposed in the notes E (p. 243), had
already led to a new idea, that his road would lead through Dun-
harrow (cf. the outline V in the next section, p. 262). However this
may be, I believe that it was here that my father laid aside The Lord of
the Rings, at least in the actual written evolution of the narrative, until
a further year and a half had passed.
There remains a further difference to notice in this last text from the
preceding versions. To Theoden's question 'Was it not the full moon
last night?' Eomer now replies: 'Nay, lord, the full moon will rise
tonight four hours after dark. Tomorrow ere evening you shall come
to Edoras and keep tryst with your Riders.'
(iii) Sketches for Book Five.
I give here first (the most convenient place for it) a brief text of especial
interest that stands quite apart from the outlines that follow, those
being of much larger narrative purview and concerned to work out a
coherent chronology for the extremely complex story to come. This
text is found on a single page torn into halves and preserved separately
among the manuscripts of 'The Siege of Gondor' at Marquette
University - the reason for this being that my father later used the
reverse of one half of the torn sheet to draft a revision of the opening
of that chapter; but the original text belongs with the initial work on
Book V studied here, and represents in fact a very early stage in that
work. It is written in rapid pencil and is in places very difficult to make
out, but the first part of it (as far as 'Muster in Minas Tirith') was
overwritten clearly in ink, and so far as I can see my father scarcely
altered the underlying text, his sole purpose being clarification. The
whole page was struck through. At the head is written in pencil '250
miles', which probably refers to the distance from Edoras to Minas
Tirith.
Evil counsels for evil days.
Eomer rides away and the king laments - for the snow is still
deep and the wind over the Scada has been the death of many a
man.
Now it is to be told that King Theoden rested a day in
Dunharrow and rode then to Eodoras and passed thence with
five ? thousand riders, fully armed and horsed, and took the
road to Minas Tirith. Others were to follow.
In ? five days they came within sight of Minas Tirith (Feb.
15?).
Merry's first sight of Minas Tirith from afar.
The plain below the hill covered with camps.
It would be better geographically if the main attack were
made to come from the direction of Kirith Ungol - and the
Swertings only a diversion, which nearly turns the scale.
Muster in Minas Tirith. [Here the overwriting in ink ends.]
People come from Belfalas and Dol Amroth and from the Five
Streams of Lebennin in [?Anarion].(22) [?There came] Inram the
tall from the vale of .........(23) and Nosdiligand (24) and the
people of the Delta and Benrodir prince of [?Anarion], and the
remnants of the folk of [?Ithilien] across the [??vale], and .....
from Rhovanion ..... men of the East,(25) and Rangers from
the empty North, and even some of the folk of Dunland. [Written
against this passage in the margin: King of Rohan Men of
Rohan come after the assembly. Only Aragorn rode .. to it.]
And the counsel of Denethor was to retake the Fords [of
Osgiliath] and drive back the Orcs. So they sounded their
trumpets and flew the red banner from the tower and rode to
meet the enemy. And the enemy could not withstand the swords
of Gondor, and before the sword of Elendil they fled like ...
But Gandalf stood on the hill and [?watched afar]. Then comes
the fleet of the Swertings [> Harns] up from the Delta and the
Swertings come up through Ithilien.
They watch for the men of Rohan who [?are late]. Men of
Rohan camp nearby and charge in the morning. Then the
Nazgul come
Here the text stops abruptly. In its opening ('Eomer rides away ...')
it is closely associated with a passage in the notes E in the preceding
section, where is found the only other reference to the Scada Pass,
leading over the mountains to the Blackroot Vale on their southern
side (see pp. 243-4): 'Aragorn [in margin: Eomer?] begs leave to take
a force over the Scada Pass and fall on the enemy's rear.' Thus the
present text, where it is Eomer who takes this road, preceded - in this
opening passage - the definitive emergence of the story that it was
Aragorn who 'went with his rangers over the mountains' (see outline
III on p. 260) or 'passed into the mountains with his Rangers' (see
outline V on p. 262). On the other hand, in this earliest form of the
'catalogue'(26) of the peoples of Southern Gondor mustering in Minas
Tirith mention is also made of men of Rhovanion, and Dunlanders,
and 'Rangers from the empty North' coming into the city; whereas in
the notes E (p. 242) it is to Dunharrow, not to Minas Tirith, that
'Rangers have come and Dunlanders and messengers from the Wood-
men of Mirkwood' (and similarly in Aragorn's account to Theoden at
Dunharrow in the text F, p. 247: 'There are Dunlanders here, and
some even of the Woodmen from the borders of Mirkwood ...').
The present text seems then evidence of a fleeting stage in which
certain important narrative ideas had emerged, but when their poten-
tial significance for the whole structure of Book V had not yet been
realised. From the host mustering at Dunharrow, intending to ride to
Minas Tirith by the Anorien road, a detachment is separated and
passes over the mountains in order to come down swiftly into
Southern Gondor (and this is above all on account of news of the
great fleet approaching from the South, whose coming had long been
foreseen, and which seems to have been originally the chief menace
in the assault on Minas Tirith: see VII.435, 437). And Rangers
come out of the North. These elements were of course essential to the
story of 'the Grey Company' and all that flowed from it. But those
who leave the main host of the Rohirrim are here led by Eomer, not
Aragorn; and the Rangers come not to Dunharrow, but to Minas
Tirith.
But if this is so, the stage was certainly fleeting. Apparently, even as
he wrote this brief text my father began to move in a new direction.
The Orcs before the city 'fled before the sword of Elendil' - and that
can only mean that it was Aragorn who came over the mountains and
so reached Minas Tirith before the main host out of Rohan. The
marginal note ('Men of Rohan come after the assembly. Only Aragorn
rode ... to it', where the illegible word might be 'in' but does not
look like it) was obviously written concurrently with the passage that
it adjoins, since in the sketch of the war that then follows the Men of
Rohan are obviously not present at the 'assembly' at Minas Tirith.
In the conclusion of the text there seems to be no suggestion that the
city was laid under siege. Of course it is very easy to misinterpret these
allusive and elliptical outlines, in which my father would pick out
salient 'moments' and pass over others equally essential to the
narrative in silence; but although 'the siege of Minas Tirith by the
Haradwaith' is mentioned in 'The Story Foreseen from Fangorn'
(VII.437) I think that no siege is mentioned here because none existed,
or at any rate not in a form significant for the narrative. The force of
his remark 'It would be better geographically if the main attack were
made to come from the direction of Kirith Ungol - and the Swertings
only a diversion, which nearly turns the scale' must surely be that he
had supposed hitherto that in the strategy of the Enemy the attack
from the South was to be the major blow against the city. In the sketch
of events given here the attack out of Mordor is repulsed with rapid
victory by the forces riding out of Minas Tirith (which included
Aragorn); but Gandalf 'stood on the hill' (of the city) and (if I read the
words aright) 'watched afar': 'then comes the fleet of the Harns up
from the Delta and the Swertings come up through Ithilien' - and
'nearly turn the scale'. And so here, where (so far as record goes) the
charge of the Rohirrim in the morning first appeared, it is against the
attack from the South that the horsemen ride. If the city had been in
anything like a state of siege, it was surely besieged no longer when
they came.
Of the names that appear in this text, Eodoras can be no more than
a casual reversion to the earlier form. On Anarion (?) see note 22. The
reference to 'the Five Streams of Lebennin' is remarkable, since in the
first full text of the chapter 'Minas Tirith', deriving from the period of
renewed work on Book V in 1946, Lebennin is still 'the Land of Seven
Rivers' (see p. 278). So far as I know, neither Harns (presumably =
Haradwaith, Haradrim), nor the names of the rulers in Southern
Gondor, Inram the tall of the Morthond Vale (? - see note 23),
Benrodir prince of Anarion (?), Nosdiligand of the people of the Delta,
ever appear again.
There are half a dozen outlines sketching out the content of 'Book
Five and Last' - at this stage my father was determined that The Lord
of the Rings should extend to one further 'part' only: as he wrote to
Stanley Unwin in March 1945 (Letters no. 98): 'It is divided into Five
Parts, of 10-12 chapters each (!). Four are completed and the last
begun.' It is not easy to determine the order in which these outlines
were written down, and though the sequence in which I give them
seems to me probable other arrangements are possible. There is
however fairly clear evidence that all belong with the abandoned
openings of 'Minas Tirith' and 'The Muster of Rohan' in October
1944.
The outline that I give first, numbering it 'I', obviously belongs to
the earlier time, in view of the date of Gandalf's arrival at Minas
Tirith: 'Feb 5 or 6' (see the Note on Chronology at the end of this
chapter); and the date February 8 of Theoden's arrival at Dunharrow
appears to agree with the third version C and the fifth version F of the
opening of 'The Muster of Rohan' (ibid.). A part of this text, all of it
originally written in pencil, was overwritten in ink, but the part that
was not is here and there altogether illegible.
(I) Book V
Gandalf comes with Pippin to Minas Tirith. Feb 5 or 6 [later
> 6].
Faramir. The allies come in. Urgent messages are sent to Theoden.
(Messages (27) must bid Rohirrim assemble at Edoras as soon as
may be after the Full Moon of Feb. 6. Theoden reaches Dunharrow
Feb. 8. Edoras Feb. 10...)(28)
Denethor only willing to hold his walls. Knowing war drawing
near he has long sent out summons to allies. They are coming in. But
the messengers to Theoden, his chief ally, have not returned yet.
Gandalf tells of Theoden's war. Gandalf and Pippin on battlements.
See shadow as Nazgul sweep over river. Faramir comes on night of
Feb. [7 >)8. At same time [> Next day) comes news of war at
Osgiliath. Orcs led by Nazgul have crossed river. Fleet from Umbar
is approaching mouths of Anduin.
Faramir supports Gandalf's policy of attack by sortie on the
plain. The first battle. The mountaineers drive the orcs back and
burn ships. But orcs [?win through]. Nazgul. Minas Tirith forces
driven back. Still Gandalf .... [?on] the battlements.
Theoden leaves Edoras Feb. 11 with Eomer and Eowyn. Ents
drive off the attack in north of Rohan. They drive back orcs out of
west [?Anorien] and [struck out: Feb. 15 Last Quarter.] Reach
battle Feb. 15.(29) Siege relieved by the Rohirrim and the allies of
Lebennin. Gandalf comes forth and the enemy driven off. Theoden
slain and Eowyn slays the King of the Nazgul and is mortally
wounded. They lie in state in the white tower.(30) Gandalf .....
[?Aragorn]. Cross the River at Osgiliath. Elves and Ents drive Orcs
back. They reach Minas Morgul and press on to Dagorlad. Parley
with Sauron.
Another outline, 'II', gives a brief, and increasingly brief, pencilled
synopsis of each of the ten chapters that were to constitute Book V and
complete The Lord of the Rings.
(II) Bk. V
1. Gandalf goes to Minas Tirith. Mustering of forces. War
breaks out. Gondor driven back. No sign of Riders.
2. Theoden comes to Dunharrow. Beacons. Messengers a."rive
from Minas Tirith. Also from far afield reporting orcs across the
river in Wold.
Theoden rides on the evening of Feb. 8.(31) Eowyn goes with him.
Gamling is left in command in Westfold. The old seneschal of
Edoras in Eastfold (Dunharrow).
Aragorn and Eomer ride to beat off orcs. They come back and
rejoin main body reporting that Ents and Lorien Elves have driven
back the north thrust. They ride to Minas Tirith.
3. Charge of the Riders of Rohan breaks siege. Death of Theoden
and Eowyn in killing the Nazgul King. Gondor destroys ships of
Harad and crosses into Ithilien.
4. Sack of Minas Morgul. Victorious Gandalf [?pursues] on to
Dagorlad. Elves of Lorien and Ents come from North. Parley with
Mor ..(32) Sauron's messenger.
5. Frodo from high tower sees the coming of the hosts of the
West and the great assembly of secret army of Sauron.(34)
Rescue of Frodo by Sam.
[?This army) goes out, as he and Sam pass into Gorgor all is still
and empty and the noise of the war is far away.
Gandalf is ambushed in Kirith Ungol and comes to edge of defeat.
6. Destruction of the Ring. Fall of Baraddur. Allies enter Mor-
dor. Rescue of Frodo by Eagle.
7. Return to Gondor. Crowning of Aragorn. Funeral of Theoden
and Eowyn.
The Hobbits depart north. [Struck out: Pass Lorien and)
Fall of Sauron.
Galadriel's land ruined.(34)
8. Rivendell.
9. Shire.
10. Epilogue. Sam's book.
There is no clear indication in this synopsis or in synopsis I that
Aragorn entered Gondor by a different route (indeed in II, 5 2 the
reverse seems to be implied).
This page carries also two notes deriving from the same time as the
synopsis by chapters. One of these reads:
Gandalf keeps back, not to reveal himself. As the siege grows and
the armies of Gondor are pressed back he looks in the Palantir. He
catches sight of Frodo in tower and then Sauron cuts in. Gandalf
gives a great shout and hurls the Stone from the battlements. It slays
? a captain. Gandalf is now revealed. He rides forth. Nazgul come.
[?Host] comes out of Dagorlad.
Above the third sentence is written: 'Sauron holding the coat'. - With
this note cf. the words 'Episode of the Palantir and Gandalf' in outline
A for 'Minas Tirith', p. 231. This is the original germ of the story of
Denethor and the Palantir of the White Tower, and also perhaps of
that of the revelation of Aragorn to Sauron in the Hornburg.
The second of these notes is as follows:
The Firien (Firgen) [added: or the Halifirien] is a hill surrounded by
a dark pinewood (the Firienholt). In it is a great cave, the Dun-
. harrow. No one has ever been in the cave. It is said to be a haliern,(35)
and to contain some ancient relic of old days before the Dark. ?
It is 22 miles up Harrowdale from Edoras.
This statement clearly agrees with the idea of Dunharrow that entered
in the typescript H (p. 251), where the hill, clothed in a dark wood but
with bare head, is named Firien and the wood Firienholt; and where it
is told that 'in living memory none had ever dared to enter' Dun-
harrow. Perhaps this synopsis II and accompanying notes immediately
preceded H.(36) The addition 'or the Halifirien' is not obviously later
than the rest of this note on Dunharrow; it was presumably rejected at
once, for in the companion typescript C of 'Minas Tirith' the names of
all the beacons are in the final form, ending with 'the Halifirien on the
borders of Rohan' (p. 233).
On the same piece of paper as synopsis II is a small sketch-map very
hastily drawn in ink; this is reproduced on p. 258. At the top is Edoras
at the entrance to the long valley of Harrowdale, through which flows
the Snowbourn, rising in the Starkhorn at the head of the valley. The
distance from the Starkhorn to Edoras is marked as 75 miles; on
the First Map (IV(E), VII.319), where the valley runs south-west, the
distance between Edoras and the mountain against which is written
'Dunharrow' is also 75 miles.(37) About half-way up the valley the path
taken by Theoden and the Riders, following the course of the
mountain-stream, is seen descending into Harrowdale from the west;
this path crosses the stream before it joins the Snowbourn (whereas in
all early versions of the opening of 'The Muster of Rohan', including
(Harrowdale.)
the typescript H, the stone bridge is over the Snowbourn itself), and
turns north towards Edoras, ending at a place marked by a small circle
but without a name. The circle is enclosed within two lines forming an
oval shape. It can be seen in the original that the lower line is the
course of the Snowbourn as first drawn, and that the upper line was
put in with a subsequent stroke. However these markings, and the
detached crescent line above them, are to be interpreted, there can be
no doubt that this is the site of Dunharrow; both from the fact that the
path leads to it, and from the statement in the time-scheme D (p. 141):
'Theoden comes out of west into Harrowdale some miles ahove
Dunharrow, and comes to Dunharrow before nightfall'
As regards the distances, if the Starkhorn is 75 miles from Edoras,
then Dunharrow on this map is considerably less than 22 miles from
Edoras (as stated in the note on the same page, cited above), indeed
scarcely more than half as far; but perhaps the discrepancy can be
accounted for by supposing that it was 22 miles on foot by a winding
track, whereas the 75 miles is shown as a linear distance between two
points.
An explanation of this curious stage in the evolution of the
geography of Harrowdale can be found by combining the evidence of
synopsis II, the time-scheme D, and the narrative opening of 'The
Muster of Rohan' in the typescript H. Abandoning the idea that
Dunharrow was a cavernous hold opening onto the green mountain-
field that was called the Lap of Starkhorn (p. 245), and that within it
there was a huge feasting-hall, to be used that very night to celebrate
the King's return, my father at the same time moved its site far down
the valley towards Edoras, and made it a cave or caves in a hill
('Firien') some 50 miles or so from the Starkhorn.
A third outline ('III') also sets out a scheme for Book V by chapters,
but does not proceed very far.
(III) Book V.
Ch. 1. Gandalf and Pippin reach Minas Tirith (Feb. 6 morning).
They see Denethor. Reasons for the beacons: (a) news from scouts
in Ithilien. (b) news reached Denethor on Feb. 5 that fleets of
Southrons had set sail. Gondor musters its forces. Pippin sees full
moon rising and wonders where Frodo is. No sign of Rohan.
2. Theoden comes to Dunharrow. Pukel men. (Feb. 6 [> 5)).
Beacons and messengers [added: morning 6]. Tidings of orc-
invasions of Wold. Theoden rides out on night of Feb. 8 [> 6].
Eomer and Eowyn ride with him. Gamling is left in command in
Westfold. The old seneschal of Edoras in Eastfold. [Aragorn and
Eomer ride north to beat off orcs. They come back >] Eomer rides
north to beat off orcs. He comes back and rejoins main body,
reporting that Ents and Lorien Elves have destroyed the northern
diversion. They all ride to Minas Tirith. Where is Aragorn? He went
with his rangers over the mountains.
3. Great Darkness. Faramir returns (8). Host of Morghul crosses
River (9). Southron fleets assail the south of Gondor (10 [) 9]).
Gondor defeated and besieged (10 [> 9]). Gandalf in White Tower
does not yet reveal his power or ...... [?name].
Final assault on Minas Tirith [added: [11 >] 10 night]. Nazgul
appear. Pelennor wall is taken. Sudden charge of Rohan breaks
siege. Theoden and Eowyn destroy Nazgul and Theoden falls
[struck oat: Feb. 12]. Aragorn arrives (having crossed the moun-
tains with his rangers, he drove off the Southrons). Aragorn enters
Minas Tirith and meets Denethor and Faramir.
4. [Added: 12] Gandalf and Aragorn and Eomer and Faramir
defeat Mordor. Cross into Ithilien. Ents arrive and Elves out of
North. Faramir invests Morghul and main force comes to Moran-
non. Parley.
A suggestion that Aragorn should cross the mountains into Gondor is
found in the notes E on p. 243; in these notes is found also the first
mention of the coming of Rangers from the North, referred to also in
the narratives F and G (pp. 247, 249). The Pukel-men entered in F
(p. 245), where they are called Hoker-men, Hocker-men; in G they
are Pookel-men (p. 248), and in typescript H Pukelmen (p. 251).
The text that I give next, 'IV', is reproduced on p. 261. This is a very
battered page (38) of great interest, since it carries what is undoubtedly
the earliest drawing of Minas Tirith, around which is written an
outline in faint pencil. The line that runs up to the right of the White
Tower indicates the mountain behind the city, with the name Mindol-
luin written across the summit. Whether my father already conceived
the 'Hill of Guard' to be joined to the mountain mass by a shoulder
cannot be said.
The outline reads as follows (with contractions expanded and some
punctuation added):
(IV) Gandalf and Pippin reach Minas Tirith dawn. Description of
Minas Tirith and its huge 'cyclopean' concentric walls - it is in
fact a fort and town the size of a small mountain. It has 7 circles
with 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 gates before the White Tower is
reached.
They are challenged on the borders of the Cityland,
Pelennor,(39) about which ruins of an old wall ran. Gandalf
[?carries messages] from Rohan and speaks some pass[?word]
and they let him by in wonder. So he rides up to the 6th court
and dismounts. There Pippin is re..... They pass into High
City (Taurost) and so come before Denethor who at first does
not recognize Gandalf.
(The earliest sketch of Minas Tirith.)
Denethor comes out to his [? throne]. News. Denethor has lit
the beacons because what his spies tell. Faramir. Boromir.
Throne empty. Denethor has seat in front. He comes in after
Gandalf arrives. He has a secret letter from Faramir (telling of
Boromir's death and meeting with Frodo, but not overtly
mentioning Ring).
This seems to have been my father's first setting down on paper of his
conception of Minas Tirith.
The next two outlines ('V' and 'VI') were developed from III, and
are very closely related: they were certainly written at the same time.
From the rejected sentence in VI 'He has a secret' it is seen that my
father had IV in front of him, for in that text appears 'He has a secret
letter from Faramir'. The rejected reference in V to 'Dunharrow under
the Halifirien' relates this outline to the note on Dunharrow in II (see
p. 257). There is thus good reason to think that V and VI derive from
1944 rather than 1946, and it is notable that in V appears the first
glimpse of the story that would emerge as the passage of the Paths of
the Dead.
(V) Book V.
Gandalf and Pippin ride to Minas Tirith (3-4, 4-5 arriving
at sunrise on 6). Interview with Denethor - reasons for the
beacons: a great fleet from south is approaching mouths of
Anduin. Also messages from secret scouts in Ithilien report that
'storm is about to burst'.
Muster of Gondor (Forlong the Fat etc.). Pippin on the battle-
ments sees the full moon; and thinks of Frodo.
Theoden reaches Dunharrow [struck out: under the Hali-
firien] (Feb. 5 evening). Pukel-men. They find muster already
begun and not at Edoras. Rangers have come! Gandalf had been
at Edoras and issued orders: Nazgul crossed the plain (3-4 and
on 4). Beacons are reported that night. Messengers arrive in
morning. Theoden prepares to ride. Gamling in charge at
Helm's Deep. Galdor the old seneschal (40) of Edoras in Eastfold.
Eowyn rides with Eomer and Theoden.
Theoden sets out at nightfall (6). At Edoras they hear tidings
of invasion of Wold. ? Eomer rides off north but rejoins main
host later with news that the Ents have come out of Fangorn
and destroyed this N. diversion. They pass on at all speed into
Anorien.
Aragorn is not there. He had fallen into converse with the
messengers of Gondor and getting guides from the men of
Harrowdale had passed into the mountains with his Rangers.
Great darkness over land (Feb. 8). Faramir comes. Host of
Morghul crosses Great River at Osgiliath (night of 8) and assails
Gondor (9). At same time S[outhron] fleets come up the Great
River and send a host into Lebennin, while another host from
Morannon crosses River to north on a boat-bridge and links
with the Morghul-host. Gondor is defeated in night battle 9-10.
Gandalf in White Tower does not yet reveal himself. [In margin:
Gandalf looks in Palantir?] Black hosts gather about the wall of
Pelennor. Morning of 10 Nazgul are seen: men fly. At sunrise on
10 there is a sound of horns. Charge of Rohan. Rout of the
enemy. [Scribbled in margin: Eomer wounded.] Theoden is slain
by Nazgul; but he is unhorsed (41) and the enemy is routed.
[Added: Gandalf leads charge in white.] Theoden is laid in state
in tomb of kings. [Struck out: Great grief of Merry. Meeting of
Merry and Pippin.]
[Added: News comes that fleet is coming up River......]
News comes from South that a great king has descended out of
the mountains where he had been entombed, and set such a
flame into men that the mountaineers (where the purer blood of
Gondor lingered?) and the folk of Lebennin have utterly routed
the Southrons, and burned [> taken] their ships. The fleet
sailing up the River is an ally! Aragorn reaches Osgiliath by ship
like a great king of old. (Frodo's vision?)(42) Meeting of Gandalf
and Aragorn and Faramir at Osgiliath evening of 10.
Closely related to outline V is the following text ('VI'), which I incline
to think was written second.
(VI) Gandalf and Pippin ride to Minas Tirith (3-4, 4 - 5, 5-6) arriv-
ing at the Outer Wall of Pelennor at daybreak and seeing sunrise
on the White Tower on morning of Feb. 6. On night of 5-6 they
see the beacons flare up, and are passed by messengers riding to
Rohan. Pippin sees moonrise about 9 p.m.
Description of Minas Tirith and its 7 concentric walls and
gates. Gandalf and Pippin come into the presence of Denethor.
Empty throne. Denethor has a seat in front. [Struck oat: He has
a secret] They exchange news. Reasons of Beacons: news of
scouts in Ithilien that 'storm is coming'; Southrons are marching
in; most of all - a great fleet from South is approaching the
mouths of Anduin. Muster of Rohan [read Gondor) is going
apace- catalogue.
(7) Great Darkness spreads from East. Faramir returns.
Pippin on the battlements.
Theoden reaches Dunharrow (5 evening). Merry sees Pukel-
men. They find Muster has already begun, owing to special
instructions by Gandalf, who had stayed at Edoras on 4 and
owing to passage of Nazgul. Rangers have come! [Struck out:
Aragorn and Eomer already there?] That night the beacon lights
are reported. In morning messengers arrive from Gondor.
Theoden gets ready to ride. Eowyn and Eomer go with him.
[Struck out: But Aragorn (after secret converse with Aragorn
takes Merry]
Here outline VI ends, but the lower half of the page is taken up by a
map, which is redrawn in part and discussed in a note at the end of this
chapter.
NOTES.
1. The illegible word might be already, in which case my father
omitted the words been riding. The word I have given as four
might be read as fire.
2. The words by nightfall tonight are perfectly plain, but my father
must have intended something else, since it was now several
hours after nightfall. In the outlines V and VI (pp. 262-3) the
messengers from Minas Tirith reach Edoras the following morn-
ing (6 February).
3. As in text B, the moon rises 'round and full out of the eastern
shadows' ('now almost at the full,' RK). - At this stage the
beacons were fired on the last night of Gandalf's ride; in the final
form it was on the night preceding the last (the journey taking
four nights), and so when Pippin woke in the dawn beside the
wall of the Pelennor 'Another day of hiding and a night of
journey had fleeted by' (RK p. 20). This sentence was added to
the text of the chapter much later.
4. Possibly this means 'longer than the time that they had in fact
taken'.
5. Here and subsequently, and again in text B, the river's name is
written Snowborn, but at two of the occurrences in A the u was
inserted.
6. At this point my father drew in the text a very simple little sketch
of the 'upland field' set into the mountain's side, essentially the
same as the lower of the two sketches on the page reproduced on
p. 239, but without the falling stream.
7. My father first wrote 'ale of Hama', i.e. his 'funeral-ale', funeral
feast (cf. bridal from bride-ale, marriage feast). He changed this
to ... ale of Hama, intending some compound term of the same
sense, but I cannot decipher it.
8. This is a reference to Theoden's words to Merry and Pippin at the
end of 'The Road to Isengard': 'May we meet again in my house!
There you shall sit beside me ...'
9. This contradicts the statement a few lines above that 'Eowyn
comes forth and greets Theoden and Aragorn.' The story that
Aragorn (with Legolas and Gimli) had gone on ahead and
reached Dunharrow before Theoden is not present in text B,
which undoubtedly followed A; it appears however in the
time-schemes C and D (pp. 140-1).
10. Halbarad first appeared in The Lord of the Rings as the name of
Shadowfax: see VII.152, 390.
11. The Sea of Nurnen, the Nargil Pass, and the River Harnen all
appear on the First Map (Map III, VII.309). - The text ends with
a reference to Umbar that I cannot decipher.
12. Eowyn was struck out, and wine! written in the margin; which I
take to mean that Eowyn was not seated, for she bore the wine.
13. The queries might mean that my father was uncertain of the
correctness of his interpretation of the pencilled forms (in the one
case it might be Umbor or Umbar; in the other the second vowel
of Nargil, Nargul cannot now be read under the ink overlay). But
this does not seem very likely. Both these names appear in text A
(p. 237), where Nargil is clear, though Umbar could be read as
Umbor. Umbar and Haven of Umbar appear on the First Map
(VII.309) and on the map that I made in 1943; and on the latter
the pass through the southern mountains of Mordor is named
Nargil (on the First Map the name was pencilled in roughly and is
hard to read, but was apparently Narghil, VII.310).
14. As originally drawn, a pass over the mountains in this region is
clearly defined on the First Map: see Map IV", square P11
(VII.314), connecting to Map III, square Q 11 (VII.309). Here the
Blackroot rises in an oval lake. With the superimposed portion
Map IV(D-E) (VII.319) the connections become unclear, especially
since a different convention was used in the representation of the
mountains, but at any rate there is no clear indication of a pass.
The 1943 map retains the oval lake and the broad pass, but its
relation to the First Map is here difficult to interpret (VII.320).
Possibly it was to this feature that my father referred in his note
on that map (VII.321 note 1): The White Mountains are not in
accord with the story'. On late maps, as is to be expected, no pass
breaks the line of the mountains.
15. In the Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings (A Tolkien
Compass, ed. Lobdell, p. 200) my father noted of the name
Pukel-men: 'It represents Old English pucel (still surviving as
puckle), one of the forms of the puk- stem (widespread in
England, Wales, Ireland, Norway and Iceland) referring to a
devil, or to a minor sprite such as Puck, and often applied to ugly
misshapen persons.'
16. In place of this, RK has: '... a winding line of Riders crossing the
ford and filing along the road towards the camp prepared for
them. Only the king and his guard were going up into the Hold.'
17. RK has here: 'Such was the dark Dunharrow, the work of
long-forgotten men'; cf. text H, p. 251.
18. At this point my father's writing suddenly becomes very much
more rapid and rough.
19. Cf. 'The King of the Golden Hall' in VII.447, where Aragorn
says: 'If I live, I will come, Lady Eowyn, and then maybe we will
ride together.'
20. I think that Eowyn's naming her father Eothain is most likely to
be a mere slip, for Eomund father of Eomer and Eowyn was
established (VII.393 etc.), and Eothain was the name of Eomer's
squire (VII.400-2); but see further p. 350 and note 13. In LR
Appendix A (II) it is said that Eomund, chief Marshal of the
Mark, was slain in the year 3002 in pursuit of Orcs on the
borders of the Emyn Muil.
21. Old English fyrgen, firgen 'mountain', the word fyrgen-holt
'mountain-wood' occurs in Beowulf, line 1393. - Afterwards,
when the Firien had become the Dwimorberg and the Firienholt
the Dimholt, the Firienfeld remained (RK p. 67).
22. This name undoubtedly begins with An, and the word preceding
it is almost certainly 'in'; equally certainly it is this same name
that appears below, as the land of the prince Benrodir. The
remaining letters of the name are uninterpretable as they stand,
but their vague shapes do not exclude 'Anarion', and this name,
found on the First Map (VII.309) of the region south of Minas
Tirith, appears in the notes E on p. 243: 'A fleet has put out...
and sailed up the Anduin and reached Anarion' (see further
p. 244).
23. This lacuna is where the page is torn across, cutting through a
line of text. It might perhaps be read, but very uncertainly, as
'from the vale of Morthond and his ... sons, dark-haired,
grey-eyed'.
24. Nosdiligand: the second and third letters of this name are not
perfectly clear, but can hardly be other than os. Without striking
through the first syllable my father wrote another form above,
apparently Northiligand.
25. The illegible words might just possibly be 'fugitives' and 'repre-
senting'.
26. My father called it a 'catalogue': pp. 229, 263.
27. These messages, distinct of course from those just referred to,
must have been sent from Isengard or Helm's Deep.
28. The illegible word might possibly be 'morn(ing)'.
29. It is not clear whether 'Reach battle Feb. 15' refers to the Ents or
to the Rohirrim; but in any case the Ents were certainly present
after the siege of Minas Tirith was relieved ('Elves and Ents drive
Orcs back'; cf. also outline II $4 'Elves of Lorien and Ents come
from North', and similarly outline III $4). Thus the original idea
that 'tree-giants' (see VI.410), or Treebeard (see VII.211, 214),
played a part in the breaking of the siege survived at least in the
idea that Ents were present in the last stage of the war in the
South, though this would never receive narrative form. See
further pp. 343, 345-6, 361.
30. Cf. the notes given in VII.448: 'Probably Eowyn should die to
avenge or save Theoden.' These notes contain also the suggestion
that the mutual love of Eowyn and Aragorn should be removed.
31. This is the date given in the time-scheme D (p. 182); see the Note
on Chronology following.
32. The last two letters of this name might be read as du, sc. Mordu.
33. With this cf. the outline 'The Story Foreseen from Fangorn'
(VII.438): 'Then return to Frodo. Make him look out into
impenetrable night. Then use phial ... By its light he sees the
forces of deliverance approach and the dark host go out to meet
them'; also p. 230 in this book.
34. Cf. the outline given in VII.448: 'They pass by round Lorien'
(on the homeward journey), with the later addition (VII.451
note 18): 'No. They learn (in Rivendell?) that Nazgul razed
Lorien ...'
35. Old English haliern (halig-ern or -aern) 'holy place, sanctuary'.
Cf. my father's note on Dunharrow in the Guide to the Names in
The Lord of the Rings (A Tolkien Compass, ed. Lobdell, p. 183):
'Dunharrow. A modernisation of Rohan Dunhaerg "the heathen
fane on the hillside", so-called because this refuge of the Rohir-
rim at the head of Harrowdale was on the site of a sacred place of
the old inhabitants (now the Dead Men). The element haerg can
be modernised in English because it remains an element in
place-names, notably Harrow (on the Hill).'
36. Outline II was written on the same thin yellowish paper as was
used for text H of 'The Muster of Rohan' and text C of 'Minas
Tirith' (the two pages in the 'midget type'). This paper was also
used for the time-schemes C, D, and S. See note 38.
37. On my father's later large-scale map of Rohan, Gondor and
Mordor (on which my map published in RK was based) the
distance from Edoras to Dunharrow (at the head of Harrowdale)
is 16 miles and from Edoras to the Starkhorn 19 miles.
38. Outline IV was written on the same paper as that referred to in
note 36.
39. Pelennor: see p. 277.
40. Galdor was preceded by Ealdor.
41. In outlines I, II and III it is said that Theoden and Eowyn (who is
not mentioned here) 'slew' or 'killed' or 'destroyed' the King of
the Nazgul.
42. Frodo's vision of a ship with black sails and a banner bearing the
emblem of a white tree (FR p. 379) was added afterwards to the
text of 'The Mirror of Galadriel'.
Note on the map accompanying outline VI.
This map, drawn fairly rapidly in pencil (with the rivers in blue
crayon), covers the White Mountains and the lands to the south of
them; it is laid out like the First Map in squares of 2 cm. side. In
my redrawing I have numbered the uppermost horizontal line of
squares 09-14 according to the First Map, although there is some
discrepancy, and continued this numbering throughout, where the
discrepancy becomes much greater. This is done deliberately in order
to emphasize the curiously anomalous nature of this map among my
father's later maps to The Lord of the Rings. Comparison with the
First Map (VII.309, 319) and those published in LR will show
substantial shifts in the geographical relations: thus Ethir Anduin is
further to the east, directly south of Rauros, and the Havens of Umbar
are shown as much less far to the south, and east of Tolfalas. On no
other map is this so.
I strongly suspect that (for whatever reason) my father made this
map from memory, and that it played no further part in the
geographical evolution; and I think that its starting-point and primary
purpose was to depict the region (pencilled more heavily than other
parts of the map) between Harrowdale and the source of Morthond:
with the emergence of the story that Aragorn passed through the
Mountains into Gondor the map of The Lord of the Rings needed to
be altered to show that there was no pass in this region (see note 14
above). It will be seen that the southern rivers have been substantially
changed, though by no means reaching the final form: Morthond of
the First Map is now named Ringlo, while the new Morthond flows
east into the delta of Anduin. Erech is marked, south of the rising of
Morthond, as is also Pelargir on Anduin (neither of which is men-
tioned in any of these outlines).(*) Harrowdale is shown running
south-east, as on the little map reproduced on p. 258.
The map as squared out on the page extended through five vertical
lines of squares east of Osgiliath (cf. VII.309), but these were
apparently left blank. Subsequently my father attached a moveable
portion covering O13 - 14, P13-15, and at the same time very roughly
drew in the outlines of the mountains encircling Mordor, which here
form more nearly a complete wall on the east than on any other map.
The Dark Tower is shown as standing on a 'peninsula' thrust out
southwards from the Ash Mountains, with Mount Doom to the
north-west of it, very much as on the Second Map as originally drawn,
(* Pelargir was first placed at the top of the delta of Anduin. On the First
Map (VII.309) a pencilled dot within a circle was placed beside Anduin at the
point where rivers flow in from east and west on R13: this is obviously
Pelargir, and was no doubt entered at this time. Another pencilled dot within a
circle was put in to the east of the original Morthond on First Map Q12 (just to
the right of the i of Enedwaith), and this is evidently Erech.)
(The White Mountains and South Gondor.)
pp. 435, 438. I have not attempted to redraw this added portion, for
the pass into Mordor (here called Kirith Gorgor) was apparently
moved eastwards from the position in which it was first drawn,
resulting in a confusion of lines that I cannot interpret; and Osgiliath
was now moved a good way to the north, so that it lies north-east of
Minas Tirith (as is shown on the Second Map, p. 434, and on my large-
scale map of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor published in RK, but not on
my general map accompanying LR). On this attached portion the
Dead Marshes are named, but not the Nomenlands; the rapids in
Anduin are still called Sarn Ruin. The course of Anduin below Rauros
was changed on the new P14 to flow as it does on the First Map (see
VII.319) in a wide easterly curve, not in a straight line south-east (and
thus the mouths of Entwash had to be shifted to the east). This
supports my suggestion that the present map was drawn from
memory: in this one area it was corrected by reference to the First
Map.
Note on the Chronology.
(i) Pippin and Frodo see the Full Moon.
It would be interesting to know just what was the 'most awkward
error in the synchronization... of movements of Frodo and the others'
that arrested the progress of The Lord of the Rings in October 1944
(see p. 234). It seems to me most likely to have been their relative
'positions' at the time of the Full Moon on 6 February.
I think it is clear that the time-schemes C, D, and S belong with the
work set out in this chapter, and indeed that they were closely associ-
ated with the chronological problem that my father had encountered:
see pp. 141 - 2, 234 - 5. In scheme C (p. 140) Gandalf and Pippin came
to Minas Tirith at sunset on Feb. 5. They had left Dol Baran on the
night of Feb. 3-4, passed Feb. 4 'in hiding' (presumably at Edoras),
ridden through the night of Feb. 4 - 5, and then after a short rest had
'abandoned secrecy' and ridden all through the next day (Feb. 5) to
reach the city at sunset. It seems likely that the original brief narrative
opening (A) of 'Minas Tirith', in which as they rode 'still the world of
grey and green rushed by and the sun rose and sank', was associated
with this scheme, and that it was abandoned because my father
decided that Gandalf did not in fact ride by day (see pp. 231 - 2). In the
pencilled continuation of that opening (p. 231) the new story had
entered: it is night, two days since Pippin 'saw the sun glinting on the
roof of the king's great house', and the 'third riding', thus the night of
Feb. 5 - 6. They see the beacons and the westbound messengers, but the
moon is not mentioned; and it is obvious that in this story they will
arrive at the wall of the Pelennor in the morning (Feb. 6). This is the
story in scheme D (p. 141), except that there the beacons and the
messengers are seen on the second night of the ride (Feb. 4 - 5). In that
scheme the Full Moon 'rises about 9.20 p.m. and sets about 6.30 a.m.
on Feb. 7. Gandalf rides all night of 5 - 6 and sights Minas Tirith at
dawn on 6th.'
It was a datum of Frodo's journey that he came before the Black
Gate at dawn of Feb. 5, leaving at nightfall; and he was in Ithilien (the
episode of the stewed rabbit) and was taken by Faramir to Henneth
Annun on Feb. 6 (the night of Full Moon, which Frodo saw in the
small hours of Feb. 7 setting over Mindolluin). In my father's letter of
16 October 1944 he said that among the alterations made to resolve
'the dislocated chronology' he had increased the journey from the
Morannon by a day; this alteration was made to scheme D, and was
present in scheme S as first written (see pp. 141-2). But the alteration
was made by pushing Frodo's journey back by a day, so that he came
before the Morannon on Feb. 4; he still comes to Henneth Annun on
the 6th. Therefore, when he looked out from the Window of the West
and saw the moon setting, Gandalf and Pippin were already in Minas
Tirith; the time-schemes are explicit (and it was presumably on this
basis that in outline III, p. 259, Pippin in Minas Tirith on the evening
of the 6th 'sees the full moon rising and wonders where Frodo is';
similarly in outline V, p. 262, and also in the outline given in the next
chapter, p. 276).
In the second draft (B) of the opening of 'Minas Tirith' (p. 232)
Pippin on the night of Feb. 5( - 6) saw the full moon rising out of the
eastern shadows as he rode with Gandalf; and in the third draft (C, in
'midget type', p. 233) Pippin wonders where Frodo might be, 'little
thinking that Frodo on that same night saw from afar the white snows
under the moon.' Surely my father's intention here was to relate
Pippin's thought to Frodo's at Henneth Annun (as in RK); but there
was a day out. Was this the chronological problem?
On the face of it, apparently not; for the modifications made to the
chronology did not correct it. On the other hand, that my father was
concerned with precisely this question is seen from an isolated page of
notes on diverse subjects, one of which casts some very cloudy light on
the matter:
Whole of Frodo's and Sam's adventures must be set back one day,
so that Frodo sees moon-set on morning (early hours) of Feb. 6, and
Faramir reaches Minas Tirith on night of the 7th, and Great
Darkness begins on 7th. (This can be done by making Frodo and
Sam only wander 4 days in the Emyn Muil.) The next night Frodo
would see from far away the full moon set beyond Gondor and
wonder where he was in the mists of the West, and the war-beacons
would be hid from him in the darkness of the world.
This is very difficult to understand. Frodo's adventures are to be set
back by a day, and he will see the setting of the moon (not yet quite at
the full) from Henneth Annun in the later night of Feb. 5 - 6, when
Pippin was on the last lap to Minas Tirith, and thought of him. But
then why is it not till the next night (Feb. 6-7) that Frodo thinks of
Pippin (if 'him' is Pippin), and why is it on this night that the beacons
of Gondor are burning?
(ii) Theoden comes to Harrowdale.
In the second version (B) of 'The Muster of Rohan' (p. 237) Aragorn
agrees with Theoden, as they enter Harrowdale, that the moon was
full the night before, and he says that they have been four (changed
from five) days on the road, so that six remained before the day
appointed for the muster at Edoras. In time-scheme C (p. 140)
Theoden reaches Helm's Deep from Isengard soon after dawn on Feb.
4, and he leaves Helm's Deep on Feb. 5 (when also 'Aragorn rides on
ahead with Gimli and Legolas': this appears in the third narrative C,
p. 241). Nothing further is said about Theoden's movements in
time-scheme C; but if the two texts are combined we get the following
chronology:
Feb. 4 Theoden reaches Helm's Deep soon after dawn
Feb. 5 Theoden leaves Helm's Deep
Feb. 6 Full Moon
Feb. 7 Theoden reaches Harrowdale at dusk
Feb. 13 Date appointed for the muster
If this is correct, the 'four days on the road' include the day spent at
Helm's Deep.
In the third version C (p. 240) Eomer says that the moon was full on
the night before the last, that five days have passed on the journey, and
that five remain until the muster; and all this is repeated in the next
version (F) in which the passage appears (pp. 244-5). In these versions
the journey has taken one day more, as it appears:
Feb. 5. Theoden leaves Helm's Deep.
Feb. 6. Full Moon.
Feb. 7.
Feb. 8. Theoden reaches Harrowdale.
Time-scheme D (pp. 141, 182) gives the following chronology (with
which the fully 'synoptic' scheme S agrees):
Feb. 4-5. Aragorn rides by night to Edoras, which he reaches in the
morning, and passes up Harrowdale.
Feb. 5. Theoden leaves Helm's Deep
Feb. 6. Full Moon rises about 9.20 p.m. Theoden comes to
Dunharrow before nightfall
(Feb. 7. Theoden prepares to ride to Gondor. Messengers from
Minas Tirith arrive.
Feb. 8. Theoden rides from Edoras.)
This is the chronology of the typescript text H (pp. 251-2), to the
extent at least that the moon is full (rising four hours after dark) on the
night of Theoden's arrival in Harrowdale: the journey through the
mountains now took only two days. It is not the chronology of The
Tale of Years in LR, in which Theoden set out from Helm's Deep on
March 6 but did not reach Dunharrow until March 9.
The date appointed for the muster at Edoras as deduced above from
the original narrative openings of the chapter, Feb. 13 (a week after
the full moon of Feb. 6), is presumably to be associated with the
change in the second manuscript of 'The Road to Isengard' from
'before the waning of the moon' to 'at the last quarter of the moon'
(see pp. 27, 40). In the text H (p. 252) Eomer says to the King that
'Tomorrow ere evening you shall come to Edoras and keep tryst with
your Riders'; with this perhaps cf. outline I (p. 255): 'Messages must
bid Rohirrim assemble at Edoras as soon as may be after the Full
Moon of Feb. 6.'
III.
MINAS TIRITH.
'I hope after this week actually to - write,' my father wrote to Stanley
Unwin on 21 July 1946 (Letters no. 105); and it is clear that he did -
at any rate on 7 December of that year he said that he was 'on the last
chapters' (whatever that may have meant). Another synopsis of the
proposed content of 'Book W shows much further development in the
narrative of the opening chapters, and I incline to think that it belongs
to 1946 and was set down as a guide to the new work now beginning;
I therefore give it here rather than with the outlines that I believe to
date from 1944 (pp. 252 ff.). My father had now re-ordered earlier
chapters, and so numbered the first of Book V in this synopsis '44' (not
'41': see p. 226 note 49).' The text was written in pencil and then
overwritten in ink: the underlying text was far briefer, but is barely
legible except at the end, where the overwriting ceases.
Book V.
Ch. 44 (1). Gandalf (and Pippin) rides to Minas Tirith and
see[s] Denethor. Pippin on walls. Coming in of last allies. Great
Darkness begins that night.
45. King and Aragorn (with Merry, Legolas, Gimli) ride to
the Hornburg. Overtaken by the Sons of Elrond (2) and 30
Rangers seeking Aragorn (probably because of messages sent by
Galadriel to Elrond). King rides to Dunharrow by mountain
roads. Aragorn (Legolas and Gimli) and Rangers go by open
road. Aragorn reveals he has looked in Palantir, and seeks the
Paths of the Dead. King arrives at Dunharrow dusk 2 days
later (3) and finds Aragorn has gone on Paths of the Dead. Errand
riders of Gondor come. Muster of Rohan takes place in
Harrowdale (by Gandalf's orders) not Edoras, and King sets
out next morning for Edoras.
46. Pippin on walls. Several days later when Host of
Morghul is victorious. News comes through of flanking attacks
on Lorien and by Harad in South. A great army has crossed into
Wold of Rohan. They fear Rohirrim will not come. Dark grows
but even so the Nazgul cause a greater darkness. Gandalf shines
in the field. Pippin sees the light of him as he and Faramir rally
men. But at last the enemy are at the gates, and the Nazgul fly
over the city. Then just as gate is giving way they hear the horns
of Rohan!
47. Go back to Merry. Charge of Rohan. Orcs and Black
Riders driven from gate. Fall of Theoden wounded, but he is
saved by a warrior of his household who falls on his body.
Merry sits by them. Sortie saves King who is gravely wounded.
Warrior found to be Eowyn. The Hosts of Morghul reform and
drive them back to the gate. At that moment a wind rises, dark
is rolled back. Black ships seen. Despair. Standard of Aragorn
(and Elendil). Eomer's wrath. Morghul taken between 2 forces
and defeated. Eomer and Aragorn meet.
48. Gandalf and Denethor learn of the defeat of the flank
attacks by Shadow Host (4) and by Ents. They cross Anduin
victorious and invest Minas Morghul. Gandalf and Aragorn
come to Morannon and parley.
49. Return to Frodo and Sam.
At this point the overwriting in ink ceases - perhaps because my
father saw that at this rate he was going to be very hard put to it to
complete the story in 'Book Five and Last' (p. 219). In the pencilled
underlying text he had had this programme for the last seven chapters:
48. Gandalf comes to the Black Gate.
49. Frodo and Sam come to Orodruin.
50........... and return.
51. Feast at Minas Tirith.
52. Funeral at Edoras.
53. Return to Rivendell. Meeting with Bilbo.
54. Sam's Book and the passing of all Tales.
It was perhaps immediately before he turned to the chapter 'Minas
Tirith' again that my father set down a further and very precise
outline, which follows here (the figures refer of course to the dates in
the month of February).
Gandalf and Pippin ride to Minas Tirith (3/4, 415, arriving at
sunrise on 6). Pass Fords of Isen and reach mouth of Deeping
Coomb about 2 a.m. (4). Come at daybreak to Edoras. Gandalf
remains there during daylight. 2[nd] Nazgul passes over Rohan
(it left Mordor about midnight 314 but spies out plain and flies
low over Edoras in early morn[ing]).(5) Gandalf rides again on
night of 4/5 and passes into Anorien, where he lies hid in hills
during daylight (5). Riding for third night (5/6) they see the
beacons flare out, and are passed by messengers on swift horses
speeding from Minas Tirith to Edoras. They reach the Pelennor
Wall at first dawn, and after speech with guards pass through
and sight Minas Tirith in the sunrise (6). They pass up through
the 7 concentric walls and gates to the White Tower. Pippin sees
white houses and domes on the slopes of the mountain above
the city. Gandalf explains they are the 'houses of the kings' - i.e.
dead tombs. (Before the gate of the White Tower they see the
ruin of the Tree, and Fountain?) They are admitted to the
audience chamber, and see the throne. Denethor comes in, and
does not sit in the throne, but on a smaller chair lower down
and in front. Interview with Denethor and his grief at news of
Boromir. They learn reason of beacons: a great fleet has been
sighted coming from Umbar to mouths of Anduin. Also mes-
sages from spies etc. in Ithilien report that 'storm is about to
burst'. Denethor is vexed that no aid has come from Rohan.
Gandalf explains the situation. Also warns Denethor that help
may even now be delayed as almost certainly Rohan will be
attacked on eastern flank north of Emyn Muil. He counsels
Denethor to muster what he can at once. 'The muster has
already begun,' said Denethor. (Forlong the Fat etc., but too few
come from Lebennin owing to threat of sea-attack.)
Pippin on the battlements has talk with a sentinel. He sees the
moonrise on night of 6 (about 8.45 p.m.) and thinks of Frodo.(6)
Aragorn takes Legolas and Gimli and Merry and proposes
that what is left of the Company shall be reunited. He says his
heart now urges him to speed, for the time of his own revealing
approaches. They may have a hard and dangerous journey, for
now the real business is beginning, beside which the battle of the
Hornburg is but a skirmish by the way. They agree and Aragorn
and his company leave Dolbaran ahead of the king at about
midnight. Merry rides with Aragorn, and Gimli with Legolas.
They go fast and reach Westfold at daybreak (4) and [struck out
at once: do not turn aside but go straight] see the 2nd Nazgul
flying.
A great deal of the first part of this derives directly from earlier
outlines, but by no means all (thus it is here that the great tombs of
Minas Tirith are first mentioned, and it is here that Pippin's friend of
the Citadel guard - Beregond in RK - first appears). The concluding
portion of the outline, however, telling that Aragorn with Merry,
Legolas and Gimli left together from Dol Baran ahead of the king
about midnight, reaching Westfold at dawn of the following day and
not so very many hours after Gandalf, is an odd and surprising
development.(7) But it seems to have been abandoned at once, without
further issue.
Taking up the opening chapter 'Minas Tirith' again, my father
followed closely the abandoned opening (the text C in 'midget type')
so far as it went, and the new text still differs from RK pp. 19 - 21 in
the points mentioned on p. 233, except that the leader of the men at
the Pelennor Wall is now Ingold, not Cranthir.(8) Written for most of its
length rapidly but generally legibly in ink, the draft extends almost to
the end of the chapter; and from the point in the story where C ended
(in the conversation with the men repairing the wall), for which my
father had only very sketchy notes, he advanced confidently through
account of Minas Tirith seen across the 'townlands', the structure
of the city, the entry of Gandalf and Pippin, the 'audience' with
Denethor, and Pippin's meeting with Beregond (not yet nor for a long
time so named). This draft underwent countless changes afterwards,
yet from its first writing the story was present in all essentials of
narrative structure, of atmosphere, and of tone. In what follows it can
be assumed that every significant feature of description and conversa-
tion in the chapter was present in the draft unless something is said to
the contrary. On the other hand I do not record all the small touches
that were added in later: for example, Denethor does not in the draft
text lay down his rod in order to lift the horn from his lap; Pippin is
not said to receive back his sword and put it in its sheath; chairs are
brought for Gandalf and Pippin, not a chair and a stool; the room in
which they were lodged had only one window, not three; and so on.
As noted earlier, the text C stops just before Gandalf tells Cranthir/
Ingold that 'you are overlate in repairing the wall of the Pelennor'
{p. 233; RK p. 21), so that this name does not appear. In the new draft
Gandalf, in his words with Ingold, speaks of the wall of Pelennor' -
but it appears immediately afterwards that this was the name of the
wall itself:
Gandalf passed now into the wide space beyond the Pelennor.
So the men of Gondor called the wall that was built long ago
after Ithilien fell into the hands of the Enemy.
The name appears also in several of the outlines that I have attributed
to 1944 and given in the last chapter: 'Pelennor wall' (p. 260), 'the
wall of Pelennor' (p. 263), 'the Outer Wall of Pelennor' (p. 263), but in
the light of the present draft these are ambiguous; on the other hand,
in outline IV (p. 260) occurs 'the Cityland, Pelennor, about which
ruins of an old wall ran', which is not at all ambiguous. On the face of
it, my father twice changed his mind about the meaning of this name;
for in RK (p. 22) the wall is named Rammas Echor and the Pelennor is
again the name of the 'fair and fertile townlands' of Minas Tirith (see
pp. 287 - 8).
The description in the draft continues:
It went in a wide circle from the mountains' feet and back to
them, always distant some seven leagues from the First Gate of
the City that looked eastward.. Thus it enclosed the fair and
fertile townlands on the long green slopes falling to the River,
and at its easternmost point overlooked from a frowning bank
the marshy levels. There it was loftiest and most guarded, for on
a walled causeway the road from the fords of Osgiliath, a league
away, came in through a great gate between two towers. But
few men save herdsmen and tillers dwelt in the townlands, for
the most part of the people of Gondor dwelt in the seven circles
of the city of Minas Tirith, or in the deep vales of the
mountains' borders; and away southward in Lebennin the land
of Seven Rivers lived a hardy folk between the mountains and
the mouths of Anduin and the Sea; and they were reckoned men
of Gondor, yet their blood was mixed and if their stature and
faces told the truth came more from those men who dwelt in the
dark hills in the Dark Years ere the coming of the kings.
But now the light of day grew, and Pippin looked up ...
Thus the townlands were at first conceived altogether differently, as a
great half-circle centred on the city and always with a radius of seven
leagues, whereas in RK the enclosing wall was at its furthest point four
leagues from the city and at its nearest little more than one.(9) In this
draft text there is no mention of Emyn Arnen, of the Harlond, of
Lossarnach, of Belfalas, or of Imrahil of Dol Amroth, and Lebennin is
still 'the land of Seven Rivers' (see VII.310-12, and pp. 252, 254 in
this book).
Pippin's first sight of Minas Tirith and Gandalf 's encounter with the
guards at the Great Gate is very much as in RK (p. 23), except that in
the following passage from RK the bracketed part is absent:
but to his right great mountains reared their heads, [ranging from
the West to a steep and sudden end, as if in the making of the land
the River had burst through a great barrier, carving out a mighty
valley to be a land of battle and debate in times to come. And there
where the White Mountains of Ered Nimrais came to their end]
(and) he saw, as Gandalf had promised, the dark mass of Mount
Mindolluin ...
Also, the Tower of Ecthelion is here called the Tower of Denethor (see
p. 281).
In the draft text the description of Minas Tirith is as follows:
For the manner of Minas Tirith was such that it was builded
upon seven levels each carved in the hill, and each had a wall,
and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not made in a
line, for the outer and lowest gate was in the east, but the next
faced half south and the third half north, and so on, so that the
pave[d] way that led up without break or stair turned first this
way and [then] that way across the face of the hill, until the
seventh gate was reached that led to the great court and citadel
on the levelled summit about the feet of the crowning tower.
And that gate also looked due east, being there seven hundred
feet above the plain before the walls, and the tower on the
summit was three hundred feet from base to pinnacle. A strong
citadel indeed it was and not to be taken by a host of men if
there were any within that could hold weapons, unless some
enemy could come behind and scale Mindolluin and so come
behind upon the shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard to the
mountain mass. But that shoulder which was at the height of the
fifth wall was walled right up [to] the precipice that overhung it,
and there stood the great domed tombs of bygone kings and
lords, at once memorials and fortresses if need should come.
In the original hasty sketch of Minas Tirith reproduced on p. 261
the gates appear to be arranged in two lines meeting at the uppermost
level, the one proceeding from the Great Gate (1 - 3 - 5 - 7), and the
other proceeding from the second gate (2 - 4 - 6 - 7).(10) In the text just
cited the configuration described in RK is present, with the Great Gate
facing east, the second gate south-east, the third north-east, and so on
up to the entrance to the Citadel, again facing east. On this page of the
draft (reproduced on p. 280) my father drew a plan in which this
arrangement is shown. The upper figure on the page is in fact two
conjoined: the smaller area at the upper left (marked with 'M.T.' and
'summit of Mindolluin') was that first made, and this was struck out
with three transverse lines. - It will be seen that the 'vast pier of rock
whose huge out-thrust bulk divided in two all the circles of the City
save the first' (RK p. 24), causing the mounting road to pass through a
tunnel each time it crossed the line from the Great Gate to the Citadel,
was not yet present.
Pippin's sense of the diminishment and decay of Minas Tirith, with
its great silent houses, is told in the draft in words closely similar to
those of the passage in RK (p. 24);(11) but the accoutrement of the
guards of the Seventh Gate is thus described:
The guards of the gate were robed in white, and the[ir] helms
were of strange shape, shining like silver, for they were indeed
of mithril, heirlooms from the glory of old days, and above
either cheekpiece were set the wings of sea-birds. Upon the
breast of their surcoats were embroidered in white a tree
blossoming like snow and above it a silver crown.
(Minas Tirith and Mindolluin.)
It is added here that beside the guards of the Citadel one other wore
this livery of the heirs of Elendil: 'the warden of the door of the hall of
the kings aforetime where now dwelt the Lord Denethor'; and at the
door there is one 'tall guard' ('the tall silent door-wardens', RK).
Perhaps the change in the colour of the livery from white to black was
on account of the white tree embroidered on the coats.
The dead Tree in the court of the Fountain, with Pippin's recollec-
tion of Gandalf's words Seven stars and seven stones and one white
gree, and Gandalf's warning to him to bear himself discreetly before
Denethor, survived into the final text with very little change; but
Gandalf says only of Denethor and Boromir: He loved him greatly,
coo much, perhaps', and does not add 'and the more so because they
were unlike' (yet later, when they have left Denethor, he says, much as
in RK: 'He is not quite as other men, Pippin, and whatever be his
ancestry by some chance the blood of the men of Westernesse runs
true in him, as it does in his other son Faramir, and yet not in Boromir
whom he loved most. They have long sight.'). And of Aragorn he says
that 'if he comes it may be in some way that no one expects. And
Denethor at least does not expect him in any way, for he does not
know that he exists.'
The great hall was conceived from the first almost exactly as the
description of it stands in RK (p. 26): the great images between the
pillars, reminding Pippin of 'the kings of Argonath',(12) the empty
throne, the old man in the stone chair gazing at his lap. Only the
carved capitals of the pillars are not mentioned; on the other hand the
floor of the hall is described: 'But the floor was of shining stone,
white-gleaming, figured with mosaics of many colours' (see p. 288).
The name of Denethor's father, Ecthelion, entered here, with only
momentary hesitation (earlier in the draft the White Tower is called
the Tower of Denethor, not as in RK the Tower of Ecthelion;
p. 278).(13)
When Pippin cried 'that is the horn that Boromir always wore!' this
dialogue follows in the draft:
'Verily,' said Denethor. 'And in my turn I wore it, and so did
each eldest son of our house far back into the mists of time,
before the failing of the kings, since [Mardil >] Faragon father
of Mardil hunted the wild oxen of Araw (14) in the far fields of
Rhun. But we heard it blowing dimly in the North twelve days
ago, and now it will blow no more.'
'Yes,' said Pippin. 'I stood beside him as he blew it, and it
shook the woods; but no help came. Only more orcs.'
Pippin's account of Boromir's death, his offer of his service to
Denethor, and the swearing of the oath were very largely achieved in
the draft text,(16) save in one notable point: it is Gandalf, not Denethor,
who speaks the words of the oath: '"Take the hilts," said Gandalf,
"and speak after me." The old man laid the sword along his lap and
Pippin laid his hand on the hilts and said slowly after Gandalf ...' The
oath and its acceptance were scarcely changed from the original
formulation in the draft, except only in the point that Denethor did
not there name himself 'Steward of the High King'.
The words between Denethor and Gandalf that follow (RK p. 29),
and Pippin's perception of the tension between them, and of Gandalf's
greater power (though veiled), reached immediately the final text in
almost every point; but Pippin's reflection on Gandalf's age and being
took this form: 'Whence and what was Gandalf: when and in what far
time and place [was he born >] did he come into the world and would
he ever die?' His passing thought 'Treebeard had said something about
wizards, but even then he had not thought of Gandalf as one of them'
does not appear; it is not said that 'it was Denethor who first withdrew
his gaze'; and Denethor says only 'for though the Stones are lost',
without adding 'they say'.
In the margin of the page that bears this passage my father wrote:
'For his wisdom did not consider Gandalf, whereas the counsels of
Denethor concerned himself, or Gondor which in his thought was part
of himself'. There is no indication where this was to be placed, but I
think that it would follow 'Pippin perceived that Gandalf had greater
power, and deeper wisdom - and a majesty that was veiled.'
The interview with Denethor ended far more abruptly in the draft
than in RK (pp. 30-1): at Denethor's words 'Let your wrath for an old
man's seeming folly run off, and return to my comfort' there follows
only: '"I will return as soon as may be," said Gandalf. "But I crave
sometime words with you alone." And he strode from the hall with
Pippin running at his side.'
After Gandalf had left the house in which they were lodged Pippin
encountered a man clad in grey and white who named himself Beren
son of Turgon (Beregond son of Baranor, clad in black and white, in
RK). In their opening conversation and visits to Shadowfax and the
buttery a number of small alterations and additions were made to the
narrative later, but all are slight points: for example, Beren says to
Pippin that 'It is said that you are to be treated as a guest for this day at
the least', and that 'Those who have had heavy duty - and guests -
take somewhat to refresh their strength in the mid-morning'; Pippin
does not express his disappointment at seeing no inns in Minas Tirith;
and the following curious dialogue was afterwards removed (cf. RK
p. 34):
'... For now I may say that strange accents do not mar fair
speech, and hobbits are well-spoken folk.'
'So Denethor, I mean the high Lord, said.'
'Did he indeed?' said Beren. 'Then you have received a mark
of favour such as few guests have got from him.'
The keeper of the buttery was named Duilas (?), with a later pencilled
alteration to Garathon.(17) Pippin tells Beren: I am only a boy in the
reckoning of our people, for I am only twenty years old and we are not
held to be grown-up as we say in the Shire for a dozen years more.'(18)
As Beren and Pippin looked out from the walls, 'Away down in the
vale-bottom 7 leagues or so as the eye leaps, the Great River now
flowed grey and glittering, coming out of the north-west and curving
south-west till it was lost to view round the shoulders of the moun-
tains in a haze and shimmer' (see pp. 288 - 9), whereas it is distant
'five leagues or so' in RK (p. 36): on this difference see p. 278.
Immediately after this the original draft jumps, in relation to RK, from
'far beyond which lay the Sea fifty leagues away' to ' "What do I see
there?" asked Pippin, pointing due eastward down to the river'; thus
the entire passage is lacking in which Pippin sees the traffic of waggons
crossing the Pelennor and turning south, and Beregond explains to him
that they are taking 'the road to the vales of Tumladen and Lossar-
nach, and the mountain-villages, and then on to Lebennin.' But from
this point the conversation of Beren/Beregond and Pippin to its
conclusion, as it stands in RK (pp. 36-40), was achieved, roughly
indeed, but with scarcely any significant detail lacking, and often very
dose to the final text: the darkness in the East,(19) the passage of the
Nazgul far overhead, Beren's account of the battles for the crossings at
Osgiliath,(20) of Denethor's far sight,(21) of the approach of the great fleet
manned by the corsairs of Umbar,(22) of Faramir, and his invitation to
Pippin to join his company for that day.
At this point the story told in the draft becomes altogether different
from that of RK, and I give the remainder (very roughly written) of
this earliest text in full:
Gandalf was not in the lodging, and Pippin went with Beren
of the Guard, and he was shown to the others of the third
company and welcomed by them, and made merry with them,
taking his midday meal among them in a little hall near the
north wall, and going here and there with others until the
evening meal, and the closing hour, and the lowering of
standards. Then he himself after the manner of Gondor soon
went to his bed. Gandalf had not come or left any message. He
rolled into bed and soon slept. In the night he was awakened by
a light and saw Gandalf in the room outside the alcove. He was
pacing to and fro. 'When will Faramir return?* he heard him
mutter, as he peered out of the dark window. Then Pippin went
to sleep again.
The next day still no commands came from Denethor. 'He is
full of cares and busyness,' said Gandalf, 'and for the moment
you are out of his mind. But not for good! He does not forget.
Make use of your leisure while you can. Have a look round the
City.'(23)
Beren was on duty and Pippin was left alone; but he had
learned enough to find his way to the hatches at midmorning.
For the rest of the time until noon he walked in the sixth circle,
and visited Shadowfax, taking him some morsels that he had
saved, which Shadowfax graciously accepted. In the afternoon
Pippin walked down the ways of the City to the lowest circle
and the great East Gate.
People stared much at him as he passed, and he would hear
calls behind him, and those out of doors cried to others within
to come see Mithrandir's halfling; but to his face most were
courteous, saluting him gravely after the manner of Gondor
with outstretched hand and a bowing of the head. For who he
was and much concerning him was now noised through Minas
Tirith.
He came at last by windy ways and many fair alleys and
arches to the lower circles where there [were] many smaller
houses. And here and there he saw children - and he was glad,
for to his eyes it had seemed that too many of the folk of Minas
Tirith were old. He passed a larger house with a pillared porch
and steps and boys were playing there. As soon as he saw him
one of the boys leapt down the steps into the street and stood in
front of Pippin, looking him up and down.
'Well met,' said the lad. 'Are you not a stranger?'
'I was,' said Pippin. 'But they say I am now a man of Gondor.'
'Man! ' said the boy. 'How old are you, and what is your
name? I am ten already and soon shall be five feet high. Look, I
am taller than you. But then my father is a soldier, one of the
tallest.(24) I shall be a soldier too. What is your father?'
'Which question shall I answer first?' said Pippin. 'My father
is like me a hobbit not a man, and he owns the land and fields
round Whitwell near Tuckborough on the edge of the Westfar-
thing in the Shire. I am 21 years old (25) so I pass you there,
though I am but four feet four, and that is reckoned a good
height in my land, and I do not hope to better it much. For I
shall not grow upward much before I come of age; though
maybe I shall thicken and put on some weight, or should, if food
were plentiful for travellers in the wild places.'
'Twenty-one,' said Gwinhir, and whistled. 'Why, you are
quite old. Still, I wager I could stand you on your head, or lay
you on your back.'
'Maybe you could if I let you,' said Pippin with a laugh. 'We
know a trick or two of wrestling in my little country. But I do
not much like standing on my head; what, if it came to a
sicking point, and nothing else would serve, I have a sword,
master Gwinhir.'
'A sword, have you?' said Gwinhir. 'Then you must be a
soldier. Though you don't look like one.'
'I am and I do not indeed,' said Pippin. 'But when you have
seen more than 10 years, if you live long enough, young friend,
and survive the days that are coming, you will learn that folk are
not always what they seem. Why, you might take me for a
kind-hearted fool of a stranger lad. But I am not. I am a hobbit
and the devil of a hobbit, companion of wizards, friend of Ents,
member of the Company of Nine of whom your lord Boromir
was one, of the ... of the Nine I should say, and I was at the
battle of the Bridge of Moria and the sack of Isengard, and I
wish for no wrestling or rough play. So let me be lest I bite.'
'Ai, Ai,' said Gwinhir. 'You do sound fierce, a ferret in the
garb of a rabbit. But you have left your boots behind, master,
maybe because you have outgrown them too quickly. Come on,
good ferret, bite if you like,' and he ... up his fists. But at that
moment a man came out from the door and sprang down into
the street and grabbed the lad by the back of his tunic.
'What is this, Gwinhir, you ruffling young fool,' said the man.
'Will you waylay anything in the street that seems smaller than
yourself? Will you not choose something larger? Shame on a
son of mine, brawling before my doors like a young orc.'
'Nay, nay, not like an orc, Master Thalion, if that be your
name,' said Pippin. 'I have seen enough orcs and all too close to
be in any error. Here is nothing but a warlike lad spoiling for
something to do. Will you not let him walk with me a while, and
be my guide? For I am new come and there is much to see while
the sun still shines........'
'I have already heard that the halflings are courteous of
speech, if that one that came hither with Mithrandir is a
sample,' said Thalion.(26) Yes indeed, the young ruffian shall go
with you if you wish. Go now and keep a fair tongue in your
head,' he said to Gwinhir, giving him a smart blow on his seat.
'But see that he returns ere the closing hour and the dusk.'
'I wanted a game,' said Gwinhir to Pippin as they set off.
'There are few lads of my age in this quarter, and such as there
are are no match for me. But my father is stern, and I was near
to a beating just now. When he says "orc" 'tis an ill omen for
one's back. But you got me off very finely, and I thank you.
What shall I show you? '
'I do not know,' said Pippin, 'but I am going to the East Gate,
and we shall see.'
As they drew near the East Gate there was much sound of
running and bustle, and Pippin thought he heard horns and
trumpets blowing. For a moment his heart beat for he thought it
might be a signal that war had begun. But Gwinhir cried out.
'They are come. Some of the folk from beyond the walls that
have been rumoured. Hasten now, they'll be riding [?in by] the
East Gate.
Here the draft ends, abandoned. Why my father rejected this story
one can only surmise; a clue is perhaps to be found at the point in the
text where Pippin, at the end of his first day (6 February) in Minas
Tirith (spent in the company of Beren and other men of the Guard),
'after the manner of Gondor soon went to his bed' (p. 283). Here my
father added a note on the manuscript in pencil, reminding himself to
look up what had been said of the weather in the story of Frodo and
Sam in Ithilien, and saying that 'if possible' the sunset of 6 February
should be 'ominous': 'Darkness began next morning, a fiery haze.'
When he wrote this he may have intended to rewrite the story only to
the extent that Pippin should see the 'ominous' sunset as he went back
to his lodging on the first night, and then when he woke next morning
the great pall should have overspread the sky: in deepening darkness
he would make his way down to the Great Gate, and encounter the
aggressive Gwinhir. Or it may be that it was when writing this note
that he decided to change the structure of the story, and abandoned
the draft. At any rate, he evidently decided that it would be better to
compress the whole story of this chapter into a single day, concluded
by the first presage of the Darkness approaching and the smouldering
sunset at the closing of the gates, when the last of the men of the
Outlands had entered the City. Chronological considerations may
have played a part in this.
He now turned back to the point where Beren invited Pippin to join
his company for that day, and began anew. This new drafting was
written in soft pencil at great speed, and would be hard indeed to
interpret and often altogether illegible were the new text not so close
to the final form: the story becomes that of RK in virtually every point (27)
and largely in the same words. But it peters out shortly before the end
of the chapter, at the words 'But the dying sun set it all afire and
Mindolluin was black against a dull smoulder' (RK p. 44).
Beren now becomes Barathil, changed in the course of the writing of
the text to Barithil; his father's name does not appear. His son was
named Bergil from the first. The Street of the Lampwrights has the
Elvish name Rath a Chalardain (Rath Celerdain in RK); and Pippin is
called Ernil a Pheriannath (i for a in RK).
The 'Homeric catalogue', as my father called it (p. 229), of the
reinforcements entering Minas Tirith (28) from the Outlands was written
out twice, the first form being jumbled and unclear, and at the second
writing (beginning after the arrival of Forlong, at the words 'And so
the companies came and were hailed and cheered ...', RK p. 43) it
becomes remarkably close to the form in RK. I have the strong
impression that the new names that appear here were devised in the
composition of this text. Forlong the Fat, however, had appeared
several times previously, pp. 229, 262, 276. He was here first said to
be, as in RK, 'lord of the vale of Lossarnach',(29) but Lossamach was
struck out and replaced by 'the Ringlo away in Lebennin' (see Map III
in VII.309). Yet this is immediately contradicted in both Eorms of the
text, where we find just as in RK 'the men of Ringlo Vale behind
Dervorin, son of their lord, striding on foot: three hundreds.' In the
first form the vale is called Imlad-Ringlo. Duinhir and his five hundred
bowmen from the Blackroot Vale (Morthond Vale and Imlad Mor-
thond in the first form) is named (but not his sons, Duilin and Derufin
in RK). After them come the men of 'Dor-Anfalas [changed from
Belfalas], the Langstrand far away': see again Map III in VII.309,
where 'Belfalas (Langstrand)' is the region afterwards named Anfalas.
Their lord is Asgil-Golamir (Golasgil in RK). Then the hillmen of
Lamedon, a name that first appears here; the fisher-folk of the Ethir;
and Hirluin the Fair from the green hills of Pinnath Gelin, also first
occurring here (but he is at first said to be from Erech). The Prince of
Dol Amroth, kinsman of the Lord of Minas Tirith, bears the token of a
golden ship and a silver swan; but he is given no name.
There is no other initial drafting extant (except for a roughly
pencilled slip giving the revised conclusion of the conversation with
Denethor, RK pp. 30-1). The first complete text is a typescript: I think
it all but certain that my father made this before he proceeded much, if
any, further in the narrative.
The title of the chapter as typed was: Book V Chapter XLIV:
Peregrin enters the service of the Lord of Minas Tirith. For the most
part the differences between the original draft and RK noticed above
(pp. 277-83 and notes) were retained in this text: some but by no
means all of these were changed in pencil on the typescript. Thus
Gandalf's ride still took three nights, not four. The description of the
'townlands' of Minas Tirith remains as it was (pp. 277-8), with the sole
difference that the Pelennor now becomes the name of the townlands,
and the wall is named Ramas Coren (changed in pencil to Rammas
Ephel).(30) On the other hand, the passage cited on p. 278 concerning
the River is now present as in RK, except for the sentence 'And there
where the White Mountains of Eredfain came to their end' (changed
on the typescript to Ered Nimrais). The White Tower remains the
Tower of Denethor; and the description of Minas Tirith remains as it
was in the draft, with no material difference save in the height of the
Tower, here said to be two hundred, not three hundred feet. Thus the
great out-thrust pier of rock was still absent, and it was not introduced
into this text. On the reverse of the preceding typescript page is a plan
of the city, reproduced on p. 290; here appears the name Rath Dinen,
and also Othram or City Wall, of the wall of the outermost circle,
pierced by the Great Gate.(31)
In the account of the great hall the description of the floor is
retained from the draft, and that of the capitals introduced, thus:
Monoliths of black marble, they rose to great capitals carved in
many figures of strange beasts and leaves; and far above in
shadow the wide vaulting gleamed with dull gold. The floor was
of polished stone, white-gleaming, inset with flowing traceries
of many colours.
This was repeated in the following typescript; but in the final
typescript, from which the text in RK was printed, the sentence was
compressed: '... gleamed with dull gold, inset with flowing traceries
of many colours.' Since there is no indication on the second typescript
that any change was intended, it seems certain that this was a casual
'line-jumping' error, causing the 'flowing traceries' to be ascribed to
the vaulting.
Denethor now names the father of Mardil Orondil (Faragon in the
draft, Vorondil in RK). It is still Gandalf, not Denethor, who speaks
the words of the oath which Pippin repeats; but the conclusion of the
conversation between Gandalf and Denethor (also found in prelimi-
nary drafting, p. 287) is now present, and differs from the form in RK
only in that after Gandalf's words 'Unless the king should come
again?' he continues: 'That would be a strange conclusion. Well, let us
strive to keep some kingdom still against that event!'
Barathil, Barithil of the second draft (p. 287) is now Barithil,
becoming in the course of the typing of this text Berithil; he is the son
of Baranor, as is Beregond in RK. The man at the buttery hatch is now
Targon, as in RK.
In the description of the view eastward from the walls of Minas
Tirith the Anduin is still some seven leagues away, and as it bends 'in a
mighty sweep south and west again' it is still 'lost to view round the
shoulders of the mountains in a haze and shimmer' (p. 283). The
italicized words were afterwards struck from the typescript; the reason
for this can be seen from a comparison of Map III in VII.309 with the
large map of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor in The Return of the King,
where the view of the Great River from Minas Tirith is not impeded by
the eastern end of the mountains. The passage in RK which was absent
from the draft, describing the traffic across the Pelennor, is now
present and reaches the final form in every point, save only that
Berithil here says: 'That is the road to the vales of Tumladen and
Glossarnach' (see note 29); but this was changed in pencil to
Lossamach, and later in the text Forlong the Fat is named 'lord of
Lossarnach'.(32)
Of the part of the text covered by the second draft (pp. 286-7) there
is little to note, since the final form was already very largely achieved.
In the 'catalogue' of the peoples of the Outlands the lord of Anfalas (so
named) is now Golasgil, as in RK, but the prince of Dol Amroth is still
not further identified. The conclusion of the chapter, not found in the
draft, is here almost exactly as in RK. After the words (RK p. 45) 'The
lodging was dark, save for a little lantern set on the table' my father
first typed: 'Beside it was a scribbled note from Gandalf', but he
barred this out immediately and substituted 'Gandalf was not there'.
The chapter ends: 'No, when the summons comes, not at sunrise.
There will be no sunrise. The darkness has begun.'
NOTES.
1. Book V, Chapter 1 'Minas Tirith' is the 44th chapter in The Lord
of the Rings. 'The Departure of Boromir' had now been separated
off from 'The Riders of Rohan', 'Flotsam and Jetsam' from 'The
Voice of Saruman', and 'The Forbidden Pool' from 'Journey to
the Cross-roads'.
2. This is the first appearance of the Sons of Elrond (see VII.163-4,
and p. 297 in this book).
3. According to time-schemes D and S (p. 272) Aragorn reached
Edoras and went up Harrowdale on the morning of February 5,
while Theoden came to Dunharrow at nightfall of the 6th.
4. This is the first reference to the part played by the Dead Men of
Dunharrow. For the earliest hint of the story see outline V on
p. 263: 'News comes from South that a great king has descended
out of the mountains where he had been entombed, and set such
a flame into men that the mountaineers ... and the folk of
Lebennin have utterly routed the Southrons and burned [>
taken) their ships.'
5. This was the Nazgul (as the chronology was at this time) sent out
from Mordor after Pippin looked into the palantir of Orthanc,
passing high overhead and unseen 'about an hour after midnight'
(Plan of Minas Tirith.)
when Frodo, Sam and Gollum had not long left the pit among the
slag-mounds: see pp. 119-20.
6. Pippin on the battlements... sees the moonrise on night of 6 ...
and thinks of Frodo: see p. 271.
7. I presume that the rejected words at the end of the outline 'do not
turn aside but go straight (on)' mean that they passed the mouth
of the Deeping Coomb and did not go up to the Hornburg.
According to time-scheme D (p. 140) Gandalf reached Edoras at
dawn on February 4, and he stayed there throughout the daylight
hours. If Aragorn and his companions rode on at all speed
making for Edoras, without any long halt, they would have
caught him up!
8. Thus the passage in which Pippin thinks of Frodo remains the
same as in text C, though with a difference in wording: 'little
thinking that Frodo would see from far away the white snows
under that same moon as it set beyond Gondor.' Gandalf's
journey still takes three nights, not four as in RK.
9. On the First Map (Map III in VII.309) the distance from Minas
Tirith to Osgiliath is about 70 miles (more than 23 leagues); and
on the map made in October 1944 that I have redrawn on p. 269
it is still about 50 miles (which, since in the present draft the fords
of Osgiliath were a league from the Pelennor wall, would give a
radius of some 15 and a half leagues). In the note that my father
wrote about my 1943 version of the First Map (see VII.322 note
1) he said that 'the distance across the vale of Anduin [should be]
much reduced, so that Minas Tirith is close to Osgiliath and
Osgiliath closer to Minas Morgul'; and the distance from the city
to the Rammas Echor in the direction of Osgiliath is 10 miles on
my map published in RK (on the original map on which mine was
based 12 miles, agreeing with 'four leagues' in the text of RK,
p. 22).
10. In the drawing the seventh gate faces in the same direction
(north-east?) as the second gate, but the drawing may be
defective: gates 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 are in a line.
11. In the draft, when Gandalf and Pippin came to the Seventh Gate,
'the sun that looked down on Ithilien and Sam busy with his
steaming pan and herbs glowed on the smooth walls and the
marbled arch and pillars.' It was the morning of February 6, the
day on which Frodo and Sam encountered Faramir and went to
Henneth Annun. In RK the sentence is different: 'the warm sun
that shone down beyond the river, as Frodo walked in the glades
of Ithilien ...' - for on the day that Gandalf and Pippin arrived
in Minas Tirith (March 9) Frodo and Sam reached the Morgul-
road at dusk.
12. This is the first appearance of the name Argonath (see VII.359-
60, 362).
13. In LR (The Tale of Years) it was the Steward Ecthelion I who
rebuilt the White Tower in the year 2698, more than three
centuries before this time; Denethor's father Ecthelion was the
second Steward of that name (which derives from the legend
of the Fall of Gondolin: see II.212, footnote). - 'The tower of
Denethor' was named in the chapter 'The Palantir', p. 77.
14. Vorondil father of Mardil in RK, p. 27; and see LR Appendix A
(I, ii). - A space was left for the name of the god, apparently
filled in immediately, first with Ramr which was struck out before
completion, then with Araw. On Araw beside Orome see the
Etymologies, V.379, stem OROM.
15. twelve days ago (thirteen days ago in RK): see p. 150 and note
10. In The Tale of Years the dates are February 26 (death of
Boromir) and March 9 (Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith).
16. Denethor says of Pippin's sword: 'Surely it is a sax wrought by
our own folk in the North in the deep past?', where RK has
'blade' and 'kindred'. The word sax (Old English seax, dagger,
short sword) was the final choice in the draft after rejection of
'blade', 'knife' and 'dagger'.
17. Many other pencilled alterations were made to this part of the
manuscript, mostly to clarify the writing, which is here rather
rough. Among these the following may be noted: as Beren and
Pippin sat on the seat beside the battlement Beren said: We
thought it was the whim our lord to take him a page boy', and
this was changed by the addition of 'after the manner of the old
kings that had dwarves in their service, if old tales be true.'
18. only twenty years old was changed in pencil to little more than
twenty years old. In RK Pippin told Beregond that 'it will be four
years yet before I "come of age", as we say in the Shire.'
19. Of the shadow in the East it is said in the draft: 'Maybe it was
mountains looming like clouds on the edge of sight ... 100
miles away,. cf. RK p. 37: Perhaps it was mountains looming on
the verge of sight, their jagged edges softened by wellnigh twenty
leagues of misty air.'
20. Where in RK (p. 37) Beregond tells that the Fell Riders won back
the crossings 'less than a year ago', and that after Boromir had
driven the enemy back 'we hold still the near half of Osgiliath', in
the draft Beren says: 'And the Fell Riders but a little while ago
[?two] years or more won back the crossings and came [?over]
into this western land. But Boromir drove them back. And still we
hold the crossings.'
21. Beren says as in RK that 'some say that as he sits alone in his high
chamber in the Tower at night ... he can even read somewhat of
the mind of the Enemy'; he does not speak of 'wrestling', nor add
the words 'And so it is that he is old, worn before his time.'
22. The coming of the great fleet from the south is referred to in all
but one of the outlines given in the last chapter. In the draft Beren
says of the Corsairs of Umbar that they have 'long forsaken the
suzerainty of Gondor' ('long ceased to fear the might of Gondor',
RK). And he says of the fleet: 'Now that will draw off much help
that we might look to from Lebennin south away between the
mountains and the Sea, where folk are numerous.' Thus Belfalas
is not named, as it is in RK ('from Lebennin and Belfalas', p. 38).
The name Belfalas was originally applied to the coastal lands in
the west subsequently named Anfalas (Langstrand): this change
was made to the First Map and the 1943 map (VII.309 - 10).
Precisely where my father placed Belfalas when Anfalas was
substituted is not clear, but his note correcting the 1943 map
(VII.322 note 1) says: 'Lebennin should be Belfalas'. That
Belfalas was in the region of the Mouths of Anduin might seem to
be suggested by the passage describing the journey of the funeral
boat in drafting for 'The Departure of Boromir' (VII.382): 'and
the voices of a thousand seabirds lamented him upon the beaches
of Belfalas'; but Belfalas seems to have retained its original sense
up to this time, since it was replaced by Dor-Anfalas in drafting
for the present chapter (p. 287). On the Second Map (by a later
addition) it is placed as on the map published in LR (see pp. 434,
437).
23. - At this point my father scribbled down some very rough notes in
pencil, but the following paragraph ('Beren was on duty ...')
was then written over them, so that they are hard to read: 'rude
boy of the City Gates password Gir .. edlothiand na ngalad
melon i ni (?sevo] ni (?edranj. Sees the hosts ride in from
Lebennin.'
24. Written in the margin here: 'He is called Thalion, and my name is
Ramloth.' Beneath Ramloth is written Gwinhir, and at the first
occurrence of the boy's name in the actual narrative my father
began Ram, changed it to Arad, and then wrote Gwinhir. -
Thalion 'steadfast' was the 'surname' of Hurin.
25. I am 21 years old: see note 18.
26. Added here: 'But do not speak so darkly.' I do not know what
this refers to. Perhaps Pippin's concluding sentence, consisting of
three or four wholly illegible words, was equally obscure to
Thalion.
27. The greeting of Gondor is still 'with outstretched hand', not 'with
hands upon the breast'; and Pippin still says that he is 21 years
old (see note 25).
28. For the earliest form of the 'catalogue', bearing little relation to
this, see p. 252. The name Forlong the Fat is written on the
manuscript of 'The Story Foreseen from Fangorn', p. 229, but
this is obviously not contemporary with that outline.
29. G was written before Lossarnach, but struck out before Lossar-
nach was entered: see p. 289.
30. This passage was afterwards rejected and replaced by a carefully
written rider, introducing the description as it stands in RK p. 22,
with the name Rammas Echor, and mention of Emyn Arnen, the
Harlond, Lossarnach, 'Lebennin with its five swift streams', and
Imrahil of Dol Amroth 'in the great fief of Belfalas'. As this rider
was first written, 'the quays and landings of the Harlond' were
'the quays and landings of Lonnath-Ernin'.
31. The two cross lines above and below the word 'Rider' reversed
show through from the other side of the page: this is the rider
referred to in note 30. - The reference to the sun looking down
on 'Sam busy with his steaming pan and herbs' (see note 11)
remained, but was altered in pencil to 'the warm sun that shone
down beyond the River, as Frodo saying farewell to Faramir
walked in the glades of Ithilien' (in RK the words 'saying farewell
to Faramir' are absent). The altered text represents the synchron-
ization discussed in the Note on Chronology below, whereby
Frodo left Henneth Annun on the same morning as Gandalf
reached Minas Tirith.
32. The treatment in this text of other differences of detail between
the original draft and RK may be mentioned here. The descrip-
tion of the livery and helms of the guards of the Citadel (p. 279)
now becomes precisely as in RK; but Gandalf's words 'And
Denethor at least does not expect him in any guise, for he does
not know that he exists' remain. Denethor still declares that the
horn was heard blowing upon the northern marches twelve days
ago (note 15), and he still calls Pippin's sword a sax (note 16).
Berithil is still clad in grey and white, and his reference to 'the old
kings that had dwarves in their service' remains (note 17). Pippin
tells him that he has 'not long passed twenty years' (note 18), and
later tells Bergil that he is 'nearly twenty-one' (p. 284). Of the
mountains in the East it is said that 'their jagged edges [were]
softened by wellnigh a hundred miles of misty air' (note 19).
Berithil says that 'the Fell Riders, but two years ago, won back
the crossings' (note 20); his words about Denethor in the Tower
are now precisely as in RK (note 21); and he says that the
Corsairs of Umbar 'have long forsaken the friendship of Gondor',
and again does not mention Belfalas as a source of aid to the city
(note 22).
Note on the Chronology.
In the chapter 'Journey to the Cross-roads' (pp. 175 ff.) Frodo and
Sam left Henneth Annun in the morning of February 7 and reached the
Osgiliath road at dusk of that day. During the night of February 7 - 8
the air became heavy, and dark clouds moved out of the East during
the morning of the 8th; they reached the Cross-roads at sunset, and
saw the sun 'finding at last the hem of the great slow-rolling pall of
cloud'.
In the present chapter Gandalf and Pippin arrived at Minas Tirith at
sunrise on February 6, and in the note added to the original draft (see
p. 286) my father said that the sunset of that day was to be ominous,
with the Darkness beginning next morning, the 7th. There is thus a
Jay out between 'Journey to the Cross-roads' and 'Minas Tirith'. (In
the outlines for Book V given in the last chapter the Darkness begins
on The 8th in outlines III and V, but on the 7th in outline VI.)
I cannot certainly explain this. Presumably my father had intro-
duced a change in the chronology of the movements of Frodo and Sam
in Ithilien, or at any rate intended to, and it may be that the rather
obscure note given on p. 271 is connected with this: 'Whole of Frodo's
and Sam's adventures must be set back one day, so that Frodo sees
moon-set on morning (early hours) of Feb. 6, and Faramir reaches
Minas Tirith on night of the 7th, and Great Darkness begins on 7th.'
This gives the following relations (and see note 31 above):
Feb. 6 Frodo leaves Henneth Annun; reaches Osgiliath road at
dusk.
Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith. Ominous sunset.
Feb. 7 Great Darkness begins. Frodo reaches Cross-roads at sun-
set.
See further the note on chronology on pp. 321 - 2. - The final
synchronization of the stories east and west of Anduin was differently
achieved, with extension of Gandalf's ride to Minas Tirith from three
nights to four (p. 264 note 3), and of Frodo's journey from Henneth
Annun from two days to three (p. 182). Thus in The Tale of Years
in LR:
March 8 Frodo leaves Henneth Annun.
March 9 Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith. At dusk Frodo reaches the
Morgul-road [= Osgiliath road]. Darkness begins to
flow out of Mordor.
March 10 The Dawnless Day. Frodo passes the Cross Roads.
IV.
MANY ROADS LEAD EASTWARD (1).
The original draft ('A') for Chapter XLV (Book V Chapter 2,
afterwards called 'The Passing of the Grey Company') was written in
pencil in my father's roughest script, and extended only as far as
Theoden's words about the Rangers: 'thirty such men will be a
strength not to be counted by heads' (RK p. 48). At this stage, I think,
he wrote a brief outline for the next part of the chapter which takes up
from the point reached in A.
The night was old and the East grey when they came at last to
the Hornburg and there rested.
Rangers say that messages reached them through Rivendell.
They suppose Gandalf or Galadriel or both?
Merry sat at the king's side in Hornburg, regrets that Pippin
was away.
They prepare to ride by secret ways to Dunharrow. Aragorn
does not sleep but becomes restless. Takes the Orthanc stone to
the tower of the Hornburg and looks in it.
He comes out of the chamber looking very weary, and will
say naught but goes to sleep till evening.
'There is evil news,' he said. 'The black fleet is drawing near
to Umbar [sic]. That will disturb counsels. I fear we must part,
Eomer. To meet again later. But not yet. How long will it take
to Dunharrow?' 'Two days. If we ride on the 5th we shall reach
there by evening of the 6th.'(1)
Aragorn fell silent. 'That will do,' he said.
The reverse of this page is a contoured map of the White Moun-
tains, ruled in squares of 2 cm. side, extending some 90 miles east and
west of Edoras, with no features (other than mountain peaks) marked
save the Morthond and the Stone of Erech in the south and Edoras and
the Snowbourn in the north. Harrowdale here runs a little west of
south, in contrast to the map redrawn on p. 258 where it runs south-
east, and Erech is a very little east of south from Edoras (assuming
that the map is oriented north-south). A pencilled note against the
Stone of Erech gives a distance: '62 miles as crow flies from Dun-
harrow' (where the second figure seems to have been changed from 3);
and in the margin is written: 'Scale 4 times main map'. Whichever map
my father was referring to (2) this would mean that 1 mm. = 1.25 miles;
and a dot pencilled in subsequently very near the head of Harrowdale
and obviously representing the place of Dunharrow is at a distance of
51 mm. from the Stone of Erech (= 63.75 miles).(3)
He now returned to the opening of the chapter and overwrote the
brief pencilled text in ink, so that it is obscured.(4)
The new draft ('B') in ink, as far as the point where the underlying
pencilled text ends, reaches that of RK (pp. 46 - 8) in all but a few
points. In the opening paragraph of the chapter it is said of Merry's
possessions only that 'he had few things to pack', and this was
bracketed,. at the head of the page my father wrote: Hobbit packs lost
at Calembel? replenished at Isengard' (for Calembel see the Index to
Vol. VII, s.v. Calenbel). To Aragorn's words 'But why they come, and
bow many they are, Halbarad (5) shall tell us Halbarad replies, Thirty
we are, and the brethren Elboron and Elbereth are among them. More
of us could scarcely be found in these dwindling days, as you well
know; and we had to gather in haste. We came because you
summoned us. Is that not so? To which Aragorn replies: Nay, save in
wish.'(6)
The coming of the sons of Elrond with the Rangers is referred to in
the outline given on p. 274. It is interesting to see that the names first
given to them, Elboron and Elbereth, were originally those of the
young sons of Dior Thingol's Heir, the brothers of Elwing, who were
murdered by 'the evil men of Maidros' host' in the attack on Doriath
by the Feanorians (The Annals of Beleriand, in IV.307, V.142); they
were thus the great-uncles of the sons of Elrond. But the names
Elboron and Elbereth of Dior's sons had been replaced by Elrun and
Eldun (IV.325-6; V.147, 351-3; VI.68).
The new draft B continues on from the point reached in the
pencilled opening, but the passage that immediately follows in RK (in
which Elrohir son of Elrond delivers his father's message to Aragorn
concerning the Paths of the Dead, and Aragorn asks Halbarad what it
is that he bears) is entirely absent. The text continues (RK p. 48):
The night was old and the East grey when they rode at last up
from the Deeping Coomb and came back to the Hornburg.
There they were to lie and rest for a while and take counsel.
Merry slept, until he was roused by Legolas and Gimli. 'The
sun is high,' said [Gimli >] Legolas. 'Everyone else is out and
about. Come and look round. There was a great battle here only
three nights ago. I would show you where the Huorn-forest
stood.'
'Is there not time to visit the Caves?' said Gimli.
'I have given my word to go with you,' said Legolas. 'But let
that be later and do not spoil the wonder with haste. It is near
the hour of noon, and after we have eaten we are to set out
swiftly, or so I hear.'
Merry sighed; he was lonely without Pippin and felt that he
was only a burden, while everybody was making plans for a
business he did not much understand.
'Aragorn has a company of his own now,' said Gimli. '[He
seems changed somewhat, and some dark care is on him. But
[he] looks more like a king than Theoden himself.](7) They are
stout men and lordly. The Riders look almost like boys beside
them; for they are grim and worn for the most part, such as
Aragorn was. But he seems changed somewhat: a kingly man if
ever there was one, though some dark care or doubt sits on
him.'
'Where is he?' said Merry.
'In a high chamber in the tower,' said Gimli. 'He has not
rested or slept, I think. He went there soon after we came here,
saying he must take thought, and only his kinsman Halbarad
went with him.'
Merry walked about with Legolas and Gimli for a while,
while they spoke of this and that turn of the battle; and they
passed the ruined gate and the mounds of the fallen, and they
stood upon the dike looking down the Coomb. The Dead Down
stood black and tall and stony amid the trampled grass. The
Dunlanders and other men of the garrison were busy here and
there, on the dyke and in the fields or on the battered walls. At
length they returned and went to the meal in the hall of the
burg. There Merry was called and was set beside the King.
The conversation of Merry with Theoden, leading to the offer of his
service and its acceptance, is virtually the same as in RK (pp. 50-1)
and need not be cited. Then follows:
They spoke together for a while. Then Eomer said: 'It is near
the hour we set for our departing. Shall I bid men sound the
horns? And where is Aragorn? His place is empty and he has not
eaten.'
The horns were sounded and men got ready to ride, the
Riders of Rohan now in a great company, for the King was
leaving but a small garrison in the Burg, and all that could be
spared were riding to the muster with him. A thousand spears
had already ridden away at night to Edoras; and yet now there
were still some three hundred or more that had gathered from
the fields about.
In a group by themselves were the Rangers. They were clad in
dark grey and their horses were rough-haired. Hoods were over
the[ir] helms. They [?wore] spear and bow and sword. There
was nothing fine or splendid in their array, no sign or badge,
save this only, that each cloak was pinned on the left shoulder
by a silver brooch shaped like a rayed star.(8) Dark and sombre
and proud men they looked.
Presently Eomer came out of the gate of the Burg, and with
him came Halbarad and Aragorn. They came down the ramp
and walked to the waiting horses. Merry sitting on his pony by
the King was startled by Aragorn. He looked grim, grey-faced,
weary, old, and leant a little on Halbarad.
'I have evil tidings, lord,' he said standing before the King. 'A
grave peril unlooked for threatens Gondor. A great fleet is
drawing near from the south, and will cut off all but scanty help
from that region. From Rohan alone can they expect much help
now. But I must take new counsel. I fear, lord, and Eomer my
friend, we must part - to meet again, maybe, or maybe not. But
how long will you take to reach Dunharrow?'
'It is now an hour after noon,' said Eomer. 'On the evening of
the second day from now we should come there. That night the
moon will rise full, and the muster that the King commanded
will begin the day after.'(9)
Aragorn fell silent as if considering. 'Two days,' he said. 'It
cannot be much speeded. Well, by your leave, lord, I will
forsake this secrecy. The time for it is passed for me. I will eat
now and then I and my rangers will ride as swift as steed may go
direct to Edoras. We shall meet at Dunharrow ere we part.
Farewell. May I commit my friend and charge Meriadoc to your
care?'
'No need,' said Theoden, 'he has sworn himself to my service.
He is my esquire.'
'Good,' said Aragorn. 'All that you do is kingly. Farewell.'
'Goodbye, Meriadoc,' said Gimli, 'but we're going with
Aragorn. It seems that he needs us. But we'll meet again, I think.
And yours for the present is the better road, I think. Jogging on
a nice pony, while I cling on behind Legolas and try to keep pace
with these Rangers!'
'Farewell,' said Merry regretfully.
A horn was sounded and the Riders set forth, and rode down
the Coomb, and turning swiftly west [read east] took a path that
skirted the foothills for a mile or so and then turned back in
among the hills and slopes and disappeared.
Aragorn watched until the King's men were far down the
Coomb. Then he turned to Halbarad. 'I must eat,' he said, 'and
then we must speed on our way. Come Legolas and Gimli. I
would speak to you as I eat.'
'Well,' said Aragorn as he sat at the table in the hall. 'I have
looked in the Stone, my friends. For my heart [foreboded that]
told me that there was much to learn.'
'You looked in the Stone!' said Gimli, amazed, awestruck,
and rather alarmed. 'What did you tell - him?'
'What did i tell him?' said Aragorn sternly, and his eyes
glinted. 'That I had a rascal of a rebel dwarf here that I would
exchange for a couple of good orcs, thank you! I thought I had
the strength, and the strength I had. I said naught to him and
wrenched the Stone from him to my own purpose. But he saw
me, yes and he saw me in other guise maybe than you see me. If I
have done ill I have done ill. But I do not think so. To know that
I lived and walked the earth was something of a blow to his
heart, and certainly he will now hasten all his strokes - but they
will be the less ripe. And then I learned much. For one thing,
that there are yet other Stones. One is at Erech and that is where
we are going. [Struck out: At the Stone of Erech Men shall
... be seen.]' Halbarad bears this message:
Out of the mountain shall they come their tryst keeping;
at the Stone of Erech their horn shall blow,
when hope is dead and the kings are sleeping
and darkness lies on the world below:
Three lords shall come from the three kindreds
from the North at need by the paths of the dead
elflord, dwarflord, and lord forwandred,
and one shall wear a crown on head.(11)
And that is an old rhyme of Gondor which none have under-
stood; but I think I perceive somewhat of its sense now. To the
Stone of Erech by the paths of the Dead!' he said rising. 'Who
will come with me?'
The last two sentences were inked in over pencil, and the rest of the
text consists of jottings in ink and pencil. These begin:
So now all roads were running together to the East and the
coming of the War. And even as Pippin stood at the Gate and
saw the Prince of Dol Amroth ride into the city with his banners
the King of Rohan came down out of the hills.
This is the beginning of 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK.(12) It is
followed by a sketch of the Starkhorn, and then by rough drafting
developing the conversation of Theoden and Eomer as they came into
Harrowdale nearer to its form in RK. On the significance of this see
pp, 306-7.
This draft was followed (as I judge, immediately) by another ('C'),
numbered 'XLV' but without title, more clearly written, but not much
advancing on its predecessor. At the beginning of the chapter, Merry
'had few things to bring, for the hobbits had lost their packs at
Calembel (Calledin), and though Merry and Pippin had found some
new ones at Isengard and had picked up a few necessaries, they made
only a light bundle' (see p. 297). In the conversation of Legolas, Gimli
and Merry at the Hornburg (RK p. 49) Legolas now speaks of the sons
of Elrond, still named Elboron and Elbereth (and it is only now
actually made clear who these were, cf. p. 297): 'Sombre is their gear
like the others', but they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords. And that is
not to be wondered at, for they are the own sons of Elrond of
Rivendell.' From Merry's question 'Why have they come? Have you
heard?' the conversation then proceeds as in RK, with Gimli quoting
the message that came to Rivendell and ascribing it to Gandalf, and
Legolas suggesting that it came more likely from Galadriel.(13) Ara-
gorn's horse Roheryn, brought by the Rangers (RK p. 51) has not yet
entered (when he left for Edoras he still rode Hasufel), nor is Merry's
pony (Stybba in RK) yet given a name; but the sons of Elrond are
described in the same words as in RK, and their armour of bright mail
cloaked in silver-grey (thus apparently contradicting Legolas' earlier
remark 'Sombre is their gear like the others' ', where in RK he says
'Less sombre is their gear than the others' ').
When Aragorn came from the gate of the Burg the new text follows
the earlier closely (pp. 299 - 300), but he does not name the 'grave peril
unlooked for' that threatens Gondor, and he no longer says 'We shall
meet at Dunharrow ere we part', but 'I shall be gone ere you come
there, if my purpose holds'. His account of his looking into the
palantir of Orthanc is somewhat developed, though his sarcasm to
Gimli remains; from his words 'If I have done ill I have done ill, but I
do not think so' this text continues:
'To know that I lived and walked the earth was a blow to his
heart, I deem, for he knew it not till now. But he has not
forgotten the sword of Isildur or his maimed hand and the pain
that lives ever with him. That in this very hour of his great
designs the heir of Isildur should be revealed and the sword of
Elendil - for I showed him that - will disturb his counsels.
Certainly now he will hasten all his strokes, but the hasty stroke
goes often wild.
'And I learned much. For one thing, that there are other
Stones yet preserved in this ancient land. One is at Erech. And
thither we are going. To the Stone of Erech, if we can find and
dare the Paths of the Dead.'
'The Paths of the Dead?' said Gimli. 'That has a fell name!
Where does it lie?'
'I do not know yet,' said Aragorn. 'But I know much old lore
of these lands, and I have learned much myself in many
journeys; and I have a guess. To prove it we shall ride fast ere
the day is much older. But harken, here is an old rhyme of my
kindred, almost forgotten. It was not said openly, but Halbarad
tells me that the message that came to Rivendell ended so. "Bid
Aragorn remember the dark words of old:
Out of the mountain shall they come their tryst keeping;
At the Stone of Erech their horns shall blow
The only differences in this form of the verse from that in the
previous draft B (p. 300) are: horns for horn in line 2; lost for dead in
line 3; shadow for darkness in line 4; and man for lord in line 7.
This text C was very substantially altered, by pencilled changes, and
by the substitution of rewritten pages to replace existing ones. I doubt
that much time if any elapsed between the initial writing of the
manuscript and the making of these changes: my impression is that the
text as first written ended at this point, with 'the dark words of old', at
almost the same point as the preceding draft B ended (p. 300), and that
my father at once began to develop it further.
The points in which B differed from RK, mentioned in note 6, were
now all altered to the final form (save that the name Dunadan had not
yet arisen); and while Elboron remained, Elbereth was changed to
Elrohir. The passage (RK p. 48) in which Elrohir delivers Elrond's
message to Aragorn, and Halbarad speaks the message of Arwen
accompanying her gift, is still altogether lacking; but after the
description of the Rangers (RK p. 51) the following was inserted:
Halbarad their leader carried a tall staff, upon which it seemed
was a great standard, but it was close-furled and covered with a
black cloth bound about it with many thongs.
A major rewriting (14) was inserted into the C manuscript at the point
where Aragorn came from the gate of the Burg; the text of RK is now
much more nearly approached, yet not reached, for Aragorn seeks
knowledge of the Paths of the Dead, whereas in RK (p. 52) he does
not.
'I am troubled in mind, lord,' he said, standing by the king's
stirrup. 'Strange words have I heard and I see new perils afar
off, I have laboured long in thought, and now I fear that I must
change my purpose. But tell me, Theoden, what do you know in
this land of the Paths of the Dead?'
'The Paths of the Dead! ' said Theoden. 'Why do you speak of
them?' Eomer turned and gazed at Aragorn, and it seemed to
Merry that the faces of the Riders that sat within hearing turned
pale at the words, and he wondered what they could mean.
'Because I would learn where they are,' said Aragorn.
'I do not know if indeed there be such paths,' said Theoden;
'but their gate stands in Dunharrow, if old lore be true that is
seldom spoken aloud.'
'In Dunharrow!' said Aragorn. 'And you are riding thither.
How long will it be ere you come there?'
'It is now two hours past noon,' said Eomer. 'Before the night
of the second day from now we should come to the Hold. That
night the moon will rise at the full, and the muster that the king
commanded will begin the day after. More speed we cannot
make, if the strength of Rohan is to be gathered.'
Aragorn was silent for a moment. 'Two days,' he murmured,
'and then the muster of Rohan will only be begun. But I see that
it cannot now be hastened.' He looked up, and it seemed that he
had made some decision; his face was less troubled.
'Well, by your leave, lord, I must take new counsel. For
myself and my kindred, we will now be secret no longer. For me
the time of stealth has passed. I will make ready now, and then
with my own folk I will ride the straight and open way with all
speed to Edoras, and thence to Dunharrow, and thence - who
shall say?'
'Do as you will,' said Theoden. 'Your foes are mine; but let
each fight as his wisdom guides him. Yet now I must take the
mountain-roads and delay no longer. Farewell! '
'Farewell, Aragorn!' said Eomer. 'It is a grief to me that we do
not ride together.'
'Yet in battle we may meet again, though all the hosts of
Mordor should lie between,' said Aragorn.
'If you seek the Paths of the Dead,' said Eomer, 'then it is little
likely that we shall meet among living men. Yet maybe it is your
doom to tread strange ways that others dare not.'
'Goodbye, Aragorn!' said Merry. 'I did not wish to be parted
from the remnant of our Company, but I have entered the
King's service.'
'I could not wish you better fortune,' said Aragorn.
'Goodbye, my lad,' said Gimli. 'I am sorry, but Legolas and I
are sworn to go with Aragorn. He says that he needs us. Let us
hope the Company will be gathered again some day. And for the
next stage yours will be the better road, I think. As you jog on
your pony, think of me clinging here, while Legolas vies at
horse-racing with those fell Rangers yonder.'
'Till we meet again!' said Legolas. 'But whatever way we
chose, I see a dark path and hard before each of us ere the end.
Farewell! '
The text then continues with Merry's sad farewell, and the depar-
ture of the Riders down the Coomb (in this text spelt throughout
Combe), but Aragorn's words with Halbarad about Merry and the
Shire-folk are absent. Aragorn's account of the Orthanc-stone was
now rewritten again, with various minor changes bringing the text still
closer to that in RK (his words 'The eyes in Orthanc did not see
through the armour of Theoden' are however not present: see p. 77
and note 17). But in answer to Gimli's objection 'But he wields great
dominion, nevertheless, and now he will move more swiftly' he replies
in this revised version:
'The hasty stroke goes often astray,' said Aragorn. 'And his
counsels will be disturbed. See, my friends, when I had mastered
the Stone I learned many things. A grave peril I saw coming
unlooked-for upon Gondor from the South that will draw off
great strength from the defence of Minas Tirith. And there are
other movements in the North. But now he will hesitate,
doubting whether the heir of Isildur hath that which Isildur
took from him, and thinking that he must win or lose all before
the gates of the City. If so, that is well, as well as an evil case
may be.
'Another thing I learned. There are other Stones yet preserved
in this ancient land. One is at Erech. Thither I will go. To the
Stone of Erech, if we can find the Paths of the Dead.'
The Paths of the Dead! said Gimli. That is a fell name, and
little to the liking of the men of Rohan, as I saw. Where do they
lie, and why must we seek them?'
'I do not yet know where they lie,' said Aragorn. 'But in
Dunharrow it seems that we may learn the answer. To Dun-
harrow at the swiftest, then, I will go.'
'And you would have us ride with you?' said Legolas.
'Of your free will I would,' said Aragorn. 'For not by chance,
I deem, are we three now left together of the Company. We have
some part to play together. Listen! Here is an old rhyme of my
kindred, almost forgotten, never understood.
The days are numbered; the kings are sleeping.
It is darkling time, the shadows grow.
Out of the Mountain they come, their tryst keeping;
at the Stone of Erech horns they blow.
Three lords I see from the three kindreds:
halls forgotten in the hills they tread,
Elpord, Dwarflord, Man forwandred,
from the North they come by the Paths of the Dead!(15)
Why does this point to us, you may ask. I deem it fits the hour
too well for chance. Yet if more is needed: the sons of Elrond
bring this word from their father in Rivendell: "Bid Aragorn
remember the Paths of the Dead."
'Come then!' Aragorn rose and drew his sword and it flashed
in the twilight of the dim hall of the Burg. 'To the Stone of
Erech! I seek the Paths of the Dead! Come with me who will!'
Legolas and Gimli answered nothing, but they rose also and
followed Aragorn from the hall. There on the green waited
silently the hooded Rangers. Legolas and Gimli mounted.
Aragorn sprang on Hasufel. Then Halbarad lifted a great horn
and the blast of it echoed in Helm's Deep; and they leapt away,
tiding down the Combe like thunder, while all the men that
were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze.
The last page of the manuscript carries the words pencilled at the
end of version B (p. 300): 'So now all roads were running together to
East ?..', the paragraph that opens 'The Muster of Rohan' in The
Return of the King.
At this point my father typed a fair copy, which I will call 'M',(16)
very closely based on the manuscript C as revised. This text, numbered
'XLV', bore the title 'Many Roads Lead Eastward'. Only a few
passages need be noted. I have mentioned (p. 304) that after the
departure of Theoden from the Hornburg 'Aragorn's words with
Halbarad about Merry and the Shire-folk are absent' in C revised; but
the forerunner of the passage in RK (p. 53) now appears:
Aragorn rode to the Dike and watched till the king's men
were far down the Combe. Then he turned to Halbarad. 'There
go three that I love,' he said, 'and not least the hobbit, Merry,
most dearly. For all our love and dooms, Halbarad, and our
deeds of arms, still they have a great worth, that greatheart little
people; and it is for them that we do battle, as much as for any
glory of Gondor. And yet fate divides. Well, so it is. 1 must eat a
little, and then we too must haste away ...'(17)
Secondly, after Aragorn's words, 'If so that is well, as well as an evil
case can be' (p. 304) he now continues:
'... These deadly strokes upon our flanks will be weakened.
And we have a little room in which to play.
'Another thing I learned. There is another Stone preserved in
the land of Gondor that he has not looked:n. It is at Erech.
Thither I will go....'
And lastly, Aragorn now introduces the 'old rhyme' in these words:
'Listen! Here is an old rhyme-of-lore among my kindred, almost
forgotten, never understood: it is but a shard of the rhymes of
Malbeth, the last Seer of our folk in the north' (see note 15). The verse
differs from the form in C revised (p. 305) in lines 2-4, which here
read:
It is darkling time, the shadow grows.
Out of the Mountain he comes, his tryst keeping;
At the Stone of Erech his horn be blows.
From the point where 'Aragorn sprang on Hasufel' the typescript M
continues thus:
... Then Halbarad lifted a great horn, and the blast of it echoed
in Helm's Deep, and with that they leapt away, riding down the
Combe like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or
Burg stared in amaze.
So now all roads were running together to the East to meet
the coming of war and the onset of the Shadow. And even as
Pippin stood at the Gate of the City and saw the Prince of Dol
Amroth ride in with his banners, the King of Rohan came down
out of the hills.
Day was waning. In the last rays of the sun the Riders cast
long pointed shadows that went on before them....
The paragraph 'So now all roads were running together to the
East ...' had been written at the ends of texts B and C (pp. 300, 305),
from which it was already clear that my father had in mind a chapter
that should fall into two parts: first, the story of the return of Theoden
and Aragorn to the Hornburg and Aragorn's looking into the palantir
of Orthanc, followed by the separate departures of Theoden and the
Riders and of Aragorn and the Rangers; and second, the story of
Theoden's coming to Dunharrow. The paragraph 'So now all roads
were running together to the East' was devised as the link between
them (and provided the title of the chapter in the typescript, which I
have adopted here). In terms of RK, this 45th chapter of The Lord of
the Rings consisted of 'The Passing of the Grey Company' (pp. 46 - 56)
and 'The Muster of Rohan' (pp. 64 ff.); but all account of Aragorn
and the Rangers after they had left the Hornburg was to be postponed.
By the time typescript M was made, much further work had been
done on what it is convenient to call by the later title 'The Muster of
Rohan', extending it from the point reached in October 1944, as
detailed in Chapter II ('Book Five Begun and Abandoned'). I shall
therefore postpone the second part of 'Many Roads Lead Eastward' to
my next chapter; but the subsequent history of the first or 'Hornburg'
part may be briefly noticed here. The typescript M, retitled 'Dunhar-
row', became the vehicle of much of the later development (doubtless
at different times) as far as the departure of Aragorn and the Rangers
from the Hornburg, with such changes as Parth Galen for Calembel
(and a proposed name Calembrith), Elladan for Elboron, the intro-
duction of the passage (RK p. 48) in which Elrohir and Halbarad
deliver the messages from Elrond and Arwen ('the Lady of Rivendell'),
and of Aragorn's account (RK p. 55) of the oathbreaking of the Men
of the Mountains and the words of Isildur to their king. Nonetheless,
the verse of Malbeth did not at this stage reach the alliterative form
in RK:
'... Listen! This is the word that the sons of Elrond bring to me
from their father in Rivendell, wisest in lore:
'"Bid Aragorn remember the Paths of the Dead. For thus
spoke Malbeth the Seer:
When the land is dark where the kings sleep
And long the Shadow in the East is grown,
The oathbreakers their tryst shall keep,
At the Stone of Erech shall a horn be blown:
The forgotten people shall their oath fulfill.
Who shall summon them, whose be the horn?
For none may come there against their will.
The heir of him to whom the oath was sworn;
Out of the North shall he come, dark ways shall he tread;
He shall come to Erech by the Paths of the Dead." '
At the stage represented by the further development of this typescript
with its manuscript additions my father added (as the pagination
shows), in a roughly written continuation that is however close to the
form in RK, the story of the coming of the Grey Company (not yet so
called) to Dunharrow, and the meeting that night, and again next day
at dawn, of Aragorn and Eowyn (RK pp. 56 - 9).(18) It is clear from the
pagination that at this stage the muster in Harrowdale was still to be
included in this chapter ('Dunharrow'); and that the passage of the
Paths of the Dead was not yet told in this part of the narrative.
NOTES.
1. A note in the margin of this text says 'Night of 3, day of 4th', i.e.
they came to the Hornburg at dawn of the 4th of February. The
chronology envisaged here was presumably that Theoden would
leave the Hornburg early on the 5th. See note 9.
2. On the First Map 'Dunharrow' was the name of the mountain
afterwards called Starkhorn (VII.319 and p. 240 in this book);
the distance from that 'Dunharrow' to the spot added later to
mark the position of the Stone of Erech (p. 268, footnote) is 18.5
mm or 92.5 miles. Precisely the same, though I think that this is
by chance rather than design, is found on the anomalous map
redrawn on p. 269 for the distance from Erech to a little mark in
Harrowdale that probably represents Dunharrow. The Second
Map (p. 434) gives (probably) 45 miles; and this is also the
distance on my father's large-scale map of Rohan, Gondor and
Mordor (and on my reproduction of it published in The Return
of the King).
3. A wooden ruler that may have been the one used by my father at
this time gives 50 mm. = 62.5 miles.
4. Taum Santoski has been able however to read a good deal of it,
especially in the latter part of the text where the arrival of the
Rangers is described: here there is no difference of any sig-
nificance between the original draft and the overwriting in ink.
Of the opening passage of the chapter less can be made out; but
it can be seen that Aragorn, in answer to Legolas' question
'Where?' ('And then whither?' in RK) replied: 'I cannot say yet.
We shall go to the Hold of Dunharrow, to Edoras I guess for the
muster that the King ordered in [three > ?four] nights' time from
now. But that may prove too tardy.' He seems not to have said
anything equivalent to 'An hour long prepared approaches'; and
in answer to his question 'Who will go with me?' it is Merry alone
who replies: 'I will. Though I promised to sit by the King when he
gets back in his house and tell him about the Shire.' To this
Aragorn replies: 'That must wait, I fear - [?indeed] I fear it shall
prove one of the fair things that will not come to flower in this
bitter spring.'
5. For earlier applications of the name Halbarad see p. 236 and
note 10.
6. A few other details in which the text differs from RK may be
mentioned. Aragorn's reply to Merry's remark about his promise
to Theoden remains as it was (note 4). In the encounter with the
Rangers Merry's thoughts are not reported; Halbarad does not
name himself Dunadan; and neither Aragorn nor Halbarad
dismount at first - not until the 'recognition' do they leap down
from their horses.
7. The brackets are in the original.
8. In The Tale of Years (LR Appendix B) the entry for the year 1436
in the Shire Reckoning states that the King Elessar, coming to the
Brandywine Bridge, gave the Star of the Dunedain to Master
Samwise. In my note 33 to The Disaster of the Gladden Fields in
Unfinished Tales (pp. 284 - 5) I said that I was unable to say what
this was. This is a convenient place to mention that after the
publication of Unfinished Tales two correspondents, Major
Stephen M. Lott and Mrs. Joy Mercer, independently suggested
to me that the Star of the Dunedain was very probably the same
as the silver brooch shaped like a rayed star that was worn by the
Rangers in the present passage (RK p. 51); Mrs. Mercer also
referred to the star worn by Aragorn when he served in Gondor,
as described in Appendix A (I.iv, The Stewards): 'Thorongil men
called him in Gondor, the Eagle of the Star, for he was swift and
keen-eyed, and wore a silver star upon his cloak.' These sugges-
tions are clearly correct.
9. The chronology is now thus:
February 4 Theoden and Aragorn reach the Hornburg at
dawn. In the afternoon Theoden and the Riders leave for
Dunharrow, and soon after Aragorn and the Rangers leave
for Edoras.
At the Hornburg Eomer says: 'On the evening of the second
day from now we should come there [to Dunharrow]. That
night the moon will rise full.'
February 6 Full moon. Theoden arrives at Dunharrow at
dusk.
10. In a later text (see p. 397) the black Stone of Erech, brought from
Numenor, was not a palantir, but a palantir was preserved in the
Tower of Erech. In the present text (and in the subsequent
revisions, pp. 302, 304-5}, on the other hand, the most natural
interpretation of the words seems to be that the Stone of Erech
was itself the palantir. On the sites of the palantiri as originally
conceived see pp. 76-7. - Against Aragorn's speech is pencilled in
the margin: 'He has not forgotten the sword of Isildur. Doubtless
he will think that I have got the treasure.' Cf. the subsequent text
(p. 304): 'But now he will hesitate, doubting whether the heir of
Isildur hath that which Isildur took from him.'
11. I have punctuated this verse according to the subsequent version
of it, which is almost identical. In the fourth line my father wrote
over earth, changing earth to the world, and I have substituted on
for over, as in the following version. - forwandred: worn and
weary from wandering.
12. The original texts of the abandoned opening of 'The Muster of
Rohan' began 'Day was (fading) waning'; the paragraph cited
('So now all roads were running together to the East ...')
precedes 'Day was waning' in RK.
13. In the message that came to Rivendell the wording in this text is:
The Lord Aragorn has need of his kindred. Let the last of the
Kings of Men in the North ride to him in Rohan, where RK has
Let the Dunedain ... In a rejected form of this passage preceding
it in the manuscript the wording is: Let all that remain of the
[struck out: Tarkil] Kings of Men ride to him in Rohan.
Legolas' support for his opinion that it was Galadriel who sent
the message, 'Did she not speak through Gandalf of the ride of
the Grey Company from the North?', is absent here. The refer-
ence is to 'The White Rider' (TT p. 106) and Galadriel's verse
addressed to Aragorn spoken to him by Gandalf in Fangorn:
Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth,
And the Grey Company ride from the North.
But dark is the path appointed for thee:
The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea.
It was at this stage in the evolution of the story that Galadriel's
message in verse to Aragorn was changed from its earlier and
altogether different form: see VII.431, 448.
When the three companions went down from the broken gates
they 'passed the new mounds of the fallen raised on the Gore' ('on
the greensward', RK p. 50); and 'the Riders were assembling
upon the Gore' ('on the green', RK p. 51). Cf. the description of
the Hornburg in the chapter 'Helm's Deep' (TT p. 134): 'About
the feet of the Hornrock it [the Deeping Stream] wound, and
flowed then in a gully through the midst of a wide green gore';
also the drawing of Helm's Deep and the Hornburg in Pictures by
j. R. R. Tolkien, no. 26.
14. An odd detail may be mentioned here. In his conversation with
Legolas and Merry Gimli says in the C version, as first written: 'I
played a game which I won by no more than one orc' (cf. RK
p. 49). This was now altered to: 'and here Legolas and I played a
game which I lost only by a single orc', and this survived into the
first typescript. But in the second completed manuscript of 'The
Road to Isengard', written long before this time, the text is
precisely as in TT, p. 148: You have passed my score by one,>
answered Legolas.'
15. A rejected version of this form of the verse is also found in the
manuscript: in this the first two lines read:
The Shadow falls; the kings are sleeping.
It is darkling time, all lights are lou .
The remainder of the verse is the same as that given in the text.
Although Aragorn describes it only as 'an old rhyme of my
kindred', the words 'Three lords I see' perhaps suggest the
utterance of a seer; and Aragorn attributes it in the following text
(p. 306) to 'Malbeth, the last Seer of our folk in the North' (cf.
RK p. 54, where he declares that the wholly different verse that he
recites in this place was spoken by 'Malbeth the Seer, in the days
of Arvedui, last king at Fornost'). - In none of these texts is there
any indication of what the 'tryst' might be. In the outline given on
pp. 274-5 there is mention of the defeat of the Haradwaith by
'the-Shadow Host'.
16. The reason for calling the typescript 'M' is that as will be seen
shortly it covers, in a single chapter (XLV), both the story of
Aragorn at the Hornburg (preceded by texts A to C) and the story
of the Muster of Rohan (preceded by texts A to L).
17. This was changed on the typescript to read: '"There go three that
I love," he said, "and the halfling, Merry, most dearly.... and
for them also we do battle, not only for the glory of Gondor. And
yet fate divides us...." '
18. It is said in this continuation that Aragorn came to Edoras 'at
dusk on the next day' (February 5), and that they did not halt
there but passed up Harrowdale and came to Dunharrow 'late at
night'; and Aragorn says to Eowyn on the following morning
(February 6) that Theoden and Eomer will not return 'until the
day is old'. See note 9.
V.
MANY ROADS LEAD EASTWARD (2).
When my father made the typescript (M) of the long chapter 'Many
Roads Lead Eastward' he had not only written a good deal of what
afterwards became 'The Passing of the Grey Company': he had also
greatly extended the story that would later become 'The Muster of
Rohan' from the opening abandoned in October 1944. A new text of
the latter (following the last of the earlier ones, that in 'midget type'
which I have called H, p. 250) takes up at the point where Eomer says
'Harrowdale at last!' (RK p. 65); this I will call 'J'. Tolerably clearly
written in ink, it extends only as far as Merry's wonderment at the line
of standing stones across the Firienfeld (RK p. 68), the last lines being
roughly pencilled, and then peters out into a brief outline; but so far as
it goes the first part of 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK was now achieved
almost word for word, except just at the point where it breaks off.(1)
The text ends thus:
At last they came to a sharp brink, and the climbing road
passed into a low cutting between walls of rock and passed up
a slope out onto a wide upland. The Firienfeld men called it, a
green mountain field of grass and heath above the deep-delved
valley, on the lap of the great mountains behind: the Starkhorn
southward, and westward [read northward](2) the many-peaked
mass of Iscamba (3) Irensaga [written above: Ironsaw], between
which lower, but steep and grim, stood the black wall of the
Dwimorberg, rising out of thick slopes of sombre firs/pines.
Towards this marched from the very brink of the stairs to the
dark edge of the wood a line a double line [sic] of standing
stones. Worn and black, some leaning, some fallen, some
cracked or broken, they were like old teeth. Where they
vanished into the wood there was a dark opening into a cavern
or recess in the [?western] side. Just within dimly seen was a tall
standing pillar.
Merry looked at this strange line of stones and wondered
what they could be. He
Eowyn says Aragorn has gone by the Paths of the Dead.
The huts and pavilions of the hold.
To the king's pavilion come the messengers of Gondor.
The king promises 7 thousand horse to ride as soon as may
be. At same [time] messengers come from Eastemnet saying that
an orc-host has crossed the river, below the Limlight.
It is a gloomy evening repast.
The morning is dull and overcast, and gets darker.
On this page, which is reproduced on p. 314, are two rapid pencilled
sketches which amply illustrate the final conception of Harrowdale
and Dunharrow.
It is to be remembered that at this time the further story of Aragorn
and the Grey Company, their coming to Dunharrow and their entering
the Gate of the Dead, was not present in the narrative: the present
passage was to be the first account of the Dwimorberg, the Firienfeld,
the line of standing stones, the Dimholt, and the great monolith before
the Dark Door. When afterwards the structure of the narrative was
changed my father largely retained this description in the chapter 'The
Muster of Rohan' (RK pp. 67 - 8): he treated the coming of the Grey
Company to Dunharrow two nights before the arrival of Theoden in a
single sentence ('they passed up the valley, and so came to Dunharrow
as darkness fell', RK p. 56), and said almost nothing of the scene -
they 'sat at supper' with Eowyn, 'as Aragorn came to the booth where
he was to lodge with Legolas and Gimli, and his companions had gone
in, there came the Lady Eowyn after him and called to him', and that is
all. The approach of the Company to the Dark Door next morning is
described with a mysterious brevity: the double line of standing stones
across the Firienfeld is mentioned cursorily, as if their existence were
already known to the reader: 'A dread fell on them, even as they
passed between the lines of ancient stones and so came to the Dimholt'
(RK p. 59).
The text J was followed by another, 'K', beginning at the same point
('Harrowdale at last!'); this was clearly written in ink as far as the
point where Eowyn says to Theoden: 'And your pavilion is prepared
for you, lord, for I have had full tidings of you' (cf. RK p. 68). In this
text the description of the Firienfeld runs as follows (the passage here
set between asterisks was rejected, but is not marked in any way in the
manuscript):
The Firienfeld men called it, a green mountain-field of grass and
heath, high above the deep-delved valley [> course of the
Snowbourn], on the Jap of the great mountains behind: the
Starkhorn southwards to the right, and [westward in front >]
northward to the left the many-peaked mass of Irensaga
Ironsaw, between which there faced them, darkly frowning, the
grim black wall of Dwimorberg, rising out of thick slopes of
sombre pines.* [Towards these woods o] Across the wide field
there marched, from the brink of the stair to the dark edge of
(Starkhorn, Dwimorberg and Irensaga.)
the woods, a double line of standing stones, worn and black.
Some leaning, some fallen, some cracked or broken, they looked
like rows of old and hungry teeth. Where they entered the wood
there was a [dark opening >] way in the trees: just within dimly
to be seen was a tall standing pillar and beyond it the dark
opening of a cavern or great door. Dividing the upland into
two chere marched a double line of standing stones that
dwindled in the dusk and vanished into the trees. Those who
followed that road came to a dark clearing amid the sighing
gloom of the Firienholt,(4) and there like a shadow stood a single
pillar of stone, and beyond a huge doorway in the side of the
black cliff. Signs and figures were set about it that none could
read, worn by the years and shrouded from the light.(5) In long
memory none had dared to pass that door. Such was the dark
Dunharrow, the work of long-forgotten men....
The text then continues very close indeed to RK (p. 68), ending with
Eowyn's words to Theoden 'I have had full tidings of you', which do
not stand at the foot of a page. The next words, '"So Aragorn has
come," said Eomer' (RK p. 69), stand at the head of a new page, and
there follows a manuscript pencilled in my father's most impossible
handwriting, effectively indecipherable except insofar as later versions
provide clues - as is however largely the case here. This further text
can be regarded as a continuation of K. It carries the narrative of 'The
Muster of Rohan' as far as the conclusion of Theoden's words with
the errand-rider of Gondor, RK p. 73; and while it is naturally rough
and hasty in expression, and would be greatly refined, the story was
effectively present from the first. The following passage, however, I
cite in full, following Eomer's words (cf. RK p. 70) 'For the road we
have climbed is the approach to the Door. Yonder is the Firienholt.
But what lies beyond no man knows.' For the earliest reference to the
old man of Dunharrow see the notes ('E') given on p. 242.
'Only legend of old days has any report to make,' said
Theoden. 'But if these ancient tales are to be believed, then the
Door [?in] Dwimorberg leads to a secret way that goes under
the mountains. But none have dared ever to explore it since
Baldor son of Bregu dared to pass the Door, and came never
back. Folk say that Dead Men out of ... Years guard the way
and will suffer none to come to their secret halls. But at whiles
they may be seen [?rush)ing out like shadows and down the
Stony Road. Then the men of Harrowdale shut fast their doors
and shroud their windows and are afraid. But seldom do the
Dead come forth, and only at times of great peril.'
'Yet it is said in Harrowdale,' said Eowyn quietly, 'that they
came forth in the moonless nights [? just past].'
'But why has Aragorn gone that way?' said Merry.
'Unless he has spoken to you his friend, then you have heard
as much as we,' said Eowyn. 'But I thought that he had changed
much since I saw him in Meduseld.(6) Fey he seemed to me, and
as one that the Dead call.'
'Maybe,' said Theoden. 'Yet my heart tells me that he is a
kingly man of high destiny. And take comfort in this, daughter,
since comfort you seem to need in your grief for this passing
guest. It is said that when the Eorlingas came first out of the
North and passed up the Snowbourn seeking strong places of
refuge in time of need, that Bregu and his son Baldor climbed
the Stair of the Hold and [?passed] to the Door; and there there
sat an old man aged beyond count of years, withered as old
stone. Very like to the Pukel-men he was as he sat upon the
threshold of the dark Door.
'Nothing he said until they sought to pass him and enter, and
then a voice came out of him as if it were out of a stone, and to
their amazement it spoke in their own tongue. The way is shut.
'Then they halted and looked at the old man whom [?the
king] had at first taken for [??an image] such as stood at the
turnings of the Stair. But he did not look at them. The way is
shut the voice said again. It was made by those who are Dead
and (?? for j the Dead [??to] keep until the time comes.
'And when will that be? said Baldor.
'But no answer did he ever get. For the old man died in that
hour and fell upon his face, and no other [??words] of the
ancient dwellers in the mountains did [?our] folk ever learn. Yet
maybe the time has come and Aragorn will pass.'
'And whether the time is [?come] or no,' said Eomer, 'none
can discover save by daring the door. A [?true]-hearted man was
Aragorn, and still against hope I hope to see his face once again.
Yet our roads lie' And then he paused, for there was a noise
without of men's voices and the challenges of the king's guard.
Then Dunhere entered and announced the coming of the messenger
(or messengers)(7) of Gondor. In his opening words Dirgon, as he is
called here (Hirgon in RK), says: 'Often you have aided us, but now
the Lord Denethor begs for all your strength, and all your speed, lest
Gondor fall. Then would the tide sweep over the fields of
Calenardon.'(8) From Theoden's words 'And yet he knows that we are a
scattered people and take time to gather in our riders' the text runs far
more briefly than in RK to the end of his speech with the messenger.
Dirgon does not speak again, and Theoden refers only, and briefly, to
the war with Saruman and the lesser number of Riders that he can
send; concluding 'Yet all is more advanced than I hoped. We may ride
on the [?third] day from now.'
A further pencilled text ('L'), as fearsomely scrawled as K or worse,
takes up after a short gap for which there is no drafting with Merry's
words, I will not be left behind to be called for on return (RK p. 73).
It is curious that this text is headed 'XLVI' (without title), whereas the
typescript M, obviously developed from L, includes this story of the
departure of the Riders from Harrowdale as the conclusion of 'XLV:
Many Roads lead Eastward'. I can only suppose that my father briefly
intended to begin a new chapter with Merry's words, but thought
better of it.
The opening of the text L is very close to RK pp. 73 - 5. The darkness
that has spread out of the East and reached far into the western sky is
described in the same words; the first messenger from Gondor is now
named Hirgon, and the second (never named) is present - but this
latter says of the darkness only: 'It comes from Mordor, lord. It began
last night at sunset, and now the great cloud lies on all the [?land]
between here and the Mountains of Shadow, and it is deepening. By
the fire-signals war has already begun.' To this Theoden replies: 'Then
the die is cast. There is no longer need or profit in hiding. We will
muster at once and wait not. Those who are not here must be left
behind or follow....'
Merry's story at this point was somewhat different from its form in
RK. After his expostulation to Theoden ('Then tie me on to one, or let
me hang on a stirrup ...') the text, hurled onto the paper, continues:
Theoden smiled. 'You shall ride before me on Snowmane
[?rather than wander in the plains] of Rohan. Go now and see
what the armourers have prepared for you.'
'It was the only request that Aragorn made,' said Eowyn.
'And it has been granted.'
With that she led him from the pavilion to a booth at some
distance among the lodgings of the king's guard, and there a
man brought out to her a small helm and a coat of mail and a
shield like to the one that had been given to Gimli.(9) No mail we
had to fit you nor time to forge a hauberk for you,'(10) she said,
'but here is a short jerkin of leather and a shield and a [?short]
spear. Take them and bear them to good fortune. But now I
have ....... to look to. Farewell. But we shall meet again, my
heart foretells, thou and I, Meriadoc.'
So it was that amid the gathering gloom the King of the Mark
set out. Not many hours had passed, and now in the half-light
beside the grey rush of the Snowbourn he sat proudly on his
white horse, and five [and] fifty hundreds of Riders, besides
men ..... with spare horses bearing light burdens, [?were
ranged]. They [?were to ride down] to Edoras and [?thence out
and away] along the well-beaten road eastward, pass along the
skirts of the hill[s] to [?Anorien] and the walls of Minas Tirith.
Merry sat on his pony that was to bear him down the [?stony]
valley, and after that he was to ride with the king or some other
of his company.
A trumpet sang. The king raised his hand, and without any
sound of voice, silently, without shout or song, the great ride
began. The king passed along the lines followed by Merry and
Eomer and the errand-riders of Gondor and Dunhere, and then
his guard of twelve picked spearmen. To Eowyn he had said
farewell above in the Hold.
It is clear, from Theoden's 'You shall ride before me on Snowmane
rather than wander in the plains of Rohan. Go now and see what the
armourers have prepared for you', and from the words 'Merry sat on
his pony that was to bear him down the stony valley, and after that he
was to ride with the king or some other of his company', that at this
stage Merry was to go with the Rohirrim to Minas Tirith openly, with
the concurrence of Theoden, and without any assistance from Eowyn.
This does not mean, of course, that Eowyn was not present among the
Riders in disguise, although no covert reference is made to her in this
original account of the departure from Harrowdale; and indeed her
death before Minas Tirith had been long foreseen (see VII.448; also
the outline given on p. 256 and especially that on p. 275). In any case,
a further draft for the story of the departure follows in text L:
First there went twelve of the king's household-men [?and]
guard, picked spearmen. Tall and stern they looked to Merry,
and one among them, less tall and broad than the others,
glanced at the hobbit as he passed, and Merry caught the glint
of clear grey eyes. He shivered a little, for it seemed to him that
the face was of one that goes knowingly to death. The king
followed with Eomer on his right and Dunhere on his left. He
had said farewell to Eowyn above in the Hold. Merry followed
with the errand-riders of Gondor and behind went twelve more
of the guard. Then in [?ordered] lines the companies of the
riders turned and rode after them as was appointed. They
passed down the road beside the Snowbourn, and through the
hamlets of Upbourn and Underharrow where many sad faces
looked from dark doors. And so the great ride to the East began,
with which the songs of Rohan were busy for many lives of men
thereafter.
Here the text L ends, and here the typescript M ends also.
In this second part of the chapter 'Many Roads lead Eastward' the
typescript text shows great refinement in detail over these exceedingly
rough and obviously primary drafts, but no texts are found to bridge
them; and it seems possible that the developed form in M was actually
achieved on the typewriter (there are in fact several passages that
could suggest this). To a great extent the text of RK in 'The Muster of
Rohan' was now present; but there remained still some differences,
and among these I notice the following.(11)
Eowyn now says of the coming forth of the Dead (see p. 316), Yet it
is said in Harrowdale that they came forth again in the moonless nights
but little while ago, a great host in strange array, and none saw them
return, they say.' The old man beside the Dark Door is still said to
resemble one of the Pukel-men.(12) On the front of Hirgon's helm 'was
wrought as an emblem a small silver crown' ('star' in RK). The second,
unnamed errand-rider from Gondor says here of the darkness spread-
ing out of Mordor: 'From my station by the beacon of Minrimmon I
saw it rise', where in RK he says: 'From the hills in the Eastfold of your
realm I saw it rise'. Notably, the conversation between Merry and
Theoden now takes this form:
Theoden smiled. 'Rather than that I will bear you with me on
Snowmane,' he said. 'I guessed your words before you spoke
them. But at the least you shall ride with me to Edoras and look
on Meduseld, for that way I shall go. So far Stybba can bear
you: the great race will not begin till we reach the plains.'
'And over the plains with you to the end of the road your
squire will ride,' said Eowyn. 'That you know in your heart, and
others also have foreseen it. Come now, Meriadoc, and I will
show you the gear that is prepared for you. It was the only
request that Aragorn son of Arathorn made of us ere he
departed.'
With that she led the hobbit from the king's pavilion to a
booth among the lodges of the king's guard near by; and there a
man brought out to her a small helm and a spear and round
shield, and other gear.
The account of the departure follows that in text L (p. 318); the
Rider who looked at Merry as he passed is still among the twelve
household-men that preceded the host, 'somewhat less in height and
girth than the others'; and nothing is said of what arrangement had
been made for Merry after the departure of the host from Edoras.
The chapter 'Many Roads Lead Eastward' ended, both in manu-
script and typescript, at the ride of the Rohirrim down Harrowdale:
'And so the great ride to the East began, with which the songs of
Rohan were busy for many lives of men thereafter' (p. 319; RK p. 76).
The conclusion of 'The Muster of Rohan' as it stands in RK was added
later, but not much later (at least in terms of the progress of the
narrative: what halts and of what duration took place in the writing of
Books V and VI there seems no way of telling); it first appeared, in
fact, as the opening of Chapter XLVII, 'The Ride of the Rohirrim', and
I postpone it to that place (p. 349).
NOTES.
1. On a rejected page in this manuscript, however, Theoden ex-
presses some amazement at the scene in Harrowdale: 'The king
looked with surprise about him, for there was a great concourse
of men ... "What is the meaning of this?" asked the king. "Was
not the muster set to begin tomorrow at Edoras?" ' Then a man,
unnamed, explains how this is due to Gandalf, and a note
follows: 'Gandalf must tell the king as he rides off that he will
order the muster at Dunharrow and speed it up. That will
necessitate altering remarks about the full moon' (see the Note on
Chronology below). This rejected page then concludes with a
brief passage that depends on the note: 'So they saw that Gandalf
must have done as he promised. The muster was here, not at
Edoras, and already the greater part of the men of Rohan were
assembled.'
The words 'Gandalf must tell the king as he rides off' can only
refer to his leaving Dol Baran on Shadowfax after the Nazgul
passed over; but no such change was in fact introduced in that
place.
At the foot of this rejected page is written: 'Eowyn tells of
Aragorn's coming and his departure. The Paths of the Dead. The
road of Monoliths.'
2. westward was, I think, no more than a slip. It was repeated in the
following text (p. 313) but corrected, probably at once.
3. Iscamba: cf. Old English camb (Modern English comb), comb,
crest (as of a cock, a helmet, etc.).
4. For the name Firienholt of the later Dimholt see p. 251 and
note 21.
5. For the origin of this sentence see p. 246. It reappears in changed
form in 'The Passing of the Grey Company' in RK (p. 59), where
the Company halted before the Dark Door: 'Signs and figures were
carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed from it
like a grey vapour.'
6. The first part of the name of the Golden Hall is so scrawled that it
could be read in almost any way, but it is clearly not Winseld, the
earlier name, and is almost certainly the first occurrence of
Meduseld.
7. Apparently there were two messengers, for while the writing is so
fast that no detail of letter is entirely certain, my father seems to
have written 'Men are here, errand-riders out of Gondor.'
Theoden's reply could be equally well read as 'Let him come' or
'Let them come'. But only one man enters. - The war-arrow that
he bears is green-feathered (black in RK).
8. The name Calenard(h)on emerged in the course of writing the
chapter 'Faramir': see pp. 155 - 6, with notes 18 and 22.
9. The reference is to 'The King of the Golden Hall', TT p. 127:
'[Gimli] chose a cap of iron and leather that fitted well upon his
round head; and a small shield he also took. It bore the running
horse, white upon green, that was the emblem of the House of
Eorl.' This passage, in which is recounted also the arming of
Aragorn and Legolas 'in shining mail', was added on a rider to
the fair copy manuscript of 'The King of the Golden Hall'.
10. Thus the provision of a coat of mail for Merry, referred to in the
preceding sentence, was immediately denied.
11. The following names and name-forms in the typescript may be
mentioned. The Firienholt remains, for later Dimholt. Brego is
now again spelt thus, not Bregu, but his son's name is here
Bealdor (changed to Baldor on the typescript): both of these are
Old English variants. The path down from the Dark Door ('the
road of Monoliths', note 1) is again called 'the Stony Road',
capitalised, as in the text K (p. 315). Hirgon speaks of the Harad,
where RK has the Haradrim.
12. In RK (p. 71) the old withered man is said to have been once 'tall
and kingly'. Cf. The Lord of the Rings Appendix F (Of Men):
'The Dunlendings were a remnant of the peoples that had dwelt
in the vales of the White Mountains in ages past. The Dead Men
of Dunharrow were of their kin.'
Note on the Chronology.
In the last of the texts (H) of the abandoned opening of 'The Muster of
Rohan' Theoden asked if the moon had not been full on the night
before, and Eomer replied that on the contrary the moon would be full
that night (pp. 251 - 2, 272 - 3). In the first of the later texts (J) Theoden
himself says 'Tonight the moon will be full, and in the morning I shall
ride to Edoras to the gathering of Rohan', and this remained into the
typescript M.
In 'The Road to Isengard' the date of the muster at Edoras was
changed over and over again according to the shifting chronology. For
the earliest texts see p. 27 and note 6; the second fair copy of that
chapter had 'before the waning of the moon', changed to 'at the last
quarter of the moon'. This was retained in the following typescript,
but there changed subsequently to 'on the first day after the full moon'
- which is the date in the present texts. (In 'The Road to Isengard' in
TT, p. 150, the date of the muster is to be 'the second day after the full
moon', and so at the beginning of 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK, p. 65,
Theoden says: 'Last night the moon was full, and in the morning I
shall ride to Edoras to the gathering of the Mark.')
In the note on text J (see note 1 above) it is said that 'Gandalf must
tell the king as he rides off [from Dol Baran] that he will order the
muster at Dunharrow and speed it up', and that this 'will necessitate
altering remarks about the full moon.' I do not understand this. If my
father was referring to the passage in 'The Road to Isengard' in which
the date of the muster is set, this would seem to have no relevance: for
Gandalf was proposing, in view of the coming of the Nazgul, to
change the arrangement that had been made and 'speed up' the
muster.
All these later 'Muster of Rohan' texts agree that the moon was full
on the night that Theoden came to Harrowdale (February 6); cf.
p. 299 and note 9. This was the night following the day on which
Gandalf and Pippin reached Minas Tirith at sunrise; the sunset of that
day was 'ominous', and the Darkness began on February 7 (p. 295).
With this the present texts agree: the second errand-rider from
Gondor, arriving on the morning of the 7th, says that the Darkness
'began last night at sunset' (p. 317), and the departure of the Riders
from Dunharrow takes place in deepening gloom. It is interesting to
see that in text K, as Merry sat alone in his tent on the Firienfeld,
'Slowly night came on, and the half-seen heads of the mountains were
crowned with small stars in the West, but the East was dark and
shadowy, and the moon did not appear until late at night'; whereas in
the typescript M (where it was still the night of full moon) the moon is
not mentioned. The natural presumption is that the moon was hidden
by the vast cloud spreading out of Mordor.
How my father was at this stage relating the full moon of February
6 to Frodo's movements is not clear to me. In The Tale of Years in LR
the full moon was on March 7 (since Frodo left Henneth Annun on
March 8, and he saw the full moon setting before dawn on the
morning of his departure: 'The Forbidden Pool', TT pp. 292 - 3), and
Theoden came to Dunharrow on the evening of March 9; but with this
the king's words in 'The Muster of Rohan', RK p. 65, 'Last night the
moon was full', do not accord, and should have been 'Two nights
ago'. This in turn would require alteration of the date set for the
muster in 'The Road to Isengard' (see above).
VI.
THE SIEGE OF GONDOR.
My father's first start on this chapter was a brief, roughly pencilled
text ('A') which he then wrote over in ink, so that a good deal is lost,
especially of the latter part of it; but Taum Santoski has managed to
recover quite enough to show that the ink overwriting ('B') followed it
for the most part very closely. I shall here describe B rather than A,
noting subsequently passages in which A is significantly different.
Text B (numberless and titleless) begins as does Chapter 4 in The
Return of the King with 'Pippin was roused by Gandalf', and extends
through the paragraph beginning 'It was dark and dim all day' (RK
p. 80). After Pippin's question 'Why did you bring me here?' the text
differs from that of RK:
'Because it was not safe to leave you behind,' answered the
wizard. 'Safe for others, I mean. It is no safe place here for you
or anyone else, as you'll probably soon discover. But you
brought it on yourself.' Pippin said no more.
Before long he was walking with Gandalf back again down
the long cold passage to the doors of the Tower Hall. Within
Denethor sat in a grey gloom, like an old patient spider, Pippin
thought, and looking as if he had not moved since he dismissed
his new esquire the day before. He beckoned Gandalf to a seat,
but Pippin was left standing for a while unheeded. Presently the
old man turned to him with a cold smile, whether of mockery or
welcome Pippin could not tell.
'And why have you come, Peregrin son of Paladin?' he said.
'I was told that you wanted me, sir,' said Pippin, 'to, well, to
learn my new duties.'
'Ah yes,' said Denethor. 'It is to be hoped that you spent
yesterday well and to your liking, if less in eating [struck out:
and sleeping] than you might wish. Today you shall take your
turn to wait on me. I have little more now to do, until my son
Faramir returns with tidings. And if there comes no ill news and
the great ones' (he looked at Gandalf) 'do not occupy all my
leisure, you shall talk to me. Can you sing?'
Pippin's apologetic account of the songs he knew and his horror at
the thought of singing a comic song of the Shire before the grim
Steward of Minas Tirith follows as in RK, as does Denethor's
discussion with Gandalf, the arming and clothing of Pippin,(1) and the
darkness over the city, up to 'as if all the Vale of Anduin waited for a
ruinous storm.' Then follows:
His duties he found irksome and dull, so much so that he
would even have welcomed a chance to sing one of his comic
songs. But he was not asked to sing, and indeed few spoke to
him at all.
Here the overwritten text B ends. In the underlying pencilled text A
the discussion between Gandalf and Denethor did not concern Rohan,
but was on the subject of the immediate strategy: though very little of
it can be made out, the phrase 'Gandalf had already been urging on the
Steward' and the name 'West Osgiliath' can be read. After Pippin had
returned from the armoury it is said that he spent the day idly, 'for
Denethor sat mostly behind closed doors'; and at some point during
the day 'There was a clamour in the city. Faramir had returned. Pippin
witnesses the greeting of Denethor and Faramir.'
The pencilled and the overwritten texts end at the same point on the
page, although in substance they had diverged.
My father evidently doubted the rightness of beginning the chapter
in this way, for at the head of the first page of this 'doubled' text he
wrote in pencil: '? Begin with Pippin and Berethil (2) talking again on
wall on eve[ning] of 9th....' This was in fact overwritten by part of
the B text in ink, and as a result some further words of the note cannot
be read; presumably therefore my father had (but only temporarily)
abandoned the idea that the chapter might open differently.
At the end of the 'doubled' text the following notes were written in
pencil:
? Sunset - a gleam far off. Gandalf says there is hope still in
the West.
Next day there is a council and soon Faramir departs. Pippin
has more talk with Berethil and hears that Faramir has gone to
Osgiliath. Time passes slowly. Ill news comes on 11th March
(next day) that there is a Fell Captain on the enemy's side. He
has won the Crossings and Faramir is driven to Ramas Coren.(3)
Still the darkness grows. It is like a slow disease, thought Pippin.
Some time on 9th Pippin must look out from the walls and see
Nazgul (6 or 7) flying over Pelennor, and see them pursue a few
riders. But Gandalf rides out - and saves them. It is Faramir!
Just in time. Great joy in City. Faramir sees Pippin as he comes
up to the Citadel, and is astonished.
In these notes is the first appearance of the final calendar, the month
being now March instead of February. Whether it entered at this very
time or somewhat earlier cannot be said: but the last actual date found
in the texts is February 5-6 in the outline for a part of 'Many Roads
Lead Eastward' given on p. 296, so that the change had at any rate
been made not long since. The conception of the month 'lost' in Lorien
had now been abandoned: see VII.367 - 9. The relative dates have
however not been changed: in the note suggesting a different way of
opening the chapter Pippin and Berethil are to be talking on the wall
of the city 'on the evening of the 9th', which would be February 7
according to the former dating (see the Note on Chronology at the end
of this chapter).
My father now returned to the idea of a different opening, and
began a new draft ('C') in which the matter of the opening already
written was omitted or compressed, and referred to only in retrospect.
This draft was written in thick soft pencil, in ink over pencil, and in
ink with pencilled corrections and clarifications, and is throughout a
formidably difficult manuscript. I have no doubt that it all proceeded
from the same time and impulse.
This new text is numbered 'XLVI', without title; it begins with the
words 'It had been dark all day; from the sunless dawn until the
evening the heavy gloom had deepened ...', and continues essentially
as in RK pp. 80 - 1 as far as 'now he was one small soldier in a city
preparing for a great assault, clad in the grim and sombre manner of
the Tower of Guard'; but there is no reference to the errand of Berethil
(Beregond) across the Pelennor, nor to the last gleam of the sun as it
escaped from the pall of cloud (see below). Then follows:
For in the morning Denethor had summoned him, and bidden
him to take up his duties as the lord's esquire; and he had been
sent straight to the armouries where already clothes and gear
were made ready for him by Denethor's command.
In some other time and place he might have taken pleasure in
his new array, but he knew now too clearly that this was a
deadly serious matter, and no masquerade in borrowed plumes.
The small coat of black mail seemed heavy and burdensome,
and the helmet with its wings weighed on his head. Black too
was the tunic or surcoat that he now wore above his mail,
except where upon the breast was broidered in white the device
of the Tree. He had been permitted to retain the grey cloak of
Lorien [added: when not on duty], but that was now cast aside
on the seat beside him, for the air was close. He turned his gaze
away from the darkling plain far below, and yawned, and then
he sighed.
In Pippin's complaint to Berethil and their words about the
Darkness, the failure of Faramir to return across the River and
Gandalf's anxiety, and the sudden cry of the Nazgul, the draft reaches
the text of RK pp. 81-2 almost word for word (save only that Pippin
does not name the Prince of Dol Amroth as present at the deliberations
with Denethor, and he says that Gandalf left the council before the
evening meal, where RK has 'noon-meal'); but when Pippin climbs on
to the seat and looks out there enters the description of the last gleam
of sun that shone also on the head of the ruined king at the
Cross-roads, omitted at its place in RK (on the synchronisation see the
note at the end of this chapter). Then again the draft reaches the final
text in almost every turn of expression in the description of the Nazgul
swooping on the horsemen, the distant sound of Faramir's horn call,
and the radiance of the White Rider racing towards them, as far as
Pippin's wild shouting 'like an onlooker at a great race urging on a
runner who is far beyond encouragement.' At this point my father
stopped and set down a brief outline:
Gandalf saves Faramir. Faramir sees Pippin at gate of Citadel
and wonders - Gandalf introdures them, and takes Pippin along
to Denethor's council. So Pippin hears a lot and hears Faramir
accept orders to go to Osgiliath. Denethor and Faramir marvel
at Gandalf's power over Nazgul. Gandalf says things are still
not so bad - because the W[izard] King has not yet appeared.
He reveals that he is a renegade of his own order ... [?from]
Numenor. 'So far I have saved myself from him only by flight -
for many an age he has lain in hiding or sleep while his master's
power waned. But now he is grown more fell than ever. Yet it
was foretold that he should be overthrown, in the end, by one
young and gallant. But maybe that lies far in the future.'
He hears about Frodo and Sam. Also how Faramir crossed
from Tol Varad (the Defended Isle) [> Men Falros] with three
companions, and came on horse. The rest of the 'task force' he
had despatched to the Pelennor Gate.
Last half of chapter must deal with situation after taking of
Pelennor, the battle of Pelennor and the fall of the Gate.(4)
The draft continues with 'And now the swooping dark shadows
were aware of the newcomer' (RK p. 83), and again the final form is
closely approached, if with rougher and less full expression, through
the coming of Faramir with Gandalf to the Citadel, his wonderment at
seeing Pippin, and his story told in Denethor's private chamber. Only
Pippin's emotion when he first saw Faramir was at this time different
from the form in RK (pp. 83 - 4): the passage 'Here was one with an air
of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed ...' is lacking (and
remains absent in the following fair copy manuscript).
From the point where Faramir reached the story of his meeting with
Frodo and Sam I give the draft text in full, for though in many respects
it closely approaches that of RK there are also many differences, and
some are very noteworthy.
As the tale of his meeting with Frodo and Sam was unfolded,
pippin became aware that Gandalf's hands were trembling as
they clutched the carven wood; white they seemed now and very
old, and as he looked at them suddenly with a thrill of fear he
knew that Gandalf - Gandalf himself was afraid, mastering a
great dread, and not yet daring to speak. At last when Faramir
told how he had parted with the travellers and that they were
resolved to take the road to Kirith Ungol his voice fell, and he
shook his head and sighed. But Gandalf sprang up. 'Kirith
Ungol and Morghul Vale,' he cried. 'The time, Faramir. When
was this, do you say? Tell me, tell me. When did you part with
them? When would they reach the Morghul Vale? When did
this darkness begin? Do you not see - that it may be a sign that
all is indeed lost?'
'I spoke with them yestermorn,'(5) said Faramir. 'It is nigh on
[20 >] 7 leagues from Henneth Annun to the road that runs
from M[inas Morghul] to Osgiliath, [and from the nearest point
up that road west [sic] of our landing place it is 5 or 6 leagues to
the Vale of Dread >] and if they went straight southward then
they would find the road some 5 or 6 leagues west of the Vale of
Dread. But the darkness came soon; I deem [?under cover] of
that very night, long ere they could reach the vale. Indeed I see
your fear; but it is clear to me that the Enemy had long planned
this war, and the hour was already determined and nought to do
with the errand of the travellers.'
Gandalf paced up and down. 'Yesterday morn?' he said.
'Then you have been swift. How far hence is the place where
you parted?'
'Maybe 75 leagues (6) as bird flies,' said Faramir. 'But I am
swift. Yestereve I lay at Men Falros, the isle in the river
northward which we hold in defence, and on the hither bank we
keep horses. As the darkness drew on I saw that haste was
needed. So I rode hither with the four men that could be horsed,
and sent the rest of my company to strengthen the guard at the
fords of Osgiliath. Have I done ill?'
'Ill!' said Denethor, and suddenly his eyes blazed. 'Why do
you ask? Do you need my judgement? Your bearing is lowly as
is fitting, but it is long since you turned from your own way at
my counsel. You have spoken skilfully and discreetly, but have I
not seen your eyes fixed on Mithrandir, seeking to learn how
much you should say? He has your heart in keeping.
'My son, your father is old, but he is not yet a dotard. I can
see and hear as was my wont, and not much of what you have
left unsaid or half said is now hidden. I know the answer to the
riddling words and to other riddles besides. Now I understand
the ...(7) of Boromir and his [?death].'
'If you [are] angry, father,' said Faramir, 'tell me what other
courses you would have had me take.'
'You have done as I should have expected, for I know you
well,' said Denethor. 'Ever your desire is to be lordly and
generous as a king of old - gracious and gentle. And that well
befits men of high lineage who sit in power amid peace. But in
these black hours gentleness may be bought with death.'
'So be it,' said Faramir.
'So be it,' said Denethor; 'but not by your death only. The
death also of your father and of all your people whom it will be
your part to rule ere long - now Boromir is no more.' He
paused, clutching his [?wand].
'Do you wish then,' said Faramir, 'that our places had been
exchanged?'
'Yes, I wish that indeed,' said Denethor. 'Or no,' and then he
shook his head; and rising suddenly laid his hand on his son's
shoulder. 'Do not judge me harshly, my son,' he said, 'or think
that I am harsh. Love is not blind. I knew your brother also. I
would wish only that he had been in your place, if I were sure of
one thing.'
'And what is that, my father?'
'That he was as strong in heart as you, and as trustworthy,
That taking this thing he had brought it to me, and not fallen
under thraldom. For Faramir, and you Mithrandir, amid all
your far flung policies, there is another way that is not yours nor
Boromir's. It is one thing to take and wield this power for one's
own victory - you, Mithrandir, may think what you will of
me - '
'What I think of you is at least one part of my mind that you
do not seem to have read,' said Gandalf.
'As you will, but I have in this as much wisdom as yourself,'
said Denethor. 'I would not use it. On the other hand, at this
hour to send the bearer, and such a one, helpless into Mordor
itself, or as my son to let him go with that burden to Kirith
Ungol, that also seems to me folly patent.'
'What then is wisdom?' said Gandalf.
'To do neither,' answered Denethor. 'Certainly not to risk the
maker recovering it to our final ruin. To keep it - hidden, deep
hidden, yet not used - hidden beyond his grasp until at last
[?either] he wins all by war and we are dead.(8) Would that I had
that thing now: in the deep chambers of this citadel, and then
we should not shake with dread ...'
The remainder of the conversation between Gandalf and Denethor
reaches effectively the form in RK, p. 87 (but Gandalf says: 'had you
taken this thing by force or daunting you would not have escaped'; 'if
you had received this thing, it would have overthrown you', RK). The
episode ends thus in the draft:
He turned to Faramir. 'What news from the garrison at
Osgiliath? '
'I have sent the company from Ithilien to strengthen it, as I
said,' replied Faramir. 'It will be there, I think, that the first
assault will fall.'
He rose, and suddenly he swayed and leant upon his father.
'You are weary, my son,' said Denethor. 'You have not spoken
of your ride from Men Falros - and the dreadful wings.'
'I do not wish to,' said Faramir.
'Then do not so,' said Denethor. 'Go now to sleep, and think
that such things shall not come here within shot of our bows -
not this night at least. Tomorrow will need new counsels.'
Gandalf's talk with Pippin after they returned to their lodging as it
stands in RK (pp. 88 - 9) was closely approached here,(9) and I cite only
one brief passage:
'... But in truth I believe that the news that Faramir brings has
more hope in it than seemed at first. For if Frodo was still so far
away yestermorn, then that which I hoped might be has
probably happened. The Enemy has made war in haste without
the Ring and thinking that it is with us. And even if all goes as
plans, and it will not if I can prevent it, he will have his eyes
many places, far from his own land. There is a gleam of hope
there. So I told Aragorn when we rode to Rohan.(10) But still, I
did not expect it so soon. Something else has happened to stir
him.'
The draft text now races towards its more and more illegible
conclusion. Some passages were added in ink, and these I include,
marking them as such, since they clearly belong to much the same
time. The last section opens with 'The next day came like a brown
dusk' (RK p. 89), and continues very much as in the final text as far as
the departure of Faramir to Osgiliath and the mutterings against
Denethor.
'The Lord drives his son too hard, and now he must do duty
for the one that is dead as well.' [Added in ink: But in truth
Faramir went at his own will, and he it was that most swayed
the council of the captains.](11) The council of the Lord had
decided that with the threat in the South their force was too
weak to make any stroke of war on their own part. They must
man the defences and wait. Yet ever Faramir had urged that
their outer defences must not be abandoned, and the River was
the one that the Enemy should buy most dearly. It could not be
crossed by a great host north of Men Falros because of the
marshes, and away south in Lebennin it became too broad
without many boats. So now he was gone again, taking such
few men as Denethor would spare to strengthen the force that
held the western ruins of Osgiliath. [Added in ink: 'But hold not
too long so far afield,' said Denethor as he went out. 'Though
you slay ten times your number at the crossing, the Enemy has
more to spare. And your retreat will be hazardous. And do not
forget that ... danger in the North. Not one army only will be
sent at this time from the Black Gate.']
Hardly had he gone when a rider came in reporting that a
host was approaching and ... had reached East Osgiliath.
[Added in ink: and a Black Captain of great terror [?came] there
out of Minas Morghul.] Wirh that ominous news ended Pippin's
third day in the Tower.
The next day the darkness, though perhaps little more,
weighed yet heavier on men's minds, and it seemed that slowly
fear grew. Late in the day evil news was brought by riders. The
passage of the Anduin had been won. Faramir was retreating to
the Pelennor Wall and the fort[s] that guarded the entrance of
the causeway into the townlands; but he could not hold them
long. He was much outnumbered and had 4 leagues or more of
open land to cross with few defences when he must give back
again.
'Mithrandir's help fails now,' said some. For Gandalf had
ridden down to Osgiliath at Faramir's side.(12) But others said
'Nay, he has never given any, not of such a kind. He is not a
captain of war.'
But late that night he returned riding with the last wains filled
with wounded men. 'They have paid dearly for the causeway,'
he said, 'although they had prepared all things well. They have
been building barges and boats secretly in East Osgiliath to the
ruin of Ithilien's trees. But the river is now half choked with
them. But he has come whom I feared.' 'Not the Dark Lord,'
cried Pippin, 'No, he will not come except in triumph,' said
Gandalf. 'He wields others as his weapons. I speak of one whom
you have met. The Wizard King, captain of those you called the
Black Riders. Most fell of all the servants of the Dark Tower.
But he has not [struck out (?): yet] taken to winged steeds. [In
him I am not overmatched, and yet still I am matched, for he
was a member of our order before evil took him.](13) Now his
fury and malice are grown to the full, and men fly before him.
[Written in ink at the head of the page: But the Wizard King has
not shown himself. He wields far behind a great fear that will
drive his soldiers whither he will, even to cast themselves into
the River thar others [?can] walk on their bodies. But he will
come forth yet.]'
So the storm broke at last.
The next day the causeway fort[s] 'fell and Faramir began his
desperate retreat across the Pelennor, [in ink, replacing a
passage in pencil: the enemy pouring through the wall behind
and sweeping away the ... rearguard. Fires glowing red in the
mist could be seen far off, and once and again [a] red flash and
then slowly a dull rumble would come rolling across the
darkened fields. The ... were destroying the wall and blasting
great breaches in it so that they could enter at any point. Soon
the tide of war [?would cross]. The companies of Gondor could
be seen [?hastening] back. And with that out of the](14) And now
the Nazgul [?stooped again] and the retreat became a rout, and
[?many] men threw away spear and shield and sword and ran
shrieking, or flung themselves to the ground and were trampled.
Then there was a sortie from the city led by the Prince of Dol
Amroth kinsman of Faramir and his folk, and Gandalf at his
side. In the [?notch] of time they came up, and [?two] miles
from the city drove back the enemy, making great slaughter, for
the enemy cavalry were [?few] and [?little] ...; the Nazgul
[?would (not) stand] the onslaught of Gandalf, for their Captain
was not with them.
So now the City prepared for a last siege. The Pelennor wall
was abandoned, and all that could be [?withdrawn] behind the
gates. Orcs and [?wild horsemen] roam[ed] the townlands
lighting the black night with fires, and the more bold rode
within earshot of watchers on the walls, crying with hideous
voices, and many bore upon their spears the heads of men they
had slain and hewn.
Here the draft C ends. It was followed by a fair copy manuscript
('D'), in which the text of RK was very largely achieved: but it took a
great deal of further work to reach it. This manuscript can be seen as
divided roughly between the part that was based on C, and the part
that extended beyond the point where C ended. Like the draft, it is
numbered 'XLVI', but has no title; and the chapter again begins with
the words 'It had been dark all day.'
In the first part it is notable that while my father went to great pains
with the detail of expression, and clearly intended it to stand, in all
those passages in which Denethor showed himself less coldly obdurate
and hostile to Faramir than he became in The Return of the King the
original draft was followed closely. His sudden softening in response
to Faramir's question 'Do you wish then that our places had been
exchanged?' (p. 328) remains:
'Yes, I wish that indeed,' said Denethor. 'Or no.' And then he
shook his head, and rising swiftly he laid his hand upon his
son's bowed head. 'Do not judge me harshly, my son,' he said
quietly, 'or believe me more harsh than I am. I knew your
brother well also. Love is not blind. I could wish that Boromir
had been at Henneth Annun when this thing came there, only if
I were sure of one thing.'
'Sure of what, my father?'
'That he was as strong in heart and selfless as you, my son.
That taking this thing he would have brought it here and
surrendered it, and not fallen swiftly under its thraldom. For,
Faramir - and you too, Mithrandir, amid all your wide webs
and policies - there is a third way, that is neither the folly of
wizards nor the lust of warriors....'
It is certain that there was no element of embittered banter in these
words, That he was as strong in heart and selfless as you, my son.
Denethor was coldly watchful as always of those he spoke to, but he
expressed the true bearing of his mind. His gentler good-night to
Faramir, with a suggestion of a comforting word (p. 329), remains;
and in this brief passage it can be seen how Denethor's harshness
towards Faramir was enforced in later revision by the slightest of
touches: as in the movement from 'You are weary, my son' to 'You are
weary, I see.'
Again, in the debate on the following day (p. 330), it is still Faramir
who argues that an attempt must be made to hold the outer defences at
the, line of the Anduin (but so far does the new writing go towards the
actual words of RK (pp. 89 - 90) that when my father came to revise
passage he had little more to do than to give the speeches to
rent speakers). In this version the speech made by Prince Imrahil
(RK p. 90), warning of another host that may come from Mordor, is
given to Gandalf, and it is Faramir who is adamant and concludes the
debate with words that afterwards became his father's:
'Much must be risked in war,' said Faramir. 'But I will not
yield the River and the fields of Pelennor unfought, unless my
father commands me beyond denial.'
'I do not,' said Denethor. 'Farewell, and may your judgement
prove just: at least so much that I may sec you again. Farewell!'
When he rejected this account of what happened at that meeting of
the council my father wrote in the margin of the page: 'This must be
altered to make Faramir only go to please his father against his own
counsel and to "take Boromir's place".' And on a slip of paper he
wrote a brief statement of how, and why, the existing portrayal of
Denethor's relations with Faramir must be changed:
The early conversation of Faramir and his father and motives
must be altered. Denethor must be harsh. He must say he did
wish Boromir had been at Henneth Annun - for he would have
been loyal to his father and brought him the Ring. (Gandalf may
correct this.) Faramir grieved but patient. Then Denethor must
be all for holding Osgiliath 'like Boromir did', while Faramir
(and Gandalf?) are against it, using the arguments previously
given to Denethor. At length in submission, but proudly, to
please his father and show him that not only Boromir was brave
[he] accepts the command at Osgiliath. Men in the City do not
like it.
This will not only be truer to previous situation, but will
explain Denethor's breaking up when Faramir is brought back
dying, as it seems.
The first part of this passage was struck through, as far as 'Faramir
grieved but patient', and the second part allowed to stand; but this
was then rejected also. Finally the whole was marked with a tick,
when my father at length decided that this was how it should in fact
be.
Also on this slip is a note written independently: Something should
be said between Gandalf and Pippin about the scene between Faramir
and his father', but this suggestion was not taken up.
Not only in these passages, but in almost all the points where the
draft C differed from RK, the manuscript D, as my father first wrote it,
retained his first conceptions.(15) When (in relation to further progress
in the narrative) the very substantial alterations to this part of the
chapter in D were carried out I cannot say for certain. After this, the
text as it stands in RK was present in all essentials; but at this stage my
father was still uncertain whether or not to adopt the 'longer opening',
as he called it, in which the chapter opens with Gandalf's waking
Pippin in their lodging (see pp. 324 - 5).(16)
Drafting for the latter part of the chapter is not as coherent and
continuous as it is for the former. My impression is that having written
the fair copy manuscript D on the basis of the draft C so far as it went,
or so far as it usefully went, my father then simply went on with it,
writing sections of draft pari passu with progress on the fair copy,
which was itself in places the primary composition. There is no way of
knowing over how long a period all this work was spread.
The last part of C, from 'The next day the darkness, though perhaps
little more, weighed yet heavier on men's minds' (p. 330), where the
draft text became very cursory and rushed, was developed to the form
in RK (pp. 91 ff.): Gandalf does not now ride down to Osgiliath with
Faramir, and the account of the barge-building in East Osgiliath and
the fear of the Black Captain is given by the messenger; it is only at this
news that Gandalf leaves the 'City, returning at mid-morning on the
next day with the wains bearing the wounded, and there follows his
conversation with Denethor (RK pp. 91 - 3), here set 'in a high
chamber near the summit of the White Tower'. In this all is almost as
in the final form; but Denethor, revealing the mail in which he was
clad beneath his long cloak, says nothing of it (he does not reveal that
he wears it night and day), and Gandalf still as in the draft (p. 331)
reminds Pippin who the Black Captain is: 'You have met him, Peregrin
son of Paladin, though then he was far from home, veiled to your eyes,
when he stalked the Ringbearer. Now he is come forth in power again,
growing as his Master grows.' Gandalf now names him 'King of
Angmar long ago', and this is the first appearance of the conception of
the Kingdom of Angmar in the texts of The Lord of the Rings. To
Denethor's 'Or can it be that you have withdrawn because you are
overmastered?' (causing Pippin to fear that 'Gandalf would be stung
to sudden wrath') the wizard answers 'lightly' ('softly' in RK); and
after 'But our trial of strength is not come yet' he recalls a prophecy
concerning the fate of the Lord of the Nazgul different from that in the
brief outline given on p. 326:
'... And if words spoken of old come true, he is not doomed to
fall before warrior or wise [> men of war or wisdom]; but in the
hour of his victory to be overthrown by one who has never slain
a man [> by one who has slain no living thing]....'
In RK this becomes: 'not by the hand of man shall he fall, and hidden
from the Wise is the doom that awaits him' (cf. RK p. 116). At the end
of this conversation Denethor says: 'Some have unjustly accused you,
Mithrandir, of delighting to bear ill news'; before 'unjustly' my father
pencilled 'no doubt', but afterwards removed both qualifications.
For all the story of the sortie for the rescue of Faramir and the
out-companies and the mounting of the siege there is preliminary
drafting, in which almost all features of the final narrative were
already present.(17) In the fair copy there is a remarkable addition
pencilled in to the description of the Nazgul circling over the City on
the first day of the siege:
The Nazgul came once more, slaves of the Nine Rings, and to
each, since now they were utterly subject to his will, their Lord
had given again that ring of power that he had used of old.
This survived into the first typescript, where it was afterwards
replaced by the words in RK (p. 97): The Nazgul came again, and as
keir Dark Lord now grew and put forth his strength, so their voices,
which uttered only his will and his malice, were filled with evil and
horror.'
In initial drafting for the last part of the chapter the central story of
Denethor's madness can be seen emerging as my father wrote (torren-
tially, with scarcely-formed letters).
And Faramir lay in his chamber wandering in fever, dying as
it was said, while his father sat beside him and heeded little the
ending of the defence. It seemed to Pippin, who often watched
by his side or at the door, that at last something had snapped in
the proud will of Denethor: whether grief at the harsh words he
spoke before Faramir rode out,(18) or the bitter thought that
whatever now should happen in the war, his line too was
ending, and even the House of the Stewards would fail, and a
lesser house rule the last remnant of the kings of men.
So it was that without word spoken or any commission from
the Lord, Gandalf took command of the defence. Wherever he
came men's hearts were lifted and the winged shadows passed
from memory. Tirelessly he went from Citadel to the Gate, from
north to south about the wall, and yet - when he had gone the
shadow seemed to close on men again, and vain it seemed to
resist, to wait there for cold sword or cruel hunger [sic].
And so they passed out of a dim day of fear to the shadow of
desperate night. Fire now raged in the lowest circle of the City.
The garrison on the walls was well nigh cut off, those that
indeed had not already fled. And then in the middle night the
assault was loosed.
[Messengers came to the high tower and Denethor looked at
them. 'The [?outer] circle is burning, lord,' they said, 'men are
flying from the walls.' 'Why?' said Denethor. 'It is well to burn
soon than late. I will go now to my own pyre. Farewell, Peregrin
son of Paladin, your service has been short. I release you from it,
unless you would still use your sword in defence of what is lost.
Go now if you will to him that brought you here, to your death.'
He rose and bidding men take up Faramir's bed and follow
him left the White Tower and paced slowly, pausing only for a
moment at the ... tree, passed out of the Citadel, and going
laid himself in the house of tombs under the shadow of
Mindolluin with Pippin by his side.]
This passage that I have enclosed in square brackets was an addition
to the manuscript, but it can be seen clearly from the manuscript that
my father inserted it while he was actually writing the description of
the black horseman and the destruction of the Gate. A later note
scribbled against the passage reads: 'Pippin follows the cortege until it
enters the tombs and then flies down in search of Gandalf. Meets
Berithil and together they go through the city. Pippin arrives in time to
see Gandalf and the Sorcerer King.'
The vanguard passed over narrow ways between the trenches
and suffered loss where they bunched, but too few archers left
on the walls. [?Front of war] not in the north or south, but a
great weight came to the gate. The ground was choked with
bodies but still they came on.
There Gandalf stood. And then over the hill in the flare of the
fire a great Black Horseman came. For a moment he ... halted
menacing, and lifted up a great ... sword red to the hilt. Fear
fell on all ....... Then great rams went on before, but the steel
only shook and boomed. The Black Captain ..... lifted again
his hand crying in a dreadful voice. In some forgotten tongue he
spoke crying aloud words of power and terror. Thrice the rams
boomed. Thrice he cried, and then suddenly the gate as if
stricken by some blast burst [?asunder], and a great flash as of
lightning, burst and fell, and in rode the Lord of the Nazgul. But
there waiting still before the gate sat Gandalf, and Shadowfax
alone among the free horses of the earth did not [?quailj but
stood rooted as an image of grey marble.
'You cannot pass,' said Gandalf. 'Go back to the black abyss
prepared for you, and fall into nothingness that shall come upon
your Master.'
The Black Rider [?lay for laid] back his hood and .....
crown that sat upon no visible head save only for the light of his
pale eyes.(19) A deadly laughter [?rang] out.
'Old fool,' he said. 'Old fool. Do you not know death when
you see it? Die now and curse in vain. This is my hour of
victory.' And with that he lifted his great sword. [Added: And
then suddenly his hand wavered and fell and it seemed that he
shrank.] And [> For) in that very moment away behind in some
counrtyard of the city a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed,
recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the
morning that far above the shadows of death was now coming
once again.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note.
Horns, horns, horns, great horns of the north wildly blowing.
The riders of Rohan had come at last.
From short passages of further drafting, either separate or pencilled
on the fair copy manuscript itself and then overwritten, the final form
of the story was largely reached, and there is nothing to notice in this
development. But as the fair copy was left to stand there remained a
differences from RK. The account of Pippin's watching beside
Denethor and Faramir remained essentially as it was in the initial draft
p. 335), where Denethor himself does not speak, and the cause of
his devastation is expressed as a surmise of Pippin's: 'Grief maybe had
wrought it: grief at the harsh words he spoke when Faramir returned
[> remorse for the harsh words he spoke that sent Faramir out into
needless peril],(20) and the bitter thought that, whatever might now
betide in war, woe or victory beyond all hope, his line too was
ending ...'
The description of the journey of the bearers of Faramir, with
Denethor and Pippin, after they had passed through the gate of the
Citadel, begins thus (cf. RK pp. 99-100):
Turning westward they came at last to a dark door, used only
by the Lord of the City, for it opened on a winding way that
descended by many curves down to the narrow land under the
shadow of Mindolluin's precipice where stood the tombs of the
Kings and their Stewards.
But from this point the text reaches effectively the form in RK in the
description of the descent to Rath Dinen, the Silent Street.(21) The
passage just cited reappears in the first typescript of the chapter, with
the addition that the door was 'in the rearward wall of the sixth
circle'; but the final text was entered on the typescript in a rider, and
here the name of the door appears: 'Fenn Fornen, for it was kept ever
shut save at times of funeral'.(22)
Pippin's encounter with Berithil as he fled from the horrifying scene
in Rath Dinen begins differently from its form in RK (p. 101):
'Whither do you run, Master Peregrin?' he said.
'To find Mithrandir,' answered Pippin.
'Then have you left the service of the Lord so soon? We hold
that it is the duty of those who wear the black and silver to
remain in the Citadel of Gondor whatever else may chance,
until death release them.'(23)
'Or the Lord,' said Pippin.
'Then he sends you on some errand that I should not hinder. ?
But tell me, if you may, what goes forward? ...'
The text then continues as in RK; but Pippin was still permitted at this
fateful moment a more Shire-like turn of phrase: 'Something is wrong
with him', he says of Denethor (where in RK he says 'He is fey and
dangerous'), and he tells Berithil: 'Don't bother about "orders" and all
that!'
Lastly, it is worth remarking that the importance of the Prince of
Dol Amroth was enlarged as the chapter evolved. In the draft C Pippin
did not name him among the 'great persons' present at the council held
before Faramir's return from Henneth Annun (p. 326), and this
remains the case in the fair copy D. The Prince's intervention in the
deliberations before Faramir went to Osgiliath is absent in the first
version of D (p. 333): it enters with the revision (where he is called
'Dol Amroth'). His bringing of Faramir to the White Tower was never
added to D (note 17). And in drafting for the latter part of D he is not
mentioned as accompanying Gandalf in his tireless permabulation of
the City (p. 335) - the passage in which he is introduced here (RK
p. 98), with the reference to there being 'Elvish blood in the veins of
that folk, for the people of Nimrodel dwelt once in that land long ago',
was in fact written into the D manuscript as an afterthought soon after
my father had passed this point. At this stage the name Imrahil had
still not emerged (see pp. 287, 289).
NOTES.
1. The account of Pippin's livery is in every point as described in
RK, save only that the silver star on the circlet of his helm is not
mentioned.
2. Berethil is clearly written so, Berithil in the first typescript of
'Minas Tirith', p. 288; after further occurrences of Berethil,
however, Berithil reappears.
3. Ramas Coren: earlier name of the Wall about the Pelennor (p.
288).
4. I have inverted the order of the last two paragraphs of this
outline.
5. On this and subsequent references to days and times see the Note
on Chronology below.
6. 75 leagues from Henneth Annun to Minas Tirith: 25 leagues in
RK. The distance on my father's large map of Rohan, Gondor
and Mordor which I redrew in The Return of the King is about
23 leagues. The figure 75 in the present text is however perfectly
clear, although the following text D, directly based here on the
present draft, has 25. On the First Map the distance can be very
roughly computed to something in the region of 75 miles, and I
suppose that my father, working very fast, simply wrote 'leagues'
for 'miles'.
7. The illegible word seems to begin with d and might be duty, but
the writing is so unclear that it might be dealings, or some other
word. In the following text, where Denethor still says that he
knows 'the answer to the riddling words', the sentence is replaced
by 'Poor Boromir! ' > 'Alas for Boromir!'
8. The word I have given as '[?either]' is in fact hard to interpret in
any other way. Possibly the sentence was left unfinished. The
following text has the reading of RK (p. 87), 'save by a victory
so final that what then befell would not trouble us, the dead
[> being dead].'
9. Pippin says of Frodo: 'Just think, he was alive at least up to this
time yesterday, and not so far away across the River!' I do not
know why Pippin should say 'at least up to this rime yesterday',
since Faramir had said that he had parted with Frodo and Sam
'yestermorn'. The following text has: 'he was alive and talking to
Faramir only yesterday'. - In Gandalf's reckoning of the time he
says: 'Let me see, he would discover some four days ago that we
had thrown down Saruman - and had the Stone,' where RK has
'five'. See the Note on Chronology below.
10. The following text has: 'So I told Aragorn, on the day when we
met again in Fangorn and rode down to Rohan.' The reference is
to The White Rider, TT p. 100: For imagining war he has let
loose war, believing that he has no time to waste ... So the
forces that he has long been preparing he is now setting in
motion, sooner than he intended.'
11. Cf. the original outline on p. 326: 'Pippin ... hears Faramir
accept orders to go to Osgiliath.'
12. In RK (p. 91) Gandalf does not leave the City until news comes of
Faramir's retreat to the wall of the Pelennor.
13. The square brackets are in the original.
14. Here the passage in ink breaks off; the sentence would have
continued with the sortie from the Gate.
15. I note here a few details. All the references to date remain as in
the draft. The distance from Henneth Annun to Minas Tirith
becomes 25 leagues (see note 6). Peregrin's friend is Berithil (see
note 2; Beregond only entered at a late stage). The island in
Anduin receives momentarily the name Cairros, changed im-
mediately to Andros (and later to Cair Andros).
16. This appears from a note written on a slip in which the existing
opening of the chapter (see p. 325) was rewritten. In this revision
was introduced the fact of Berithil's having just returned from an
errand over the Pelennor 'to Bered Ondrath, the guard-towers
upon the entrance of the causeway'. This name was subsequently
lost.
17. I notice here two features in which the narrative differed from
that in RK, and a few other details. The account of Prince
Imrahil's bringing Faramir to Denethor in the White Tower, and
the light seen flickering in the high chamber (RK pp. 94 - 5), is
absent not only from the initial draft but also from the fair copy
D; and the last men to come into the City before the Gate was
shut (RK p. 95), reporting the 'endless companies of men of a
new sort' who held the northward road or had gone on into
Anorien, are not said to be led by Ingold in the draft.
In both draft and tair copy the 'wild Southron men' of RK (p.
95) are 'wild eastlanders'. The wall of the Pelennor is still called
Ramas Coren in both texts where RK has 'the Rammas' (p. 95),
with '(? Corramas)' added at the time of writing. In the sentence
(RK p. 94) 'And in his arms before him on his horse he [the
Prince] bore the body of his kinsman, Faramir son of Denethor' a
word is written above 'kinsman' in the draft text which looks like
'cousin'; this seems to have been struck through. The genealogy
of the house of Dol Amroth is found in LR, Appendix A (I, iv):
Denethor married (late) Finduilas daughter of Adrahil of Dol
Amroth. Elsewhere it is recorded (see Unfinished Tales p. 248)
that Adrahil was the father of Imrahil, so that Imrahil (brother of
Finduilas) was Faramir's uncle.
18. This is curious, because in the D manuscript as written (when it
was Faramir who imposed his own will on the council in his
demand to lead a force to Osgiliath) Denethor (as reported)
spoke no harsh words to Faramir, and indeed bade him farewell
with the words 'may your judgement prove just: at least so much
that I may see you again' (p. 333). This may suggest that the later
version of this episode was already in being, in which Denethor
says: 'But I will not yield the River and the fields of the Pelennor
unfought - not if there is a captain that will do my will, and quail
not' (cf. RK p. 90).
19. The handwriting here is such that many words could not be
interpreted at all in isolation, without context or other clues, but
'save only for the light of his pale eyes' seems tolerably clear. Cf.
p. 365.
20. See note 18.
21. The name Rath Dinen appears on the plan of the city reproduced
on p. 290 from the first typescript of the chapter 'Minas Tirith',
where however the conception of it was decisively different.
22. Other names are written beside this rider: Fenn Forn the Closed
poor, Fenn uiforn the Ever Closed, also Uidavnen and the word
davnan.
23. These words, slightly changed, were afterwards spoken by Gan-
dalf to Pippin at the beginning of the chapter 'The Pyre of
Denethor' (RK p. 126).
Note on the Chronology.
The new 'calendar' (i.e. with dates in March instead of February, see
p. 325) can be equated with the old from the date of the first day of the
Darkness, Pippin's second day in Minas Tirith, which had been
February 7 and is now March 9. I presume that my father calculated
this on the basis that all months now had thirty days. Thus proceeding
',; from 26 December = 26 January, the day of Frodo's flight (see
VII.368), there are the following equations: December 31 = February
1; January 1 = February 2; January 29 = February 30; January 30 =
March 1; January 31 = March 2; February 1 = March 3.
The chronology, however, is still not that of LR (see The Tale of
Years). At this stage Faramir says (on 9 March) that he had parted
with Frodo and Sam at Henneth Annun on the morning of the
previous day ('in the morning two days ago', RK p. 85), and he says
that the Darkness began to come over that night ('yestereve', RK). The
relation between the two chronologies can be set out thus:
The present chronology. The chronology in LR.
March 7 Frodo taken by Faramir to
Henneth Annun.
March 8 Frodo leaves Henneth
Annun.
Gandalf reaches Minas
Tirith.
Frodo taken by Faramir to
Henneth Annun.
Frodo leaves Henneth
Annun.
March 9. The Dawnless Day. Gandalf reaches Minas
Faramir rescued on the Tirith.
Pelennor.
Frodo reaches the Cross-
roads.
March 10. Faramir goes to Osgiliath. The Dawnless Day.
Faramir rescued on the
Pelennor.
Frodo reaches the Cross-
roads.
March 11. Faramir retreats to the Faramir goes to Osgiliath.
Causeway Forts.
Thus the horns of the Rohirrim are heard at cockcrow on March 14
in the chronology of the present texts, but on March 15 in LR. At this
stage Frodo still takes two days, not three, from Henneth Annun to the
Cross-roads (see p. 182), and Gandalf takes three nights, not four,
from Dol Baran to Minas Tirith (see p. 264 note 3).
Gandalf, speaking to Pippin on the night of 9 March, reckons that it
was now four days since Sauron discovered 'that we had thrown down
Saruman - and had the Stone' (note 9), whereas in RK (p. 88), on
10 March, he reckons the time as five days. He is referring to 5 March
(= February 3), and the difference is again due to the longer time
taken on his ride.
VII.
THE RIDE OF THE ROHIRRIM.
p, single manuscript page ('A') gives an outline for the narrative of this
chapter. It was written in ink over a pencilled text - which at this stage
had again and unhappily become my father's frequent method of
composition. The figures introducing each paragraph are of course the
dates in the month of March.
(9) Theoden leaves Dunharrow on 9th. He rides 25 miles to
Edoras. After a halt there and reviewing the garrison he sets out
East. At first they go slow to conserve strength. Merry is given
leave to go to war, and is assigned to ride with one of the king's
guard: the one who seems young and light and so less burden to
his steed. He is silent and never speaks. They halt not far from
where the Snowbourn runs into Entwash 25 miles from Edoras
- they bivouac in dense willow-thickets.
(10) They ride steadily and halt now nearly 100 miles from
Edoras.
(11) They ride again. When 125 miles out about midday
fugitives and late joining riders bring news of attacks in North,
and of forces crossing above Sarn Gebir (1) into the Wold of
Rohan. Theoden decides that he has left sufficient garrison (or
all possible) in his strong places, and must ride on: soon the
marshes of Entwash mouth will cover his flank. They cross into
Anorien (of Gondor) and camp under Halifirien (160 [miles]).
Mysterious drums are heard in the woods and hills. Theoden
resolves to ride warily, and sends out scouts.
(12) They halt some 230 miles on at dusk (64 miles or a day's
ride from Pelennor). They camp in the skirts of the Forest of
Eilenach out of which rises Eilenach Beacon. Scouts return with
the errand-riders of Minas Tirith (who had ridden ahead but
found entrance closed). There is a great camp of enemy under
[Amon Din >] Min Rimmon about [25 >] 50 miles west of
the Pelennor or about [40 >] 14 miles further on:(2) Orcs are
roving along the road. Dark men of Eilenach come in. They
decide to push on by night. Suddenly they see fires ahead and
hear cries. A great hoom hom is heard. Ents! Treebeard cries
Merry. The enemy camp is in confusion. Dark men of Eilenach
have attacked it, and suddenly coming out of North after a
victory over Orcs in Wold ([250 >] 225 miles) Treebeard and a
company of Ents. The Rohirrim come round to rear [and] sweep
the remnants away N.W. into marshes. They halt under Min
Rimmon and take counsel of war.
(13) Morning of 13th. Scouts report that siege is now [?strait]
and great fires and engines are all about walls. They ride about
20 miles and [? hide] in the woods and hills of Amon Din ready
to move at night and attack with dawn.
(14) At dawn they charge. Rammas has been destroyed at this
point.
At the foot of the page, in pencil, is a list of distances: Eilenach 215
(written beneath: 219); Min Rimmon 245 (written beneath: 246);
Amon Din 270; Rammas 294; Minas Tirith 306.(3) Beside this list is a
note: 'Camp just west of Min Rimmon (243 miles) on night of 12th.'
The names of the beacons in their final forms and final order (which
I count eastwards from Edoras) had appeared long before in the
abandoned opening C of 'Minas Tirith' (p. 233; repeated in the first
text of the chapter), but now the order has been changed:
Early texts of 'Minas. The present text.
Tirith' and LR
1. Halifirien. 1. Halifirien.
2. Calenhad. 2. Calenhad.
3. Min Rimmon. 3. Erelas.
4. Erelas. 4. Nardol.
5. Nardol. 5. Eilenach.
6. Eilenach. 6. Min Rimmon.
7. Amon Din. 7. Amon Din.
I can offer no explanation for this other than the obvious but not
entirely convincing one that my father had misremembered the order
as it stood in the 'Minas Tirith' text, and that afterwards, looking
back through the papers, he returned to it.
So in the outline A the Rohirrim camped on the night of March 12
'in the skirts of the Forest of Eilenach out of which rises Eilenach
Beacon', and here 'the dark men of Eilenach' enter the story, fore-
runners of the Woses or Wild Men of the Woods, though nothing is
said of them other than that they attacked the enemy camp (the
drumming in the hills is heard, however, from the camp under
Halifirien on the previous night, March 11). Thus the Forest of
Eilenach is the forerunner of the Druadan Forest, but Eilenach Beacon
is the fifth, and beyond it are still Min Rimmon and Amon Din.
Treebeard and the Ents reappear, coming south 'after a victory over
Orcs in the Wold', and clearly they play a part in the attack on the camp
(I take it that the meaning of the text at this point is 'Dark men of
Eilenach have attacked it, and so also have Treebeard and a company
of Ents suddenly coming out of the North'). In the early outlines for
Book V there are several references to the southward march of the Ents
after the destruction of the Orcs on the Wold (see p. 255 and note 29),
but these all specifically refer to their arrival (together with Elves from
Lorien) after the siege of Minas Tirith had been broken: there has been
no suggestion that they appeared earlier, in Anorien.
Merry is here 'given leave to go to war, and is assigned to ride with
one of the king's guard: the one who seems young and light and so less
burden to his steed.' This is presumably the story that my father had in
mind at the end of 'Many Roads Lead Eastward' (see p. 318), where
one among the guard, noticeably slighter in build (and certainly
Eowyn), looked at Merry as the ride began from Dunharrow: this
Rider would be assigned to carry the hobbit.
Two pages of pencilled text are hard to place since they are very
largely illegible on account of subsequent overwriting in ink; bur they
are very noteworthy, since from what little can be read it is seen that
my father was here developing the story of the coming of the Ents into
Anorien from the outline just given. The narrative envisaged clearly
ran into difficulties, and was decisively abandoned, without any
repercussions in the development of the chapter; for this reason it
seems most probable that they should be placed here. The ink
overwriting that so ohscured them bears no relation to the pencilled
text beneath.(4)
On one of these pages (which I take to be the first in order since the
arrival of Treebeard appears, whereas on the other he is already
present) Treebeard's call of hoom hom (or something similar) is heard;
'Merry sprang up. "Treebeard!" he cried. Treebeard comes with good
news. The Ents and the Huorns had ..... the invaders on the Wold
and driven them into the River.' Fragments of the following sentence
refer to rumour of the ride of the Rohirrim having reached the Ents,
and to their great march southwards to aid the king. 'Friendship and
award the king offered. But he asked only leave when war was over to
return to Fangorn and there be troubled by ..... For reward he
would take .......'
No more than broken fragments can be discerned in the remainder
of this page, but these suggest uncertainty of direction. 'They plan to
divide into three. The Ents would come on the camp from the north
first while the main host ...., .and so come down to the plain
[?somewhat] behind the camp between it and the leaguer of the city';
Or remove the host of orc-men ., and later, In that case the wild men
slay orcs but also turn against king. But the riders brush them aside
and reach Amon Din ...'
The other page begins thus: 'But the wild men were nowhere to be
seen. At the first sight of the Ents they had cried out shrieks of fear and
fled back to vanish into the hills ..... what dark and distant legends
out of [?elder] days held their minds enthralled none could say. But
Treebeard soon found for himself what he needed ......... a [?pool]
under the side of Amon Din fed by a spring [?above]. There he stood
and [? laved] himself while the king and his captains held council under
the trees.' After '"Both ... and warriors are needed, lord," said
Eomer' follows: 'Some few at least must have escaped eastward to give
warning of our approach.' Does this refer to the Wild Men?
From the rest of this page scarcely anything useful can be gleaned,
but the sentence 'The wild men lead them again along hill-paths' is
clear; which is puzzling, since there seems not to be enough text
intervening to explain the reversal of the story just given.
Nothing more is found anywhere touching on the appearance of the
Ents in Anorien, and the reason for their disappearance can only be
guessed at. It seems to me possible that something on the following
lines may lie behind it. The vast armies at the disposal of Mordor
made it a certainty that a host would be dispatched beyond Minas
Tirith into Anorien in order to block any attempt from Rohan to come
to the aid of the city: this could be said to be a datum of the story. But
an assault on the orc-camp would necessarily constitute a major
episode, and my father wanted such an episode at this juncture no
more than did the Rohirrim. The Wild Men, who (as 'the dark men of
Eilenach') had entered in outline A as attackers of the orc-camp, found
their role in leading the Rohirrim by forgotten roads through the hills
known only to themselves, so that the orc-camp was entirely circum-
vented. The Ents therefore had no clear function left to them. This is of
course pure speculation; there are no notes found pertaining to the
question. But at any rate the explanation cannot be that my father had
come to feel (independently of the immediate story as it was emerging
here) that Treebeard should not appear again in person until the
reunited Company met him once more on the homeward journey: see
p. 361.
My father had great difficulty with the question of how Merry went
to Minas Tirith, and indeed with finding a satisfactory opening to the
chapter. The previous chapter in the narrative sequence ('Many Roads
Lead Eastwards') had ended with the host of the Rohirrim passing
down Harrowdale; now something must be told of the halt at Edoras
- but at the same time he would prefer to pass over the uneventful first
days of the ride and begin the chapter at a later point.
His first solution, in a very brief and very rough text ('B'), was to
open with the Riders halted on the third night (March 11) below the
Halifirien, where, as in the outline A, the mysterious drums are heard
in the hills, and to introduce the halt at Edoras as a retrospect of
Merry's as he reviewed his situation, lying under the trees in the
darkness.
It was so dark that Merry could see nothing as he lay rolled in
his blankets; but though it was an airless windless night all
about was the soft whisper of endless dark trees. He lifted his
head. There it was again, a sound like faint drums in the
wooded hills and mountain-steps to the south, drums that
stopped and seemed to be answered from other places. He
wondered if the watchmen heard it. Though he could not see
them he knew that all round him were companies upon
companies of the Riders. He could smell the horses in the dark,
and hear now and again their stamping and shifting on the soft
needle-clad ground. They were bivouacked in the pinewoods
at clustered about the dark Halifirien: a great hill, flat-topped,
standing out from the [?main] range beside the road from
Edoras on the borders of Anorien.
He was tired but could not sleep. He had ridden now for three
days since the dark morning of the muster at Dunharrow, and at
each halt the darkness seemed to deepen, and his heart and
spirits to fall lower. There was now no song or speech on the
way in all the great host of Rohan. At Edoras they had halted
for a while and then at last he obtained the king's permission to
go on to battle with him. He now wondered why. It was
arranged that he was to ride before one of the king's guard, and
it seemed that the young man whom he had noticed had claimed
him, since he was lighter of build than the others, so that his
steed was less burdened. At any rate as they rode forth at last
from Edoras Merry had been helped up to this man's seat, and
there he had [?sat] ... while men were riding, but never a word
did his companion utter, at mounting or dismounting or on the
way.
All the last part of this text (from 'At Edoras they had halted ...')
was struck out, and the following substituted: 'and already he
Wondered why he had been so determined to come against [?even] the
king's command. Not a word more since the first day had Grimhelm
spoken [?whether] at mounting or dismounting or on the road.'
My father had come to the conclusion that Merry had not been
given permission by Theoden to come with the host of Rohan to
Minas Tirith; and he had decided also - perhaps for this reason - that
the halt at Edoras had best be recounted in direct narrative. He
therefore began a new opening for the chapter in another extremely
rough manuscript ('C'), entitled 'The Ride of the Rohirrim':
The king came to Edoras in the gathering dark, though it was
but noon. There he halted and said farewell to his golden hall
and the people of his house. Merry begged not to be parted from
him.
'This is no journey for Stybba,' said Theoden. 'We ride to
war, and in such battle as we hope to make what would you do,
Master Holbytla, sworn swordthain though you are and greater
of heart than of ...?'
'As for that, who can tell?' answered Merry. 'And why did
you take me as swordthain if 1 was to be left behind when my
lord rides to war?'
'If the battle were here we would see how you bore yourself,'
said Theoden, 'but it is 100 leagues or more to Mundbeorg (5)
where Denethor is lord. And the first thing for my swordthain to
do is to hear the commands of his lord.'
Merry went out unhappy and looked at the lines of horses.
The companies were already being ordered for the start.
Suddenly a Rider came up to him, and spoke softly in a whisper.
'Where will u-ants not, a way opens, say we,' he said. 'So have I
found myself.' Merry [?looked] ... rider of the king's guard
whom he noticed before. 'You wish to go where the lord of the
Eorlingas goes?'
'I do,' said Merry. 'Then you shall ride before me,' said the
Rider. 'Such good will shall not be wasted. Say nothing more,
but come.'
'Thank you indeed, thank you sir - I do not know your
name.'
'Do you not?' said the Rider softly. 'Then call me [Cyneferth
>] Grimhelm.'(6)
(9) So it was that when the king set forth again before
Grimhelm sat Meriadoc the hobbit, and his great grey steed
made little of the burden, for Grimhelm was less in build than
most of the guard though lithe and well-knit in shape. That
[?eveningj they camped in the willow thickets where Snow-
bourn ... into Entwash 12 leagues or more east of Edoras.
The text then tails off into scrawled and partly illegible notes about
the next two days' journey: on the third day, with the date March 11
(cf. outline A, p. 343), 'men rode in joining the muster late, and the)'
brought rumours of war in the North and of Orcs crossing into the
Wold above Sarn Gebir'; to which news Eomer said: 'Too late to turn
back or aside.'
It was now, as the name Grimhelm shows, that the conclusion of the
text B, with the story that Merry rode with the king's permission, was
rejected (p. 347).(7)
My father evidently decided now (probably, as I have suggested,
because he did not wish to treat each day of the ride from Edoras in
consecutive narrative) that this passage, recounting the king's denial of
Merry's request and Grimhelm's stepping secretly into the breach, had
best be placed at the end of 'Many Roads Lead Eastward' ('The
Muster of Rohan'); and the next text ('D') (8) was marked 'Place this at
the end of Chapter II of Book V'. The alliterative song From dark
Dunharrow in the dim morning had not yet arisen. The 'young rider of
the guard' still names himself Grimhelm, but with an alternative
Derning, and a further suggestion Dernhelm. The conclusion of the
passage in RK (p. 78, the end of 'The Muster of Rohan') is now
present, with mention of the Folde and the Fenmarch, but whereas in
RK four beacon-hills are named after Halifirien (Calenhad, Min-
Rimmon, Erelas, Nardol) here there are only three: Calenhad, Erelas,
Nardol, with omission of Min-Rimmon (see p. 344).
Rough workings for From dark Dunharrow in the dim morning are
found, and the song was then incorporated into a further text ('E')(9)
('to be added to Chapter II of Book V'). The Rider who bears Merry is
here still called Grimhelm (with 'Dernhelm?' written beside); and four
beacon-hills are now named, but still with the omission of Min-
Rimmon: Calenhad, Erelas, Nardol, Eilenach (because, when this was
written, Eilenach had already been passed when the story told in 'The
Ride of the Rohirrim' begins).
Finally, the alliterative song with the following text was copied in a
fine manuscript and attached to the typescript M of 'Many Roads
Lead Eastward': here the song is all but in final form.(10) There are now
no differences from RK in the conclusion of the earlier chapter, except
that Dernhelm remains 'a young rider of the guard'.(11)
The development of the new opening of 'The Ride of the Rohirrim'
(i.e., when the story of the halt at Edoras had been removed) is
particularly hard to analyse. There is here no continuous primary text
followed by a continuous second version: my father wrote in a series
of overlapping and partly discontinuous stages, some of which are in
pencil overwritten in ink. I shall not attempt here to describe this
complex in detail, especially since much of it is repetition, as my father
sought to find a satisfactory articulation of existing elements in the
story.
In the earliest brief text of this new start to the chapter (in pencil,
but largely legible despite the overwriting) the host of the Rohirrim is
'bivouacked in the pinewoods that clustered about Minrimmon
Beacon'. Merry hears a sound like faint drums in the wooded hills.
They had been riding for four days, and were now less than a day's
ride from the walls of the Pelennor. Scouts sent ahead had returned
with the errand-riders of Gondor and reported that Minas Tirith was
besieged, that another host was holding the approach to the City, and
that a part of that force was marching west along the road. 'Suddenly
Merry heard the soft whisper of Dernhelm again. Not a word more
had he spoken since Edoras, either at mounting or dismounting or
upon the way. "Come!" he said. "We ride again by night. Battle comes
to meet us." ' Here this text ends. It is clear that 'Minrimmon Beacon'
has now replaced 'Eilenach Beacon' of the outline A (p. 343),(12) and in
the ink text written over it (with the chapter number 'XLVII') Min
Rimmon Beacon is 'a tall hill standing up from the long ridges of the
forest of Taur-rimmon'.
In a second pencilled text, again overwritten but again largely
legible, the scouts report that the enemy host was encamped on the
road 'between Amon Din and the walls'. Dernhelm is now more
communicative, for when the night riding has begun Merry ventures
to put a question to him, and gets an answer. 'Drums, Dernhelm. Do
you hear them, or am I dreaming? Is that the enemy?' Dernhelm
replies very much as does Elfhelm the Marshal in RK (p. 105) after he
stumbled over Merry in the dark, though more briefly: 'It is the wild
men of the hills. In many wooded vales they live secretly, but most in
this region, remnants of the Dark Years. They go not to war for
Gondor or the Mark, and ask but to live wild. But now the darkness
troubles them and the coming of orcs: they fear lest the Dark Years be
come again. Let us be thankful. For they have offered service to
Theoden. They are now our guides.' Here this text ends in its turn.
Ink overwriting advances the story: Eothain captain of the guard'(13)
stumbles over Merry lying on the ground, and it is he who tells Merry
about the meaning of the drums: 'Those are not orc-drums. You hear
the wild men of the hills: so they talk together. In many wooded vales
of these regions they live few and secretly.' Eothain makes no mention
of the use of poisoned arrows by the Wild Men, and nothing is told
here of any colloquy with one of them. The text concludes (from the
end of Eothain's words to Merry):
'... Let us be thankful; for they have offered service to
Theoden. They have spied on the enemy, and will guide us, they
say, by cunning paths.'
'Where?' said Merry.
'That we shall learn ere long, I doubt not,' said Eothain. 'But I
must hasten. The guard is to lead a flank march, and I must
soon be ready.' He vanished in the dark, and at that moment
'Come,' said the soft voice of Dernhelm in Merry's ear. 'We ride
again. I am ready.'
Soon Merry found himself riding again, slowly, warily. The
guard led the way but beside each horse walked with long
strides strange shapes of men, hardly to be seen in the gloom,
and yet somehow Merry was reminded of the Pukel-men of
Dunharrow. Guided by these unlooked for friends they turned
away southward towards the hills, filing among the trees, and
then turning again moved further along hidden tracks through
narrow dales and over the shoulders of dark hills.
No words were spoken. Hours seemed to pass, and yet still
the night held on.
A new draft in ink (the one that was written over and so obscured
the pencilled text concerning the Ents and the Wild Men, p. 345) takes
up at the point where the captain of the guard (here left unnamed and
referred to as 'X') stumbles over Merry. He tells him that the Wild
Men of the Woods 'still haunt Rimmon Forest, it is said'; he does not
mention their poisoned arrows, but he says that 'even now one of their
headmen is being taken to the king.' From here the story moves
confidently into the conversation of the king and Eomer with the
headman Ghan-buri-Ghan (so named unhesitatingly from his first
appearance), near the end of which this text ends. Already in this
draft the final form is very nearly achieved, with Ghan-buri-Ghan's
names for the orcs (gorgun), and for Minas Tirith (Stonehouses).(14)
Of the ancient road made by the men of Gondor through the hills he
says this:
'... They went to Eilenach with great wains. Forgotten now,
but not by wild men. Paths in hills and behind hills. Long road
runs still under tree and grass behind. Rimmon down to Din,
and so back to horsemen road.'
It is to 'be remembered that at this stage the Rohirrim were bivouacked
in the forest of Taur-rimmon, out of which rose the tall hill of Min
Rimmon Beacon, and that the order of the last three beacons was
Eilenach, Min Rimmon, Amon Din (see p. 344). It is natural therefore
that Ghan-buri-Ghan should speak of the old wain-road to Eilenach
running 'behind Rimmon down to Din' (see below).
Turning now to the first completed text, this manuscript begins as a
fair copy of the draft work already described, but for the latter part of
the chapter (from the end of the conversation with Ghan-buri-Ghan) it
is based variously on overwritten pencilled text and independent
passages of preliminary drafting in ink. In this manuscript the chapter
as it stands in RK was largely reached, and there are only relatively
minor matters to mention. It is numbered 'XLVII' and titled '(i) The
Ride of the Rohirrim'; beside this my father wrote afterwards 'and the
Battle of the Pelennor Field', then struck it out.
The Rohirrim are still camped in 'Taur-rimmon Forest' from which
rises Min Rimmon beacon. Ghan-buri-Ghan tells of the wains that
went to Eilenach passing 'through Rimmon', where he clearly means
'the forest of Rimmon'; and he speaks as in the draft of the lost road
that lies 'there behind Rimmon and down to Din'. Changes made to
the manuscript in these passages produced the text of RK (pp. 104,
106-7), but this development is rather puzzling. The host now lies in
the Druadan Forest out of which rises Eilenach Beacon; and Ghan-
buri-Ghan now says that the wains went 'through Druadan to
Rimmon'; but his words about the old road remain unchanged from
the draft, 'there behind Rimmon and down to Din'. If we suppose that
after the order of the beacons had been changed the ancient wain-road
went all the way to Min Rimmon (and the change of 'They went
through Rimmon to Eilenach' to 'They went through Druadan to
Rimmon' was not casually made: my father wrote Rimmon twice and
twice crossed it out before finally settling on this name), it nonetheless
seems strange that Ghan-buri-Ghan, in the Druadan Forest, should
say 'there behind Rimmon', since Min Rimmon was now the third
beacon, not the sixth, and some seventy-five miles to the west of
Eilenach.
The Rider who stumbles over Merry is now again named Eothain
(see p. 350), but he is now 'captain of Eomer's company (eored)'. By
subsequent correction he becomes 'Deorwin, chief of the king's
knights since Hama's death', and he speaks to Merry of 'the Druedain,
Wild Men of the Woods', who 'still haunt Druadan Forest, it is said.'
The name Druedain is not found in the published LR (in the present
manuscript it was afterwards replaced by Woses), but reappears in
Unfinished Tales. At a later stage, the Rider who fell over Merry and
cursed him for a tree-root became Elfhelm, while Deorwin (Deorwine)
survived in the story, still as chief of the king's knights, to be slain in
the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, his name remembered in the song of
the Mounds of Mundburg (RK pp. 120, 125). Elfhelm makes his first
appearance by correction to the present manuscript, taking over from
Eomer the speech beginning 'We need no further guides ...' (RK
p. 109): here he is described as 'one of the captains'. In the typescripts
of the chapter, where he has replaced Deorwine as the stumbling
Rider, he is called 'captain of the company with which he [Merry] was
riding'; the change to 'the Marshal, Elfhelm' was made when the book
was in proof.
After Eomer's counsel that the Rohirrim should rest now and set out
again at night, and the words 'To this the king assented, and the
captains departed' (RK p. 109), my father set down a brief outline:
On the grass way they find Hirgon's body and dead horse -
facing back west. They are drawing near the Rammas when
they meet a runner in the dark and take him captive; but he
proves to be a soldier of Gondor that escaping through a
postern has slipped through the leaguer and run for 14 miles.
He falls dying of wounds and exhaustion. 'Too late you come!'
he cried. 'The first circle is burning and abandoned. The Lord
will not give heed to the defence. Great siege towers and
engines. They are bringing up a huge Ram for the Gates.'
Then suddenly as he looked at the flame far off the heart
swelled in Theoden, as of one who is fey, and without more
counsel he seized a great horn and blew it, and all the horns in
the host took up the challenge. Then without more debate the
Rohirrim poured in upon the fields of Gondor like a great
torrent.
This passage was struck through; and from this point the develop-
ment becomes for a stretch entirely obscure, a mosaic of repetitions
and overwritings leading to the final text; but this was not achieved
until after the manuscript was completed - the pagination shows that
a page was added in here subsequently. Before this, the story was still
that Dernhelm rode as a member of the king's guard, in the leading
eored (see note 17); with the addition on the added page of the
statement (RK p. 110) that 'Elfhelm's company came next, and now
Merry noticed that Dernhelm had left his place and in the darkness
was moving sceadily forward until ac last he was riding just in rear of
the king's guard' thar story is seen to be abandoned: Dernhelm had
been riding from Edoras in the second eored.
On the added page is a small map. This marks the Druadan Forest
and Stonewain Valley, the Anorien road, Eilenach (in its final position
as the sixth beacon) and Amon Din, the 'Grey Woods' south-east of
Amon Din, Mindolluin, Minas Tirith, and Osgiliath. The island of
Cair Andros is shown, though not named, and most notably the
Anduin now bends strongly west below Osgiliath, so that the walls of
the Pelennor run along its bank for a stretch, and then turns still more
sharply southwards (but the hills of Emyn Arnen are not shown): on
this see p. 438. In one respect only does this map differ from the large-
scale map of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor, and that is in the relation of
Minas Tirith to Osgiliath.(15) Here the road across the Pelennor runs
due east to the Causeway Forts (marked with small circles), and
Osgiliath is due east of the city, whereas on the large map it lies to
the north-east, and the road runs likewise; see the Second Map,
pp.434, 438.
In the remainder of 'The Ride of the Rohirrim' the final form was
achieved in this manuscript almost word for word:(16) the speech of
Widfara about the change in the wind, the disposition of the com-
panies of the Rohirrim,(17) Merry's fear that the king would quail and
turn back, his great cry (with echoes of the Old Norse Voluspa) 'Arise,
arise, Riders of Theoden ...', and the likening of Theoden to 'Orome
the Great in the Battle of the Valar when the world was young.'
Lastly I must mention the inceresting name Forannest. Isolated notes
show my father working out this name, without giving any indication
of its reference,(18) and on a page of the earliest drafting for the chapter,
written above and perhaps associated with the sentence 'They were
less than a day's ride from the Rammas', Forannest appears again,
followed by the words 'North entrance [?in]'. That Forannest (what-
ever the name actually means} was the 'north-gate in the Rammas'
(RK p. 111) is made certain by an isolated slip (19) giving the distances,
east of Edoras, of the Mering Stream and the seven beacons; for here,
following Amon Din, appears Forannest (Rammas Echor).
NOTES.
l. Sarn Gebir: the rapids in Anduin.
2. In the pencilled text the enemy camp is near Amon Din, and the
distances are greater: 245 or 250 miles to the halt in the Forest of
Eilenach, 285 to Amon Din.
3. The distance from the Rammas to Minas Tirith given here (12
miles or 4 leagues) obviously refers to the distance from the city
to the point in the wall where the Rohirrim entered (where the
North Road from Anorien ran into the townlands); and while in
RK (p. 22) the city was four leagues from the wall at the widest
extent of the Pelennor (in the direction of Osgiliath) and the
north gate in the Rammas rather less ('maybe ten miles or more',
RK p. 111), my father had now abandoned the origina) concep-
tion that the Pelennor had at all points a radius of seven leagues
(see pp. 277 - 8, 287). Cf. also the draft for 'The Siege of Gondor'
(p. 330)"where it is said that when Faramir was forced to aban-
don the Causeway Forts he had '4 leagues or more ot open land
to cross', i.e. across the Pelennor.
On the Second Map a line of five dots (shown on the
redrawing, p. 434) runs northwest from Minas Tirith. These
might seem rather too far north of the mountains to represent the
beacons; but that they do so is seen from the fact that the distance
measured in a direct line from Edoras to that nearest Minas Tirith
is 270 miles, to the next 245 miles, and to the next 218 miles.
These are virtually the same as the distances given here for Edoras
to Amon Din, Min Rimmon, and Eilenach. On the other hand the
distance on the Second Map from Edoras to the Rammas is about
285 miles, and to Minas Tirith about 295.
4. My references to and citations from the overwritten pencilled
texts, here and subsequently, are very largely based on the work
done on them by Taum Santoski.
5. In the following text of this passage the distance from Edoras to
Minas Tirith becomes 'a hundred and one leagues', changed at
once to 'a hundred leagues and two', as in RK. On my father's
large-scale map of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor the distance in a
direct line is 302 miles, but he noted against a pencilled line
connecting them 304 . - On the form Mundbeorg hill of
protection' for Mundburg in LR see VII.449 note 7.
6. Cyneferth has the very common Old English name-element cyne-
'royal'; Grimhelm means 'visored helm', cf. grima 'mask', the
name of Wormtongue.
7. On a torn half-sheet, subsequently used for other writing on the
reverse, are the remains of a time-scheme which is very difficult
both to read and to place in sequence, especially since some dates
are lost and can only be deduced from those that are left. It seems
that Theoden here remains a whole day at Dunharrow before
setting out on the 10th of March, and on the 11th, after news has
come in of an Orc-host entering Rohan from north of the Emyn
Muil, Eomer leaves the host, rejoining it on the 12th. Against
March 10 (?) is written: 'Merry insists on going to war and is
taken up by [Grim >] Dunhere who rides with the King, Eowyn,
and Eomer.' It is hard to know what to make of this. A possibility
is that my father had briefly decided to abandon the story of the
'young rider of the guard' (Eowyn), for Eowyn will now come
openly to Minas Tirith, while Merry, equally openly, is taken by
Dunhere, chief of the men of Harrowdale. In support of this is
the abandoned name Grim- (for Grimhelm?), and perhaps the
underlining of Eowyn. But this seems to me very unlikely. It
seems more probable that this text represents earlier ideas for this
element in the story: not only is Merry permitted to go with the
host, but Eowyn rides also as a matter of course (in which case
the name Grim- is without significance, for Grimhelm had not yet
arisen). In support of this is the diversion of Eomer northwards,
mentioned in several of the early outlines for Book V, but not
subsequently.
8. This text was in fact 'doubled', pencil overwritten in ink; but
much of the pencilled form was left clear, and it shows no
significant difference from the version in ink.
9. In this first finished version of From dark Dunharrow in the dim
morning line 2 reads (as also in the first workings) fate defying
rode Fengel's son, alliterating on f, with Thengel? in pencil in the
margin (with thane and captain rode Thengel's son, RK). Both
fengel and pengel were Old English poetic words for 'king,
prince', and since Thengel as the name of Theoden's father
appears in earIy texts of 'The Riders of Rohan' and 'The King of
the Golden Hall' (VII.399, 402, 441) the appearance of Fengel
here may have been inadvertent.
Line 8 reads where deep once he drank ere darkness fell,
changed to where long he had lived ere the light faded. In line 10
faith compelled him preceded Fealty kept he. Line 12, where the
original workings had five days and nights, changed to four
nights and days, retains the latter (five in RK). Line 14 reads
through Folde and Fenmarch past Firienlode: Firienlode is clearly
a river, and so perhaps the original name of the Mering Stream,
which flowed through the Firien Wood. In line 16 Minas Tirith is
Mundberg(see note 5; berg and beorg, 'hill, mountain', were Old
English variants).
10. This text still has Four nights and days for Five, and Mundberg
for Mundburg (see note 9).
11. This was subsequently altered on the manuscript. I presume that
my father's thought was that for Eowyn to be disguised as a
member of the king's own guard, and distinct among them by
slightness of build, would obviously make her presence more
readily detected; but see p. 369.
12. Cf. the note at the end of outline A (p. 344): Camp just west of
Min Rimmon on night of 12th'. - The phrase 'bivouacked in the
pinewoods that clustered about (Minrimmon Beacon)' was first
used of the Halifirien (p. 347). In the final form it would be used
of Eilenach, when that became again the sixth beacon (RK
p. 104).
13. The name Eothain now appears in a third application (see p. 247
and note 20), for this Eothain, captain of the guard, can hardly be
the same Rider as Eomer's squire in 'The Riders of Rohan' (see
p. 266 note 20).
14. The appearance and clothing of Ghan-buri-Ghan are not de-
scribed: 'There sat Theoden and Eomer and before [them] on the
ground was a strange squat shape of a man. Merry felt that he
had seen him before, and suddenly he remembered: the Pukelmen
of Dunharrow. Almost it seemed that here was one come to life.
Looking about he saw that in a ring just outside the light squatted
other similar figures, while Riders on guard stood in a circle
behind.' Ghan-buri-Ghan 'spoke after a fashion the Common
Speech as it was in Gondor.' At the point where this draft ends he
replies to the king's offer of reward and friendship thus: 'No
need. Ghan-buri-Ghan himself go with you [?lord]. If he leads
into trap you will kill him. If he lead well then we say farewell
and ask only to be left in the woods.'
15. Whereas on the large map the Anduin bends southward after
Cair Andros and is running north-south at Osgiliath, on this map
it continues south-east after Cair Andros and then swings back
south-west to Osgiliath. No features are shown here other than
the course of the River itself.
16. The fair copy was here written over a pencilled text. Most of this
Taum Santoski has been able to read, and it is seen that the final
text was already closely approached.
17. After 'The first eored drew up behind him [Theoden] and about
him on either side (RK p. 111) this text continues: Elfhelm was
away on the right ...': thus the words 'Dernhelm kept close to
the king, though {Elfhelm's company was away on the right)' are
lacking. This implies that the story was still present that Dern-
helm rode as a member of the leading eored with the king's
household-men (RK p. 110), not as one of Elfhelm's company;
see p. 353.
18. Rejected forms in these notes are fornest, Anfornest, together
with words nesta, nethra, nest, the last with meanings (appar-
ently: the writing is very obscure) 'heart, core'.
19. The reverse of this slip (which is the lower half of a torn page)
carries the following text:
... war would be useless, disastrous ......... .. something
much simpler, smaller and more desperate.
'I see you have something in mind,' said Thorin. 'What is it?'
'Well, this first,' I answered: 'you will have to go on your
quest secretly, and that means you must go yourself, without
messengers or embassies, and go with only a few faithful
kinsmen or followers of your house. But you will need
something more. There is a piece missing from the plan.
For I needed thought. Thorin's tale had roused memories in my
mind. Many years before I had been to Dol Guldur, as you
know. You will know what I mean since you know Bilbo's
story. I remembered the unhappy dying dwarf in the pits of Dol
Guldur and the torn map and old key. Except that he was of
Durin's folk of Erebor (as the map showed) I had no idea who
he was. Of some importance perhaps since he was bearing a
Ring, though he might have come by it in many ways. None
but the Dwarves, and only a few of them, know who were the
possessors of their great rings. But l had other far more
perilous business on hand, and after I escaped from Dol Guldur
many urgent cares. I stowed the things away till perhaps time
would show their meaning. Now it had done so. I saw that I
[had] heard the last wandering words of Thrain II Thror's son,
though he could not speak his own name or his son's. By what
toughness of resistance he had kept these small things hidden in
his torments, I do not know. But I think that
Comparison with The Quest of Erebor in Unfinished Tales will
show that these passages are the forerunners of two in that (see
p 332 for the first, p. 324 for the second). My father said
(Unfinished Tales p. 11) that this account of Gandalf's 'was to
have come in during a looking-back conversation in Minas
Tirith'; the present text may perhaps be assigned therefore to a
time when The Lord of the Rings was approaching completion, if
not actually finished; and this is supported by the reference to
Thrain II (see VII.160}. Since the notes on distances are obviously
a secondary use of the page, it would follow that the name
Forannest was not abandoned, but was merely not used in the
published work.
It is strange that Gandalf says here of the unknown Dwarf in
Dol Guldur that he was 'of some importance perhaps since he was
bearing a Ring, though he might have come by it in many ways' -
and the following sentence 'None but the Dwarves, and only a
few of them, know who were the possessors of their great rings'
must imply that it was one of the Seven Rings of the Dwarves. But
the story that Thrain's ring was taken from him in the dungeons
of Sauron goes back to the earliest sketch for 'The Council of
Elrond': 'But Thrain of old had one that descended from his sires.
We do not now know where it is. We think it was taken from
him, ere you found him in the dungeons long ago' (VI.398). It is
surely incredible that at this stage my father should have enter-
tained the idea that Thrain had managed to retain his ring in Dol
Guldur. I can only suppose therefore, though it is not a natural
interpretation of the words 'he was bearing a Ring', that he meant
that Thrain told Gandalf that he bad been the bearer of one of the
Seven Rings of the Dwarves - even though he was so far gone that
'he could not speak his own name or his son's.' In the later form
of this passage in The Quest of Erebor Gandalf did not discover
in Dol Guldur who the Dwarf was, yet he did learn that he had
been the possessor of a great Ring: 'Nearly all his ravings were of
that. The last of the Seven he said over and over again.'
VIII.
THE STORY FORESEEN FROM.
FORANNEST.
I have called this outline 'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (the
north gate of the Pelennor Wall) because it takes up at the point in the
narrative where the Rohirrim poured through the outwalls of Minas
Tirith in that place. But it will be seen that a part was foreseen for
Denethor in no way consonant with the story of his madness and
suicide, and this outline must come therefore from before the writing
of at any rate the latter part of 'The Siege of Gondor', in which that
gory entered as the original draft was in progress (pp. 335 - 6).
A briefer, rougher form of this outline is found, extending only as
far as the coming of the Host of the West before the Morannon. This
my father rejected immediately and began on the fuller outline given
here. A few differences in the first form are given in the notes.
The second form of the outline was given a heading 'Gandalf,
Rohan, and Aragorn'; this was added to the text subsequently.
15 [March]. Horns of Rohan heard in the morning. Great
charge of the Rohirrim through breach in north of Ramas-
Coren. Rohirrim reach field before Great Gate, and men of
Minas Tirith throw out enemy. But Wizard King takes to air
and becomes Nazgul,(1) rallies host of Morghul, and assails king.
Theoden falls from horse sorely wounded; he is saved by Merry
and Eowyn, but sortie from Gate does not reach them in time,
before Eowyn is slain.(2) Grief and wrath of Eomer.
Eomer leads Rohirrim in a second reckless charge; but at that
moment there is a cry from the city. A black fleet is seen coming
to Haramon.(3) Men are landing. Then as final despair comes on,
and Rohirrim give back, [west o] south wind rolls back cloud,
and noon-sun gleams through. Aragorn unfurls his great stan-
dard from ship-top. The crown and stars of Sun and Moon
shine out.(4) Men cry that Elendil has come back to life or
Nume,...(5)
Eomer charges again and the enemy is routed and so Eomer
and Aragorn meet again on the field 'though all the hosts of
Mordor lay between'.(6)
By evening of 15th [in pencil > 14] in a bloodred sun victory
is complete. All enemy is driven into or back over Anduin.
Aragorn sets up his pavilion and standard outside gate, but will
not enter city, yet. Denethor comes down to greet the victors.
Theoden dies. He bids farewell to Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and
Merry. Theoden and Eowyn laid for a time in the royal tombs.
Words of Aragorn and Denethor. Denethor will not yield
Stewardship, yet: not until war is won or lost and all is made
clear. He is cold and suspicious and? mock-courteous. Aragorn
grave and silent. But Denethor says that belike the Stewardship
will run out anyway, since he seems like to lose both his sons.
Faramir is sick of his wounds. If he dies then Gondor can take
what new lord it likes. Aragorn says he will not be 'taken', he
will take, but asks to see Faramir. Faramir is brought out and
Aragorn tends him all that night, and love springs between
them.(7)
Aragorn and Gandalf counsel immediate action. Gandalf
does not hope to conquer Mordor or overthrow Sauron and his
tower. 'Not in these latter days, nor ever again by force of
arms.' Yet arms have their place; and sloth now might be
ruinous. Gandalf advises at least the taking and destruction of
Minas Morghul.(8)
[N.B. Sauron already troubled by news of the victory of the
Ents on March 11th - Ents another detail left out of his plans -
first hears of Frodo on 15 of March, and at the same time, by
Nazgul, of the defeat in Pelennor and the coming of Aragorn.
He is wrathful and afraid, but puzzled, especially by news of
Frodo. He sends the Nazgul to Kirith Ungol to get Frodo, but
thinks chiefly of his war, and suspecting that Gondor will follow
up victory he plans a counter-attack and withdraws all his
forces to Morannon and Kirith Gorgor.]
The hosts, as many as are unhurt, of Rohan and Gondor,
with Rangers, set out on 16th [in pencil > 17] and cross
Anduin, and find Osgiliath empty. On 17th they march on
Minas Morghul and the van (Riders of Rohan and Rangers and
Gandalf) reach it on 18th [in pencil > 19] noon and find it dark
and deserted. They burn the fields and Gandalf destroys its
magic.(9) They now plan to march on the Morannon. A guard is
set on Road, lest an army come up from South, or Sauron lets
any sortie out through Kirith Ungol (no very great force could
come that way in a hurry). They have now, however, to go more
slow, and keep all their host together, moving only at the speed
of infantry. The footmen come up on 19th. On 20th they set out
for Morannon (120 [in pencil ) 100] miles by road). They
march through empty lands unassailed 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and
reach Morannon - just as Frodo [is beginning the ascent of
Orodruin > is crossing Kirith Gorgor >] draws near Orodruin.
There they to joy and surprise are joined by Ents, with new
forces (out of North, including Elves of Lorien).
[Ents had victory on 11 March. It appears that Treebeard was
told by Eagles sent by Galadriel of the assault on Lorien and the
crossing of host to the Wold of Rohan on 7th. Treebeard and
many Ents set out at once at great speed and cover over 200
miles, coming down on the enemy camp at south end of Downs
in Eastemnet on 11 March; they destroyed many and drove rest
in rout back over Anduin, where they had made bridges of boats
above Sarn Gebir (about where Legolas shot down Nazgul) -
but in too great disarray to destroy the pontoons. So Ents cross.
Treebeard is here joined by Elves of Lorien. They pursue the
enemy round north and east of Emyn Muil and come down on
the Hard of Dagor-lad (300 miles and more from Down-end to
Morannon by this route): they move swiftly but mostly at night,
for away here the Darkness is not over sky, only a great
blackness is seen in the South, exrending in breadth from
Rauros to Linhir.(10) They arrive at same time as Gandalf.]
Now follows the Parley [added: on 25th]. Aragorn and
Eomer wind horns before the Morannon, and summon Sauron
to come forth. There is no answer at first, but Sauron had
already laid his plans and an embassy was already coming to the
-Slack Gare. The Wizard King? He bears the Mithril coat and
says that Sauron has already captured the messenger (11) - a
hobbit. How does Sauron know? He would of course guess
from Gollum's previous visits that a small messenger might be a
hobbit. But it is probable that either Frodo talked in his drugged
sleep - not of the Ring, but of his name and country; and that
Gorbag had sent tidings. The messenger jeers at Gandalf for
sending a weak spy into the land where he dare not go himself,
since his wizardry is no match for the Master. Now Sauron has
the messenger, and what happens to him depends on Gandalf
and Aragorn. He sees their faces blench. And jeers again. So!
he says - he was dear to you, or his errand was vital? So much
the worse for you. For he shall endure slow torment of years,
and then be released when broken, unless you accept Sauron*s
terms.'
'Name the terms,' said Gandalf, and tears were in his eyes,
and all thought he was defeated and would yield - and of course
be cheated.
The terms are that the Hosts of Gondor and Rohan shall
withdraw at once beyond Anduin. All land east of Anduin to be
Sauron's for ever, solely; and west of Anduin as far as Misty
Mountains shall be tributary to Mordor and swear vassalage:
Gondor and Rohan: as far as the river Isen. The Ents shall help
rebuild Isengard and be subject to its lord - not Saruman, but
one more trustworthy!
Gandalf replies, 'Yea, and what surety have we that Sauron
will keep his part? Let him yield first the prisoner.' (That is
awkward for the ambassador as in fact Sauron has not got him!
But he laughs.) 'Take it or leave it so,' he said.
'We will take it,' said Gandalf, ' - this the mithril-coat in
memory. But as for your terms we reject them utterly.' Horror
of Pippin and Merry if they are present? 'For in any case you
would not keep them. Do as you will. And let fear eat your heart
- for if you so much as set a thorn in the flesh of Frodo you shall
rue it.' The ambassador laughs, and gives a dreadful cry.
Flinging off his garments he vanishes; but at that cry the host
prepared in ambush sally from the mountains on either side,
and from the Teeth, and pour out of the Gate. The host of
Gondor taken at unawares wavers, and the leaders are sur-
rounded. [Added in pencil: All the Nine Nazgul remounted (12)
swoop down; but the Eagles come to give battle.]
At that moment (25th) the Ring goes into Crack of Doom and
the mountain vomits, and Baraddur crashes, and all things done
by Sauron are cast down, the Black Gates fall. The Host of
Mordor is dismayed, and flees back for refuge into Kirith
Gorgor. The victorious host of Gondor and Rohan pours in in
pursuit,
[Remainder of the text is in pencil:] Gandalf knows that Ring
must have reached fire. Suddenly Sauron is aware of the Ring
and its peril. He sees Frodo afar off. In a last desperate attempt
he turns his thought from the Battle (so that his men waver
again and are pressed back) and tries to stop Frodo. At same
time he sends the Wizard King as Nazgul (13) to the Mountain.
The whole plot is clear to him. ? He blasts the Stone so that
at that moment the Orthanc-stone explodes: it would have
killed Aragorn had he had it in hand?
Gandalf bids Gwaihir fly swiftly to Orodruin.
This account of the Parley before the Black Gate may be compared
with that in the outline 'The Story Foreseen from Fangorn', written
years before (pp. 229 - 30).
As I have said, this text certainly preceded at any rate the latter part
of 'The Siege of Gondor', in view of what is told here of Denethor. On
the other hand, it equally clearly followed the initial drafting of 'The
Ride of the Rohirrim', since the Ents here crossed the Anduin north of
the Emyn Muil after their victory in the Wold of Rohan and came
south to the Morannon through the lands east of the River: their
apperance in Anorien had already been rejected.(14) While I have
necessarily treated these chapters as separate narrative entities, whose
development from initial draft to virtually final form proceeded
out interruption, I think it is in fact very probable that my father
moved back and forth between them.
NOTES.
1. But Wizard King takes to air and becomes Nazgul. These words
can only mean that Nazgul refers specifically to the Ring-wraiths
as borne upon 'winged steeds'. But my father cannot have
intended this. I presume that since in this part of The Lord of the
Rings the Ringwraiths were 'winged', and their power and
significance for the story lies in their being 'winged', he had
nonetheless made this equation, and so slipped into saying that
when the Black Captain (Lord of the Nazgul) himself mounted on
one of the monstrous birds he 'became a Nazgul'. This occurs
again at the end of the outline.
2. On the death of Eowyn see p. 318.
3. At the equivalent point in the first form of the outline there is a
note in the margin: Pelennor wall here only 10 miles away and
the wall right above stream which bends round the Hills of
Haramon.' Haramon, the original name of Emyn Arnen, appears
on the Second Map: see pp. 353; 434, 438.
4. The first form of the outline has: 'Sungleam shines on the
[Tree >) Crown and stars of Sun and Moon.'
5. The first four letters of this name are certain, but it can scarcely
be Numenor; the likeliest interpretation is Numerion.
6. The first form of the outline has here: 'Enemy is caught between
Aragorn and the Dunedain and Eomer and so Eomer and
Aragorn meet.' This is the first time that the name Dunedain is
met with ab initio in the texts.
7. Of this passage, from 'Aragorn sets up his pavilion and standard
outside gate', there is very little in the first form of the outline:
'Denethor comes down to welcome Aragorn; but will not yield
the Stewardship, until all is proven and war is lost or won.
Aragorn agrees.' Then follows: 'Aragorn and Gandalf counsel
immediate action.'
8. This passage is the first germ of 'The Last Debate'.
9. The first form of the outline has 'They burn the poisoned fields';
and distances are given: Minas Tirith to Osgiliath 26 miles. West
edge of Osgiliath to Minas Morghul [50 >] 60 miles?' (with 55
written above 60).
10. This is the first reference to Linhir (see pp. 436 - 7).
11. It is curious and confusing that Sauron's messenger should refer
to Frodo as a 'messenger'.
12. Earlier in this outline my father had questioned whether the
ambassador was not in fact the Wizard King himself, and he
appears again at the end, dispatched by Sauron to Orodruin (his
fate on the fields of the Pelennor was therefore not yet finally
decided). Since at the end of the parley the ambassador casts off
his garments and vanishes, he was certainly a Ringwraith; is this
the meaning of 'All the Nine Nazgul remounted'?
13. On the implication of he sends the Wizard King as Nazgul - that
Nazgul means specifically the winged Wraiths - see note l. On
the other hand, All the Nine Nazgul remounted (note 12) carries
the opposite implication.
14. It cannot be actually demonstrated that the story of the coming of
Treebeard and the Ents to Anorien did not follow, and supersede,
their appearance at the Black Gate; but this seems extremely
improbable.
IX.
THE BATTLE OF THE
PELENNOR FIELDS.
I give first a remarkable writing entitled Fall of Theoden in the Battle
of Osgiliath. It is clearly written in ink, with only a few changes made
at the time of writing; there are also a small number of pencilled
corrections, which I show as such.
Then Theoden gave a great shout 'Forth Eorlingas!' and
spurred Snowmane rearing into the deeps of the great shadow.
But few followed him; for his men quailed and grew sick in that
ghastly shade, and many fell upon the ground. The light of his
golden shield grew dim. Still he rode on, and darts flew thick
about him. Many fell before his spear, and almost he had
reached to the standard of the Haradoth [) Haradhoth], when
suddenly he gave a great cry, and fell. A black arrow had
pierced his heart. And at the same moment Snowmane stumbled
forward and lay still. The great shadow descended. Slowly the
huge vulture-form [> Slowly as a settling cloud it] came down,
lifted its wings, and with a hoarse croaking cry settled upon the
body of the fallen king, digging in its talons and stooping its
long [added: naked] neck. Upon its back there sat a shape. Black
robed it was, and above the robe there was a steel crown, borne
by no visible head save where between crown and cloak there
was a pale and deadly gleam as it were of eyes.(1) But Theoden
was not alone. One had followed him: Eowyn daughter of
Eomund, and all had feared the light of her face, shunning her
as night fowl turn from the day. Now she leapt from her horse
and stood before the shadow; her sword was in her hand.
'Come not between the Nazgul and his prey,' said a cold
voice, 'or he will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation,
beyond all darkness where thy flesh shall be devoured and thy
shrivelled mind be left naked.'
She stood still and did not blench. 'I do not fear thee,
Shadow,' she said. 'Nor him that devoured thee. Go back to him
and report that his shadows and dwimor-lakes (2) are powerless
even to frighten women.' The great bird flapped its wings and
leapt into the air, leaving the king's body, and falling upon her
with beak and claw. Like a shaft of searing light a pale sword
cold as ice was raised above her head.
She raised her shield, and with a swift and sudden stroke
smote off the bird's head. It fell, its vast wings outspread
crumpled and helpless on the earth. About Eowyn the light of
day fell bright and clear. With a clamour of dismay the hosts of
Harad turned and fled, and over the ground a headless thing
crawled away, snarling and snivelling, tearing at the cloak. Soon
the black cloak too lay formless and still, and a long thin wail
rent the air and vanished in the distance.
Eowyn stepped to the king. Alas, Theoden son of Thengel,'(3)
she said. 'But you have turned the tide. See, they fly. The enemy
is broken by fear. Never did an old Lord of Men die better. You
shall sleep well, and no Shadow nor foul thing assail your bed.'
Then there was a sound of a great ...(4) and the men of Minas
Tirith and of the Mark released from the Shadow swept up, the
light reborn was strong on their swords and spears. They drove
the enemy into the River. Some stayed by their king.
I think that my father wrote this well before the period of compo-
sition we have now reached, and I would be inclined to associate it
(very tentatively) with the outline sketches for Book V, where the
event described here is several times referred to, and especially with
Outlines 111 and V. In these, in contrast to what is said in I and II
(p. 256), there is no mention of Eowyn's wounding or death: 'Theoden,
and Eowyn destroy Nazgul and Theoden falls' (111, p. 260); 'Theoden
is slain by Nazgul; but he is unhorsed and the enemy is routed' (V,
p. 263). Although in my father's narrative sketches silence is a bad
guide, it is possible that these brief statements are nonetheless to be
associated with what is certainly a notable feature of the present text,
that there is no suggestion that Eowyn was in any way hurt in the
encounter with the Lord of the Nazgul or after (while Theoden is'
felled and dies without speaking). A difficulty with this view is that in
Outline V the Nazgul King is 'unhorsed', whereas in 'The Fall of
Theoden in the Battle of Osgiliath' his descent on a 'huge vulture-
form' is at the centre of the story. Since the 'vultures' are referred to as
'winged steeds', it is possible that the word 'unhorsed' was used in this
sense, though that does not seem very likely.
It is obvious that no part was foreseen for Merry in the great event;
and it seems that (in strong contrast to the final story, RK p. 117) it
was the beheading of the great bird that in itself caused the defeat and
flight of the Lord of the Nazgul, deprived of his steed.
Whatever its relative dating, the piece certainly gives an impression
of having been composed in isolation, a draft for a scene that my
father saw vividly before he reached this point in the actual writing of
the story. When he did so, he evidently had it before him, as is
suggested by the words of the Lord of the Nazgul (cf. RK p. 116).
When my father came to write the story of the Battle of the Pelennor
Fields he all but achieved the form in which it stands in The Return of
the King in a single manuscript ('A'). He adopted here the method of
building up the completed narrative through massive correction and
interpolation of his initial text; and the greater part if not all of this
work clearly belongs to the same time. Beneath the writing in ink on
the first page of this manuscript there is however a pencilled text, and
bears further on the subject of Theoden and the Lord of the
Nazgul.
This underlying text is largely illegible on account of the ink
overwriting, which is closely-packed, but from what can be seen it
seems not to have differed greatly (the opening paragraph of the
chapter, mostly legible, is very close to the ink version on top of it) - as
far as the passage where the golden shield of Theoden is dimmed,
horses reared and screamed, and men falling from their horses lay
upon the ground. But then follows: 'And through the ranks of the
enemy a wide lane opened.' The rest of the pencilled text is almost
entirely lost, but isolated words and phrases can be made out: 'There
came riding ..... a great ..... [struck out: The Black Captain)
..... stood ..... the Black Captain robed ..... and above the
robes was a crown ..... ' This can scarcely mean anything other than
that the Lord of the Nazgul did not descend upon the battle borne
upon the back of a great vulture.
Various statements have been made on this subject, beginning with
that in Outline V, cited above, that the Nazgul was 'unhorsed'. In the
rough draft of 'The Siege of Gondor' (p. 331) Gandalf, speaking to
Pippin of the Wizard King, says that 'he has not [struck out(?): yet]
taken to winged steeds'; in the outline 'The Story Foreseen from
Forannest' (p. 359) 'the Wizard King takes to the air and becomes
Nazgul'; and of course there is the evidence of 'The Fall of Theoden in
the Battle of Osgiliath'. That my father should at this stage have
abandoned, however briefly, the story of the Winged Nazgul descend-
ing upon Theoden is certainly surprising; but it seems plain that he
did so.
The first manuscript A has no title, and was paginated continuously
with 'The Ride of the Rohirrim'; a subsequent fair copy manuscript
('B') was afterwards given the number and title 'XLVIII The Battle
of the Pelennor Fields'. The opening passage in A is distinct from the
form in RK:
But it was no orc-chief or brigand that led the assault on
Gondor. Who knows whether his Master himself had set a date
to the darkness, designing the fall of the City for that very hour
and needing light for the hunting of those that fled, or fortune
had betrayed him and the world turned against him? None can
tell. Dismayed he may have been, cheated of victory even as he
grasped it. Cheated, not yet robbed. He was still in command,
wielding great power, Lord of the Nazgul. He had many
weapons. He left the Gates and vanished.
There is no mention of Dernhelm in the passage 'He [Theoden]
slackened his speed a little, seeking new foes, and his knights came
behind him. Elfhelm's men were among the siege-engines ...', where
RK has 'and his knights came about him, and Dernhelm was with
them.' This shows, I think, that Dernhelm was still conceived to have
been riding with the king's knights throughout the journey from '
Edoras.(5)
When the Lord of the Nazgul says to Eowyn (6) No living man may
hinder me!' she replies, as the text was first written: 'I am no living
man. You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund's daughter. You
stand between me and my kin. Begone! For though I have slain no
living thing, yet I will slay the dead [> yet I will slay the Undead].' This
rests on the earlier form of the prophecy concerning the Lord of the
Nazgul: 'he is not doomed to fall before men of war or wisdom; but in
the hour of his victory to be overthrown by one who has slain no living
thing' (pp. 334-5). This was changed on the manuscript to: 'Begone,
if thou be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will hew thee,
if thou touch me.'
In the passage that follows, Eowyn's hair is described as 'shorn
upon her neck', and this survived through the fair copy 8 into the first
typescript, where it was changed to the reading of RK (p. 116): 'her
bright hair, released from its bonds'. And Merry's thought is directly
reported: 'I must do something. If only I can get away from those
eyes! '
After the great cry of the Lord of the Nazgul as he departed there
follows: 'And far up above [?the] Nazgul hearing that cry were filled
with great terror, and fled away to Baraddur bearing ill tidings.' This
was not taken up into the fair copy (B).(7)
At Theoden's death the text here is briefer, and no reference is made
to the taking up of the banner from its dead bearer and the sign made
by the king that it be given to Eomer: 'Grief and dismay fell upon
Eomer as he leaped from the saddle and stood by the king. Slowly the
old man opened his eyes again. "Hail, King of the Mark!" he said....'
In the fair copy B the banner-bearer is named Guthwin (Guthlaf in
RK).
Of Merry s sword it was first said in this text, So passed the sword
of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. Glad would he have been
to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago, for the sorcerer-king
he knew and the dread realm of Angmar in the ancient North, hating
all his deeds.' The text of RK (pp. 119 - 20), 'who wrought it slowly
long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young
was substituted, probably at once.(8)
The passage (RK p. 120) recording the burying of the carcase of the
great beast and of Snowmane, with the horse's epitaph, is absent; and
the great rain that came from the sea ('it seemed that all things wept
for Theoden and Eowyn', recalling the grief for Baldr) likewise, being
added in only on the first typescript. A page of the manuscript (A) in
which the encounter of the Prince of Dol Amroth with the bearers of
Theoden and Eowyn is described, and his discovery that Eowyn was
still alive, was rejected and at once rewritten; in the rejected form
occurs this passage in the words of the Prince (still given no other
name) with the bearers:
'Bring him to the City,' he said. 'The gate is wide open, and by
his own deed the way thither is made free.' And then he rose and
looked on Eowyn and was amazed. 'Here is a woman!' he said.
'Do even the women of Rohan come to war in our aid?' he
asked.
'It is the Lady Eowyn sister of King Eomer,' they said. 'And
we do not know how she came here, but it seems that she took
the place of one of his knights. [Rejected at once: Dernhelm
... a young kinsman of the king.] It is a grief beyond words
to us.
This is the only trace of the idea that Eowyn escaped detection by
substituting herself for a young Rider among the king's knights
actually named Dernhelm. No doubt it arose here and was abandoned
here; probably because of the meaning of the name (derne 'hidden,
secret'; cf. the earlier name by which Eowyn was to ride, Grimhelm,
p. 355 note 6).
In the rewritten version of this passage the text of RK is reached,
and here at last appears the name Imrahil of the Prince of Dol Amroth,
entering apparently without any hesitation as to its form.
Among the horsemen of Gondor (RK p. 121) appears Hurin the
Tall, 'Warden of the City', changed at once to 'Warden of the Keys'. In
an immediately rejected version of the passage in which the new hosts
streaming in from Osgiliath are described it was said of the Black
Captain: 'He was gone, and the Nazgul in fear had fled back to
Mordor bearing ill tidings' (see note 7); but this was lost in the
rewriting of the passage, where appear Gothmog lieutenant of
Morghul,(9) the Variags of Khand (both names written without any
precedent forms), and the black 'half-trolls' of Far Harad.(10)
The course of Anduin, as seen by the watchmen on the walls when
the black fleet approached (RK p. 122), was first described thus:
For south away the river went in a knee about the out-thrust
of the hills of Emyn Arnen in lower Ithilien,(11) and Anduin bent
then in upon the Pelennor so that its outwall was there built
upon the brink, and that at the nearest was no more than [five
>] four miles from the Gates; [added: and quays and landings
were made there for boats coming upstream from the Out-
lands;] but thence the river flowed southeast for three leagues
and all that reach could be seen in line by farsighted men on
high. And they looking forth cried in dismay, for lo! up the
reach of Arnen a black fleet could be seen ...
Striking out this passage my father noted against the first part of it:
'This is now told before in XLIV' (i.e. the chapter 'Minas Tirith'). He
was referring to a rider introduced into the first typescript of that
chapter (see p. 294 note 30) entirely recasting the original description
of the Pelennor and the Outlands (pp. 278, 287) to its form in RK
(p. 22), where the bend in Anduin about Emyn Arnen appears. This
rider was already in existence, though obviously belonging to this phase
of writing, as is seen from the name Lonnath-ernin of the landings,
subsequently changed (presumably at this very juncture) to Harlond.
In the present text the passage just cited was removed immediately, and
the much briefer passage as found in this place in RK (p. 122) follows in
the manuscript, with the name Harlond.(12)
The great banner of Aragorn is described in the same words as in
RK (p. 123), except that in the sentence 'for they were wrought of
gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond' the italicised words are absent. In
the fair copy manuscript (B) 'by Finduilas Elrond's daughter'(13) was
added in the margin, changed later to 'Arwen daughter of Elrond'.
Aragorn is named 'Elessar, Isildur's heir'; and when men leapt from
the ships to the quays 'There came Legolas and Gimli wielding his axe,
and Halbarad with the standard, and Elboron and Elrohir with stars
on their brow, and the dourhanded Dunedain, Rangers of the North;
and in the hand of Aragorn Branding was like a new fire kindled,
Narsil reforged (14) as deadly as of old, and about his helm there was
a kingly crown.' Thus Elboron still survived, for Elladan (see pp.
297, 302), the change being made on the fair copy. Branding, for
Anduril, Flame of the West, remained until changed on the first
typescript; while 'about his helm there was a kingly crown' was not
replaced by 'upon his brow was the Star of Elendil' until the book was
in proof.
At the end of the chapter as first written Duinhir of Morthond is
named among the fallen, whereas in RK it is his sons, 'Duilin and his:
brother' (Derufin), who were trampled by the mumakil.(15) Grimbold of
Grimslade is not named (though he has appeared in 'The Ride of the
Rohirrim'), and instead the sentence in which he is named in RK
reads: 'Neither Hirluin the Fair would return to his green hills, nor
Elfhelm to Eastfold [written above: Westfold],(16) nor Halbarad to the
Northlands, dourhanded Ranger.'
In the alliterative song 'The Mounds of Mundburg' (not yet so
named) there was much variation in the recording of those who died in
the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. The earliest complete, though still
very rough, form of the song reads:
As long after a maker (17) in Rohan said in his song:
We heard in the hills the horns ringing,(18)
of swords shining in the South kingdom:
steeds went striding to the Stoningland
a wind in the morning, war at sunrise.
There Theoden fell, Thengling mighty,
life and lordship long had he wielded
hoar king and high, Harding and Crimbold,
Dunhere and [Elfhelm >] Marculf, Deorwin the marshal.
Hirluin the fair to the hills by the sea,
nor Forlong the great to the flowering vales
ever of Arnach in his own country
returned in triumph, nor the tall bowman
doughty Duinhir to the dark waters,
meres of Morthond under mountain-shadows.
Death in the morning and at day's ending
lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep
under grass in Gondor by the Great River.
Red it ran then. Red was the sunset,
the hills under heaven high snowmantled
bloodred burning. Blood dyed the earth
in the Field of Mundberg in the far country.
Another rough text, moving nearer to the final form in some lines
but petering out before the conclusion, has in the line corresponding to
the 8th in the version just given Dunhere and [Elfhelm >] Guthwin,
Deorwin the marshal. Guthwin was the banner-bearer of the king (see
p. 368). The first good text reaches the final form (with the name
Rammas Echor in the last line) in all but the names of the dead Riders:
Harding and Guthwin,
Dunhere and Marculf, Deorwin and Grimbold,
Herufare and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred,
fought and fell there in a far country;
in the mounds of Mundberg under mould they lie
with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor.(19)
NOTES.
1. Cf. the initial drafting for the end of 'The Siege of Gondor'
(p. 337), ... crown that sat upon no visible head save only for
the light of his pale eyes.'
2. dwimorlakes: 'illusions, phantoms'. Old English (ge)dwimor, -er;
cf. Wormtongue's name Dwimordene of Lorien in 'The King of
the Golden Hall' (TT p. 118), and Dwimorberg. In the present
chapter in RK (p. 116) Eowyn calls the Lord of the Nazgul 'foul
dwimmer-laik', -laik being the Old Norse ending -leikr corre-
sponding to Old English -lac, here 'modernised' as -lake.
3. Theoden son of Thengel: see p. 355 note 9.
4. The word is most naturally read as 'sound', in which case my
father inadvertently repeated it instead of the word he had in
mind, e.g. 'riding'.
5. The statement in 'The Ride of the Rohirrim' that 'Dernhelm had
left his place and in the darkness was moving steadily forward
until at last he was riding just in rear of the king's guard' (p. 353)
was added after the writing of the present passage; see also p. 356
note 17.
6. Eowyn calls the Lord of the Nazgul 'foul dwimmerlake', where
-lake was changed subsequently to -lord. See note 2.
7. Cf. 'The Story Foreseen from Forannest', p. 360, in which it is
said that Sauron heard from the Nazgul of the defeat on the
Pelennor and the corning of Aragorn.
8. For the first appearance of Angmar see p. 334, and of Dunedain
p. 363 note 6.
9. The name Gothmog is one of the original names of the tradition,
going back to The Book of Lost Tales; Lord of Balrogs, slayer of
Feanor and Fingon.
10. Khand, Near Harad, and Far Harad were roughly entered on the
Second Map.
11. Emyn Arnen has replaced Haramon (see p. 359 and note 3). On
the origin of the great bend in the Anduin around the hills of
Emyn Arnen see p. 438.
12. As first written, those who saw the black sails cried out: 'The
Corsairs of Umbar! See! The Corsairs are coming. They have
overrun Amroth and Belfalas and Lebennin are destroyed!'
13. In the First Age Finduilas was the daughter of Orodreth King of
Nargothrond; she plays a major part in the Turinssaga.
14. Narsil reforged: although it has been said that Aragorn gave the
name Branding to the Sword of Elendil after its reforging (see
VII.274 and note 19), its ancient name has never been told until
now.
15. In the account of the men of the Outlands entering Minas Tirith
given on p. 287 Duinhir is mentioned, but not his sons.
16. In LR Elfhelm was not slain in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields,
but survived to command the three thousand Riders of Rohan
who were sent to 'waylay the West Road against the enemy that
was in Anorien' (RK p. 158; the leader of this force was not
named in the First Edition, but Elfhelm is named in both editions
as among those who stood before the gates of Minas Tirith when
the Captains of the West returned, RK p. 244).
17. maker: used in the long since lost sense 'poet'.
18. We heard of the horns in the hills ringing is a variant entered at
the time of writing both in this text and in that following.
19. Guthwin was later changed to Cuthlaf on this manuscript (see
p. 368). Herufare is written so (for expected -fara) both here and
(apparently) in a scrap of rough drafting for the passage;
Herefara in RK.
X.
THE PYRE OF DENETHOR.
The original brief draft of this chapter ('A'), mercifully written fairly
legibly in ink and not in pencil subsequently overwritten, extended
from 'When the dark shadow at the Gate withdrew' as far as 'There
was no guard at the gate of the Citadel. "Berithil has gone then," said
Pippin' (RK p. 127). The final text was naturally not reached in every
turn of expression or every detail, but apart from the absence of
the meeting with Prince Imrahil as Gandalf and Pippin rode up from
the Gate on Shadowfax there is no narrative difference of any
significance.(1) At this point my father stopped and set down a brief
outline ('B').
? Porter dead at Closed Door. ? They see fire and smoke
below as they hurry down the winding road. Berithil has
rebelled, and taking some of the guard has fought with the
household men. Before they could gain entrance to the tomb,
one of these dashed back and set a torch in the wood. But
Berithil was just in time to save Faramir. But Denethor leaped
back into the flames and was now dead. Gandalf closed the
door. 'That ends a chapter!' he said. 'Let the Stewards burn -
their days are over.' Light is growing fast. Faramir is borne
away to the house where women were who remained in city to
tend sick.
A large question mark was placed against the first part of this, and
it was evidently rejected as soon as written and replaced by the
following:
? Berithil and guard had gone and stopped the burning.
Gandalf reasons with Denethor. 'I have seen' says Denethor
'ships coming up Anduin: I will no more yield to an upstart -
and even if his claim be true of the younger line: I am Steward
for the sons of Anarion not of Isildur - than [to] my dark foe.'
The development from this point is hard to be sure of, but I am
almost certain that the next step was the following outline ('C'),
written in ink around and through (but not over) a much rougher
outline also in ink (briefer but essentially the same, with mention of
the palantir):
Gandalf and Pippin hear clash of arms as they hasten down
the winding road to Rath Dinen. When they reach the Tombs
they find Berithil holding the door alone against the houschold-
men, who wish to obey Denethor's orders and come and set fire
to the pyre. From within comes Denethor's voice commanding
Berithil by his oaths to let them enter.
Gandalf sweeps aside the men and goes in. He upbraids
Denethor, but Denethor laughs at him. Denethor has a palantir!
He has seen the coming of Aragorn. But he has also seen the vast
forces still gathered in Mordor, and says that victory in arms is
no longer possible. He will not yield up the Stewardship 'to an
upstart of the younger line: I am Steward of the sons of
Anarion.' He wants things to be as they were - or not at all.
Gandalf demands the release of Faramir, and when Denethor
attempts to slay him ('he shall not live to bow down!') Gandalf
strikes the sword from his hand, and lets suddenly be seen his
power so that even Denethor quails. Gandalf bids the men lift
up Faramir and bear him from the chamber.
Denethor says 'At least so far my rule still holds that I may
determine my own death.' He sets fire to the wood which is
oil-drenched. Then he leaps onto the stone bed. He breaks the
wand of his Stewardship and lays the pieces on his lap, and lies
down taking the Stone between his hands. Then Gandalf leaves
him. He closes the door and the flames roar within. They hear
Denethor give a great cry, and then no more. 'So passes the
Stewardship of Gondor!' said Gandalf. It is said that ever after,
if anyone looked in that Stone, unless he had great strength of
will, he saw only two old hands withering in flames. [Added:
Gandalf bids Berithil and household men not to mourn - or be
too downcast. Each side has tried to do their duty.]
They now bear Faramir to the house of the sick. As Gandalf
and Pippin climb back up the road they hear the last shriek in
the air of the Nazgul. Gandalf stands still a moment. 'Some evil
has befallen! ' he says, 'which but for the madness of Denethor I
could have averted. So far is the reach of the Enemy. But we
know how his will had entry to the White Tower. By the Stone.
Though he could not daunt Denethor or enslave him, he could
fill him with despair, mistrust and unwisdom.' When Faramir is
placed under care with Berithil as guard they meet the funeral
cortege. Where is Merry? Pippin volunteers to try and find
Merry.
Most of the essential ideas of the chapter were present here - and
one that was rejected: Denethor knew who was aboard the black fleet
and what his coming meant (see pp. 378 - 9). This knowledge he
derived from the palantir; and since it is present also in the brief
preceding outline B the existence of the palantir in the White Tower
must be presumed there also.(2)
At this stage, I think, my father began on a new text of the chapter
('D'), continuing as far as Gandalf's words concerning 'the heaehen
kings' (RK p. 129). The final text is here very closely approached (3)
until near the end (which is very rough and has various alternative
readings):
Then Gandalf showing now a marvellous strength leapt up on
the faggots and raising the sick man bore him out of the deadly
house; and as he was moved Faramir moaned and spoke his
father's name.
Then Denethor stepped forward and the flame died in his eyes
and he wept, and he said: 'Do not take my son from me. He
calls for me.'
'He calls for you,* said Gandalf. 'But you cannot come to him
save in one way. You must go out to the battle of your City
putting away despair and risking death in the field; and he must
struggle for life against hope in the dark ways of his fever. Then
perchance you may meet again. / For unless you go out to the
battle of your City putting away despair and risking death in the
field you will never speak again with him in the waking world.'
'He will not wake again,' said Denethor. 'His house is
crumbling. Let us die together.' / 'At least we can go to death
side by side,' said Denethor. 'That lies not in the will of the Lord
of this City or of any other,' said Gandalf. 'For you are not yet
dead. And so do the heathen kings under the dominion of the
Dark Lord, to slay themselves in pride and despair or to slay
their kin for the easing of their own death.'
In RK this is followed by 'Then passing through the door he took
Faramir from the deadly house and laid him on the bier on which he
had been brought, and which had now been set in the porch. Denethor
followed him ...'; for it is clear that Gandalf, bearing Faramir, had
halted at Denethor's words 'Do not take my son from me!', and only
now moved through the door. But in the text just given it is said that
Gandalf bore Faramir 'out of the deadly house' as soon as he had lifted
him from the pyre.
It was perhaps at this stage that my father wrote a single discon-
tinuous page ('E') beginning with the words 'Gandalf now takes
Faramir'. Here as in RK Denethor follows him; but no further words
are spoken until, after a long hesitation while he looks on Faramir, he
declares that he will rule his own end, and his death follows
immediately. It is curious that Denethor is here said to die clasping the
palantir, yet there is no drafting of the scene in which he reveals his
possession of it.
Gandalf now takes Faramir.
Denethor now followed him to the door. And he trembled,
looking in longing at his son and hesitating. Yet in the end his
pride and wilfulness overmastered him and he was fey again. 'At
least in this you shall not defy and snatch my power away,' he
said. And stepping suddenly forth he seized a torch from the
band of one of his servants, and moving back thrust it among
the wood, which being drenched in oil roared at once into flame
and a black smoke filled the house. Then Denethor leaped again
. onto the table amid the fire and fume, and breaking the staff of
his stewardship on his knee he cast it into the flames and laid
himself back on his pillow clasping the palantir with both hands
to his breast.
Gandalf in sorrow and horror turned his face away and came
forth, closing the door. For a while he stood in thought silently
upon the topmost step. And they heard the roar and crackle of
the flames within; and then Denethor gave a great cry, and
afterward spoke no more, nor was seen again by mortal man.
'So passes the Stewardship of Gondor!' said Gandalf. And he
-, turned to Berithil and the lord's servants. 'Do not mourn
overmuch,' he said. 'For the old days have passed for good or
evil. And be not grieved with your own deeds. For all here, as I
see it, have striven to do as they judged right, whether in
obedience and the keeping of vows or in the breaking. For you
servants of the Lord owed obedience only to your Lord, but
Berithil owed also allegiance first to the Lord Faramir the
captain of the guard. So let now all hate or anger that lies
between you fall away and be forgotten. Bear away those who
have fallen in this unhappy place. And we will bear Faramir to a
place where he can die in peace if that is his doom, or find
healing.'
So now Gandalf and Berithil taking up the bier that stood still
in the porch before the doors set Faramir upon it and slowly
bore him away to the houses of the sick, and the servants came
behind bearing their fellows. And when they came at length
through the closed door Gandalf bade Berithil who had the key
to lock it. And as they passed into the upper circles of the City
there was heard in the air the cry of the Lord of the Nazgul as it
rose and passed away for ever. And they stood for a moment
stricken with wonder.
This was followed (again with some doubt as to the sequence) by
another discontinuous page ('F') that takes up in the course of
Gandalf's reply to Denethor's words 'Do not take my son from me!
He calls for me':
'... But he now must strive for life in the dark ways of his fever
seeking healing; and you must go out to the battle of your city,
risking death, if it must be, in the field. This you know well in
your heart.'
But Denethor laughed. And going back to the table he lifted
from it the pillow that he had lain on. And lo! in his hand he
bore a palantir. 'Pride and despair!' he said. 'Did you think that
[the] eyes of the White Tower were blind?' he said. [Added in
pencil, without direction for insertion: This the Stone of Minas
Tirith has remained ever in the secret keeping of the Stewards in
the topmost chamber.] Nay, nay, 1 see more than thou knowest,
Grey Fool ...'(4)
The page then continues very close to the final text (RK pp.
129 - 30), except in the view taken of Denethor's knowledge of
Aragorn and the black fleet. In RK, as final proof that the power
arrayed against Minas Tirith is too great far any withstanding,
Denethor declares to Gandalf that 'even now the wind of thy hope
cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleet with black sails.' He therefore
does not know who is aboard. But (after Gandalf's reply 'Such
counsels will make the Enemy's victory certain indeed') he goes on to
accuse him of commanding Pippin 'to keep silence', and of installing
him as a spy in his chamber; 'and yet in our speech together I have
learned the names and purpose of all thy companions. So! With the
left hand thou wouldst use me for a little while as a shield against
Mordor, and with the right bring up this Ranger of the North to
supplant me.' As the text stands in RK it is not clear what Denethor
means by 'with the right hand'; for he does not know that it is the
'upstart' Aragorn who is coming up the Great River.
From the present text F, however, it is clear what Denethor did
originally mean by 'with his right hand'. Here, he does not mention
the black fleet in the first of these speeches; and in the second he makes
no reference at all to Pippin - so that it is not from Pippin that he has
learned of Aragorn's coming. But then he goes on: 'But I know your
mind and its plots. Do I not see the fleets even now coming up Anduin!
So with the left hand you would use me as a shield against Mordor,
and with the right hand bring up this Ranger of the North to take my
place.' Here it is obvious that he does know who is aboard (with
his left hand, one might suppose, he gestures towards Osgiliath and
with his right towards Pelargir); and he knew it from use of the
palantir, as is expressly stated in the outline C (p. 375): 'Denethor has
a palantir! He has seen the coming of Aragorn.'
This text (F) ends thus:
'But who saith that the Steward who faithfully surrenders
shall have diminishment of love and honour! And at the last you
shall not rob your son of his choice, slaying him in your proud
wickedness while yet healing is in doubt. This you shall not do.
Yield me now Faramir!'
It is hard to know what these last words imply, since at this point
Gandalf must have already raised Faramir from the stone table and
moved towards the door. It seems possible that some drafting has been
lost, which would have made clearer the evolution of the final
structure in this chapter.
At any rate, my father now began another text ('G'), for which he
used the initial pages of D (p. 376), but soon diverged into new
manuscript, roughly written but now completing the chapter; and here
the substance and structure of RK was reached with few differences.
The manuscript had originally no title, but at some point he wrote on
it 'XLVIII The Pyre of Denethor': at that stage, presumably, he was
treating 'The Ride of the Rohirrim' and 'The Battle of the Pelennor
Fields' as one chapter (see pp. 351, 367). 'XLVIII' was subsequently
changed to 'XLIX' and 'V.6'.(5)
As first written, the different view of Denethor's knowledge of
Aragorn and the black fleet was preserved, though changed later on
the manuscript to the final form (on this question see pp. 390 - 1).
Gandalf still said 'So passes the Stewardship of Gondor' for 'So passes
Denethor, son of Ecthelion'; and in his address to Berithil and the
servants of Denethor who stood by he said: 'But Berithil of the guard
owed allegiance first to his captain, Faramir, to succour him while he
lived' (cf. p. 377). This was changed on the manuscript to read:
'... For you servants of the Lord owed obedience to him only.
And he who says: "my master is not in his mind, and knows not
what he bids; I will not do it", is in peril, unless he has
knowledge and wisdom. But to Berithil of the guard such
discernment was a duty, whereas (6) also he owed allegiance first
to his captain, Faramir, to succour him while he lived.'
This was preserved in the fair copy ('H') that followed, and was not
rewritten to the form in RK (p. 131) until the typescript stage was
reached. At the end of this passage my father wrote, as in D, that
Gandalf and Berithil bore Faramir to 'the houses of the sick', but he
changed this to 'the Houses of Healing', with the Elvish name Berin a
Nestad, changed at once to Bair Nestedriu, both of which were struck
out; but a little later in the chapter ('So now at last they passed into the
high circles of the City, and in the light of morning they went towards
the houses that were set apart for the tending of men hurt or dying', cf.
RK p. 131) the name Bair Nestedriu reappears. In the fair copy H
there is no Elvish name for the Houses of Healing in the first of these
passages, but at the second the form Bair Nestad is found. In the first
typescript, in this same passage, the name is Edeb na Nestad, which
was struck through.
At this time the story was that Gandalf and Pippin rode through the
Closed Door on their way to Rath Dinen (see note 3). Now, as Berithil
and Gandalf bore the bier, 'behind them walked Pippin and beside him
Shadowfax with downcast head'; and when they came back to the
Door (here called 'the Steward's Door' as in RK; 'the Stewards' Door'
in the fair copy) Gandalf sent Shadowfax back to his stable, dismissing
him in the same words that in RK (p. 127) he used when they first
came to the Door.
At the point in the narrative where the dome of the House of the
Stewards in Rath Dinen cracked and fell, and 'then in terror the
servants fled, and followed Gandalf', my father set down an outline,
which was struck through.
Gandalf must say something about the Stone. How it was
kept in Tower but only kings supposed to look in it.(7) Denethor
in his grief when Faramir returned must have looked in it -
hence his madness and despair. For though not yielding to
Enemy (like Saruman) he got an impression of the Dark Lord's
overwhelming might. The will of the Lord thus entered the
Tower, confused all counsels, and kept Gandalf from the field.
All this takes about 1 1/2 hours to nearly 8 o'clock? So as they
come out into the upper circles they hear the dreadful shriek of
the Nazgul's end. Gandalf forbodes evil. Does Gandalf look out
from a high place? When [he] has put Faramir in the sick
quarters with Berithil as his servant and guard, Gandalf and
Pippin go back down towards the Gates and meet the cortege,
with bodies of Eowyn and Theoden.(8) Gandalf takes charge; but
Pippin goes in search of Merry; and meets him wandering half
blind. Eventually Gandalf and Pippin stand on battlement and
watch progress of battle. Gandalf says he is not needed there so
much as with the sick. Pippin (and Gandalf?) see the coming
of Aragorn and the fleet. Eventually the captains return after
victory at the Red Sunset.
Council must follow next day. Is any account of Aragorn's
march put in at council?
The text in this manuscript (G) was then continued to the end; and
when my father came to record Gandalf's words about the palantir of
Minas Tirith they took this form:
'... Alas! but now I perceive how it was thai his will was able
to enter among us into the very heart of this City.
'Long have I guessed that here in the White Tower, as at
Orthanc, one of the great Stones of Sight was preserved.
Denethor did not in the days of his wisdom ever presume to use
it, nor to challenge Sauron, knowing the limits of his own
powers. But in his grief for Faramir, distraught by the hopeless
peril of his City, he must have dared to do this: to look in the
Stone. He hoped maybe to see if help was drawing nigh; but the
ways of the Rohirrim in the North were hidden; and he saw at
first only what was preparing in the South. And then slowly his
eye was drawn east, to see what it was willed that he should see.
And this vision [struck oat: true or false] of the great might of
Mordor, fed the despair that was already in his heart until it
rose and engulfed his mind.'
['That fits well with what I saw,' said Pippin. 'The Lord went
away from the room where Faramir lay; and it was when he
came back chat I first thought he was changed, old and broken.'
'It was in the very hour that Faramir was brought back that
many saw a strange light in the topmost chamber of the Tower,'
said Berithil.
'Alas! then I guess truly,' said Gandalf.] 'Thus the will of
Sauron entered into the Tower; and thus I have been delayed
here....'
The passage that I have enclosed in square brackets was an addition,
but pretty clearly one made at the time of writing. In the fair copy
manuscript of 'The Siege of Gondor' the passage describing how
Prince Imrahil brought Faramir to the White Tower after his rescue,
how Denethor then went up to the secret room under the summit of
the Tower, and how a light was seen flickering there (RK pp. 94 - 5),
was absent: see p. 340 note 17. It was no doubt at this time that it was
added. The fair copy H retains the form of the passage just given; it
was not until later that it was revised to introduce Gandalf's guess that
Denethor had looked many times into the palantir, and Berithil's
corroboration 'But we have seen that light before, and it has been
rumoured in the City that the Lord would at times wrestle in thought
with his Enemy.' In the original manuscript of 'Minas Tirith' he had
said to Pippin as they sat on the battlements that Denethor was
reputed to be able to 'read somewhat of the mind of the Enemy' as he
sat in his high chamber at night, but he did not then add the words
'wrestling with him', nor 'And so it is that he is old, worn before his
time' (RK p. 37; p. 292 note 21). Thus Pippin's words, preserved in
RK, 'it was only when he returned that I first thought he was changed,
old and broken' were written when my father believed that it was only
now and for the first time that Denethor had dared to look into the
Seeing Stone of Minas Tirith.
NOTES.
1. Gandalf says here: 'Is it not a law in the City that those who wear
the black and silver must stay in the Citadel unless their lord leaves
it?' And Pippin replies: 'He has left it.' For a previous use of this
passage in a different context see p. 338 and note 23.
2. Cf. the original manuscript of the chapter 'Minas Tirith', p. 281:
'And Denethor at least does not expect him in any way, for he does
not know that he exists.' This in fact survived through all the
typescripts and was only changed on the proof to the reading of
RK: 'Though if he comes, it is likely to be in some way that no one
expects, not even Denethor.'
3. A minor narrative difference is that when Gandalf and Pippin
came to the Closed Door on Shadowfax they rode through it,
though on the steep winding road beyond 'they could go only at a
walk.' In RK Gandalf 'dismounted and bade Shadowfax return to
his stable' (see p. 380).
4. When writing a very rapid draft my father would move from 'thou'
to 'you' in the same speech, but his intention from the first was
certainly that in this scene Denethor should 'thou' Gandalf, while
Gandalf should use 'you'. In one passage confusion between 'thou'
and 'you' remains in RK (Denethor's speech beginning 'Hope on
then!', p. 129). Here in the fair copy manuscript my father wrote:
'Do I not know that you commanded this halfling here to keep
silence?'; subsequently he changed 'you commanded' to 'thou
commandedst', but presumably because he disliked this form he
changed the sentence to 'Do I not know that this halfling was
commanded by thee ...' At the same time he added the sentence
'That you brought him hither to be a spy within in my very
chamber?', changing it immediately and for the same reason to
'That he was brought hither ...' For some reason the 'you'
constructions reappeared in the first typescript, and so remained.
5. 'V.6', not 'V.7' as in RK, because 'The Passing of the Grey
Company' and 'The Muster of Rohan' were still one chapter,
'Many Roads Lead Eastward'. The fair copy manuscript (H) was
also numbered 'XLIX' and 'V.6', with the title '(a) The Pyre of
Denethor'.
6. The meaning of whereas here is 'inasmuch as', 'seeing that'.
7. I take this to mean, in a colloquial sense of 'supposed', 'it was only
the kings who were held to be permitted to look in it', rather than
'it was only the kings who looked in it, as it was thought.'
The story now was that Eowyn was still alive: p. 369.
XI.
THE HOUSES OF HEALING.
On the same page that my father used for the original opening draft
(A) of 'The Pyre of Denethor' (p. 374) he also wrote a brief passage for
another place in the narrative, beginning: '"Well, Meriadoc, where
are you going?" He looked up, and there was Gandalf.' This was, I feel
certain, the opening of a new chapter; and since it stands first on the
page, with the opening of 'The Pyre of Denethor' below it, it seems to
me likely that my father for a moment thought to continue the
narrative after 'The Battle of the Pelennor Fields' in this way. But
however this may be, he subsequently on another page (numbered 'a')
wrote a new opening ('A mist was in Merry's eyes of tears and of
weariness when they drew near to the ruined Gates of Minas Tirith'),
and joined this on to the first opening (now numbered 'b') already in
existence. This first part ('a') of the brief composite text is already very
close indeed to the opening of the chapter in RK; the second (earlier)
part 'b' differs from the text of RK in that it is Gandalf, not Pippin,
who finds Merry wandering in the streets of the City:
'Well, Meriadoc, where are you going?'
He looked up, and the mist before his eyes cleared a little,(1)
and there was Gandalf. He was in a narrow empty street, and
no one else was there. He passed his hand over his eyes. 'Where
is the king?' he said, 'and Eowyn, and - ' he stumbled and sat
down on a doorstep and began to weep again.
'They have gone into the Citadel,' said Gandalf. 'You must
have fallen asleep on your feet and taken a wrong turning. You
are worn out, and I will ask no questions yet, save one: are you
hurt, or wounded?'
'No,' said Merry, 'well, no, I don't think so. But I cannot use
my right arm, not since I stabbed him. The sword has burned
away like wood.'
Gandalf looked grave. 'Well, you must come with me. I will
carry you. You are not fit to walk. They should not have let you.
But then they did not know about you or they would have
shown you more honour. But when you know more you will
pardon them: many dreadful things have happened in this City.'
'Pardon them? What for?' said Merry. 'All I want is a bed if
there's one to have.'
'You'll have chat,' said Gandalf, 'but you may need more.' He
looked grave and careworn. 'Here is yet another on my hands,'
he sighed. 'After war comes the woe and hopeless oft seems the
task of the healer.'
At this point the part 'b' ends and is followed by 'When the dark
shadow at the Gate withdrew Gandalf still sat motionless', the
opening of 'The Pyre of Denethor', as described above.
My father now wrote an outline, obviously before the story had
proceeded further.
Pippin meets Merry wandering half blind and witless - (as in
scene previously written: but not humorous). Merry also is
taken to sickhouse (Faramir, Eowyn, Merry).
[King Theoden is laid on bier in Hall of the Tower covered
with gold. His body is embalmed after the manner of Gondor.
Long after when the Rohirrim carried it back to Rohan and
laid it in the mounds, it was said that he slept there in peace
unchanged, clad in the cloth of gold of Gondor, save that his
hair and beard still grew but were golden, and a river of gold
would at times flow from Theoden's Howe. Also a voice would
be heard crying
Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden
Fell deeds awake. Forth Eorlingas!
when peril threatened.](2)
Now the Captains return. But Aragorn sets his pavilion in the
field before the gate and will not enter without permission and
sends in word begging leave to enter and speak with the
Steward. They tell him that the Steward is dead by his own hand
and the Lord Faramir sick, to death. Then he lays aside all the
badges of Elendil, and enters as a plain man. Aragorn meets
Pippin and Gandalf and asks after Merry. He is given news of
Eowyn. Great joy of Eomer.
All that night Aragorn tends the sick, for the Kings of Gondor
had both a craft and a power of healing, and by this [?latter] it
was made clear that the true king was returned. Faramir opens
his eyes and looks on Aragorn and love springs between them.
Merry too recovers.
Counsel [read Council] of the Lords. Gandalf warns them
that what Denethor had said is true: there was no final victory
in arms against the Enemy. We fought here as best we could,
because we had to; and it is so appointed in this world that
resistance must be made to evil without final hope. But when we
take arms to attack we are using that power which is pre-
eminently found in the Ring, and it would be logical to do as
Denethor desired in that case: to use the Ring. So indeed we
should probably [?now] have victory and overthrow Sauron.
But only to set up another. So that in the end the result would be
as evil, if different, or possibly worse, as if Sauron recovered the
Ring. Therefore have I ..... (3) recovery in order that for a great
age victory should be otherwise.
But we must still use such power as we have. And not delay.
Sauron must still be kept busy and deem we have the Ring.
Another page of outline-notes, very roughly pencilled, probably
followed this.
Long sojourn of rest in Minas Tirith and coming of
Finduilas?(4) [written above: and Galadriel].
Hobbits all go home via Rohan: funeral of Theoden, and then
through Gap and up west of Misty Mountains to Rivendell and
then home.
Yes, said Sam, as he closed the Book. That all happened a
long time ago.
Aragorn will only enter as lord of the Forod, not as king.(5)
Lords ride in, and see Theoden lying in state. Where is
Gandalf? He comes in late [or later] and tells of Theoden's fall,(6)
and Yoreth's words.
They go to Houses of Healing, and Aragorn asks for athelas.
He heals the sick. Yoreth says he must be king. After supper he
heals many sick.
Council next day. Gandalf's advice. Merry wakes up feeling
nearly well. While Council is [?on] Gimli, Legolas and Pippin
talk. They ..... and hear of the love of Eowyn for Aragorn at
Dunharrow. And of the great ride to Pelargir.
The lords ride east: 1000 Rohirrim, Dol Amroth and [?so on].
And a first force to hold Morgul. They ride into shadow of
ambush. Peril.
A complete draft ('A') for the chapter now followed, written rapidly
but legibly in ink. In the first part of the chapter there are passages of
marked divergence from the story that followed. The manuscript A
was followed by a fair copy 'B', for which some pages were taken out
of A, including the opening page bearing the chapter number and title:
'Ch.L The Houses of Healing', the number changed subsequently to
'XLIX (b)'.(7)
The first divergence in A from RK comes with Gandalf's words
when he came on Pippin and Merry on the pavement of the main street
up to the Citadel (RK p. 135):
'He should have been borne in honour into this City,' he said.
'Greater was the wisdom of Elrond than mine. For if I had had
my way neither you nor he, Pippin, would have set out; and
then far more grievous would the evils of this day have been.
Faramir and Eowyn would be dead, and the Black Captain
would be abroad to work ruin on all hope.'
This was repeated in the fair copy B, and {with loss of the final
sentence 'Faramir and Eowyn would be dead ...') in the following
typescripts: the change to 'He has well repaid my trust: for if Elrond
had not yielded to me, neither of you would have set out' was not
made until the book was in proof. This is decidedly strange: for the
form of the Choosing of the Company in The Fellowship of the Ring
(p. 289), in which it was through Gandalf's advocacy against Elrond
that Merry and Pippin were included, had been reached long before in
the second version of 'The Ring Goes South' (VII.164). Earlier than
this, it is true, Gandalf had also been opposed to their inclusion
('Elrond's decision is wise', he had said, VII.115), but only here, and
again in 'The Last Debate' (p. 415), is there any suggestion that it was
Elrond who advocated their inclusion in opposition to Gandalf.
In the passage that follows, after the account of the 'leechcraft of
Gondor' and the unknown malady named 'the Black Shadow' that
came from the Nazgul, the text of A is much briefer than that of RK
(p. 136):
And those that were so stricken fell slowly ever into a deeper
dream, and from fever passed to a deadly cold and so died. But
Faramir burned with a fever that would not abate.
And an old wife, Yoreth
Thus there is no reference here to the morning wearing away and
the day passing to sunset, while 'still Gandalf waited and watched and
did not go forth'; and after Yoreth had uttered the old saying that 'The
hands of the king are the hands of a healer' A diverges altogether from
the later story.
'Mithrandir is wise and skilful,' said another. 'In this at least
he is not a king,' said the old wife. 'He has done much for us,
but rather his skill lies in the teaching of men, to do what they
can or should.'
But Gandalf seeing that all was done that could be done for
the present arose and went out, and calling for Shadowfax rode
away.
But Pippin and Berithil found themselves together little
needed while the sick were yet in peril, and while such errands
as were needful were done by the boys, Bergil and his friends,
who had been saved from the wreck of the Rath a Chelerdain
and sent up hither. So they went to the roof of the house that
stood above the battlement of the wall, and they looked out.
The battle now raged upon the fields; but it was far from the
walls, and all the enemy had now been drawn away from the
City; and they could not mark how fortune went: nought but a
dust and a smoke in the distance away southward, and a far
crying of horn and of trumpet. Yet so it was that Pippin with the
farsighted eyes of his people was the first to descry the coming
of the fleet.
'Look, look, Berithil!' he cried. 'The Lord was not all
demented. He saw something in truth. There are ships on the
River.'
'Yes,' said Berithil. 'But not such as he spoke of. I know
the ...(8) of those ships and their sails. They come from Umbar
and the havens of the Corsairs. Hark!'
And all about them men were crying in dismay: 'The Corsairs
of Umbar!'
'You may say what you like and so may they,' said Pippin,
'but this I will say for my lord who is dead: I will believe him.
Here comes Aragorn. Though how, and why in this way I cannot
guess. Here comes the heir of Elendil!' he shouted; but no one,
not even Berithil, took any heed of his small voice.
Yet true he proved. And at last it was known in the City. And
all men were full of wonder. And so hope grew as the day rose
to noon and waned, and at last it came to the red sunset. And
watchers looking out saw all the fields before them dyed as with
blood, and the sky above them was bloodred, and at last ere the
red burned out to evening ash-grey over the fields of the
Pelennor rode the captains in victory to the City.
Aragorn and Eomer and Imrahil now drew near the City with
their captains and knights; and when they came before the
Gates Aragorn said: 'Behold the setting of the sun in fire ...'
Aragorn's words are then as in RK p. 137, and his speech with
Eomer that follows; but with Imrahil's intervention the original text
diverges again:
And the Prince Imrahil said: 'Wise are your words, lord, if
one who is kinsman of the house of the Stewards may venture to
give counsel. Yet I would not have you remain at the door like a
beggar.'
'Then I will not,' laughed Aragorn. '[added: I will enter as
one.] The banner shall be furled and the tokens no more
displayed.' And he bade Halbarad [> Elladan](9) to furl the
standard, and he removed the crown and stars (10) and gave them
to the keeping of the sons of Elrond. And he entered the City on
foot clad only in a grey mantle above his mail and bearing no
other token save the green stone of Galadriel, and he said: 'I
come only as Aragorn Lord of the Rangers of Forod.'(11)
And so the great captains of victory passed through the city
and the tumult of the people, and mounted to the Citadel, and
came to the Hall of the Tower seeking the Steward.
The description of Theoden lying in state follows as in RK (pp.
137-8), but then the story of his afterlife in the mound at Edoras is
introduced and expanded from the outline given on p. 385; I cite it
here from the fair copy B, where the text is all but identical to A except
in the words heard from the mound.(12)
And thus, it was said in song, he remained ever after while the
realm of Rohan endured. For when later the Rohirrim bore his
body away to the Mark and laid it in the mounds of his fathers,
there, clad in the cloth of gold of Gondor, he slept in peace
unchanged, save only that his hair still grew and was turned to
silver, and at times a river of silver would flow from Theoden's
Howe. And that was a token of prosperity; but if peril
threatened then at whiles men would hear a voice in the mound
crying in the ancient tongue of the Mark:
Arisath nu Ridend mine!
Theodnes thegnas thindath on orde!
Feond oferswithath! Forth Eorlingas!
Then follow the questions of Imrahil and Eomer in the Hall of the
Tower, whereby they learn that 'the Steward is in the Houses of
Healing' (thinking that this means Denethor), and Eomer learns that
Eowyn is still living, just as in RK, except that when Eomer leaves the
hall 'the others followed him' ('and the Prince followed him' RK),
because Aragorn is present.
And when they came forth evening had come, with many
stars And even as the light waned Gandalf returned alone out
of the East up the road from Osgiliath, glimmering in the
twilight. And he went also to the Houses of Healing, and he met
the Lords before its doors. And they greeted him; and they said:
'We seek the Steward and it is said that he is in this house.
In the passage that follows there are differences from RK, in that
Aragorn does not only now appear as 'the cloaked man' come with
Gandalf, unrecognised until he steps into the lantern-light. Thus
Imrahil says: 'Shall it not be the lord Aragorn?', and Aragorn replies:
'No, it shall be the Lord of Dol Amroth until Faramir awakes. But it is
my counsel that Mithrandir should rule us all in the days that follow
and our dealings with the Enemy.' Then Gandalf speaks as in RK of
his sole hope for the sick resting in Aragorn, and quotes the words
of Yoreth.
When Aragorn encounters Berithil and Pippin at the door Pippin
says: 'Trotter! How splendid. There, Berithil, you see Denethor was
right after all.' The last sentence was struck out, and replaced by
Pippin's words in RK (p. 139): 'Do you know, I guessed it was you in
the black ships. But they were all shouting Corsairs and would not
listen to me. How did you do it?' And when Imrahil says to Eomer
'Yet perchance in some other name he will wear his crown', Aragorn
overhearing replies: 'Verily, for in the high tongue of eld I am Elessar,
Elfstone, the renewer.'(13) Then lifting the green stone of Galadriel he
says: 'But Trotter shall be the name of my house, if ever that be
established; yet perhaps in the same high tongue it shall not sound so
ill, and tarakil (14) I will be and all the heirs of my body.'
In the following passage the first section that I have enclosed in
square brackets is so enclosed in the manuscript, with a query against
it, though it was used in RK; the second section in square brackets has
a line drawn round it in the manuscript with a mark of deletion and a
query against it. In the fair copy the first is again put within square '
brackets, and the second does not appear.
And so they went in. [And as they passed towards the rooms
where the sick were tended Gandalf told of the deeds of Eowyn
and Meriadoc. 'For,' he said, 'long have I stood by them, and at
first they spoke much in their sleep dreaming, before they sank
into a yet deeper darkness. Also it is given to me to see many
things afar off.] [And when there came a ...(15) cry from the
fields I was near to the walls and looked out. And even as I did,
the doom long foretold came to pass, though in a manner that
had been hidden from me. Not by the hand of man was the Lord
of the Nazgul doomed to fall, and in that doom placed his trust.
But he was felled by a woman and with the aid of a halfling,(16)
and I heard the fading of his last cry borne away by the wind.']
It will be seen that there were major differences in the structure of
the story as told in A from its form in RK. In the first place, the distant.
view of the battlefield seen by Pippin and Berithil from the roof of the
Houses of Healing is told in direct narrative, and thus the coming of
the black fleet up Anduin is repeated from 'The Battle of the Pelennor
Fields'. Since Pippin and Berithil were present at the House of the
Stewards in Rath Dinen they had heard Denethor accuse Gandalf of
intriguing to displace him: 'But I know your mind and its plots. Do I
not see the fleets even now coming up Anduin! So with the left hand
you would use me as a shield against Mordor, and with the right hand
bring up this Ranger of the North to take my place' (p. 378). This
knowledge Denethor had acquired from the palantir. The idea that
Denethor knew that Aragorn was in command of the ships of the
Corsairs was changed on the draft manuscript (G) of 'The pyre of
Denethor' (p. 379), and in the fair copy of that chapter, already as first
written, his knowledge of Aragorn is derived as in RK from his
conversations with Pippin: his sight of the black fleet becomes for him
an overpowering proof of the futility of resistance to Mordor. The
present text must therefore have preceded the fair copy of 'The Pyre of
Denethor'.
In the form of the story in A Pippin has a reason for declaring that
Aragorn is coming with the fleet ('There, Berithil, you see Denethor
was right after all', p. 390) and for shouting 'Here comes the heir of
Elendil!' when everyone was crying 'The Corsairs of Umbar!' (p. 388);
in RK he can have no reason at all for his words to Aragorn ('Do you
know, I guessed it was you in the black ships'), nothing but a strange
presentiment.
In the second place, Gandalf leaves the Houses of Healing long
before sunset and disappears on Shadowfax. Aragorn does not refuse
to enter Minas Tirith with Eomer and Imrahil; and thus he is present
at the door of the Houses of Healing when Gandalf comes back,
returning alone 'up the road from Osgiliath' in the dusk (p. 389).
Nothing is told of his errand (but I think it can be seen what it was
from the B version of this part of the story, to be given shortly). In the
changed story he did not leave the Houses of Healing until sunset, and
his errand was to bring Aragorn in from outside the walls: this being a
sudden decision inspired by the words of Yoreth. In the A version he
does not appear to take any particular account of her words, and he
leaves when he sees that 'all was done that could be done for the
present'; yet when he returns he says as in RK that 'only in [Aragorn's]
coming have I any hope for those that lie within', quoting the words of
Yoreth.
A remarkable short text evidently belongs to this phase in the
development of the story, as is seen from the fact that Aragorn has
entered the city without Gandalf, who is looking for him. This text is
found on an isolated slip in my father's worst handwriting, which he
partly elucidated in pencil (with some queries), and slightly changed,
in not quite his worst handwriting.
'Did you ride with the Rohirrim?' said Gandalf.
'Nay indeed,' said Legolas. 'A strange journey we have had
with Aragorn by the Paths of the Dead, and we came here at the
last in ships taken from our foes. Not often has one the chance
to bring news to you, Gandalf!'
'Not often,' said Gandalf heavily. 'But my cares are many in
these days, and my heart is sad. I am growing weary at last,
Gloin's son, as this great matter draws to the final edge of its
doom. Alas! alas! How our Enemy contrives evil out of our
good. For the Lord of the City slew himself in despair seeing the
black fleet approach. For the coming of the fleet and the sword
of Elendil secured the victory but gave the last stroke of despair
to the Lord of the City. But [?come], I must still labour. Tell me,
where is Aragorn? Is he in these tents?'
'Nay, he has gone up into the City,' said Legolas, 'cloaked in
grey and secretly.'
'Then I must go,' said Gandalf.
'But tell us in return one thing first,' said Gimli. 'Where are
those young friends of ours who cost us such great pains? It is to
be hoped that they were not [?worsted] and they are still alive.'
'One is lying grievously sick in the City after a great deed,'
said Gandalf, 'and the other stays beside him.'
'Then may we come with you?' said Gimli.
'You may indeed!' said Gandalf.
This encounter on the fields of the Pelennor was lost, and nowhere
else is Gandalf's meeting with Legolas and Gimli after they parted at
Dol Baran recorded.
As the fair copy B was first written, Gandalf's earlier departure
from the Houses of Healing and the scene in which Berithil and Pippin
see the black fleet from the roof were retained;(17) but there are two
significant differences. After Yoreth's words it is now said: 'But
Gandalf hearing this saying, and seeing that all was done that could be
done by the leechcraft of Gondor, arose and went out'; and the
conversation of Berithil and Pippin is now changed:
'Look, look, Berithil!' he cried. 'The Lord did not see only
visions of madness. Here come the ships up the River that he
spoke of. What are they?'
'Alas!' answered Berithil. 'Now I can almost forgive his
despair. 1 know the fashion of these ships and their sails, for that
is the duty of all watchmen. They come from Umbar and the
Haven of the Corsairs! Hark!'
And all about them men were now crying in dismay: 'The
Corsairs of Umbar!'
Pippin's heart sank. It seemed bitter to him that after the joy
of the horns at dawn hope should be destroyed again. 'I wonder
where Gandalf has gone,' he thought. And then another ques-
tion arose in his mind: 'Aragorn: where is he? He should have
come with the Rohirrim, but he doesn't seem to have done so.'
'Berithil,' he said, 'I wonder: could there be any mistake?
What if this was really Aragorn with the Broken Sword coming
in the nick of time?'
'If so, he is coming in the ships of our enemies,' said Berithil.
It seems that Pippin's thought here, 'I wonder where Gandalf has
gone' giving rise to the question 'Aragorn: where is he?', taken with
the more explicit statement concerning Gandalf's departure, makes it
certain that he had gone, as in the later story, to find Aragorn and
(because 'the hands of the king are the hands of a healer') to bring him
urgently to the Houses of Healing.(18) But why Gandalf did not return
till dusk, after Aragorn had entered the city, is not explained.
At this point my father struck from the B manuscript all that
followed 'and then passed to silence and a deadly cold, and so died'
(RK p. 136; see p. 387) and replaced it with the text that stands in
RK, with Gandalf leaving the Houses of Healing at sunset, his thought
and purpose now perfectly plain: 'Men may long remember your
words, Yoreth; for there is hope in them. Maybe a king has indeed
returned to Gondor; or have you not heard the strange tidings that
have come to the City?' To the point we have reached in A ('Also it is
given to me to see many things afar off', p. 390) the fair copy B (apart
from the passage concerning Theoden's Howe at Edoras already cited,
and a few points that are mentioned in the notes) then has the text of RK.
The latter part of the chapter in A was written with remarkable
fluency - or, at any rate, the text as it stands in this original draft (19)
was scarcely changed afterwards. The only notable divergence from
RK is found in the passage where Aragorn, Eomer, and Gandalf speak
beside Eowyn's bed; for while the actual words of RK (p. 143) are
present, what became Gandalf's speech is given to Aragorn. He
begins: 'My friend, you had horses and deeds of arms ...', and
continues to '... a hutch to trammel some wild thing in?' (where
Gandalf ceases in RK), and then (without the sentence 'Then Eomer
was silent, and looked on his sister, as if pondering anew all the days
of their past life together') goes on, from the point where he begins in
RK: 'I saw also what you saw. And few other griefs amid the ill
chances of this world ...' Above 'said Aragorn' at the beginning of
the speech my father wrote, almost certainly while still writing this
manuscript, 'Gandalf?'; and subsequently he made in pencil the
changes that give the passage the form that it has in RK.
Beyond this there are only details to mention. The herb-master, in
his discourse concerning the plant kingsfoil, declares it to be named
athelas 'in the noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the
Numenorean - ', 'Numenorean' being changed later both on A and
on B to 'Valinorian' (and afterwards to 'Valinorean'); and Aragorn
replies: 'I do so, and care not whether you say now asea aranaite or
kingsfoil, so long as you have some.' The form aranaite became
aranion on the final typescript.
When Aragorn leaves Merry (RK p. 146) he says: 'May the Shire for
ever live unwithered and unchanged. For this, maybe, more than all
else, I hope and labour';(20) the last part of this, from 'and unchanged',
being struck from the fair copy.(21)
The chapter in A ended with Gandalf's words with the Warden of
the Houses of Healing: '"They are a remarkable race," said the
Warden, nodding his head. "Very tough in the fibre, I deem." "It goes
deeper than the fibre," said Gandalf.' The conclusion of the chapter
in RK is roughed out in a pencilled text that was subsequently over-
written by material belonging to 'The Last Debate' (cf. note 19), but
some of it can be read. Where the fair copy B has (as in RK) 'and so the
name which it was foretold at his birth that he should bear was chosen
by his own people', this first draft has 'and so his own choice was
fulfilled [?in] the title chosen long before.' The final passage is largely
illegible, but the following can be seen: 'And [?in the morning] when
he had slept a little he arose and ..... called a council and the
captains met in a chamber of the Tower ...' The fair copy ends as
does the chapter in RK, with Aragorn leaving the city just before dawn
and going to his tent; and pencilled beneath the last words of the text
is this note: 'Aragorn will not go in the City again. So Imrahil, Gandalf
and Eomer hold council [in the] tents with the sons of Elrond.'
NOTES.
1. and the mist before his eyes cleared a little: this was added after
the 'a' part of the text was written and joined on to 'b'.
2. This passage is enclosed within square brackets in the manu-
script.
3. A first illegible word here almost certainly begins res and ends ed,
but cannot as it stands be read as resisted. A second word could ?
be 'the' or 'his'.
4. For a previous mention of Finduilas Elrond's daughter see p. 370-
5. Cf. the first narrative text (A) of the chapter, p. 389: 'I come only
as Aragorn Lord of the Rangers of Forod.'
6. and tells of Theoden's fall: i.e. (I take it) the manner of Theoden's
fall, of which Gandalf knew (cf. the second passage in square
brackets on p. 390).
7. The first text A was paginated continuously on from 'The Pyre of
Denethor', as also was the fair copy B. At some point my father
wrote on the opening page of 'The Houses of Healing' (this page
being common to both texts) the chapter number 'L', i.e.
separating it from 'The Pyre of Denethor'; but the number 'XLIX
(b)', following 'XLIX (a)' for 'The Pyre of Denethor' (see p. 382
note 5), again makes them subdivisions of a single chapter,
without an overall title.
8. The word might, just possibly, be 'crewmen'. B has 'fashion'
(p. 392).
9. Halbarad was named among the slain in the original drafting of
'The Battle of the Pelennor Fields' (p. 371).
10. be removed the crown and stars: the word 'and' was struck out;
the replacement is illegible, but may be 'of' with another word
struck out, i.e. 'crown of stars'. In B this becomes simply 'the
crown'; altered on the first typescript to 'the crown of the North
Kingdom', this survived into the proof, on which it was altered to
'the Star of the North Kingdom'. Cf. 'The Battle of the Pelennor
Fields', p. 370, where 'about his helm there was a kingly crown'
was replaced on the proof by 'upon his brow was the Star of
Elendil'.
11. Cf. RK p. 138 (at a different point in the narrative): 'I am but the
Captain of the Dunedain of Arnor'. In the fair copy manuscript,
at the same point in the narrative as in RK, Aragorn says: 'I am
but the Captain of the Rangers of Forod'.
12. In the first text A the verse is in modern English in the same words
as in the outline on p. 385. In both A and B the passage is
enclosed in square brackets.
13. In B the text remained almost the same: 'Verily, for in the high
tongue of old I am Elessar, the Elfstone, and the Renewer', and
this is the reading of the First Edition of LR. In the Second
Edition Envinyatar was added before 'the Renewer'.
14. tarakil: the fourth letter (a) is not certain, but is very probable,
especially in view of the form in B, where the text remained the
same as in A but with Tarakon here. This was altered to
Tarantar, which survived into the first typescript, where it was
altered to Telkontar (> Telcontar on the proof).
15. The word begins with gr(e), but is certainly not great. Possibly the
word intended was great, but the last letters, which look like ry,
were due to the following word cry.
l6. On the doom of the Lord of the Nazgul see pp. 334 - 5, 368.
17. It is said of Bergil and his friends in this version (see p. 388):
'When the fire-bolts had fallen in the City they had been sent [to]
the upper circle; but the fair house in the Street of the Lamp-
wrights had been destroyed.'
18. Cf. also the brief outline given on p. 386: 'Where is Gandalf? He
comes in late and tells of Theoden's fall, and Yoreth's words.'
19. A part of the conclusion of the chapter, from '".He [Merry] lies
nearby in this house, and I must go to him," said Gandalf' to 'For
I have not slept in such a bed since I rode from Dunharrow, nor
eaten since the dark before dawn' (RK pp. 145 - 6), is in fact
extant in a preliminary pencilled text, subsequently over-written
by a text in ink that belongs to the story of 'The Last Debate'.
This draft, most of which has been read by Taum Santoski, shows
no significant differences from the more finished version in A.
20. Cf. Aragorn's words to Halbarad at Helm's Deep, p. 306.
21. I collect here a few other details. For 'whether Aragorn had
indeed some forgotten power of Westernesse' (RK p. 144) A, and
at first B, had 'art or wizardry'. The name Imloth Melui in
Yoreth's recollection of her youth (RK p. 142) appears thus from
the first; and as in RK (p. 146) Aragorn says to Merry that the
herb-master will tell him that tobacco is called 'westmansweed by
the vulgar, and galenas by the noble', where the pencilled draft
that is extant for this portion of the chapter (note 19) has
'pipeweed' and 'sweet galenas'. For the name galenas see p. 38.
XII.
THE LAST DEBATE.
At some time before he began work on this chapter my father set down
an outline entitled 'The march of Aragorn and defeat of [the]
Haradrim.' This must have preceded 'The Battle of the Pelennor
Fields', since the name Haramon appears, not Emyn Arnen (see p. 370
and note 11);(1) it was almost certainly a companion to the outline 'The
Story Foreseen from Forannest' (pp. 359 ff.), but is obviously best
given here. At the head of the page my father afterwards pencilled a
note asking whether it might not be a good idea 'to have part of this
told by a man of Morthond Vale', but nothing ever came of this.
.Pencilled changes made to the text are shown.
Aragorn takes 'Paths of the Dead' morning of 8 March,
passes tunnels of mountains. (This tale will have to be told in
brief later, probably at feast of victory in Minas Tirith - by
Gimli and/or Legolas.) They see skeleton in armour of Bealdor
son of Brego.(2) But except for dark and a feeling of dread meet
no evil. The tunnels become the issuing caverns of Morthond.
It is dusk [> afternoon] of 8 March when Aragorn and his
company come out into the uplands of the head of the Vale of
Morthond,. and ride to Stone of Erech.(3) This was a black stone,
according to legend brought from Numenor, set up to mark the
meeting place of Isildur and Anarion with the last king of the
dark men of the Mountains, who swore allegiance to the sons of
Elendil, vowing to aid them and their kin for ever, 'even though
Death should take us.' The stone was enclosed in a now ruined
ring-wall and beside it the Gondorians had anciently erected a
tower, and there had been kept one of the palantiri. No men
went near the tower. Rumour of terror flies through the vales,
for the 'King of the Dead' has come back - and behold behind
the living men a great host of shadow-men, some riding some
striding but all moving like the wind, are seen.
Aragorn goes to Erech at midnight, blows horns (and dim
shadow horns echo him) and unfurls banner. The star on it
shines in the dark. He finds the palantir (unsullied) buried in a
vault. From Erech he sets out [added: dark] morn of March 9
[added: at 5 a.m.]. For [read From ?] Erech to Fords of
Lameduin (say Linhir?) is 175 miles direct, about 200 by road.(4)
Great terror and wonder precedes his march. At Linhir on
Lameduin men of Lebennin and Lamedon are defending pas-
sage of river against Haradwaith. Aragorn reaches Linhir at
evening on March 10 after two days and night[s] forced riding
with host of shadow behind in the deepening dark of Mordor.
All fly before him. Aragorn crosses Lameduin into Lebennin at
morning of March 11 and hastens to Pelargir [added: 100
miles].(5)
From this point the outline, becoming very rough, was struck out
and replaced, immediately, by a new text on the reverse of the sheet of
paper. At the head of this page is the following brief passage
concerning Frodo and Sam, which (while certainly written at the same
time as the outline of Aragorn's journey) probably already stood
there:
Rescue of Frodo. Frodo is lying naked in the Tower; but Sam
finds by some chance that the elven-cloak of Lorien is lying in a
corner. When they disguise themselves they put on the grey
cloaks over all and become practically invisible - in Mordor the
cloaks of the Elves become like a dark mantle of shadow.
Then follows, returning to the outline:
Aragorn crosses into Lebennin on March 11th (morning) and
rides with all speed to Pelargir - the Shadow Host follows. The
Haradrim fly before him in dismay. Some hearing news of his
coming in time get their ships off and escape down Anduin, but
most are not manned. Early on 12th Aragorn comes on the fleet
driving all before him. Many of the ships are stuffed with
captives, and they are partly manned (especially the oars) by
captives taken in raids on Gondor, or slave-descendants of
captives taken long before. These revolt. So Aragorn captures
many ships and mans them, though several are burned. He
works feverishly because he knows that doom of Minas Tirith is
near, if he does not come in time. That night the Shadow Host
vanishes and goes back into the mountain valleys, and finally
disappears into the Paths of the Dead and is never seen again to
come forth.(6)
He sets out at 6 a.m. on 13 March, rowing. On the south
plain of Lebennin the Anduin is very broad (5 - 7 miles) and
slow. So with many oars they make about 4 miles an hour and
by 6 a.m. on 14th are 100 miles on way. It is 125 miles by river
from Pelargir to that place where Anduin takes a west-loop
round the feet of Haramon, a great hill in South Ithilien, and
bends into the Pelennor, so that here the Ramas-Coren is but 15
[> 5] miles from the City,(7) and stands right on the water brink.
Just before that point the river course runs nearly North-South
(slightly N.W.) and points straight towards Minas Tirith so that
watchers can see that reach - about 10 miles long.(8)
On morning of the 15th [written above: 14] a wind rises
[added: at dawn) and freshens from S.W. The cloud and gloom
begins to roll back. They hoist sails and now go with [struck
out: more] speed. About 9 a.m. they can be seen by watchers
from Minas Tirith who are dismayed. As soon as Aragorn
catches sight of the city, and of the enemy, he hoists his standard
(the White Crown with the stars of Sun and Moon on either
hand: Elendil's badge).(9) A sun-gleam from the S.E. lights it up
and it shines afar like white fire. Aragorn lands and drives off
enemy.
Especially notable here is the recurrence of the idea that appeared in
'Many Roads Lead Eastward' (pp. 300, etc.): there was a palantir at
Erech (in the earlier chapter Aragorn seemed to say that the Stone of
Erech was itself the palantir, p. 309 note 10). This Stone replaced that
of Aglarond (pp. 76 - 8), so that there were still five palantiri in the
South.
When my father came to write the chapter his intention - and
achievement - was that in it should be recounted not only the debate
of the commanders following the Battle of the Pelennor Fields but also
the story of the journey of the Grey Company as recounted by Gimli
and Legolas to Merry and Pippin - and that it should then carry the
story on to the arrival of the Host of the West before the Morannon.
The manuscript, or manuscript corpus, was originally entitled 'The
Parley at the Black Gate'.(10) It was a huge labour to achieve the final
arrangement, entailing draft upon draft upon draft, with the most
complicated re-use of existing pages, or parts of them, as he ex-
perimented with different solutions to the structural problem. It is
more than likely that when this great mass of manuscript and
typescript left his hands it was already in dire confusion, and its
subsequent ordering into wholly factitious textual entities made it
seem that in 'The Last Debate' my attempt to discern the true sequence
of the writing of The Lord of the Rings would finally founder. But it
has proved otherwise, and since no significant element seems to have
been lost out of the whole complex the sequence of development in
fact emerges here at least as clearly as in some far less difficult parts of
the narrative. But of course to describe in detail each textual pathway
would demand far more space than can be allowed to it.
It seems that before my father began the coherent drafting of the
chapter - while he was in fact still writing 'The Houses of Healing' - he
set down a form of the speeches at the opening of the debate that had
arisen in his mind and would not be postponed.(11) Since a great deal of
this does not appear in RK 1 give it in full.
'My lords,' said Gandalf. '"Go forth and fight! Vanity! You
may triumph on the fields of Pelennor for a day. But against the
Power that now arises there is no victory." So said the Steward
of this City before he died. And though I do not bring you
counsels of despair, yet ponder the truth in this. The people of
the West are diminished; far and wide the lands lie empty. And
it is long since your rule retreated and left the wild peoples to
themselves, and they do not know you; and [they] will come
seeking new lands to dwell in. Now were it but a matter of war
between Men, such as has been for many ages, I would say: You
are now too few to march East either in wrath or friendship, to
subdue or to teach. Yet you might take thought together, and
make such boundaries, and such forts and strongholds, as
could long be maintained and restrain the gathering tide [>
?wild]. But your war is not only against numbers, and swords
and spears, and untamed peoples. You have an Enemy of great
power and malice, and he grows, and he it is that fills all the
hearts of the wild peoples with hate, and directs and governs
that hatred, and so they are become no longer like waves that
may roll at whiles against your battiements, to be withstood
with valour and defeated with forethought. They are rising in, a
great tide to engulf you. What then shall you do? Seek to
overthrow your Enemy.'
'Overlate should we begin that task!' said Prince Imrahil.
'[Had Minas Morgul been destroyed in ages past, and the watch
upon the Black Gate maintained We slept, and no sooner had
he re-entered the Nameless Land] We slept, and awoke to find
him already grown beyond our measure. And to destroy him we
must overthrow first all the allies that he has gathered.'
'That is true,' said Gandalf. 'And their numbers are too great,
as Denethor indeed saw. Therefore this war is without final
hope, whether you sit here to endure siege upon siege, or march
out to be overwhelmed beyond the River. Prudence would
counsel you to await onset in strong places, for so at least shall
the time before the end be made a little longer.
'But now into the midst of all these counsels of war comes the
Ring. Here is a thing which could command victory even in our
present plight.'
'I have heard only rumour of this,' said Imrahil. 'Is it not said
the One Ring of Sauron of old has come back to light, and that
if he regain it then he will be as mighty as he was in the Dark
Years?'
'It is said so and said truly,' answered Gandalf. 'Only he will
be more mighty than of old and more secure. For there is no
longer any land beyond the Sea from which help may come;
[and those who dwell beyond even the West will not move, for
they have committed the Great Lands to the keeping of Men.]'(12)
'But if we should find the Ring and wield it, how would it give
us victory?' asked Imrahil.
'It would not do so all in a day,' answered Gandalf. 'But were
it to come to the hand of some one of power [?or] royalty, as say
the Lord Aragorn, or the Steward of this City, or Elrond of
Imladrist,(13) or even to me, then he being the Ringlord would
wax ever in power and the desire of power; and all minds he
would cow or dominate so that they would blindly do his will.
And he could not be slain. More: the deepest secrets of the mind
and heart of Sauron would become plain to him, so that the
Dark Lord could do nothing unforeseen. The Ringlord would
suck the very power and thought from him, so that all would
forsake his allegiance and follow the Ringlord, and they would
serve him and worship him as a God. And so Sauron would be
overthrown utterly and fade into oblivion; but behold, there
would be Sauron still ..... but upon the other side, [a tyrant
brooking no freedom, shrinking from no deed of evil to hold his
sway and to widen it].'
'And worse,' said Aragorn. 'For all thar is left of the ancient
power and wisdom of the West he would also have broken and
corrupted.'
'Then what is the use of this Ring?' said Imrahil.
'Victory,' said [Gandalf >] Hurin Warden of the Keys.(14) 'At
least we should have won the war, and not this foul lord of
Mordor.'
'So might many a brave knight of the Mark or the Realm
speak,' said Imrahil. 'But surely more wisdom is required of
lords in council. Victory is in itself worthless. Unless Gondor
stand for some good, then let it not stand at all; and if Mordor
doth not stand for some evil that we will not brook in Mordor
or out of it, then let it triumph.'
'Triumph it will, say or do what we will, or so it seems,' said
: Hurin. 'But after many words still I do not hear what is our
present purpose. Surely, it is but a plain choice between staying
here and marching forth. And if those who are wiser or more
farsighted than I tell me there is no long[er] hope in waiting
here, then I for one am for marching forth, and taking doom by
the outstretched hand. So we may give it a wrench at the least
before it grips us.'
'And in this at any rate I approve Hurin's words,' said
Gandalf. 'For all my speech was leading to just such counsel.
This is not a war for victory that cannot be won by arms.(15) I
have rejected the use of the Ring, for that would make victory
the same as defeat. I have (like a fool, said Denethor) set the
Ring at a great risk that our Enemy will regain it, and so utterly
overwhelm us; for to retain it would he to risk the certainty that
ere the last throes came upon us one among us would take it,
and so bring about at least as great an evil. But still we have set
our hands to war. For resist we must while we have strength -
and hope. But now our salvation, if any can be achieved, does
not rest upon our deeds of arms, yet it may be aided by them.
Not by prudence, as I say, of the lesser wars of Men. But by a
boldness, even a rashness, that in other case would be folly. For
our hope is still, though daily it grows fainter, that Sauron has
not recovered the Ring, and while that is so he will be in doubt
and fear lest we have it. The greater our rashness the greater his
fear, and the more will his eye and thought be turned to us and
not elsewhere where his true peril is. Therefore I say we should
follow up this victory as soon as we may and move East with all
such force as we have.'
'Yet still there must be prudence,' said Imrahil. 'There is
scarce a man or horse alive among us that is not weary, even
those that are not sick or hurt. And we learn that there is an
army left unfought upon our north flank. We cannot wholly
denude the city, or it will burn behind us.'
'True enough, I would not counsel it,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed
for my design the force me lead East need not be great enough
for any assault in earnest upon Mordor, so long as it is great
enough to challenge a battle.'
Turning now to the primary manuscript of the chapter, this is itself
a massive complex of rejected and retained material, but it cannot be
satisfactorily separated into distinct 'layers', and I shall treat it as a
single entity, referring to it as 'the manuscript'.
The opening achieves almost word for word the form in RK pp
148 - 9, beginning 'The morning came after the day of battle' and
continuing as far as Gimli s remark to Legolas: It is ever so with all
the things that Men begin: there is a frost in spring, or a blight in
summer, and they fail of their promise.' A servant of Imrahil then
guided them to the Houses of Healing, where they found Merry and
Pippin in the garden, 'and the meeting of those friends was a merry
one.' The narrative then moves directly into the debate: as in RK
(p. 154) Imrahil and Eomer went down from the city to the tents of
Aragorn, and there conferred with Gandalf, Aragorn, Elrohir and
Elladan. 'They made Gandalf their chief and prayed him to speak first
his mind'; and as in RK he began by citing the words of Denethor
before his death, bidding his listeners ponder the truth of them. But
now he went on, following and condensing a passage in the draft just
given:
'The peoples of the West are diminished; and it is long since
. your rule retreated and left the wild peoples to themselves; and
they do not know you, and neither love nor fear will long
restrain them. And you have an Enemy of great power and
malice, who fills all their hearts with hatred, and governs and
directs that hatred, so that they are no longer like waves that
roll at whiles against your walls to be:thrown back one by one:
they are united, and they are rising as a great tide to engulf you.
'The Stones of Seeing do not lie, and not even the Lord of
Barad-dur can make them do so ...'
The remainder of Gandalf's speech, with the interventions of
Imrahil,(16) Aragorn, and Eomer, was achieved through a series of
drafts that need scarcely be considered more closely, except for one
version of Gandalf's reply to Eomer (RK pp. 155 - 6). In this, after
saying that the Dark Lord, not knowing whether they themselves
possessed the Ring, would look for those signs of strife that would
inevitably arise among them if they did, Gandalf goes on:
'Now it is known to you that I have set the Ring in peril.
From Faramir we learn that it passed to the very borders of
Mordor before this assault began, maybe on the first day of the
darkness. And, my lords, it went by the may of Morgul. Slender
indeed is the hope that the bearer can have escaped the perils of
that way, of the horrors that wait there; still less is the hope that
even if he comes through them to the Black Land he can pass
there unmarked. Six days have gone, and hourly I watch the
signs with great dread in my heart.'
'What are these signs that you loot for, an enemy ... you
on our ...' asked Imrahil.
'Darkness,' said Gandalf. 'That is my dread. And darkness
began, and therefore for a while I felt a despair deeper than
Denethor. But the darkness that is to be feared is not such as we
have endured: it would need no clouds in the air; it would begin
in our hearts feeling afar the power of the Ringlord, and grow
till by sunlight or moonlight or under heaven or under roof all
would seem dark to us. This darkness was but a device to make
us despair and it has, as such deceits will, ..... our enemy. The
next sign is strife among the lords.'
A following draft reaches Gandalf's argument as it appears in RK,
but here he adds to those signs that Sauron will have observed: 'He may
also have seen in the Stone the death of Denethor, and since he judges
all by himself he may well deem that a first sign of strife among his
chief foes.' In the same text, after saying that 'we must at all costs keep
his eye from his true peril', he adds: 'A single regiment of orcs set
about Orodruin could seal our ruin' (in a subsequent version: 'A mere
handful of orcs at watch on Orodruin would seal our doom').
At the end of the debate, following Aragorn's words (RK p. 158) 'no
gates will endure against our Enemy if men desert them', an initial
draft has a development that was not pursued:
Then even as they debated a rider came in search of Eomer.
'Lord,' he said, 'word has come from Anorien from the north-
roads. Theoden King, when we rode hither, left men behind to
watch the movements of enemy at Amon Din. They send word
that there has been war far away in the Wold, and thence come
strange tidings. For some say [the very woods have] that wild
things of the woods have fallen on the orcs and driven them into
the River and the rapids of Sarn Gebir. But the army that was
on the road has heard this news, and also of our victory here,
and is afraid, and is even now hastening back.'
'Ha!' said Eomer. 'If they dare to assail us they will rue it. If
they seek to fly past they shall be smitten. We must cut off this
finger of the Black Hand ere it is withdrawn.'
The numbers of those who should set out from Minas Tirith were
differently conceived, for 'the great part of these should be horsed for
swifter movement' (in contrast to RK: 'the great part of this force
should be on foot, because of the evil lands into which they would
go'): Eomer leading three thousand of the Rohirrim, Aragorn five
hundred horse and fifteen hundred foot, and Imrahil a thousand horse
and fifteen hundred foot; and there was no suggestion that any force
of the Rohirrim were sent to 'waylay the West Road against the enemy
that was in Anorien' (RK p. 158). The manuscript was however
subsequently corrected and the muster as enumerated in RK intro-
duced, with three thousand of the Rohirrim left behind.
After the words 'And he drew forth Branding and held it up
glittering in the sun' (which is where in RK 'The Last Debate' ends),
the original chapter then continues with a transition back to Legolas
and Gimli: 'While the great captains thus debated and laid their
designs, Legolas and Gimli made merry in the fair morning high up in
the windy circles of Minas Tirith.' Legolas' sight of the gulls flying
up Anduin follows, and the emotion that they stirred in him, are
described in much the same words as in RK; but the conversation that
follows is altogether different. At this stage no account had been given
of the Paths of the Dead; in the outline at the beginning of this chapter
(p. 397) my father had suggested that the story would be told 'at feast
of victory in Minas Tirith', and had mentioned that in tunnels under
the mountains the company saw the 'skeleton in armour of Bealdor
son of Brego', but that except for the dark and a feeling of dread they
met no evil.
There is at first both a draft and a more finished version; I give the
latter, since it follows the former very closely.
'... No peace shall I have again in Middle-earth!'
'Say not so!' said Gimli. 'There are countless things still to see
there, and great work to be done. But if all the Fair Folk, that
are also wise, take to the Havens, it will become a duller world
for those that are doomed to stay.'
'It is already rather dull,' said Merry, sitting and swinging his
legs as he sat on the brink of the wall. 'At least it is for hobbits,
cooped up in a stone city, and troubled with wars, while their
visitors talk and nod together about their strange journey, and
tell no one else about it. I last saw you at the Hornburg, and
then I thought you were going to Dunharrow,(17) but up you
come on ships out of the South. How did you do it?'
'Yes, do tell us,' said Pippin. 'I tried Aragorn, but he was too
full of troubles, and just smiled.'
'It would be a long story fully told,' said Legolas, 'and there
are memories of that road that I do not wish to recall. Never
again will I venture on the Paths of the Dead, not for any
friendship; and but for my promise to Gimli I would vow never
go into the White Mountains again.'
'Well, for my part,' said Gimli, '[wonder was stronger than
fear >) the fear is past, and only wonder remains; yet it cannot
be denied that it is a dreadful road.'(18)
'What are the Paths of the Dead?' said Pippin. 'I have never
heard them named before.'
'It is a path through the Mountains,' began Gimli.
'Yes, I saw the door from a distance,' Merry broke in. 'It is up
in Dunharrow, in the mountains behind Theoden's town and
hall at Edoras. There is a long row of old stones leading across a
high mountain field to a forbidding black mass, the Dwimor-
berg they call it, and there is a cave and a great opening at the
foot of it, which nobody dares to enter. I think the Rohirrim
believe that inside there dwell Dead Men, or their shadows, out
of a past long before they came to that land.'
'So they told us,' said Legolas, 'and they forbade us to go in;
but Aragorn could not be turned from it. He was in a grim
mood. And that fair lady that lies now in the Houses below,
Eowyn, wept at his going. Indeed at the last in the sight of all
she set her arms about him imploring him not to take that road,
and when he stood there unmoved, stern as stone, she humbled
herself to kneel in the dust. It was a grievous sight.'
'But do not think that he was not moved,' said Gimli. 'Indeed,
I think Aragorn himself was so deeply grieved that he went
through all perils after like a man that can feel little more. He
raised her up and kissed her hand, and then without a word we
set out,(19) before the sun came over the black ridges of the
mountain. I do not know how to put it into words, but even as
we passed the last great standing stone a dread fell on me, of
what I could not say, and my blood seemed running cold. 1 lifted
my feet like lead across the threshold of that darkling door; and
hardly had we passed within when a blindness of very night
came upon us.
'Madness it would seem to try and take horses on such a
road, but Aragorn said that we must attempt it, for every hour
lost was perilous. We had to dismount and lead them, but I do
not think they would have gone far, if it had not been for
Legolas. He sang a song that went softly in the darkness, and
though they sweated and trembled they did not refuse the road.
I am speaking of our horses that the Rohirrim gave us;(20) the
horses of the Rangers, it seemed, were so faithful to them that
nothing would stay them if their masters were beside them.
'We had brought a few torches, and Elladan [> Aragorn]
went ahead bearing one, and Elrohir [> Elladan] with another
went at the rear. Bats flew over us, and [> We saw nothing, but]
if we halted there seemed an endless whisper of voices all about,
that sometimes rose into words, though not of any tongue that I
have ever heard. Nothing assailed us, and yet steadily fear grew
on us, as we went on. Most of all because we knew, how I know
not but we knew, that we could not turn back: that all the black
road behind us was packed with things that followed us but
could not be seen.
'So it went on for some hours, and then we came to a sight
that I cannot forget. The road, for so it was: no mere cavern-
track, had been wide, so far as we could judge, and though it
was utterly dark the air was clean. But now we came suddenly
into a great empty space through which the way ran on. The
dread was so great on me that I could hardly walk. Away to the
left something glittered in the gloom as Aragorn's torch went
by. ...
It will be seen that when my father transformed this story told by
Gimli of the Paths of the Dead and placed it much earlier in the book
(while in 'The Last Debate' merely referring to it as having been told to
Merry and Pippin by Legolas: 'Swiftly then he told of the haunted
road under the mountains,' RK p. 150), he retained Gimli as the one
through whose experience the passage of the tunnels is described.
Gimli described the mailclad skeleton clutching at the door in
almost the same words as are found in 'The Passing of the Grey
Company' (RK pp. 60 - 1), with the addition that on the helm and the
hilts of the sword there were 'north-runes'. But Aragorn here named
the dead warrior:
'"Here lies Baldor son of Brego," he said, "first heir of that
Golden Hall to which he never returned. He should be lying
now under the flowers of Evermind (21) in the Third Mound of the
Mark; but now there are nine mounds and seven green with
grass, and through all the long years he has lain here at the door
he could not open. But whither that door led, and why he
wished to pass, none now shall ever know."
At this stage in the evolution of the book Theoden had told at
Dunharrow how Baldor son of Brego passed the Dark Door and never
returned (p. 315; cf. 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK, p. 70). But with the
removal of the story of the paths of the Dead from the present chapter
to 'The Passing of the Grey Company', the discovery of the skeleton of
Baldor came to stand before Theoden's words about him at Dunhar-
row; and this I suppose was why my father changed the passage. It
was certainly not because he concluded that Aragorn did not know
who he was. In the passage in RK it is clear that he did know, though
he did not name him; for he knew that he had lain there in the dark
'through all the long years' as the burial mounds of the Kings of the
Mark were raised one by one.
There are now nine mounds and seven at Edoras.(22) In the original
draft of this passage the text is interrupted at Aragorn's words 'Here
lies Bealdor son of Brego' by a very roughly written list of the Kings of
the Mark, set down in two columns, thus:
1. Eorl. 10. [Bealdor > Folca >] Frealaf Eowyn's.
2. Brego. son (sister-son of king).
(Bealdor). 11. [Brego >] Hama.
3. Aldor. 12. Walda.
4. Frea. 13. Folca.
5. Freawine. 14. Folcwine.
6. Goldwine. 15. Fengel.
7. Deor. 16. Thengel.
8. Gram. 17. Theoden.
9. Helm.
The names Folca and Folcwine replaced rejected forms that I cannot
make out. It will be seen that these are the names found in Appendix A
(11, The House of Eorl) to The Lord of the Rings, with the sole
exception of the eleventh king Hama (in LR the eleventh king was
Brytta: this name has already appeared in early texts as the father of
Brego, VII. 435, 445, but is here absent). Beneath is written a long
series of Old English names, many of them those that appear in the list
of kings above, together with others, such as Beorn, Brytta, Haeleth,
Leod, Oretta, Sigeric, Sincwine, &c. I suppose that it is possible that
this series of names was written first, though it stands second, and that
the names of the kings in the numbered list were selected from it. At
any rate, it looks very much as if it were at this very point that the First
Line and the Second Line of the Kings of the Mark, and their names,,
came into being.(23)
Beside the names of the kings are written dates. My impression (not
having studied the actual original page) is that only the dates of
Fengel, Thengel, and Theoden belong with the writing of the manu-
script page and the list of kings, but that these certainly do so. The
dates are:
Fengel born 1268, died 1353.
Thengel born 1298, died 1373.
Theoden born 1328, died 141[? 8].
The last figure in the date of Theoden's death is unfortunately obscure,
but is certainly not 9. The dates of these kings in LR are 2870-2953,
2905-2980, and 2948 - 3019, which in the Shire Reckoning become
1270-1353, 1305-1380, and 1348-1419. It is clear then that at this
stage in the writing of The Lord of the Rings my father was working
with a chronology that is esentially similar to that of LR in respect of
Rohan - but the actual numerical years are given according to the
Shire Reckoning.(24)
Gimli does not record any words of Aragorn's to the Dead that
followed:
'And so we turned away and left the dead untouched, and
passed out of the hall that was his tomb, and hurried on, for
behind us now fear seemed treading ever closer. And just when
we felt that we could endure no more, and must either find an
ending and escape, or else turn and run back in madness to meet
the following fear, our last torch sputtered out.
'Of the next hour or hours I remember little, save a blind
groping dread that pressed behind us, and a rumour that came
behind like the shadow of the noise of endless feet, as horrible as
the ghosts of men themselves. And we stumbled on till some of
us were crawling on the ground like beasts.
'Then suddenly I heard the trickle of water ...
Allowing of course for the difference in mode of narration (e.g.
'Then Legolas turning to speak to me looked back, and I can
remember still the glitter in his bright eyes before my face', cf. RK
p. 61), the story of the emergence of the Company from the caverns
and descent down the Vale of Morthond was little changed after-
wards. Legolas takes up the narration at:
'The Dead were following,' said Legolas. 'A great grey host I
saw come flowing behind us like a shadowy tide: shapes of men
there were, and horses, and grey banners like shreds of cloud,
and spears like winter thickets on a misry night. "The Dead are
following," I said. "Yes, the Dead ride behind," said Elladan.
"Ride on!"'
It seems that Gimli then takes up the tale again with 'And so we
came at last out of the ravine as suddenly as if we had issued from a
crack in a wall', for he refers to himself as 'Gimli of the Mountain' in
his description of the ride to Erech. Elladan's answer to Gimli's
question in RK 'Where in Middle-earth are we?' does not appear; it is
here Gimli who describes the course of Morthond (with the expla-
nation 'so I was after told'). He says that the river 'flows at last to sea
past Barad Amroth (25) where dwells Prince Imrahil ., and he does not
refer, as does Elladan in RK, to the significance of the name Blackroot.
The ride to Erech is described thus:
'Bells I heard ringing in fear far below, and all the people fled
before our faces; but we being in haste rode swiftly as though in
pursuit, until our horses were stumbling weary, and [struck out:
I at least,] even Gimli of the Mountain, was spent. And thus just
ere the midnight hour - and black it was wellnigh as in the
caverns, for though we did not know it yet the darkness of
Mordor was creeping over us - just ere midnight we came to the
Hill of Erech.'
On the Darkness out of Mordor coming over the sky as the
Company rode to Erech see the Note on Chronology at the end of this
chapter. - The text at this point becomes the primary draft, and
continues:
'And what is that?' asked Merry.
'You should ask Aragorn,' said Gimli, 'or the brethren: they
know, as is fitting, all the lore of Gondor of old. It is a black
stone, they say, that old tales tell was brought (26) in ages past
from Numenor before its fall, when its ships would come to the
west shores of the world. And it was set upon a hill. And there-
on the King of the [struck out: Dark] Men of the Mountains had
sworn [> once swore] allegiance to the West; but afterwards the
[?Shadow] Men fell again under the dominion of Sauron. Isildur
came to the Stone of Erech, when he gathered strength to resist
the power of Mordor, and he summoned the Men of the
Mountains to come to his aid, and they would not.
'Then Isildur said to their king of that day: "Thou shalt be the
last. Yet if the West prove mightier than thy black Master, this
curse I set on thee and thy folk: to rest never till your oath is
fulfilled. For this war shall last down many ages, and you shall
be summoned once again ere the end." And they fled before the
wrath of Isildur, and did not dare to go forth to war on Sauron's
part. And they hid themselves in secret places in the mountains
and seldom came forth again, but slowly died and dwindled in
the barren hills.
This account of Gimli's to Merry and Pippin at Minas Tirith is the
forerunner of Aragorn's to Legolas and Gimli at the Hornburg (RK
p. 55). I think that it may very well have been at this point that the
story of the breaking of their oath to Isildur by the Men of the Moun-
tains first emerged, and that it was now that Aragorn's words at the
Hornburg were enlarged to include it.
Gimli continues:
'But afterwards, in the days of Gondor's later power, men set
a ring-wall about the Stone of Erech, and built beside it on the
hilltop a tall dark tower, and there was guarded the seventh
Palantir, which now is lost.(27) The tower is ruinous and the
ring-wall is broken, and all about the land is empty, for none
will dwell near the Hill of Erech, because it is said that at times
the Shadow-men will gather there, thronging about the ruined
wall, and whispering. And though their tongue is now long
forgotten, it is said that they cry "We are come!" and they wish
to fulfill the broken oath and be at rest. But the terror of the
Dead lies on that hill and all the land about.
'Thither in the blackness before the storm we came. And at
last we halted. And Elladan blew his silver horn, and Elrohir
unfurled the banner that at the Hornburg he bore still wrapped
in grey [later > black];(28) and dark as it was the stars glinted on
it, as it was spread on a wind like a breath of ghosts coming
down from the mountains. Nothing could we see but the seven
stars of Elendil, and yet we were aware of a great host gathered
all about us upon the hill, and of the sound of answering horns,
as if their echo came up out of deep caverns far away.
'But Aragorn stood by the banner and cried aloud. "The hour
is come at last, and the oath shall be fulfilled. I go to Pelargir,
and ye shall come behind me. And when all this land is clean,
return, and be at peace! For I am Elessar, Isildur's heir of
Gondor."
'Then there was a silence, and no whisper or rustle did we
hear as the night wore away. We lay within the ruined ring-wall,
and some slept; though we felt the terror of the Dead that
hedged us round.
At this point a revised version begins, and I follow this, since it
adheres very closely to the initial draft (see however notes 33, 34, and
35).
'Then followed the weariest journey that I have ever known,
wearier than our hunting of orcs over wide Rohan on our feet;
three days and nights and on into another day with little pause
or rest.(29) No other mortal men could have endured it and
fought at the end of it, save only the Dunedain, these Rangers of
the North. They are as tough as dwarves, 1 swear it, though
none of my kin should believe me. Almost I wished I was an elf
and had no need of sleep, or could both sleep and wake at once,
as it seems that Legolas can.
'I was never in that land before, and I could not tell you much
of our road, even if you wished to hear. But it is, I reckoned,
some 60 leagues as birds fly from Erech, over Tarlang's Neck (30)
into Lamedon, and so, crossing Kiril and Ringlo, to Linhir
beside the waters of Gilrain, where there are fords that lead into
Lebennin. And from Linhir it is a hundred miles, if it is a step, to
Pelargir on Anduin.(31)
'The next morning day did not dawn, as you will remember
well, but it must have been before the sun rose above the
vapours of Mordor that we set out again,(32) and east we rode to
meet the gathering gloom; and ever close behind us came the
Shadow Host, some riding, some striding, but all moving
silently and with the same great speed, and when they overtook
our horses, though we pressed them to their utmost, the Shadow
Host swept about us wide on either flank, and some went on
ahead.
'Terror and wonder ran on wings before us, and all that was
left of the folk of Lamedon hid, or fled to the woods and hills.(33)
Thus we came at nightfall of the second day from Erech to
Linhir. There the men of Lamedon had been contesting the
passage of Gilrain with a great strength of the Haradrim, and of
their allies the Shipmen of Umbar, who had sailed up Gilrain-
mouth and far up the waters of Anduin with a host of ships and
were now ravaging Lebennin and the coast of Belfalas. But
defenders and invaders alike fled at our approach. And thus we
crossed into Lebennin unopposed, and there we rested, and
sorely we needed it.
'Next day we made our greatest endeavour, for Aragorn was
pressed with a great fear lest all that he did would prove too
late. "I counted on two days more at the least," he said; "but
those who challenge Sauron will ever fall short of their reckon-
ing. Now already Minas Tirith is beset, and I fear it will fall ere
we can come to its aid."
'So we rose ere night had passed, and went as swift as our
stouthearted horses could endure over the flat plains of Leben-
nin; and behind us and about us the host of the Dead flowed like
a grey tide.
'Great rumour of dismay went on before us. I do not know
who set the tales on the wing, but as we learned after among
both friends and foes the tidings ran wild: "Isildur has come
back from the dead. The dead are come to war, but they wield
living swords. [The Lord of the Ring has arisen!]"(34) And all the
enemy who heard these things fled as best they could back to
Anduin, for they had many ships there and great strength; and
we hunted them out of the land: all that day and through the
next night, with few brief halts, we rode. And so we came at the
bitter last to the Great River again, and we knew ere we came
that it was near, for there was salt in the air. The mouths of
Anduin were indeed still far away south and west of us, but
Anduin is even at Pelargir so great and wide that almost it seems
a slow-flowing sea, and countless birds are on its shores.
'It was day, I guessed, by the veiled/hidden sun - the fourth
since we left Dunharrow - when we reached those shores, and
saw the fleets of Umbar. And then we had to fight, at last. But
fear was our mightiest weapon. Many of those who learned of
our coming had already gone aboard and thrust off and escaped
down Anduin to the the Sea. But the enemy, whose main task it
was to ravage South Gondor and prevent help going north to
the City, had been too wide-scattered for all to escape so. And
while they marched abroad their ships were left with small
guard. But there were among them captains sent by Mordor,
and orc-chieftains, and they were not so easily dismayed, and
they endeavoured to hold their men to a defence. And indeed
the Haradrim are a grim folk, and not easily daunted by shade
or blade. But their resistance did not last long. For now seeing
that we were indeed come to aid them, many of the more
stouthearted men of the land gathered to Aragorn. And on the
ships the slaves rebelled. For the Corsairs of Umbar had in their
ships many new-captured prisoners, and the oarsmen were all
slaves, many taken in Gondor in petty raids, or unhappy
descendants of slaves made in years gone by. Before the fifth day
was over we had taken well nigh all the fleet, save some ships
that their masters set ablaze; and all the enemy that were not
slain or drowned were gone flying over the [?borders] into the
desert that lies north of Harad.(35)
Here the revised version stops, at the foot of a page, and my father
struck out the whole page (which begins at 'So we rose ere night had
passed', p. 412) and wrote a pencilled note:
No fight, but Shadows [?flow into] the ships and all men leap
overboard except the chained captives. But Rangers went to each
ship and comforted the captives.
He then rewrote the page - and this was obviously done immediately -
beginning at the same words.
'So we rose ere night had passed, and went as swift as our
stouthearted horses could endure over the green plains of
Lebennin darkling under the shade of Mordor; and all about us
the Host of the Dead flowed on like a grey tide. Still the rumour
of our coming went before us and all men were dismayed, and
none neither foe nor friend would wait for our approach. For
the darkness weighed on the allies of Mordor, not being orcs or
folk bred in the Black Land, and those that could fled back to
Anduin, where they had gathered many ships. Thus we hunted
them from Gondor all that day and on through the next night,
halting seldom and sleeping not at all, until we came at the
bitter end to the Great River.'
'I knew it,' said Legolas, 'long ere we reached it, for there was
salt in the air. And my heart was troubled for I thought that I
drew near the Sea, but indeed the Mouths of Anduin were far
away to the south.... '
This is only the second time that Legolas has spoken since Gimli's
story of the journey began. He speaks now of the great breadth of
Anduin as Gimli had done (p. 413);(36) and (following the note at the
end of the previous version of this section of the story) he goes on:
'... But fear was the only weapon that we needed, for the grey
host passed on to every ship whether drawn up or anchored in
the tide, and all the men that were in them fled, or leaped
overboard, save the slaves of the oars that were chained, or
captives under hold.'
Legolas describes how to each of the greater ships one of the
Rangers went to comfort the captives, bidding them put aside fear and
be free (RK p. 152).
'And when all the fleet was in our hands Aragorn went up on
that ship which he took for his own and let sound many
trumpets, and the Shadow Host withdrew to the shores, and
stood in great array there silently, and there was a red light in
the gloom, for some of the enemy had fired their ships ere they
abandoned them.'
Aragorn's words to the Dead ('Now I will hold your oath all
fulfilled') are close to those in RK (p. 153).(37) It is 'a tall figure of
shadow', not as in RK said to be the King of the Dead, that steps forth
and breaks his spear. The remainder of the story is very much as in
RK, though here told by Legolas: the rest of the Company that night
'while others laboured', the release of the captives from the ships, the
coming of the men of Lebennin (but Angbor of Lamedon is not
named), the slow passage by oar up Anduin (but it was 'the fifth
morning, that is the day before yesterday' that the fleet set out from
Pelargir: see the Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter),
Aragorn's fear that they would be too late ('for it is forty leagues and
two by river from Pelargir to the landings under the Pelennor wall'),
and the red glow to the north from the burning of Minas Tirith.
Legolas' discourse ends, as does Gimli's in RK, with 'It was a great
hour, and a great day, whatever may come after', to which Gimli
replies: 'Yes, whatever come after. Yet for all our victory the faces of
Gandalf and Aragorn look grave. I wonder what counsel they are
taking in the tents below. For my part I wish it were all well over. Yet,
whatever is still to do, I hope I may have part in it, for the honour of
the folk of the Lonely Mountain.' To this was added later: ' "And I for
the folk of the Wood," said Legolas.' Then follows:
His [> Their] wish was granted. Two days later the army of
the West that was to march forth was all assembled on the
Pelennor. The host of orcs and easterlings had turned back out
of Anorien and harried and scattered by the Rohirrim had fled
with little fight towards Cair Andros ...
This is the beginning of 'The Black Gate Opens' in RK, but with a
major difference from the subsequent story: for here Pippin as well as
Merry was left behind.
... To their bitter grief the hobbits were not in that riding.
'Merry is not fit for such a journey yet,' said Aragorn, 'even if
he could ride a swift steed. And you Peregrin will lighten his
grief if you stay with him. So far you have kept even with one
another as well as your fortunes allowed - and indeed if you did
no more to the end of your days you have earned honour, and
justified the wisdom of Elrond.(38) And indeed we are all in like
peril. For though it may be our part to find a bitter end before
the gate of Mordor, if we do so, then you will have your chance
or necessity also of a last stand either here or wherever the black
tide overtakes you. Farewell! '
And so despondently Merry and Pippin stood before the
ruined gates of Minas Tirith with young Bergil and saw the
great army mustered. Bergil was downcast and grieved at heart,
for his father was commanded to march and lead a company of
the men of Imrahil. For he having broken his oaths could no
longer remain in the guard of the Citadel, until his case was
judged.(39)
The trumpets rang and the host began to move. [First rode
Aragorn and Gandalf and the sons of Elrond with the banner
and the knights of Dol Amroth. Then came Eomer with the
[?chosen] Riders, and afterwards came those of his men that
were on foot, and men of Lebennin, and last the great com-
panies of Minas Tirith led by Imrahil.](40) And long after it had
passed away out of sight down the great road to the Causeway
the three stood there, until the last glint of the morning sun on
spear and helm twinkled and was lost.
At this point my father decided that Pippin did in fact go with the
host to the Black Gate, and he began anew at the words 'His [> Their]
wish was granted' following the end of 'The Tale of Gimli and
Legolas', continuing as before with 'Two days later the army of the
West that was to march forth was all assembled on the Pelennor.' The
text then continued both in initial draft and in a fair copy to the end of
the story afterwards called 'The Black Gate Opens', with continuous
pagination all the way through from the meeting of Gimli and Legolas
with Imrahil before they went to the Houses of Healing. It is thus clear
that the whole of the last part of Book V was in a completed (though
not final) and coherent form before any structural reorganisation of
the narrative took place. The structure was:
Gimli and Legolas meet Imrahil and go to the Houses of Healing.
The Last Debate.
The Tale of Gimli and Legolas in the garden of the Houses of
Healing.
The journey to the Morannon and the Parley.
The next stage was the decision to reorganise the narrative so that
'Gimli's Tale' should stand independently - and therefore precede the
Debate. To this end my father wrote a tentative conclusion for 'The
Tale of Gimli and Legolas':
And so ended the tale of Legolas and Gimli concerning the
ride of Aragorn by the Paths of the Dead, which long was
recalled and sung in Gondor in after days, and it was said that
never again were the Shadow-men seen by mortal men on
mountain or in vale, [and the road from Dunharrow was free to
all who were willing to take that way. Yet few did so, for the
memory of fear abode there still; and none ever dared to open
Baldor's door. Struck out immediately: A tomb they made for
him in that dark place and so built it that none could come at
that door.]
The passage that I have bracketed was replaced, probably at once,
by the following:
but the stone of Erech stood ever alone, and on that hill no bird
would alight nor beast feed; and the memory of fear still abode
in the dark ways from Dunharrow, and few were willing to take
that road; and none ever dared to open Baldor's door.
Concomitantly with this the words 'Their wish was granted'
(following the end of 'The Tale of Gimli and Legolas' and beginning
the story of the march from Minas Tirith) were circled, with a
direction to omit them if this 'end-piece' to the 'Tale' were added to it;
and a note was scribbled on the manuscript beside the opening of the
debate (p. 403): 'It might be better to take out the debate (shorten it)
and put it at the beginning of the Parley chapter.' Thus the decision
was taken to divide the chapter as it stood (entitled 'The Parley at the
Black Gate', p. 399) into two: the first to be called 'The Paths of
the Dead' and consisting solely of the tale told to Merry and Pippin
in the garden of the Houses of Healing, the second to be called 'Parley
at the Gate' and beginning with the debate in Aragorn's tent.
Relatively little adjustment of the existing material was needed to
achieve this. From the point in the narrative where Gimli and Legolas
found Merry and Pippin ('and the meeting of those friends was a
merry one') my father simply dropped the transition to the debate (see
p. 403) and continued with the conversation in the garden of the
Houses of Healing (see p. 405 and RK p. 149): 'For a while they
walked and talked, rejoicing for a brief space in peace and rest under
the fair morning high up in the windy circles of the City.' The
conversation leading into the 'Tale' was somewhat changed. In
contrast to the earlier version Merry is no longer represented as being
ignorant (as he could not have been) of Aragorn's passage under the
mountains (see p. 405 and note 17). After Pippin's words 'Come,
Legolas! You and Gimli have mentioned your strange journey with
Trotter about a dozen times already this morning. But you haven't
mentioned anything about it' this dialogue follows:
'I know some of the story and I guess some more,' said Merry.
'For I hear that you came in ships from the South. So I know
that somehow you must have got through, though in Dunhar-
row all the people were afraid, and Eowyn I thought had been
weeping. Come now! The sun is shining and we can bear it. Tell
us about the Paths of the Dead!'
'The sun may shine,' said Gimli, 'still there are memories of
that road that I do not wish to recall. Had I known what was
before me I think that not for any friendship would I have taken
those paths.'
'For my part,' said Legolas, 'I do not fear the Dead; but I hate
the darkness under earth far from hope of the sky. It was a
dreadful journey!'
'The Dead?' said Pippin. 'The Paths of the Dead? I have never
heard of them before. Won't you tell us some more?'
'It is the name of a road that goes through the mountains,'
said Merry. 'I saw the Gate, as they call it, from a distance when
I was in Dunharrow ...'
Merry then continues as he does in the earlier version, and is
followed by Legolas and Gimli describing the departure and Eowyn's
distress (cf. p. 406 and note 19):
'... I think the men of the Mark believe that inside there dwell
the shadows of Dead Men, out of a past long before they came
to that land.'
'So they told us,' said Legolas. 'And that lady who lies now
below in the Houses, Eowyn, she begged Aragorn not to go in;
but he could not be turned from it. He was in haste, and in a
stern mood.'
'And at the last when she saw that he would go,' said Gimli,
'then she begged to come with us! Indeed she knelt before him.
Yet she is a proud lady. I wondered much what it all might
mean, and I was grieved; for she was young and much troubled.
But he raised her up and kissed her hand and without more
words we departed. Yet I saw that he, too, was greatly grieved.'
The earlier version was for the rest of its length very largely repeated:
that is to say, the original pages were retained with their pagination
altered and some passages rewritten. Legolas now plays a larger part
in the narration, describing the ride to Erech (see pp. 409 - 10), at
which point Gimli re-enters: '"Yes, indeed, and never shall I forget!"
said Gimli, taking up the tale again. "For the terror of the Dead lay on
the hill and all the land about it"'; he continues much as in RK pp.
62 - 3, but he does not say that Isildur set up the Stone of Erech at his
landing ('It looked as if it had fallen from the sky, but it was brought
out of the West, we were told'), and he still repeats the story (p. 411)
that when the Shadow-men gathered about the Stone 'sometimes a cry
would be heard in our speech:(41) "We have come!"' The tower and
ring-wall on the Hill of Erech, and the palantir, have now disappeared.
For the second of the new chapters my father wrote a new opening,
beginning (cf. p. 403) 'In the meanwhile Imrahil sent for Eomer and
went down with him, and they came to the tents of Aragorn...' To
this he added the existing pages of the manuscript recounting the
course of the debate, which ended at 'And he drew forth Branding and
held it up glittering in the sun' (p. 405), and then the manuscript of the
story of the journey to the Morannon and the Parley. On the new
opening he pencilled the title 'Parley at the Gate' and the chapter
number 'LI', so that 'The Paths of the Dead' was 'L' (see note 10). The
structure was now (see p. 416):
The Paths of the Dead Gimli and Legolas go to the Houses of
Healing, and Merry and Pippin hear the tale of the journey of the
Grey Company from Dunharrow to the Battle of the Pelennor
Fields.
Parley at the Gate 'The Last Debate', ending with Aragorn's draw-
ing the sword of Elendil; the journey to the Morannon, and the
parley with the Lieutenant of Barad-dur.
It was probably now that my father made a typescript of the two
chapters, the text diverging very little from the manuscript material as
now reorganised;(42) but he treated them as subdivisions of a single
chapter, without an overall title, and with the puzzling number 'XLIX'
(see note 10): (i) 'The Paths of the Dead' and (ii) 'Parley at the Black
Gate'.
The subsequent history of the chapter is textually exceedingly
complicated, but I shall treat it briefly. The first typescript was very
heavily revised, and two large sections of it were written out anew in a
separate manuscript. The effect of all this was to bring the narrative
closer in very many points to the texts in RK, and indeed much of the
earlier part now required little more than grammatical alteration to
bring Gimli's story to the direct author's narrative in 'The Passing of
the Grey Company.'(43)
In the ride from Erech over Tarlang's Neck into Lamedon the
deserted town of Calembel upon Ciril (so spelt, with C) appears,(44) and
the blood-red sunset behind Pinnath Gelin (RK p. 63): the final
chronology had now entered (see the Note at the end of this chapter).
Angbor of Lamedon is now named, but the new text differs here from
that of RK (p. 151):
'Then Aragorn said to Angbor their captain who alone stayed
to meet him: "Behold! I am not the King of the Dead, but the
Heir of Isildur, and I live yet for a while. Follow me, if you wish
to see the end of this darkness and the downfall of Mordor."
'And Angbor answered: "I will gather all men that I may, and
follow after you swiftly." His was a stout heart indeed, and I
grieve that he fell beside me, as we clove our way from the
Harlond.
In RK (p. 153) Angbor of Lamedon came to Pelargir but did not go
up Anduin in the black fleet; he is last referred to by Aragorn in the
debate in his tent (p. 157) as marching at the head of four thousand
men from Pelargir through Lossarnach and expected soon to arrive at
Minas Tirith.
To Legolas' words about the Sea (p. 414) he now adds his second
reference to the gulls (RK p. 151): 'Alas! for the wailing of the gulls.
Did not the Lady tell me to beware of them. For they cannot be
forgotten.' He is thinking of Galadriel's message to him, spoken by
Gandalf in Fangorn (TT p. 106):
Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.
For Galadriel's original message to Legolas, and its application, see
p. 22.
There is an interesting passage immediately following in this revised
version. In the version given on p. 413 there was fighting on the
shores, for 'there were captains sent by Mordor, and orc-chieftains,
and they were not so easily dismayed, and they endeavoured to hold
their men to a defence. And indeed the Haradrim are a grim folk, and
not easily daunted by shade or blade.' This was rejected, following a
note that there was in fact no fighting at Pelargir: 'But fear was the
only weapon that we needed, for the grey host passed on to every ship
... and all the men that were in them fled, or leaped overboard'
(p. 414). My father now went back on this decision.
'1 soon forgot them [the gulls] for my part,' said Gimli. 'For at
last we came to a battle. The Haradrim were driven now to
despair, and could fly no longer. There at Pelargir lay the fleets
of Umbar, fifty great ships and many smaller vessels beyond
count. Some few of our enemies reached their ships and put off,
seeking either to escape down the River or to reach the far
shores; and some they set fire to. But we came too swiftly upon
them for many to slip from us so. We were joined by some of the
hardier folk of Lebennin and the Ethir, but we were not many
when the corsairs turned to bay; and seeing our weakness their
hearts revived and they assailed us in their turn. There was stern
work there in the twilight by the grey waters, for the Shadow
Host halted and wavered, unwilling at the last, as it seemed, to
make war on Sauron. Then Aragorn let blow a horn and cried
aloud, saying that if they broke their oath a second time
Here my father stopped and rewrote the passage to a form not
essentially different from that in RK, where the Shadow Host is still
said to have 'hung back at the last', but with no explicit suggestion
that they were reluctant to fulfil the oath, and where for the living
there was no need for 'stern work in the twilight by the grey waters'.
At this time my father also wrote an experimental version 'with
entrance to the Door told at end of Chapter 11 of Book V' - that is, at
the end of 'Many Roads Lead Eastward'. This begins: 'But Aragorn
and his company rode across the high mountain-field upon which was
set the refuge of the Rohirrim; and the paths were laid between rows
of standing stones hoar with age uncounted. The light was still grey,
for the sun had not yet climbed over the black ridges of the Haunted
Mountain ...' It must be presumed that the story of the coming of the
Grey Company to Dunharrow, and Aragorn's parting from Eowyn,
had now been added to 'Many Roads Lead Eastward' (see note 19).
The text ends thus: '... a groping blindness overcame him, even Gimli
Gloin's son the Dwarf, who had walked in many deep places under
earth. So the Grey Company dared the forbidden door, and vanished
from the land of living men.'
Although this shows that my father was pondering the possibility of
removing some part of the story told in the Houses of Healing and
rewriting it as direct narrative in its chronological place, the following
typescript is a text of the whole 'Tale of Gimli and Legolas' incorpor-
ating all revision to that time, and ending with the words 'and none
ever dared to move Baldor's bones' (cf. p. 416).
There followed a rough manuscript in which the first part of the
'Tale' was written out as direct narrative, to stand in its chronological
place in the earlier chapter, thus greatly shortening the material of the
end of Book V. A further typescript has the structure of 'The Last
Debate' in RK, with the story of the passage of the Paths of the Dead
removed and only mentioned as having been told, though here it was
still Gimli who told it:
'Alas! I had heart only for myself,' said Gimli, 'and I do not
wish to recall that journey.' He fell silent; but Pippin and Merry
were so eager for news that at last he yielded and told them in
halting words of the dreadful passage of the mountains that led
to the black Stone of Erech. But when he came to the Day
without Dawn he ceased. 'I am weary recalling that weariness,
and the horror of the Dark,' he said.
'Then I will say on,' said Legolas.(45)
The structure of the narrative in RK had been at last achieved, with
the debate in the tent of Aragorn following in the same chapter the end
of the story told to Merry and Pippin in the Houses of Healing.(46) I see
no way to determine at what stage all this later work was done.
NOTES.
1. On Haramon see p. 359 and note 3. The reading 'the Hills of
Haramon' (plural) in the outline 'The Story Foreseen from
Forannest' is certain, in contrast to the 'great hill' referred to in
the present text.
2. For Bealdor (Baldor) son of Brego see pp. 315-16, and on the
spelling of the name p. 321 note 11.
3. A pencilled note in the margin reads: '25 miles. Dunharrow >
rech 55.' Presumably '25 miles' refers to the distance from the
issue of the Paths of the Dead to the Stone of Erech. On the
distance from Dunharrow to Erech see pp. 296 - 7 note 2.
4. By '(say Linhir?)' I suppose that my father meant that since the
road to Pelargir crossed the Lameduin (later Gilrain) at Linhir,
'Linhir' would do as well as 'Fords of Lameduin'. Linhir appears
also in 'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (p. 361); it is marked
on the Second Map (see p. 437) at some distance above the head
of the estuary of Lameduin, the direct distance from here to Erech
on this map being 36 mm. or 180 miles.
5. From Linhir to Pelargir direct is 2 cm. or 100 miles on the Second
Map.
6. The rejected portion of the outline has here: 'The Haradwaith try
to fly. Some take ship back again down Anduin. But Aragorn
overtakes them and captures most of the ships. Some are set fire
to, but several manned by slaves and captives are captured.'
(Then follows the passage about the Gondorian captives.) 'Ara-
gorn embarks with men of South Gondor; the Shadow Host
disperses, pursuing the Haradwaith about the vales.'
7. Cf. 'The Battle of the Pelennor Fields', p. 370: 'south away the
river went in a knee about the out-thrust of the hills of Emyn
Arnen in lower Ithilien, and Anduin bent then in upon the
Pelennor so that its outwall was there built upon the brink, and
that at the nearest was no more than [five >] four miles from the
Gates.' In 'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (p. 363 note 3)
the Pelennor Wall is at this point ten miles away from the City.
8. On the Second Map it is 125 miles (the figure given in the text) up
river from Pelargir to the angle of the 'knee' in Anduin (see note
7), and thus the straight stretch of ten miles 'just before that
point', visible from Minas Tirith, is the 'leg' below the 'knee'. In
the further continuation of the passage from 'The Battle of the
Pelennor Fields' cited in note 7 (see p. 370) the length of 'the
reach of Arnen' is given as 'three leagues'; but on the Second
Map, on which both these passages were based, it is substantially
longer. In RK (p. 122) 'Anduin, from the bend at the Harlond, so
flowed that from the City men could look down it lengthwise for
some leagues.'
9. Cf. 'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (p. 359): 'Then as final
despair comes on, and Rohirrim give back, [west >] south wind
rolls back cloud, and noon-sun gleams through. Aragorn unfurls
his great standard from ship-top. The crown and stars of Sun and
Moon shine out.'
10. The opening page of the manuscript bears the chapter-numbers
'XLI', 'L', 'L(b)', and 'XLIX', all of which were struck out except
the last. 'XLI' is an obvious slip (for 'LI'?), since the chapter could
not possibly bear this number; but it is hard to see how it could
be 'XLIX' either (see p. 386 and note 7).
11. This draft for the debate follows immediately on an abandoned
sentence of 'The Houses of Healing', thus:
Gandalf and Pippin then came to Merry's room and there
saw Aragorn stand
'My lords,' said Gandalf....
The text that follows is written in ink over pencilled drafting for
'The Houses of Healing'.
12. This sentence is bracketed in the original, as also is that a little
further on ('a tyrant brooking no freedom ...').
13. Imladrist: cf. p. 139 note 14 and p. 165 note 5.
14. My father struck out 'Gandalf' immediately. He then wrote
'Warden of the Keys' but put dots for the name, writing in
'Hurin' before he had gone much further. It would seem therefore
that this was where the name arose, but since 'Hurin' appears in
the first manuscript of 'The Battle of the Pelennor Fields' (p. 369)
it seems clear that my father had merely forgotten momentarily
here what name he had chosen for him.
15. Gandalf cannot have said this. Either not must be removed or
cannot > can.
16. In a draft for this passage Imrahil called Dol Amroth Castle
Amroth; this was repeated in a following draft, where it was
changed to Barad Amroth (and finally Barad > Dol).
17. Merry of course knew that Aragorn did go to Dunharrow (cf. RK
pp. 69 - 70; the final text of 'The Muster of Rohan' was now
largely in being, p. 319). See p. 417.
18. This passage contrasts greatly with RK, where it is Gimli who
will not speak of the Paths of the Dead, and Legolas who says
'I felt not the horror, and I feared not the shadows of Men,
powerless and frail as I deemed them.' See p. 417.
19. I think that the parting of Aragorn and Eowyn would not have
been recounted so fully by Legolas and Gimli here if the story of
the coming of the Grey Company to Dunharrow already existed
in the earlier chapter (RK pp. 56 - 9); see p. 308.
20. our horses that the Rohirrim gave us: 'horses', because Aragorn's
horse was still Hasufel (pp. 301, 305 - 6); when Roheryn, his own
horse brought from the North by the Rangers, was introduced, it
was only Arod, the horse bearing Legolas and Gimli, that was of
Rohan, and he alone is mentioned in the equivalent passage in
RK ('The Passing of the Grey Company', p. 60).
21. In the early drafts for 'The King of the Golden Hall' the mounds
of the kings at Edoras were first described as 'white with nodding
flowers like tiny snowdrops', the flowers being subsequently
nifredil (VII.442-3). In RK ('The Passing of the Grey Company',
p. 61) Aragorn calls the flowers simbelmyne', but cf. 'The King of
the Golden Hall' (TT p. 111), where Gandalf says: 'Evermind
they are called, simbelmyne' in this land of Men, for they blossom
in all the seasons of the year, and grow where dead men rest.'
22. In the first manuscript of 'The King of the Golden Hall' Legolas
said of the barrows at Edoras: 'Seven mounds I see, and seven
long lives of men it is, since the golden hall was built' (see VII.442
and 449 note 4). This was changed on that manuscript to the
reading of TT (p.111): " Seven mounds upon the left, and nine
upon the right," said Aragorn. "Many long lives of men it is since
the golden hall was built." '
23. If this is so, it was of course at this time that the first manuscript
of 'The King of the Golden Hall' was emended to say that there
were 'seven mounds upon the left, and nine upon the right' (see
note 22). 1
24. The dates of the kings before the last three were so much changed ]
and confused by overwriting that I can form no clear idea of what j
my father intended: it is at least plain, however, that they
correspond in their pattern to those in LR - as adjusted for the
Shire Reckoning.
25. Barad Amroth: see note 16. Later Barad was changed to Dol.
26. As first written, but immediately rejected, the text continued from i
this point: ... was brought from Numenor, and marks still the l
place where Isildur met the last king of the Dark Men of the
Mountains, when he established the bounds of Gondor. And
there he swore an oath, for Isildur and Elendil and his sons [sic]
had the gift of tongues as many of the Numenoreans, and the
tongues of men..... [?of the wild] were known to him, for'
27. The ring-wall and tower on the Hill of Erech, in which was kept
the palantir, are referred to in the outline given on p. 397; it is
told there that Aragorn actually found the palantir of Erech, in a
vault of the tower.
28. It is strange that it should be Elrohir who unfurled the banner
(and bore it at the Hornburg), for from the first mention of the
banner (p. 302) it was as in RK Halbarad the Ranger who bore it
(and it was covered in a black cloth). - In RK (p. 63) no device
could be seen on it in the darkness.
29. On this and subsequent references to the days of the journey see
the Note on Chronology at the end of these Notes.
30. Tarlang's Neck is seen on the Second Map, though it is not
named. For the geography of these regions see pp. 433 ff.
31. Sixty leagues in direct line from Erech to Linhir, and a hundred
miles from Linhir to Pelargir, agrees with RK (p. 150): 'ninety
leagues and three' from Erech to Pelargir.
32. we set out again: i.e. from Erech. - It is approximately here that
the part of Gimli's story that was transferred to 'The Passing of
the Grey Company' ends, and the part that remained actually
reported in 'The Last Debate' begins; there is some overlap in RK
(pp. 63, 151).
33. At this point there follows in the initial draft:
'... But when we came over Tarlang's Neck Elladan and two
Rangers rode ahead and spoke to any that they could find
willing to stay and listen to them, and told them that a great
help was coming to them against the Shipfoes and the South-
rons, and that it was not the King of the Dead but the heir of
the Kings of Gondor that had returned. A few listened and
believed, and at the crossings of Kiril we found food and
fodder set for our need though no man had dared to stay beside
it, nor any fresh horses for which we hoped.
34. The square brackets are in the original. The initial draft text has
here:
'"... but they wield living swords." And some cried [struck
out: though they knew not what it meant): "The Lord of the
Rings has arisen".'
In the margin of this page in the draft text my father subsequently
wrote the following remarkable passage:
'Indeed all the folk of Lebennin call Aragorn that.'
'I wonder why?' said Merry. 'I suppose it is some device to
draw the eyes of Mordor that way, to Aragorn, and keep them
from Frodo'; and he looked east and shuddered. 'Do you think
all his great labour and deeds will be in vain and too late in the
end?' he said.
'I know not,' said Gimli. 'But one thing I know, and that is,
not for any device of policy would Aragorn set abroad a false
tale. Then either it is true and he has a ring, or it is a false tale
invented by someone else. But Elrohir and Elladan have called
him by that name. So it must be true. But what it means we do
not know.'
There is nothing on this page of the draft, or indeed anywhere in
the manuscript, that this can refer to but the cry 'The Lord of the
Rings has arisen'. I have found only one scrap of writing that
seems to bear on this. Under the text in ink of a piece of rough
drafting (that referred to in note 39) for the beginning of the story
of the march from Minas Tirith are a few furiously pencilled
lines, parts of which can be read:
Galadriel must give her ring to Aragorn ( ..... to wed
Finduilas?). Hence his sudden access of power ....... [?that
won't work. It will leave] Lorien defenceless also Lord of the
Ring will be too ...
This raises many more questions than it answers; but it cannot be
unconnected with the strange suggestion that in Lebennin Ara-
gorn was called 'The Lord of the Ring(s)'. I do not know whether
it is significant that in the first draft the s of Rings was not written
consecutively with Ring, but was added to the word - maybe
immediately. This however only raises the question why, if
Aragorn was called 'The Lord of the Ring' because it was thought
that he possessed a Ring, did my father change it to 'The Lord of
the Rings'? The only and rather desperate suggestion I can make
is that he wished to mark the confusion of mind on the part of the
people who uttered this cry (cf. 'though they knew not what it
meant' in the draft text).
35. The initial draft has here: 'and all of the enemies that were not
slain or drowned were flying away over the Poros into Lothland
desert.' This name is not perfectly clear, but I take it as certain in
view of the occurrence of Lothlann on the First Map {VII.309,
313); the form Lothland is found in the Quenta Silmarillion
(V.264, 283). On the Second Map (p. 435) the region south of
Mordor is named, but in pencil now so faint that it is hard to
be sure of the name: the likeliest interpretation is 'Desert of
Lostladen' (cf. the Etymologies, V.370, stem LUS).
36. Legolas says in this second version that the day they came to
Pelargir was 'the fifth of our journey', whereas in the previous
version (p. 413) 'it was the fourth since we left Dunharrow'; but 1
think that both expressions mean the same (see the Note on
Chronology below).
37. The original primary draft reaches this point:
'And when all was won Aragorn let sound a host of trumpets
from the ship that he took for himself, and behold the Shadow
host drew near to the shore, and all others fled away. But
Aragorn set a line of torches along the shore and these they
would not pass, and he spoke to the Dead Men: "Now I will
count the oath fulfilled," he said, "when every stranger of
Harad or of Umbar is hunted out of this land west of Anduin.
When that is done go back and trouble never the valleys again
- but go and be at rest."
With this cf. the rejected portion of the outline given at the
beginning of this chapter (note 6 above): 'The Shadow Host
disperses, pursuing the Haradwaith about the vales.'
38. and justified the wisdom of Elrond: see p. 387.
39. In a rough draft for this passage Aragorn speaks to Berithil: 'It is
not yet my part to judge you, Master Berithil. If I return I will do
so with justice. But for this present you shall leave the guard in
the Citadel and go out to war.'
40. The square brackets are in the original.
41. in our speech was corrected to in the old speech of Numenor,
then changed back to in our speech.
42. Legolas now plays no part in the narration until Pelargir is
reached.
43. The story in this version is expressly to be Gimli's: at the
beginning, in response to Pippin's 'Won't you tell us some more?'
he says: 'Well, if you must hear the tale, I will tell it briefly.' As in
the unrevised typescript (note 42) Legolas says nothing until he
breaks in on Gimli at his mention of the Great River ('I knew it
long ere we reached it', p. 414); but by an alteration to this
revised version he breaks silence at Gimli's words '[we] went as
swiftly as our stouthearted horses could endure over the plains of
Lebennin':
'Lebennin!' cried Legolas. All the while he had kept silence,
gazing away southward, while Gimli spoke; but now he began
to sing: Silver flow the streams from Celos to Erui ...
The text of his song is at once in the final form. In RK it is Legolas
who tells the whole story up to this point, and Gimli who here
takes it up.
44. The place where Kiril was crossed was named on the Second Map
Caerost on Kiril (p. 437).
45. On the back of the last page of this typescript is the following
remarkable passage, on which I can cast no light. It is written in a
fine ornate script, together with other odds and ends of phrases in
the same script, characteristic of my father's habit of 'doodling' in
this way (cf. VII.379):
Then spoke Elessar: Many Guthrond would hold that your
insolence merited rather punishment than answer from your
king; but since you have in open malice uttered lies in the
hearing of many, I will first lay bare their falsehood, so that all
here may know you for what you are, and have ever been.
Afterwards maybe a chance shall be given you to repent and
turn from your old evil.
46. The title that my father first chose for the chapter when the final
structure had been reached was 'Tidings and Counsel': the
'tidings' of Gimli and Legolas, and the 'counsel' of Gandalf at the
debate of the lords.
Note on the Chronology.
In the outline 'The march of Aragorn and the defeat of the Haradrim'
(pp. 397 - 9) the dates of Aragorn's journey are as follows:
March.
8. (morning). Enters the Paths of the Dead.
(midnight). Comes to Erech.
9. (early morning). Leaves Erech under the Darkness from.
Mordor.
10. (evening). Reaches Linhir.
11. (morning). Crosses River Lameduin into Lebennin.
12. (early morning). Reaches Pelargir.
13. (early morning). Sets out up river from Pelargir.
14. (early morning). 100 miles up river.
15. (early morning). Wind rises and sails hoisted on the ships;
c. 9 a.m. fleet is seen from Minas Tirith.
The latter part of this chronology seems obviously unsatisfactory, in
that the fleet is 100 miles up Anduin in the early morning of March 14,
and yet nothing is said of any further journeying on the 14th: the last
stretch is accomplished under sail on the morning of the 15th. Against
this date (p. 399) my father wrote '14'; and in the companion outline
'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (p. 360) the charge of the
Rohirrim on the 15th was likewise changed to the 14th - which was
the date in 'The Siege of Gondor', p. 342.
With the date of Aragorn's entering the Paths of the Dead cf. pp.
309 and 311, notes 9 and 18 (February 6 = March 8). The Dawnless
Day is still March 9 (cf. p. 342).
In the manuscript of 'The Tale of Gimli and Legolas' this chron-
ology is preserved - with March 14 as the date of the Battle of the
Pelennor Fields. Thus Gimli tells that the Company came to Erech 'just
ere the midnight hour - and black it was wellnigh as in the caverns, for
though we did not know it yet the darkness of Mordor was creeping
over us' (p. 410), and again (p. 412): 'The next morning day did not
dawn' (in the margin of the manuscript the figure 9 is written here).
'At nightfall of the second day from Erech' they came to Linhir (and
here 10 is written in the margin). They 'rose ere night had passed' (i.e.
before dawn on March 11) and rode across Lebennin, 'all that day and
through the next night'; and Gimli says that 'it was day, I guessed, by
the hidden sun - the fourth since we left Dunharrow' (p. 413) when
they reached the shores of Anduin at Pelargir, i.e. the morning of
March 12. 'Before the fifth day was over we had taken well nigh all the
fleet', which as will be seen in a moment means 'the fifth day of the
journey', i.e. March 12.
The first version of the events at Pelargir ends here; in the second
version Legolas says (note 36) that the day they reached Pelargir was
'the fifth of our journey' (March 12), that they rested that night 'while
others laboured' - but also that the fleet set out up Anduin 'on the fifth
morning, that is the day before yesterday' (March 13). This shows
clearly that Legolas was distinguishing between 'the fifth day of our
journey (March 12) and the fifth morning since we left Dunharrow
(March 13) - so also in RK (p. 153) 'the sixth [morning] since we rode
from Dunharrow' is the seventh day of the whole journey. Since it was
now the day after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and the fleet
left Pelargir on 'the day before yesterday', the battle took place on
March 14.
The difference of this chronology from that of LR is therefore thus:
The journey of Aragorn
The present chronology Chronology of LR.
Day March.
1. 8. Reaches Erech at midnight The same.
2. 9. The Dawnless Day.
3. 10. Reaches Linhir The Dawnless Day.
4. 11. Reaches Linhir.
5. 12. Reaches Pelargir.
6. 13. Sets out from Pelargir Reaches Pelargir.
7. 14. Battle of the Pelennor Fields Sets out from Pelargir.
8. 15. Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
In the chronology of the manuscript text Aragorn's journey from
Dunharrow to Pelargir took four days and nights, reaching the Anduin
on the fifth day, and setting out up river on the morning of the sixth
day. In LR Aragorn took three days, not two, from Erech to Linhir, and
so five days and nights to Pelargir. Thus in the manuscript (p. 411)
Gimli says that from Erech 'then followed the weariest journey that I
have ever known... three days and nights and on into another day',
whereas when in RK (p. 150) Legolas speaks of the great ride from
Erech to Pelargir he says: 'Four days and nights, and on into a fifth, we
rode from the Black Stone'.
Lastly, whereas in the manuscript text the Darkness out of Mordor
came over the sky during the night of March 8, and 'the next morning
day did not dawn', in RK (p. 151) 'one day of light we rode, and then
came the day without dawn' (and in the earlier passage at the end of
'The Passing of the Grey Company', RK p. 63, in the evening of the
day on which they left Erech at dawn 'the sun went down like blood
behind Pinnath Gelin away in the West behind them', and 'the next
day there came no dawn').
XIII.
THE BLACK GATE OPENS.
As I have explained in the last chapter (p. 416), the story of the
journey to the Morannon, the parley with the Lieutenant of Barad-
dur, and the attack on the Host of the West in the slag-hills before the
Gate, was written before my father made any move to break up and
reorganize the presentation of the narrative in the single very long
chapter, which would ultimately be distributed between 'The Passing
of the Grey Company', 'The Last Debate', and 'The Black Gate Opens'.
For the conclusion of Book V he had in fact already written some
time before a very full outline ('The Story Foreseen from Forannest',
pp. 360 - 2), and this, when he came to write the narrative, he followed
remarkably closely. Already present in the outline were the coming of
the vanguard to Minas Morghul and the burning of the lands about,
the silence that followed the summons to Sauron to come forth,
the embassy from the Dark Tower already prepared, the display
of Frodo's mithril coat, the blackmailing terms for the surrender of
Frodo, Gandalf's refusal to treat and taking of the mithril coat, and
the hosts lying ready in ambush. The chief differences from the final
story were the coming of the Ents (with Elves of Lorien) to the
Morannon (with an express declaration by the ambassador of Sauron
that the Ents shall help to rebuild Isengard), uncertainty whether
Merry and Pippin were present, and the person of the ambassador:
doubtfully identified as the Wizard King (implying a different view of
the outcome of his encounter with Eowyn and Merry in the Battle of
the Pelennor Fields), but certainly a Nazgul ('flinging off his garments
he vanishes').
For the narrative there is both initial draft and fair copy, which
doubtless belong to the same time, since the first two pages are
common to both: from the point where the first text became quicker
and rougher my father replaced it; but in the first draft the story as it
stands in RK was already present in almost every point. Aragorn's
dismissal of the faint-hearted (as it is described in The Tale of Years)
was however (in both texts) Gandalf's, and the cause of their
faint-heartedness more immediate (cf. RK p. 162):
... and they could descry the marshes and the desert that
stretched north and west to the Emyn Muil. And now the
Nazgul swept down over them unceasingly, and often daring
within bowshot of the earth they would plunge shrieking down,
and their fell voices made even the boldest blench. Some there
were who were so unmanned that they could neither walk nor
ride further north.
This survived into the fair copy, where it was replaced by the text of
RK (p. 162), in which the Nazgul did not closely approach the Host of
the West until the final attack on the Slag-hills. In the draft text it is
said that 'some 500 left the host' and went off south-west towards
Cair Andros.
No more is said in the draft of the history of the Lieutenant of
Baraddur,(1) the nameless Mouth of Sauron, than that 'It is told that he
was a living man, who being-captured as a youth became a servant of
the Dark Tower, and because of his cunning grew high in the Lord's
favour ...' In the fair copy this was repeated, but was changed
subsequently to: 'But it is said that he was a renegade, son of a house
of wise and noble men in Gondor, who becoming enamoured of evil
knowledge entered the service of the Dark Tower, and because of his
cunning [and the fertile cruelty of his mind] [and servility] he grew
ever higher in the Lord's favour ...' (these phrases being thus
bracketed in the original). In RK (p. 164) the Mouth of Sauron 'came
of the race of those that are named the Black Numenoreans'.(2)
NOTES.
1. First written 'the Lieutenant of Morgul', but this may very
probably have been no more than a slip.
2. A few other minor points may be mentioned together. The Morgul
Pass (RK p. 161) is called 'the Pass of Kirith Ungol' in the fair
copy, and the Pass of Cirith Gorgor (RK p. 162) is 'the Pass of
Gorgoroth' in both texts, changed to 'the Pass of Kirith-Gorgor' in
the fair copy. In the draft text Damrod of Henneth Annun
reappears again, with Mablung, as a leader of the scouts in Ithilien
(RK p. 162); the host can see from their camp on the last night the
red lights in the Towers of the Teeth; and in Gandalf's concluding
words to the Mouth of Sauron (RK p. 167) he retains the words he
used in the original outline (p. 362): 'Begone! But let fear eat your
heart: for if you so much as set a thorn in the flesh of your prisoner
you shall rue it through all ages.'
Note on the Chronology
In The Tale of Years in LR the following dates are given:
March 18. The Host of the West marches from Minas Tirith.
19. The Host comes to Morgul-vale.
23. The Host passes out of Ithilien. Aragorn dismisses the
faint-hearted.
24. The Host camps in the Desolation of the Morannon.
25. The Host is surrounded on the Slag-hills.
In both manuscript texts the same indications of date are given, and in
the same words, as in RK, except in one point. The Host here left
Minas Tirith on 17 March (this date being written in the margin), and
since this was two days after 'the Last Debate', which itself took place
on the day after the battle, the date of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
was here the 14th of March, not the 15th (see p. 428). In the present
versions, however, the difference of one day in the date of the departure
from Minas Tirith is soon lost, for this reason: where in RK (p. 160)
the first day's march ended five miles beyond Osgiliath, but 'the
horsemen pressed on and ere evening they came to the Cross Roads'
(i.e. 18 March), it is said here that 'Next day the horsemen pressed on
and ere evening they came to the Cross Roads' (i.e. 18 March); and it
was again 'on the next day' that 'the main host came up' (with the date
'19' in the margin). Thus where it is said in RK (p. 161) 'The day after,
being the third day since they set out from Minas Tirith, the army
began its northward march along the road', it is here 'the fourth day',
with the date '20' written in the margin.
The present version. The Return of the King.
March 17. March begins, and ends
at Osgiliath.
18. Horsemen reach the
Cross Roads before
evening.
March begins, and ends near
Osgiliath, but the horsemen
go on and reach the Cross
Roads before evening.
19. Main host comes to the Cross Roads.
20. The host begins northward march.
It may be noted lastly that where in RK (p. 163) on the night of
24 March 'the waxing moon was four nights old', here it was 'but
three days from the full moon' on the night before the day on which
the Ring was destroyed.
XIV.
THE SECOND MAP.
Whenever this map was first made, it was certainly my father's
working map during the writing of Book V of The Lord of the Rings.(1)
The first stage in its making was carried out in black ink, but black ink
was also used later, and since it was not drawn and lettered at its first
making with the meticulousness of the earlier stages of the First Map it
is scarcely possible to isolate the layers of accretion by this means. Red
ink was also used for a few alterations, and in the final stage of its
useful life corrections and additions were very roughly made in blue
ink (also in blue crayon and pencil).
The single sheet of paper on which it was made is now, after so
much use many years ago, limp, torn, wrinkled, stained, and rubbed,
and some of the later pencillings can scarcely be seen. It is ruled in
squares of 2 cm. side (= 100 miles), the squares being lettered and
numbered according to the First Map. In my redrawing I have divided
it into a western and an eastern portion, with the central vertical line
of squares (14} repeated.
The attempt to redraw it posed difficulties. In places there is such a
cobweb of fine crisscrossing and competing lines (the 'contours' are
very impressionistic) as to bewilder the eye, and the redrawing had to
be done while holding a lens; even so, I have certainly not followed
every last wiggle with fidelity. Here and there it is hard to make out
what the markings actually are or to interpret what they represent. In
the region south of the White Mountains the map is so extremely
crowded, and there are so many alterations and additions of names
made at different times, that (since a primary aim of the redrawing is
clarification) I have found it best to omit a number of names and
explain the changes in the account of the map that follows; and for the
same reason I have shown the new course of Anduin at Minas Tirith
but not the new sites of Barad-dur and Mount Doom. The redrawing
is therefore avowedly inconsistent in what is shown and what is not,
but I think inevitably so; and the following notes are an essential part
of its presentation.
I refer to the map of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor published in The
Return of the King as 'the large LR map'.
The account of the Rivers of Gondor written on this map has been
given in Vol. VII (p. 312) in a discussion of peculiarities in the original
conception of the southern rivers, but since in reducing my redrawing
(The Second Map (West).)
(The Second Map (East).)
to the size of the printed page the writing becomes extremely small I
repeat it here:
Rivers of Gondor
Anduin
From East
Ithilduin or Duin Morghul
Poros Boundary
From West
Ereg First
Sirith The 5 rivers
Lameduin (of Lamedon) with tributaries of lebennin
Serni (E.) and Kelos (W.)
Ringlo, Kiril, Morthond and Calenhir that
all flow into Cobas Haven
Lhefneg Fifth
In counting only the mouths are counted: Ereg 1, Sirith 2, Lame-
duin 3, Morthond 4, Lhefneg 5, Isen 6, Gwathlo 7.
Ereg (later Erui) has now essentially its final place and course; Sirith
likewise, but with no western tributary (Kelos on the large LR map) -
the lines on the map in this valley are a dense maze and I have
simplified them in the redrawing, but it is clear that there is only a
single stream. Lossarnach seems to have been a much larger region
than it is on the LR maps, but this may be due merely to the lettering
of a long name in a small space.
Lameduin, while clearly written with final -n in the list of rivers (as
also in the text given on pp. 397 ff.) is equally clearly written Lamedui
on the map itself, and should perhaps have been so represented. It is also
clear that there are three tributary streams marked, although only two,
Serni and Kelos, are referred to in the list (and there is no place for
another in 'the five rivers of Lebennin'); only the easternmost, Serni,
is named on the map. All three join together at a place marked with a
black dot (R 12), though this was at first given no name (see below).
Ringlo, Kiril, and Morthond have essentially the final courses; but
Kiril is not a tributary of Ringlo as it is on the LR maps, and a fourth
river, unnamed on the map but called Calenhir in the list of rivers,
comes in from Pinnath Gelin to the westward. At the junction of the
four streams the map is very hard to interpret: it is not clear which
rivers have joined at the place marked by a black dot (Q 11) and which
flow independently into Cobas Haven, the bay north of Dol Amroth.
Beside the dot (in small lettering as if referring to the dot) was
originally written Lamedon, which was struck through, and which I
think was probably a simple error (in view of Lameduin many miles to
the east). Above Lamedon was written Linhir, also struck through.
The earliest reference to Linhir in the texts is found in the outline 'The
Story Foreseen from Forannest' (p. 361), where the Darkness out of
Mordor is seen by the Ents as 'a great blackness ... extending in
breadth from Rauros to Linhir, this could imply the earlier position,
above Cobas Haven, but perhaps more probably the later, on
Lameduin (Gilrain). The crossing of Ringlo was a later addition in
red ink.
The name Lamedon was written a second time across R 13 (beneath
Serni and above Lebennin), and this placing obviously consorts with
the river-name Lameduin. In this position it was again struck out,
Lameduin changed to Gilrain, and Linhir written against the dot on
R 12 where the three streams join. Lamedon was later written in a third
and final location (but see note 2) at the top of q 12, across the upper
waters of Kiril and Ringlo.
The emergence of the new geography can be traced in the texts. In
the outline 'The march of Aragorn and defeat of the Haradrim' (see
pp. 397 - 8 and note 4) occurs the following:
Erech to Fords of Lameduin (say Linhir?) is 175 miles direct, about
200 by road.... At Linhir on Lameduin men of Lebennin and
Lamedon are defending passage of river against Haradwaith.
When this was written Lamedon still lay north of Ethir Anduin, a
northward region of Lebennin, and 'the men of Lebennin and
Lamedon' had withdrawn westwards to the line of the river, which
they were attempting to hold. But already in the original drafts for
the story of the ride of the Grey Company in 'The Last Debate'
(see pp. 411 - 12) they passed 'over Tarlang's Neck into Lamedon',
Lameduin has become Gilrain, and (as in RK, p. 151) it was the men of
Lamedon who contested the passage of Gilrain against the Haradrim.(2)
The dot near the bottom right-hand corner of P 11 marks Erech
(named on the original); this was an addition, as was the river flowing
down from Erech to join the course of Morthond as originally marked
on P - Q 11. To the dot on the river Kiril (Q 12), a later addition, is
attached the pencilled name Caerost on Kiril; this was the forerunner
of Calembel, where Kiril was crossed (RK p. 63). Neither Caerost nor
Calembel is found in the original manuscript of 'The Last Debate' (see
p. 419). The other dot on Q12, east of the crossing of Ringlo, is
marked with the pencilled name Tarnost, which so far as I know does
not appear elsewhere.
The name Belfalas was a late addition (see p. 293 note 22); and a
note added early to the map directs that Pinnath Gelin should be made
into 'lower Green Hills'.
The name Odotheg 'Seventh' of Gwathlo or Greyflood was changed
in pencil to Odothui; on this name see VII.311 - 12. The last letter of
Lhefneg was also changed: most probably it was first written Lhefned
and then immediately altered to Lhefneg, the form of the name in the
list of rivers written on the map.
North of the White Mountains a line of dots on squares P 13,
Q 13-14 represents the beacon hills; on this see p. 354 note 3.
Moving eastwards to Q14, the original course of Anduin can be j
discerned on the original, running in a straight line from below the
confluence of Ereg to where the river bends north-west below
Osgiliath. The great elbow in Anduin here and the hills of Haramon
that caused it were superimposed later in blue ink, Haramon being
afterwards struck out and Emyn Arnen substituted (with some totally
illegible name preceding it). In the original text of the chapter 'Minas j
Tirith' (p. 278) there was no mention of this feature. It is shown (but
without the hills around which the river bends) on the little map
drawn on a page added to the manuscript of 'The Ride of the
Rohirrim' (p. 353); and it first appears in the texts in the outline
'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (see p. 359 and note 3): 'the
[Pelennor] wall right above the stream which bends round the Hills of
Haramon'. The name Emyn Arnen appears in the drafting of 'The
Battle of the Pelennor Fields' (p. 370). I have very little doubt that it
was indeed the development of the story of the battle that brought the
great bend in Anduin around the hills of Haramon/Emyn Arnen into
being; for so the black fleet could be brought right under the wall of
the Pelennor, and victory assured in the face of disaster by the
exceedingly dramatic and utterly unlooked for arrival, on the very
field, of Aragorn with the Rangers and the sons of Elrond, and all the
men newly gathered from the southern fiefs.
Osgiliath is now north-east of Minas Tirith (see pp. 269 - 70, 353).
A note on the map says that 'Minas Morgul must be rather more
north' (cf. the plan reproduced on p. 181 and the large LR map).
Within the confines of Mordor a major change was made in the last
stage of the use of this map. The great peninsula of high land (Q16)
thrust out southwards from the Ash Mountains, on which stood
Barad-dur, was struck through, and Barad-dur was moved north-west
(to P 16). This was where Orodruin had stood as the map was first
drawn.(3) Orodruin was moved to stand near the bottom right-hand
corner of P 15. I have in this case preserved the original site of
Barad-dur in my redrawing, for the alterations were carried out very
roughly. Other additions of this time were the rough outline of the Sea
of Nurnen, the names Lithlad, Morgai, and Nurn, and also Gorgoroth
of the vale running back from the Morannon. Gorgoroth was struck
out, and in its place was pencilled here the name Narch Udun.(4)
NOTES.
1. The fact that the track of Frodo's journey from the Emil Muil to
the Morannon (not shown on my redrawing) is very carefully
marked and probably belongs to the first 'layer' does not demon-
strate that in its making this map goes back to the writing of Book
IV. For one thing, it seems unlikely that my father would have
made the map redrawn on p. 269 if the Second Map had been
already in existence.
2. A name in scarcely visible pencilling that is almost certainly
Lamedon can be seen written right across q 11 - 12 (from below
the r of Morthond to east of the crossing of Ringlo), which
suggests that Lamedon was at first a larger region.
3. When Barad-dur was moved to the site of Orodruin the original
markings were obliterated.
4. The names Harad Road, Near Harad (and an arrow directing to
Far Harad), Desert of Lostladen (see p. 426 note 35), Khand (see
p. 369), and Umbar were scribbled in pencil or blue crayon.
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