PART ONE.
AINULINDALE.
AINULINDALE.
The evidence is clear that when The Lord of the Rings was at last
completed my father returned with great energy to the legends of the
Elder Days. He was working on the new version of the Lay of Leithian
in 1950 (III.330); and he noted (V.294) that he had revised the Quenta
Silmarillion as far as the end of the tale of Beren and Luthien on
10 May 1951. The last page of the later Tale of Tuor, where the
manuscript is reduced to notes before finally breaking off (Unfinished
Tales p. 56), is written on a page from an engagement calendar
bearing the date September 1951, and the same calendar, with dates in
September, October, and November 1951, was used for riders to Tuor
and the Grey Annals (the last version of the Annals of Beleriand and a
close companion work to the Annals of Aman, the last version of the
Annals of Valinor). The account, some ten thousand words long, of
the 'cycles' of the legends, written to Milton Waldman of the London
publisher Collins and given in part in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien
(no.131), was very probably written towards the end of that year.
Until recently I had assumed without question that every element in
the new work on the Elder Days belonged to the years 1950 and 1951;
but I have now discovered unambiguous evidence that my father had
in fact turned again to the Ainulindale some years before he finished
The Lord of the Rings. As will be seen, this is no mere matter of
getting the textual history right, but is of great significance.
I had long been aware of extremely puzzling facts in the history of
the rewriting of the Ainulindale. The fine pre-Lord of the Rings
manuscript, lettered 'B', was described and printed in V.155 ff.; as I
noted there (p. 156) 'the manuscript became the vehicle of massive
rewriting many years later, when great changes in the cosmological
conception had entered.' So drastic was the revision (with a great deal
of new material written on the blank verso pages) that in the result
two distinct texts of the work, wholly divergent in essential respects,
exist physically in the same manuscript. This new text I shall
distinguish as 'C'.
But there is another text, a typescript made by my father, that was
also directly based on Ainulindale' B of the 1930s; and in this there
appears a much more radical - one might say a devastating - change
in the cosmology: for in this version the Sun is already in existence
from the beginning of Arda. I shall refer to this typescript as 'C *'.
A peculiarity of C* is that for a long stretch it proceeds in very close
relationship to C, but yet constantly differs from it, though always in
quite insignificant ways. In many cases my father later wrote in the C
reading on the typescript. I will illustrate this by a single example, a
passage in $25 (p. 15). Here C*, as typed, has:
But when they clad themselves the Valar arrayed themselves in the
form and temper some as of male and some as of female; and the
choice that they made herein proceeded, doubtless, from that
temper that each had from their uttermost beginning; for male and
female are not matters only of the body any more than of the
raiment.
The C text has here:
But when they clad themselves the Valar arrayed them in the form
some as of male and some as of female; for that difference of temper
they had even from their beginning, and it is but bodied forth in the
choice of each, not made by the choice; even as with us male and
female may be shown by the raiment, but is not made thereby.
Now in C this passage was written at the same time as what precedes it
and what follows it - it is all of a piece; whereas in C* the original
typed passage was struck through and the C text substituted in pencil.
There seemed no other explanation possible but that C* preceded
C; yet it seemed extraordinary, even incredible, that my father should
have first made a clear new typescript version from the old B
manuscript and then returned to that manuscript to cover it somewhat
chaotically with new writing - the more so since C* and C are for
much of their length closely similar.
When working on The Notion Club Papers I found among rough
notes and jottings on the Adunaic language a torn half-sheet of the
same paper as carries a passage from the Ainulindale', written in pencil
in my father's most rapid hand. While not proof that he was working
on the Ainulindale' so early as 1946 (the year to which I ascribe the
development of Adunaic, when The Lord of the Rings had been long
halted and The Return of the King no more than begun: see IX.12 - 13,
147) this strongly suggested it; and as will be seen in a moment there is
certain evidence that the text C* was in existence by 1948. Moreover
in a main structural feature C* follows this bit of text, as C does not
(see p. 42); it seemed very probable therefore that C* was typed from
a very rough text of which the torn half-sheet is all that remains.
Here it must be mentioned that on the first page of C* my father
wrote later 'Round World Version', and (obviously at the same time)
on the title-page of B/C he wrote 'Old Flat World Version' - the word
'Old' being a subsequent addition. It would obviously be very
interesting to know when he labelled them thus; and the answer is
provided by the following evidences. The first is a draft for a letter,
undated and with no indication of whom he was addressing:
These tales are feigned to be translated from the preserved works of
AElfwine of England (c.900 A.D.), called by the Elves Eriol, who
being blown west from Ireland eventually came upon the 'Straight
Road' and found Tol Eressea the Lonely Isle.
He brought back copies and translations of many works. I do not
trouble you with the Anglo-Saxon forms. (The only trace of these is
the use of c for k as in Celeb- beside Keleb-.)
All these histories are told by Elves and are not primarily
concerned with Men.
I have ventured to include 2 others.
(1) A 'Round World' version of the 'Music of the Ainur'.
(2) A 'Man's' version of the Fall of Numenor told from men's
point of view, and with names in a non-Elvish tongue. 'The
Drowning of Anadune . This also is Round World'.(1)
The Elvish myths are 'Flat World'. A pity really but it is too
integral to change it.
On the back of the paper he wrote: 'For the moment I cannot find the
Tale called The Rings of Power', and referred again in much the same
terms to 'two other tales' that he was 'enclosing'.
There is another draft for this letter which, while again undated,
was written from Merton College and addressed to Mrs. Katherine
Farrer, the wife of Dr. Austin Farrer, theologian and at that time
Chaplain of Trinity College:
Dear Mrs. Farrer,
These tales are feigned (I do not include their slender framework)
to be translated from the preserved work of AElfwine of England
(c.900 A.D.), who being blown west from Ireland eventually came
upon the 'straight road' and found the Lonely Isle, Tol Eressea,
beyond the seas.
There he learned ancient lore, and brought back translations and
excerpts from works of Elvish lore. The specimen of the 'Anglo-
Saxon' original is not included.
NB All these histories are told by the Elves, and are not primarily
concerned with Men.
I have ventured to' include, besides the 'Silmarillion' or main
chronicle, one or two other connected 'myths': 'The Music of the
Ainur', the Beginning; and the Later Tales:(2) 'The Rings of Power',
and 'The Fall of Numenor', which link up with Hobbit-lore of the
later or 'Third Age'.
Yours
JRRT.
The end of this, from 'and the Later Tales', was struck out and marked
'not included'.
It cannot be doubted that these were drafts for the undated letter to
Katherine Farrer which is printed as no.115 in The Letters of J. R. R.
Tolkien, for though there is not much left from these drafts in that
form of it, it contains the words 'I am distressed (for myself) to be
unable to find the <Rings of Power>, which with the Fall of
Numenor" is the link between the Silmarillion and the Hobbit world.'
My father said in the first of the two drafts given above that he was
including in the materials to be lent to Katherine Farrer 'two others',
one of which was 'a "Round World" version of the "Music of
Ainur"'; and this can be taken to mean that he was giving her two
versions, 'Flat World' and 'Round World'. Now there is preserved a
portion of a letter to him from Katherine Farrer, and on this my father
pencilled a date: 'October 1948'. She had by this time received and
read what he had given to her, and in the course of her illuminating
and deeply enthusiastic remarks she said: 'I like the Flat Earth versions
best. The hope of Heaven is the only thing which makes modern
astronomy tolerable: otherwise there must be an East and a West and
Walls: aims and choices and not an endless circle of wandering.'
It must have been when he was preparing the texts for her that he
wrote the words 'Flat World Version' and 'Round World Version' on
the texts B/C and C* of the Ainulindale'. Beyond this one can only go
by guesswork; but my guess is that the 'Flat World Version' was the
old B manuscript before it had been covered with the revisions and
new elements that constitute version C. It may be that Katherine
Farrer's opinion had some influence on my father in his decision to
make this new version C on the old manuscript - deriving much of it
from C', and emending C' in conformity with new readings. Thus:
- Ainulindale B, a manuscript of the 1930s. When lending this to
Katherine Farrer in 1948 he wrote on it 'Flat World Version'.
- A new version, lost apart from a single torn sheet, written in 1946.
- A typescript, Ainulindale C*, based on this text. When lending this
in 1948 he wrote on it 'Round World Version'.
- Ainulindale' C, made after the return of the texts by covering the
old B manuscript with new writing, and removing certain radically
innovative elements present in C*.
It would in this way be entirely explicable how it came about that the
typescript C* preceded the complicated and confusing revision (C) on
the old manuscript - this being the precursor of the last version of the
work that my father wrote, Ainulindale' 'D', made in all probability
not long after C.
Ainulindale C* was thus an experiment, conceived and composed,
as it appears, before the writing of The Return of the King, and
certainly before The Lord of the Rings was finished. It was set aside;
but as will appear later in this book, it was by no means entirely
forgotten.
C* should therefore in strict chronology be given first; but in view
of its peculiarities it cannot be made the base text. It is necessary
therefore to change the chronological order, and I give first version C
in full, following it with a full account of the development in the final
text D, and postponing consideration of C' to the end of Part One.
Before giving the text of C, however, there is another brief
document that has value for dating: this is a brief, isolated list of
names and their definitions headed Alterations in last revision 1951.(3)
Atani N[oldorin] Edain = Western Men or Fathers of Men
Pengolod(4)
Aman name of land beyond Pelori or mountains of Valinor, of
which Valinor is part
Melkor (5)
Arda Elvish name of Earth = our world. Also Kingdom of Arda =
fenced region. Field of Arda.
Illuin Lamp of North = Helkar (6)
Ormal Lamp of South = Ringil (6)
Isle of Almaren in the Great Lake
Valaroma = Horn of Orome
Eru = Iluvatar
Ea = Universe of that which Is
Not all these names were 'newly devised at this time, of course: thus
Eru and Arda go back to my father's work on The Notion Club Papers
and The Drowning of Anadune, as also does Aman (where however it
was the Adunaic name of Manwe).
In Ainulindale' C appear Arda, Melkor, and Pelori, but the Lamps
are called Foros and Hyaras, not Illuin and Ormal, and the Isle in the
Great Lake is Almar, not Almaren. The final text D, as originally
written, has Atani, Almaren and Aman, but Aman did not mean the
Blessed Realm; the Lamps are named Foronte and Hyarante, and the
Horn of Orome is Rombaras. These differences from the '1951 list'
show that Ainulindale' D was made before that time.
I give now the text of Ainulindale C in full. Since despite radical
changes in the structure and the addition of much new material a good
deal of the old form does survive, it is not really necessary to do so, but
to give it partly in the form of textual notes would make the
development very difficult to follow; and Ainulindale C is an import-
ant document in the history of the mythological conception of the
created Universe. The remodelling that constituted C out of B was in
fact done at different times, and is in places chaotic, full of changes
and substitutions; I do not attempt to disentangle the different layers,
but give the final form after all changes, with a few developments that
took place while C was in the making recorded in the notes that follow
the text (p. 22). I have numbered the paragraphs as a convenient
means of reference subsequently.
On the title-page the original words 'This was written by Rumil of
Tun' (V.156) were extended thus:
This was written by Rumil of Tuna
and was told to AElfwine in Eressea
(as he records)
by Pengolod the Sage
The form Tuna for Tun as the name of the city came in with the
earliest layer of emendation to QS (pre-Lord of the Rings, see V.225,
$39). Since the city is Tirion in The Lord of the Rings it might be
thought that this extension of the title was made in the earlier period;
but in a later version of the title-page (p. 30) my father retained 'Rumil
of Tuna', and in the Annals of Aman he frequently used Tuna (beside
Tirion) in general reference to 'the city on the hill' (see p. 90, $67).
It is not said in any of the title-pages to the texts of the earlier period
that Pengolod (Pengolod) actually instructed AElfwine himself he is
cited as the author of works which AElfwine saw and translated.(7)
The Music of the Ainur
and the Coming of the Valar.
These are the words that Pengolod (8) spake to AElfwine
concerning the beginning of the World.
$1 There was Iluvatar, the All-father, and he made first the
Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought,
and they were with him before aught else was made. And he
spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music, and they
sang before him, and he was glad. But for a long while they sang
only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened;
for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Iluvatar
from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren
they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to
deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony.
$2 And it came to pass that Iluvatar called together all the
Ainur, and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them
things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed;
and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end
amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Iluvatar and were
silent.
$3 Then said Iluvatar: 'Of the theme that I have declared to
you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great
Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperish-
able, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme,
each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit
and hearken and be glad that through you great beauty has been
wakened into song.'
$4 Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes,
and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto
countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme
of Iluvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless
interchanging melodies, woven in harmony, that passed beyond
hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of
the dwelling of Iluvatar were filled to overflowing, and the
music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it
was not void. Never since have the Ainur made any music like
to this music, though it has been said that a greater still shall be
made before Iluvatar by the choirs of the Ainur and the Children
of Iluvatar after the end of days.(9) Then shall the themes of
Iluvatar be played aright, and take Being in the moment of their
utterance, for all shall then understand his intent in their part,
and shall know the comprehension of each, and Iluvatar shall
give to their thoughts the secret fire, being well pleased.
$5 But now Iluvatar sat and hearkened, and for a great
while it seemed good to him, for in the music there were no
flaws. But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of
Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were
not in accord with the theme of Iluvatar; for he sought therein
to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself.
To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of
power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his
brethren; and he had gone often alone into the void places
seeking the Imperishable Flame. For desire grew hot within him
to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that
Iluvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of
its emptiness. Yet he found not the Fire, for it is with Iluvatar.
But being alone he had begun to conceive thoughts of his own
unlike those of his brethren.
$6 Some of these thoughts he now wove into his music, and
straightway discord arose about him, and many that sang nigh
him grew despondent and their thought was disturbed and their
music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his
rather than to the thought which they had at first. Then the
discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies that had
been heard at first foundered in a sea of turbulent sound. But
Iluvatar sat and hearkened, until it seemed that about his throne
there was a raging storm, as of dark waters that made war one
upon the other in an endless wrath that would not be assuaged.
$7 Then Iluvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he
smiled; and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began
amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it
gathered power and had new beauty. But the discord of Melkor
arose in uproar and contended with it, and there was again a
war of sound more violent than before, until many of the Ainur
were dismayed and played no longer, and Melkor had the
mastery. Then again Iluvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived
that his countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand;
and behold, a third theme grew amid the confusion, and it was
unlike the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere
rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies, but it could not
be quenched, and it grew, and it took to itself power and
profundity. And it seemed at last that there were two musics
progressing at one time before the seat of Iluvatar, and they
were utterly at variance. One was deep and wide and beautiful,
but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from
which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a
unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly
repeated, and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous
unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes. And it
essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice,
but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the
other and woven into its own solemn pattern.
$8 In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Iluvatar
shook and a tremor ran out into the silences yet unmoved,
Iluvatar arose a third time, and his face was terrible to behold.
Then he raised up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than
the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, more glorious than the
Sun, piercing as the light of the eye of Iluvatar, the Music
ceased.
$9 Then Iluvatar spoke, and he said: 'Mighty are the Ainur,
and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know,
and all the Ainur, that I am Iluvatar, those things that ye have
sung and played, lo! I will show them forth, that ye may see
what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme
may be played that has not its uttermost source in me, nor can
any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this
shall be but mine instrument in the devising of things more
wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.'
$10 Then the Ainur were afraid, and they did not yet
comprehend the words that were said to them; and Melkor was
filled with shame, of which came secret anger. But Iluvatar arose
in splendour, and he went forth from the fair regions that he
had made for the Ainur; and the Ainur followed him.
$11 But when they were come into the Void, Iluvatar said
to them: 'Behold your Music!' And he showed to them a vision,
giving to them sight where before was only hearing; and they
saw a new World made visible before them, and it was globed
amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but was not of it.
And as they looked and wondered this World began to unfold
its history, and it seemed to them that it lived and grew.
$12 And when the Ainur had gazed for a while and were
silent, Iluvatar said again: 'Behold your Music! This is your
minstrelsy; and each of you that had part in it shall find
contained there, within the design that I set before you, all those
things which it may seem that he himself devised or added. And
thou, Melkor, wilt discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind,
and wilt perceive that they are but a part of the whole and
tributary to its glory.'
$13 And many other things Iluvatar spoke to the Ainur at
that time, and because of their memory of his words, and the
knowledge that each has of the music which he himself made,
the Ainur know much of what was, and is, and is to come, and
few things are unseen by them. Yet some things there are that
they cannot see, neither alone nor taking counsel together (as
thou shalt hear, AElfwine); for to none but himself has Iluvatar
revealed all that he has in store, and in every age there come
forth things that are new and have no foretelling, for they do
not spring from the past. And so it was that, as this vision of the
World was played before them, the Ainur saw that it contained
things which they had not thought. And they saw with amaze-
ment the coming of the Children of Iluvatar, and the habitation
that was prepared for them; and they perceived that they
themselves in the labour of their music had been busy with the
preparation of this dwelling, and yet knew not that it had any
purpose beyond its own beauty. For the Children of Iluvatar
were conceived by him alone; and they came with the Third
Theme,(10) and were not in the theme which Iluvatar propounded
at the beginning, and none of the Ainur had part in their
making. Therefore when they beheld them, the more did they
love them, being things other than themselves, strange and free,
wherein they saw the mind of Iluvatar reflected anew and
learned yet a little more of his wisdom, which otherwise had
been hidden even from the Holy Ones.
$14 Now the Children of Iluvatar are Elves and Men, the
Firstborn and the Followers. And amid all the splendours of the
World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Iluvatar
chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in
the midst of the innumerable Stars. And this habitation might
seem a little thing to those who consider only the majesty of the
Ainur, and not their terrible sharpness - as who should take the
whole field of the Sun as the foundations of a pillar and so raise
it until the cone of its summit was more bitter than a needle - or
who consider only the immeasurable vastness of the World,
which still the Ainur are shaping, and not the minute precision
to which they shape all things therein. But thou must under-
stand, AElfwine, that when the Ainur had beheld this habitation
in a vision and had seen the Children of Iluvatar arise therein,
then many of the most mighty of the Holy Ones bent all their
thought and their desire towards that place. And of these
Melkor was the chief, even as he was in the beginning the
greatest of the Ainur who took part in the Music. And he
feigned, even to himself at first, that he desired to go thither and
order all things for the good of the Children of Iluvatar,
controlling the turmoils of the heat and the cold that had come
to pass through him. But he desired rather to subdue to his will
both Elves and Men, envying the gifts with which Iluvatar
promised to endow them; and he wished himself to have
subjects and servants, and to be called Lord, and to be a master
over other wills.
$15 But the other Ainur looked upon this habitation in the
Halls of Aman,(11) which the Elves call Arda, the Earth, and
looking upon light they were joyful, and their eyes seeing many
colours were filled with gladness; but because of the roaring of
the sea they felt a great unquiet. And they observed the winds
and the air, and the matters whereof the Middle-earth was
made,(12) of iron and stone and silver and gold and many
substances; but of all these water they most greatly praised. And
it is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the
Music of the Ainur, and many of the Children of Iluvatar
hearken still unsated to the voices of the sea, and yet know not
for what they listen.
$16 Now to water had that Ainu whom we call Ulmo most
turned his thought, and of all most deeply was he instructed by
Iluvatar in music. But of the airs and winds Manwe most had
pondered, who was the noblest of the Ainur. Of the fabric of
Earth had Aule thought, to whom Iluvatar had given skill and
knowledge scarce less than to Melkor; but the delight and pride
of Aule was in the deed of making, and in the thing made, and
not in possession nor in himself, wherefore he became a maker
and teacher, and none have called him lord.
$17 Now Iluvatar spake to Ulmo and said: 'Seest thou not
here in this little realm in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of
the innumerable Stars how Melkor hath made war upon thy
province? He hath bethought him of bitter cold immoderate,
and yet hath not destroyed the beauty of thy fountains, nor of
thy clear pools. Behold the snow, and the cunning work of frost!
Behold the towers and mansions of ice! Melkor hath devised
heats and fire without restraint, and hath not dried up thy
desire, nor utterly quelled the music of the sea. Behold rather the
height and glory of the clouds, and the everchanging mists and
vapours, and listen to the fall of rain upon the Earth! And in
these clouds thou art drawn yet nearer to Manwe, thy friend
whom thou lovest.'
$18 Then Ulmo answered: 'Yea, truly, Water is become
now fairer than my heart imagined, neither had my secret
thought conceived the snow-flake, nor in all my music was
contained the falling of the rain. Lo! I will seek Manwe, that he
and I may make melodies for ever and ever to thy delight!' And
Manwe and Ulmo have from the beginning been allied, and in
all things have served most faithfully the purpose of Iluvatar.
$19 But behold! even as Ulmo spoke, and while the Ainur
were yet gazing upon this vision, it was taken away and hidden
from their sight; and it seemed to them that in that moment they
perceived a new thing, Darkness, which they had not known
before, except in thought. But they had become enamoured of
the beauty of the vision, and engrossed in the unfolding of the
World which came there to being, and their minds were filled
with it; for the history was incomplete and the circles not
full-wrought when the vision was taken away, and there was
unrest among them.
$20 Therefore Iluvatar called to them and said: 'I know the
desire of your minds that what ye have seen should verily be,
not only in your thought, but even as ye yourselves are, and yet
other. Therefore I say: Let these things Be! And I will send forth
the flame imperishable into the Void, and it shall be at the heart
of the World, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will
may go down into it.' And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a
light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame; and they
knew that this was no vision only, but that Iluvatar had made a
new thing.
$21 Thus it came to pass that of the Holy Ones some abode
still with Iluvatar beyond the confines of the World; but others,
and among them many of the greatest and most fair, took the
leave of Iluvatar and descended into it. But this condition
Iluvatar made, or it is the necessity of their love, that their
power should henceforth be contained and bounded in the
World, and be within it for ever, so that they are its life and it is
theirs. And therefore, AElfwine, we name them the Valar, the
Powers of the World.
$22 But behold! when the Valar entered into the World
they were at first astounded and at a loss, for it was as if naught
was yet made which they had seen in vision, and all was but on
point to begin, and yet unshapen; and it was dark. For the Great
Music had been but the growth and flowering of thought in the
Timeless Halls, and the Vision only a foreshowing; but now
they had entered in at the beginning of Time, and the Valar
perceived that the World had been but foreshadowed and
foresung, and they must achieve it.
$23 So began their great labours in wastes unmeasured and
unexplored, and in ages uncounted and forgotten, until in the
Deeps of Time and in the midst of the vast.halls of the World
there came to be that hour and that place where was made the
habitation of the Children of Iluvatar. And in this work the
chief part was taken by Manwe and Aule and Ulmo. But
Melkor, too, was there from the first, and he meddled in all that
was done, turning it, if he might, to his own desires and
purposes; and he kindled great fires. When therefore Earth was
young and full of flame Melkor coveted it, and he said to the
Valar: 'This shall be my own kingdom! And I name it unto
myself!'
$24 But Manwe was the brother of Melkor in the mind of
Iluvatar, and he was the chief instrument of the second Theme
that Iluvatar had raised up against the discord of Melkor; and
he called unto himself others of his kin and many spirits both
greater and less, and they went down into the Halls of Aman
and aided Manwe, lest Melkor should hinder the fulfilment of
their labour for ever, and the Earth should wither ere it
flowered. And Manwe said unto Melkor: 'This kingdom thou
shalt not take for thine own, wrongfully, for many others have
laboured here no less than thou.' And there was strife between
Melkor and the Valar, and for a time Melkor departed and
withdrew to other regions and did there what he would, but the
Earth he could not put from his heart. For he was alone,
without friend or companion, and he had as yet but small
following; since of those that had attuned their music to his in
the beginning not all had been willing to go down with him into
the World, and few that had come would yet endure his
servitude.
$25 But the Valar now took to themselves shape and form;
and because they were drawn thither by love for the Children of
Iluvatar, for whom they hoped, they took shape after that
manner which they had beheld in the Vision of Iluvatar; save
only in majesty and splendour, for they are mighty and holy.
Moreover their shape comes of their knowledge and desire of
the visible World, rather than of the World itself, and they need
it not, save only as we use raiment, and yet we may be naked
and suffer no loss of our being. Therefore the Valar may walk
unclad, as it were, and then even the Eldar cannot clearly
perceive them, though they be present. But when they clad
themselves the Valar arrayed them in the form some as of male
and some as of female; for that difference of temper they had
even from their beginning, and it is but bodied forth in the
choice of each, not made by the choice; even as with us male
and female may be shown by the raiment, but is not made
thereby. And Manwe and Ulmo and Aule were as Kings; but
Varda was the Queen of the Valar, and the spouse of Manwe,
and her beauty was high and terrible and of great reverence.
Yavanna was her sister, and Yavanna espoused Aule; but
Nienna dwells alone, even as does Ulmo. And these with
Melkor are the Seven Great Ones of the Kingdom of Arda.(13)
But think not, AElfwine, that the shapes wherein the Great Ones
array themselves are at all times like unto the shapes of kings
and queens of the Children of Iluvatar; for at whiles they may
clothe them in their own thought, made visible in forms terrible
and wonderful. And I myself, long years agone, in the land of
the Valar (14) have seen Yavanna in the likeness of a Tree; and the
beauty and majesty of that form could not be told in words, not
unless all the things that grow in the earth, from the least unto
the greatest, should sing in choir together, making unto their
queen an offering of song to be laid before the throne of
Iluvatar.
$26 And behold! the Valar drew unto them many compan-
ions, some less, some well-nigh as great as themselves, and they
laboured in the ordering of the Earth, and the curbing of its
tumults. Then Melkor saw what was done, and that the Valar
walked upon Earth as powers visible, clad in the raiment of the
World, and were lovely and glorious to see, and blissful; and
that Earth was become as a garden for them, for its turmoils
were subdued. His envy grew then the greater within him; and
he also took visible form, but because of his mood, and the
malice that increased in him, that form was dark and terrible.
And he descended upon Earth in power and majesty greater
than any other of the Valar, as a mountain that wades in the sea
and has its head above the clouds and is clad in ice and crowned
with fire and smoke; and the light of his eyes was like a flame
that withers with heat and pierces with a deadly cold.
$27 Thus began the first battle of the Valar and Melkor for
the dominion of Arda; and of those tumults we know but little;
for know thou, AElfwine, what I have declared unto thee is come
from the Valar themselves, with whom we of the Eldalie spoke
in the land of Valinor, and we were instructed by them; but
little would they ever tell of the days of war ere the coming of
the Elves. But this we know: that the Valar endeavoured ever,
in despite of Melkor, to rule the Earth and to prepare it for the
coming of the Children; and they built lands, and Melkor
destroyed them; valleys they delved and Melkor raised them up;
mountains they carved and Melkor threw them down; seas they
hollowed and Melkor spilled them; and naught might come to
peace or lasting growth, for as surely as the Valar began a
labour so would Melkor undo it or corrupt it. And yet their
labour was not vain, and slowly the Earth was shaped and made
firm.
$28 But of all such matters, AElfwine, others shall tell thee,
or thou shalt read in other lore; for it is not my part at this time
to instruct thee in the history of the Earth. And now behold!
here is the habitation of the Children of Iluvatar established at
the last in the deeps of Time and amidst the innumerable stars.
And here are the Valar, the Powers of the World, contesting for
the possession of the jewel of Iluvatar; and thus thy feet are on
the beginning of the road.
Words of Pengolod (15)
$29 And when he had ended the Ainulindale', such as Rumil
had made it, Pengolod the Sage paused a while; and AElfwine
said to him: Little, you say, would the Valar tell to the Eldar of
the days before their coming: but do not the wise among you
know more of those ancient wars than Rumil has here set forth?
Or will you not tell me more of the Valar as they were when first
your kindred beheld and knew them?
$30 And Pengolod answered: Much of what I know or have
learned from the elders in lore, I have written; and what I have
written thou shalt read, if thou wilt, when thou hast learned
better the tongue of the Noldor and their scripts. For these
matters are too great and manifold to be spoken or to be taught
in speech within the brief patience and heedfulness of those of
mortal race. But some little more I may tell to thee now, since
thou askest it of me.
$31 This tale I have heard also among the loremasters of the
Noldor in ages past. For they tell us that the war began before
Arda was full-shaped, and ere yet there was anything that grew
or walked upon earth, and for long Melkor had the upper hand.
But in the midst of the war a spirit of great strength and
hardihood came to the aid of the Valar, hearing in the far
heaven that there was battle in the Little World. And he came
like a storm of laughter and loud song, and Earth shook under
his great golden feet. So came Tulkas, the Strong and the Merry,
whose anger passeth like a mighty wind, scattering cloud and
darkness before it. And Melkor was shaken by the laughter of
Tulkas, and fled from the Earth; and there was peace for a long
age. And Tulkas remained and became one of the Valar of the
kingdom of Arda; but Melkor brooded in the outer darkness,
and his hate was given to Tulkas for ever after. In that time the
Valar brought order to the seas and the lands and the moun-
tains, and they planted seeds; and since, when the fires had been
subdued or buried beneath the primeval hills, there was need of
Light they wrought two mighty lamps for the enlightening of
the Middle-earth which they had built amid the Encircling Seas,
and they set the lamps upon high pillars, loftier far than any of
the mountains of the later days. And one they raised near to the
North of Middle-earth, and it was named Foros; and the other
they raised in the South, and it was called Hyaras.(16) And the
light of the lamps of the Valar went out over the Earth so that
all was lit as it were in a changeless day. Then the seeds that the
Valar had planted began swiftly to sprout and to burgeon, and
there arose a multitude of growing things great and small,
grasses, and flowers of many colours, and trees whose blossom
was like snow. upon the mountains' but whose feet were
wrapped in the shadow of their mighty limbs. And beasts and
birds came forth and dwelt in the green plains or in the rivers
and the lakes, or walked in the darkness of the woods. And
richest was the growth of plant and beast in the midmost parts
of the Earth where the lights of both lamps met and were
blended. And there upon the isle of Almar (18) in a great lake was
the first dwelling of the gods, when all things were new, and
green was yet a marvel in the eyes of the makers.
$32 But at length Melkor returned in secret, and far in the
North where the light of Foros was only dim he made a hidden
dwelling. And he sent forth his power and turned again to evil
much that had been well begun, so that fens became rank and
poisonous and forests perilous and full of fear, and beasts
became monsters of horn and ivory and dyed the Earth with
blood. And when he saw his time he revealed himself and made
war again on the Valar, his brethren; and he threw down the
lamps, and a new darkness fell on the Earth, arid all growth
ceased; and in the fall of the lamps (which were very great) the
seas were lifted up in fury, and many lands were drowned. And
the Valar at that time had long dwelt upon an island in the
midst of the Earth,(19) but now they were forced to depart again.,
and they made their home in the uttermost West,(20) and they
fortified it; and they built many mansions in that land upon the
borders of the World which is called Valinor; and to fence that
land from the East they built the Pelori Valion,(21) the Mountains
of Valinor that were the highest upon Earth. Thence they came
with war against Melkor; but he had grown in stature and
malice, so that they could not at that time either overcome him
or take him captive, and he escaped from their wrath and built
himself a mighty fortress in the North of Middle-earth, and
delved great caverns underground, and gathered there many
lesser powers that seeing his greatness and growing strength
were now willing to serve him; and the name of that strong and
evil place was Utumno.
$33 Thus it was that Earth lay wrapped in darkness again,
save in Valinor, as the ages drew on to the hour appointed for
the coming of the Firstborn of the Children of Iluvatar. And in
the darkness Melkor dwelt, and still often walked abroad in
Middle-earth; and he wielded cold and fire, from the tops of the
mountains to the deep furnaces that are beneath them, and
whatsoever was violent or cruel or deadly in those days was laid
to his charge.
$34 And in Valinor dwelt the Valar and all their kin and
folk, and because of the bliss and beauty of that land they came
seldom to Middle-earth. Yet Yavanna, to whom all things that
grow are dear, forsook not the Earth (22) utterly, and leaving the
house of Aule and the light of Valinor she would come at times
and heal the hurts of Melkor; and returning she would ever urge
the Valar to that war with his evil power that they must surely
wage ere the coming of the Firstborn. And Orome also, the
hunter, rode at whiles in the darkness of the unlit forests,
sounding his mighty horn, whereat the shadows of Utumno,
and even Melkor himself, would flee away.
$35 In the midst of the Blessed Realm Aule dwelt, and
laboured long, for in the making of all things in that land he had
the chief part; and he wrought there many fair and shapely
things both openly and in secret. Of him comes the love and
knowledge of the Earth and of all those things that it contains,
whether the lore of those who do not make but seek only for the
understanding of what is, studying the fabric of the Earth and
the blending and mutation of its elements, or the lore of all
craftsmen: the tiller and the husbandman, the weaver, the
shaper of wood, or the forger of metals. [And Aule we name the
Friend of the Noldor, for of him they learned much in after
days, and they are the wisest and most skilled of the Elves. And
in their own fashion, according to their own gifts which Iluvatar
gave to them, they added much to his teaching, delighting in
tongues and alphabets and in the figures of broidery, of
drawing, and of carving. And the Noldor it was who achieved
the invention of gems, which were not in the world before their
coming; and the fairest of all gems were the Silmarils, and they
are lost.](23)
$36 But Manwe Sulimo, highest and holiest of the Valar,
sat upon the borders of the West, forsaking not in his thought
the Outer Lands. For his throne was set in majesty upon the
pinnacle of Taniquetil, which was the highest of the mountains
of the world, standing upon the margin of the Seas. Spirits in the
shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and
their eyes could see to the depths of the sea and could pierce the
hidden caverns under the world, and their wings could bear
them through the three regions of the firmament beyond the
lights of heaven to the edge of Darkness. Thus they brought
word to him of well nigh all that passed in Aman:(24) yet some
things were hidden even from the eyes of Manwe, for where
Melkor sat in his dark thought impenetrable shadows lay. With
Manwe dwelt Varda the most beautiful, whom the Noldor
name Elbereth, Queen of the Valar; she it was who wrought the
stars. And the children of Manwe and Varda are Fionwe Urion
their son, and Ilmare their daughter;(25) and these were the eldest
of the children of the Valar. They dwelt with Manwe, and with
them were a great host of fair spirits in great blessedness. Elves
and Men revere Manwe most of all the Valar, for he has no
thought for his own honour, and is not jealous of his power, but
ruleth all to peace. [The Lindar he loved most of all the Elves,
and of him they received song and poesy. For poesy is the
delight of Manwe, and the song of words is his music.](26)
Behold, the raiment of Manwe is blue, and blue is the fire of his
eyes, and his sceptre is of sapphire which the Noldor wrought
for him; and he is King of the world of gods and elves and men,
and the chief defence against Melkor.
$37 But Ulmo was alone, and he abode not in Valinor, but
dwelt from the beginning of Arda in the Outer Ocean, as he still
does; and thence he governed the flowing of all waters, and
the courses of all rivers, the replenishment of springs and the
distilling of rain and dew throughout the world. In the deep
places he gives thought to music great and terrible; and the echo
thereof runs through all the veins of the Earth,(27) and its joy is as
the joy of a fountain in the sun whose springs are in the wells of
unfathomed sorrow at the foundations of the world. The Teleri
learned much of him, and for this reason their music has both
sadness and enchantment. Salmar came with him, who made
the conches of Ulmo; and Osse and Uinen, to whom he gave
control of the waves and of the inner seas; and many other
spirits beside. And thus even under the darkness of Melkor life
coursed still through many secret lodes, and the Earth did not
die; and ever afterward to all who were lost in that darkness or
wandered far from the light of the Valar the ear of Ulmo was
open, nor has he ever forsaken Middle-earth, and whatsoever
may since have befallen of ruin or change he has not ceased to
take thought for it, nor will until the end.(28)
$38 After the departure of the Valar there was silence for an
age, and Iluvatar sat alone in thought. Then Iluvatar spake, and
he said: 'Behold I love the world, and it is a mansion for Elves
and Men. But the Elves shall be the fairest of earthly creatures,
and they shall have and shall conceive more beauty than all my
children, and they shall have greater bliss in this world. But to
Men I will give a new gift.'
$39 Therefore he willed that the hearts of Men should seek
beyond the world and find no rest therein; but they should have
a virtue to fashion their life, amid the powers and chances of the
world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is as fate to all
things else. And of their operation everything should be, in
shape and deed, completed, and the world fulfilled unto the last
and smallest. Lo! even we, Elves, have found to our sorrow that
Men have a strange power for good or ill, and for turning things
aside from the purpose of Valar or of Elves; so that it is said
among us that Fate is not master of the children of Men; yet are
they blind, and their joy is small, which should be great.
$40 But Iluvatar knew that Men, being set amid the tur-
moils of the powers of the world, would stray often, and would
not use their gift in harmony; and he said: 'These too, in their
time, shall find that all they do redounds at the end only to the
glory of my work.' Yet the Elves say that Men are often a grief
even unto Manwe, who knows most of the mind of Iluvatar. For
Men resemble Melkor most of all the Ainur, and yet he hath
ever feared and hated them, even those who served him.(29) It is
one with this gift of freedom that the children of Men dwell only
a short space in the world alive, and yet are not bound to it, and
depart whither we know not. Whereas the Eldar remain until
the end of days, and their love of the world is deeper, therefore,
and more sorrowful. But they die not, till the world dies, unless
they are slain or waste in grief - for to both these seeming
deaths they are subject - nor does age subdue their strength,
unless one grow weary of ten thousand centuries; and dying
they are gathered in the halls of Mandos in Valinor, whence
often they return and are reborn in their children. But the sons
of Men die indeed, and leave the World; wherefore they are
called the Guests, or the Strangers. Death is their fate, the gift of
Iluvatar unto them, which as Time wears even the Powers shall
envy. But Melkor hath cast his shadow upon it, and confounded
it with darkness, and brought forth evil out of good, and fear
out of hope. Yet it is said that they will join in the Second Music
of the Ainur, whereas Iluvatar has not revealed what he
purposes for Elves and Valar after the World's end; and Melkor
has not discovered it.
NOTES.
1. It was not until after the publication of Sauron Defeated that I
remembered the existence of this reference to The Drowning of
Anadune as 'a "Man's" version of the Fall of Numenor told from
men s point of view, and the description of it as Round World,
see IX.394 - 5, 406.
2. The first page of the third version of The Fall of Numenor
(IX.331) is headed 'The Last Tales', and the tale itself numbered
'1'.
3. I have referred to this list before, in V.294 and 338. In the latter
passage I took the 'revision' to be that of the Quenta Silmarillion;
but since not all the names in the list occur in it the reference may
be more general.
4. Pengolod: i.e. not Pengolod. See note 15.
5. Melkor: i.e. not Melko; see V.338.
6. The names Helkar and Ringil were struck through at the time of
writing; this was a shorthand, meaning 'llluin and Ormal replace
Helkar and Ringil, which are rejected.' See note 16.
7. On AElfwine in Tol Eressea see my summary in IX.279 - 80.
8. Rumil in Ainulindale' B (V.156).
9. See V.164 note 2.
10. There was no suggestion in the earlier versions that the Children
of Iluvatar entered the Music with the Third Theme.
11. Here and in $24 my father wrote the Halls of Anar, changing
Anar to Aman later (cf. notes 13 and 24). On the use of these
names see pp. 28, 44.
12. See V.164 note 9.
13. Kingdom of Arda replaced Kingdom of Anar at the time of
writing; cf. note 11.
14. Pengolod refers to the time before the Flight of the Noldor.
15. These words were pencilled lightly on the manuscript. The name
is clearly spelt Pengolod here and in the paragraph that follows,
but Pengolod in $30.
16. In the Ambarkanta the northern lamp was Helkar, the southern
Ringil; see p. 7 and note 6, and IV.256.
17. In the Quenta Silmarillion $38 (V.222), repeating the words of
the Quenta (IV.87), it was said that 'the first flowers that ever
were east of the Mountains of the Gods' bloomed on the western
shores of Tol Eressea in the light of the Trees that came through
the Pass of Kalakilya.
18. The name of the isle was first written Eccuile, changed at once to
Eremar, which was subsequently altered to Almar (Almaren in
the list of alterations made in 1951, p. 7).
19. The concluding sentence of $31 concerning the dwelling of the
Valar on 'the isle of Almar in a great lake' was an addition to the
main body of the new text; hence the repetition here.
20. My father first wrote here: 'in the uttermost parts of Andune'.
21. The name Pelori (Valion) first occurs here; it is found also (under
Aman) in the list of alterations made in 1951 (p. 7).
22. My father first wrote here 'world', changing it at once to 'earth',
which I have capitalised - as also at two other occurrences:
capitalisation is inconsistent in Ainulindale' C, partly owing to the
retention of passages from the original text B.
23. The square brackets enclosing this passage (developed from
Ainulindale' B, V.162) probably imply its proposed exclusion.
24. The words in Aman were added later, at the same time as the
change of the Halls of Anar to the Halls of Aman in $$15, 24 (see
note 11).
25. See V.165 note 20.
26. As note 23.
27. Ainulindale' B has 'all the veins of the world': this was changed to
'of the Earth', I think simply to avoid repetition, since the
sentence ends with 'the foundations of the world'.
28. From this point there is no indication on the manuscript of my
father's intention, but in view of the next version D it seems clear
that we are to continue with the concluding portion of the old B
text (from 'After the departure of the Valar ...', V.163). In D,
however, there is an intervening passage (see pp. 35 - 6) that
makes the conclusion more integral with what precedes. - These
final paragraphs ($$38 - 40) were left largely unchanged (though
with significant alterations in $40) from the text of B, but I give it
in full in order to provide a complete text at this point.
29. This was changed from the B version 'For Men resemble Melko
most of all the Ainur, and yet have ever feared and hated him.'
Commentary on the Ainulindale text C.
The revision C introduces a radical re-ordering of the original matter
of the Ainulindale', together with much that is new; and it is easiest to
show this in the form of a table. This table is in no sense a synopsis of
the content, but simply a scheme to show the structural interrelations.
B C
The playing of the Music The playing of the Music
Discord of Melko, the Three Discord of Melkor, the Three
Themes Themes
Declaration of Iluvatar to the Ainur: Declaration of Iluvatar to the Ainur:
the Music has been given Being; 'I will show forth the things that
the things that Melko has intro- you have played'
duced into the Design
The Ainur see the World made real The Ainur see the World in vision;
they see the coming of the Children
of Iluvatar
Elves and Men made by Iluvatar
alone; the love of the Ainur for
them
Desire of the Ainur for the World,
and the desire of Melkor to have
dominion in it
Joy of the Ainur in the elements of Joy of the Ainur in the elements of
the Earth the Earth
Ulmo's concern with waters, Man- Ulmo's concern with waters, Man-
we's with the airs, Aule's with the we's with the airs, Aule's with the
fabric of the Earth fabric of the Earth
Desire of the Ainur for the World,
and the desire of Melko to have
dominion in it
Elves and Men made by Iluvatar
alone; nature of the Children and
their relations with the Ainur
The vision of the World taken away;
l unrest of the Ainur
Iluvatar gives Being to the vision
Entry of the Ainur into the World Entry of the Ainur into the World
Melko walked alone; Ulmo dwelt in
the Outer Ocean; Aule in Valinor;
Manwe with Varda on Taniquetil.
Relations with the Teleri, Noldor,
Lindar
The forms taken by the Valar, some
male, some female
The World unshaped; agelong
labours of the Valar
Strife between Melkor and the Valar;
withdrawal of Melkor from the
Earth
The forms taken by the Valar, some
male, some female: 'I have seen
Yavanna'
Melkor's return; first battle of the
Valar for the dominion of Arda;
elemental strife
End of the Ainulindale' of Rumil
told to AElfwine by Pengolod
Words of Pengolod
Question of AElfwine and reply of
Pengolod:
Coming of Tulkas and rout of Mel-
kor
Building of the Lamps. Earth illu-
mined; arising of birds and beasts
and flowers
Dwelling of the Valar on the island in
the great lake
Secret return of Melkor; blight and
monstrosity spread from his hid-
den dwelling in the North; he cast
down the Lamps
Retreat of the Valar into the West
and foundation of Valinor
The Valar came with war against
Melkor but could not overcome
him; Melkor built Utumno
Melkor walked abroad in Middle-
earth
The Valar came seldom to Middle-
earth save Yavanna and Orome
Aule dwelt in Valinor; Manwe with
Varda on Taniquetil; Ulmo in the
Outer Ocean. Relations with the
Noldor, Lindar, Teleri
After the departure of the Valar, Iluvatar's
silence, and then his declaration concerning
Elves and Men: the gift of freedom and death
to Men; nature of the immortality of the Elves
End of the Ainulindale spoken
by Rumil to AElfwine
The central shift in the myth of the Creation lies of course in the fact
that in the old form, when the Ainur contemplate the World and find
joy in its contemplation and desire it, the World has been given Being
by Iluvatar, whereas in C it is a Vision that has not been given Being.
With this may be compared my father's words in the account of his
works written for Milton Waldman in 1951 (Letters no.131, p. 146):
They [the Valar] are 'divine', that is, were originally 'outside' and
existed 'before' the making of the world. Their power and wisdom
is derived from their Knowledge of the cosmogonical drama, which
they perceived first as a drama (that is as in a fashion we perceive a
story composed by someone else), and later as a 'reality'.
In the Vision, moreover, in which the Ainur see the unfolding of the
history of the World as yet unmade, they see the arising within it of
the Children of Iluvatar ($13); and when the Vision is made real and
the Ainur descend into the World, it is their knowledge and love of the
Children of Iluvatar who are to be that directs their shape and form
when they make themselves visible ($25). Several passages in letters of
my father from the years 1956 - 8 bear closely on these conceptions
(see Letters nos.181, 200, 212).
But the nature and extent of the Ainulindale' is also greatly changed;
it contains now the first battle of Melkor with the Valar for the
dominion of Arda, but it does not contain the original concluding
passage concerning Iluvatar's Gift to Men, nor the accounts of
Manwe, Ulmo and Aule: these latter, together with much new
material concerning the first wars in Arda, are placed in a sort of
Appendix, the Words of Pengolod to AElfwine. This is reminiscent of
the original Music of the Ainur in The Book of Lost Tales, with
AElfwine (Eriol) appearing in person as questioner.
In the pre-Lord of the Rings texts Melko's part in the beginning of
Earth's history was conceived far more simply. As late as the
Ambarkanta (IV.238) the story was that
the Valar coming into the World descended first upon Middle-earth
at its centre, save Melko who descended in the furthest North. But
the Valar took a portion of land and made an island and hallowed
it, and set it in the Western Sea and abode upon it, while they were
busied in the exploration and first ordering of the World. As is told
they desired to make lamps, and Melko offered to devise a new
substance of great strength and beauty to be their pillars. And he set
up these great pillars north and south of the Earth's middle yet
nearer to it than the chasm; and the Gods placed lamps upon them
and the Earth had light for a while.
In the Quenta Silmarillion (V.208) and the Later Annals of Valinor
(V.110-11) there is no suggestion that Melko departed from the Earth
after the first coming of the Valar, and indeed the cosmology described
in the Ambarkanta could not allow of it: as I said in my commentary
(IV.253):
It is not indeed explained in the Ambarkanta how the Valar entered
the world at its beginning, passing through the impassable Walls,
and perhaps we should not expect it to be. But the central idea at
this time is clear: from the Beginning to the Great Battle in which
Melko was overthrown, the world with all its inhabitants was
inescapably bounded; but at the very end, in order to extrude Melko
into the Void, the Valar were able to pierce the Walls by a Door.
The far more complex account in the new work of the movements of
Melkor and of his strife with the Valar is an indication at once,
therefore, that shifts have taken place in the cosmology.
In the Ainulindale' proper it is now told that Melkor entered the
World with the other Ainur at the beginning - he 'was there from the
first', and claimed Earth for his own ($23); but he was alone, and
unable to resist the Valar, and he 'withdrew to other regions' ($24).
There followed the labours of the Valar 'in the ordering of the Earth,
and the curbing of its tumults', and Melkor saw from afar that 'Earth
was become as a garden for them'; then in envy and malice he
'descended upon Earth' to begin 'the first battle of the Valar and
Melkor for the dominion of Arda' ($$26 - 7). The words 'Earth was
become as a garden for them' are not to be interpreted as a reference to
the 'Spring of Arda', for the description of this follows in the Words of
Pengolod; where appears also the wholly new element that Tulkas was
not one of the Ainur who entered the World at the beginning, but
came only when 'in the far heaven' he heard of the war 'in the Little
World' ($31).
Then follows the building of the Lamps and the Spring of Arda; for
Melkor had fled from the Earth a second time, routed by Tulkas, and
'brooded in the outer darkness'. At the end of 'a long age' he came
back in secret to the far North of Middle-earth, whence his evil power
spread, and whence he came against the Valar in renewed war, and
cast down the Lamps ($32). Then the Valar departed from the island
of Almar in the great lake and made their dwelling in the uttermost
West; and from Valinor they came against Melkor again. But they
could not defeat him; and at that time he built Utumno. There are thus
four distinct periods of strife between Melkor and the Valar, and he
departed out of Arda and returned to it twice.
We are brought therefore to the forbidding problem of the under-
lying conception of the World in this phase of my father's later work.
In the original Music of the Ainur in The Book of Lost Tales Iluvatar
'fashioned [for the Ainur] dwellings in the void, and dwelt among
them' (I.52); at the end of the Music he 'went forth from his dwellings,
past those fair regions he had fashioned for the Ainur, out into the
dark places' (I.55); and 'when they reached the midmost void they
beheld a sight of surpassing beauty and wonder where before had been
emptiness': 'the Ainur marvelled to see how the world was globed
amid the void and yet separated from it' (1.55-6). This may not be a
simple conception, but it is pictorially simple. In Ainulindale' B it was
not changed (V.159). In the Ambarkanta 'the World' (Ilu) is 'globed'
within the invisible, impassable Walls of the World (Ilurambar), and
'the World is set amid Kuma, the Void, the Night without form or
time' (IV.235-7). I take these accounts to be in agreement. 'The
World' comprises 'the Earth' (Ambar), the region of the heavenly
bodies that pass over it, and the Outer Sea (Vaiya), 'more like to sea
below the Earth and more like to air above the Earth', which enfolds
or 'englobes' all (IV.236).
In C, likewise, Iluvatar 'went forth from the fair regions that he had
made for the Ainur', and they came into the Void ($$10 - 11). There
Iluvatar showed them a Vision, 'and they saw a new World... globed
amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but was not of it'
(repeating the words of B, though they were here written out anew).
But then it is said in C ($14) that 'amid all the splendours of the
World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Iluvatar chose a
place for their habitation [i.e. the habitation of the Children of
Iluvatar] in the Deeps of Time and in the midst 'of the innumerable
Stars.' This habitation is 'Arda, the Earth', which is 'in the Halls of
Aman' ($15). When Iluvatar gave Being to the Vision, he said ($20):
'Let these things Be! And I will send forth the flame imperishable into
the Void, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall
Be; and those of you that will may go down into it.' Some of the Ainur
'abode still with Iluvatar beyond the confines of the World' ($21); but
those who 'entered into the World' ($22) are the Valar, the Powers of
the World, and they laboured 'in wastes unmeasured and unexplored
... until in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the vast halls of the
World there came to be that hour and that place where was made the
habitation of the Children of Iluvatar' ($23). It is also said ($24) that
the lesser spirits who aided Manwe 'went down into the Halls of
Aman'. It is clear that 'the Halls of Aman' are equivalent to 'the
World' (and indeed in the following text D the reading of C in $23 'the
vast halls of the World' becomes 'the vast halls of Aman'). I am unable
however to cast any light on the use of the name Aman in the later
Ainulindale' texts. In The Drowning of Anadune, where it first
appeared, it was the Adunaic name of Manwe, but that meaning is
surely not present here.
It emerges then that the word 'World' is explicitly used in a new
sense. In the Ambarkanta diagram I (IV.243) Ilu is 'the World', the
Earth and Sky, two halves of a globe itself globed within Vaiya. In C
Arda, the Earth, the habitation of Elves and Men, is within 'the
World', 'the Halls of Aman'. The evident fact that my father also used
'World' in another sense in C (the clearest case being 'that land upon
the borders of the World which is called Valinor', $32) does not make
matters any easier, but does not contradict this distinction.
In order to understand the implications of this change, it must first
4
be asked: What can be said of the nature of Arda in this new
conception?
In the Ambarkanta diagram I my father long afterwards changed
the title-word Ilu to Arda (IV.242). He would scarcely have done this
if the conceptions behind the two names did not continue to bear a
substantial resemblance to each other. Arda, then, retains major
characteristics of the image of Ilu, and this is shown by what is said in
the text of C itself: as that Ulmo 'dwelt from the beginning of Arda in
the Outer Ocean' and the echo of his music 'runs through all the veins
of the Earth ($37), or that the spirits flying from Manwe s halls in the
shape of hawks and eagles were borne by their wings 'through the
three regions of the firmament' ($36).
On this basis it may be said that the major difference in the new
conception is that while Arda is physically the same as Ilu, it is no
longer 'the World globed amid the Void': for Arda is within 'the
World' - which is itself 'globed amid the Void' ($11).
But we at once meet with a serious difficulty - and there was no
second Ambarkanta to help in resolving it. For 'the World', 'the Halls
of Aman', which surrounds Arda, is not the Void: though Arda 'might
seem a little thing to those ... who consider only the immeasurable
vastness of the World' ($14), the World is spatially defined ('globed',
$11), and it contains 'splendours ... and wheeling fires'; and Iluvatar
chose the habitation of the Children, which is Arda, 'in the midst of
the innumerable Stars'. How can this possibly be brought into
agreement with the idea (IV.241, 243) of the Tinwe-malle, the path of
the stars, which is the 'middle air' of Ilmen, the second region of the
firmament of Ilu? Yet in C ($36) the spirits that fly from Taniquetil
pass through 'the three regions of the firmament beyond the lights of
heaven to the edge of Darkness'. Since this derives without change
from B (V.162), and since C is a reworking of the actual B manuscript,
it might be thought that this passage was retained unintentionally; but
in fact it comes in a part of the text that was written entirely anew, not
emended on the original manuscript (much of C was written anew
even when the old text was being largely followed).
It has been seen (p. 27) that the greatly enlarged history of Melkor
and the Valar in the beginning depends in part on the changed
cosmology, for he twice departed out of Arda. This raises the question
of the passage of the Walls of the World, and indeed of the form which
that conception now took: for, as will be seen, the idea of the Walls
had not been abandoned. But I postpone further discussion of this
baffing topic until subsequent texts that bear on it are reached.
Ainulindale D.
This next version of the Ainulindale is a manuscript of unusual
splendour, with illuminated capitals and a beautiful script, in which for
a part of its length my father made use of Anglo-Saxon letter-forms -
even to the extent of using old abbreviations, as the letter 'thorn' with
a stroke across the stem for 'that'. This feature at once associates it
closely with Ainulindale' C, where in the long passages of new text
written on the old manuscript he did the same here and there. There
can in any case be little question that this new version belongs closely
in time with C, which was a very difficult and chaotic text and had to
be given more lucid form; and it shares the common characteristic of the
various series of my father's manuscripts of beginning as a close (indeed
in this case almost an exact) copy of the exemplar but diverging more
and more markedly as it proceeds. In this case I give the full text only
for certain passages, and for the rest list the changes (other than a
small number of slight stylistic changes of a word or two without
significance for the conception) by reference to the paragraphs of C.
The text of D was subsequently emended, though not very heavily,
in several 'layers', the earlier made with care, the later roughly; where
of any importance these are shown as such in the textual representa-
tion that follows.
D has a fine separate title-page, with Ainulindale' in tengwar, and
then:
Ainulindale
The Music of the
Ainur
This was made by Rumil of Tuna in the Elder
Days. It is here written as it was spoken in
Eressea to AElfwine by Pengolod the Sage. To it
are added the further words that Pengolod
spoke at that time concerning the Valar, the
Eldar and the Atani; of which more is said
hereafter
The first page of the text is headed Ainulindale' (written also in
tengwar), and is then as in C (p. 8), with the following added sub-
sequently: 'First he recited to him the Ainulindale as Rumil made it.'
$13 '(as thou shalt hear, AElfwine)' omitted.
$14 'the whole field of the Sun'; D 'the whole field of Arda'
$15 'the Halls of Aman' as in C; not subsequently emended (see
p. 37).
$16 As written, D retained the reading of C: 'and not in possession
nor in himself, wherefore he became a maker and teacher, and
none have called him Lord.' This was emended to: 'and neither
in possession nor in his own mastery; wherefore he gives and
hoards not, and is free from care, passing ever on to some new
work.' The new text being in the present tense conflicts with
'the delight ... of Aule was in the deed of making' just
preceding.
$17 'Behold the towers and mansions of ice!' omitted, perhaps
inadvertently.
$19 After 'when the vision was taken away' there is a footnote that
seems to have been an early addition:
And some have said that the Vision ceased ere the fulfilment
of the Dominion of Men and the fading of the Firstborn;
wherefore, though the Music is over all, the Valar have not
seen as with sight the Later Ages or the ending of the World.
Quoth Pengolod
$20 Before 'Let these things Be!' the word 'Ea!' was added subse-
quently; and after 'Iluvatar had made a new thing' was added
'Ea, the World that Is.'
$23 'in the midst of the vast halls of the World'; D 'in the midst of
the vast halls of Aman'; 'Aman' here later emended to 'Ea' (see
note 15 above, and p. 37).
$24 'they went down into the Halls of Aman'; D 'they came down
into the fields of Arda'
'but the Earth he could not put from his heart'; D 'but he did not
put the desire of the kingdom of Arda from his heart'
The concluding passage of this paragraph, from 'For he was
alone, without friend or companion...', omitted.
$25 'shape and form'; 'form' emended in D to 'hue'.
$27 But this we know:,. D But this said Rumil in the end of the
Ainulindale' which I have recounted to thee."
'the coming of the Children'; D 'the coming of the Firstborn'
'And yet their labour was not vain, and slowly the Earth was
shaped and made firm'; D 'And yet their labour was not all in
vain; and though nowhere and in no work was their will and
purpose wholly fulfilled, and all things were in hue and shape
other than the Valar had at first intended, slowly nonetheless the
Earth was fashioned and made firm.'
Heading before $29: 'Words of Pengolod'; D 'Here are the words of
Pengolod to AElfwine'
$29 'Pengolod'; D 'Pengolod' (but 'Pengolod' in C $30)
$31 'the loremasters of the Noldor'; D 'the loremasters'
'the Little World'; D 'the Little Kingdom'
After the passage about the coming of Tulkas in $31 the text of D
shows so many changes from C that I give the next part in full.
In that time the Valar brought order to the seas and the lands
and the mountains, and Yavanna planted at last the seeds that
she had long devised. And since, when the fires had been
subdued or buried beneath the primeval hills, there was need of
light, Aule wrought two mighty lamps for the enlightenment of
the Middle-earth which he had built amid the Encircling Seas.
Then Varda filled the lamps and Manwe hallowed them, and
the Valar set them upon high pillars, more lofty far than are any
mountains of the later days. One lamp they raised near to the
North of Middle-earth, and it was named [Foronte >] Illuin;
and the other was raised in the South, and it was named
[Hyarante >] Ormal; and the light of the Lamps of the Valar
flowed out ever the Earth, so that all was lit as it were in a
changeless Day.
Then the seeds that Yavanna had sown began swiftly to
sprout and to burgeon, and there arose a multitude of growing
things great and small, [grasses, and flowers of many hues, and
trees whose blossom was like snow upon the mountains, so tall
were they, >] mosses and grasses, and great ferns, and trees
whose tops were crowned with cloud as they were living
mountains, / but whose feet were wrapped in a green twilight.
And beasts [struck out: and birds] came forth and dwelt in the
grassy plains, or in the rivers and the lakes, or walked in the
shadow of the woods. [And richest was the growth of plant and
beast in the midmost >] As yet no flower had bloomed nor any
bird had sung, for these things waited still their time in the
bosom of Palurien; but wealth there was of her imagining, and
nowhere more rich than in the midmost / parts of the Earth,
where the light of both the Lamps met and blended. And there
upon the Isle of Almaren in the Great Lake was the first
dwelling of the gods when all things were young, and new-made
green was yet a marvel in the eyes of the [makers. >] makers;
and they were long content.
$32 But at length Melkor returned in secret, and far in the
North, where the beams of [Foronte >] Illuin were cold and
dim, he made a hidden dwelling. Thence he sent forth his power
and turned again to evil much that had been well begun; so that
green things fell sick and rotted, and rivers were choked with
weeds and slime, and fens were made, rank and poisonous, and
the breeding place of flies; and forests grew dark and perilous,
the haunts of fear; and beasts became monsters of horn and
ivory and dyed the earth with blood. And when he saw his time,
Melkor revealed himself, and he made war again on the Valar
his brethren; and he threw down the Lamps, and a new
darkness fell, and all growth ceased. And in the fall of the
Lamps, which were very great, the seas were lifted up in fury,
and many lands were drowned. Then the Valar were driven
from their abode in Almaren, and they removed from the
Middle-earth, and made their horne in the uttermost West,
[added:] in Aman the Blessed, / and they fortified it against the
onslaught of Melkor. Many mansions they built in that land
upon the borders of the world which is since called Valinor,
whose western marges fall into the mists of the Outer Sea, and
whose fences against the East are the [Pelori >] Pelore Valion,
the Mountains of Valinor, highest upon Earth.
Thence they came at last with a great host against Melkor, to
wrest from him the rule of the Middle-earth; but he now had
grown in malice and in strength and was master of many
monsters and evil things, so that they could not at that time
overcome him utterly, nor take him captive; and he escaped
from their wrath, and lay hid until they had departed. Then he
returned to his dwelling in the North, and there built for himself
a mighty fortress, and delved great caverns underground secure
from assault, and he gathered to him many lesser powers that
seeing his greatness and growing strength were now willing to
serve him; and the name of that evil fastness was Utumno.
$33 Thus it was that the Earth lay darkling again, save only
in Valinor, as the ages drew on to the hour appointed by
Iluvatar for the coming of the Firstborn. And in the darkness
Melkor dwelt, and still often walked abroad, in many shapes of
power and fear; and he wielded cold and fire, from the tops of
the mountains to the deep furnaces that are beneath them; and
whatsoever was cruel or violent or deadly in those days is laid to
his charge.
$34 But in Valinor the Valar dwelt with all their kin and
folk, and because of the beauty and bliss of that realm they
came seldom now to Middle-earth, but gave to the Land beyond
the Mountains their chief care and love.
D omits the remainder of C $34 concerning the visits of Yavanna
and Orome to Middle-earth (see p. 35), and continues from the
beginning of C $35: 'And in the midst of the Blessed Realm were the
mansions of Aule, and there he laboured long.' From this point D
becomes again much closer to C, and the differences can be given in
the form of notes.
$35 'Of him comes the love and knowledge of the Earth'; D 'Of him
comes the lore...' (both readings certain).
'the fabric of the Earth'; D 'the fabric of the world'
'the tiller and the husbandman, the weaver, the shaper of wood,
or the forger of metals'; D 'the weaver, the shaper of wood, and
the worker in metals; and the tiller and the husbandman also.
Though these last and all that deal with things that grow and
bear fruit must 'look also to the spouse of Aule, Yavanna
Palurien.'
The passage concerning the Noldor, bracketed in C, was
retained in D, with change of 'and they are the wisest and most
skilled of the Elves' to 'and they are the most skilled of the Elves'
$36 'all that passed in Aman' retained in D (cf. note to $23 above).
'from the eyes of Manwe'; D 'from the eyes of Manwe and the
servants of Manwe'
'she it was who wrought the Stars' altered (late) in D to 'she it
was who wrought the Great Stars'
Immediately following this a passage in D is very heavily inked
out, so that it is totally illegible; but it was obviously the passage
that follows here in C: 'And the children of Manwe and Varda
are Fionwe Urion their son, and Ilmare their daughter; and these
were the eldest of the children of the Valar. They dwelt with
Manwe'. A semi-colon was placed after 'Stars', and D as
emended continues with 'and with them were a great host of fair
spirits', &c.
The passage concerning the Lindar, bracketed in C, was re-
tained in D, with a late change of 'Lindar' to 'Vanyar'.
'and the chief defence against Melkor'; D 'the vicegerent of
Iluvatar, and the chief defence against the evil of Melkor.'
From the beginning of $37 I give the text of D in full to the end of
the work.
$37 But Ulmo was alone, and he abode not in Valinor, nor
ever came thither unless there was need for a great council: he
dwelt from the beginning of Arda in the Outer Ocean, and still
he dwells there. Thence he governed the flowing of all waters,
and the ebbing, the courses of all rivers and the replenishment of
springs, the distilling of all dews and rain in every land beneath
the sky. In the deep places he gives thought to musics great and
terrible; and the echo thereof runs through all the veins of the
world in sorrow and in joy; for if joyful is the fountain that rises
in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathomed at
the foundations of the Earth. The Teleri learned much of Ulmo,
and for this reason their music has both sadness and enchant-
ment. Salmar came with him to Arda, he who made the conches
of Ulmo that none may ever forget who once has heard them;
and Osse and Uinen also, to whom he gave the government of
the waves and the movements of the Inner Seas, and many other
spirits beside. And thus it was [added:] by the power of
Ulmo I that even under the darkness of Melkor life coursed still
through many secret lodes, and the Earth did not die; and to all
who were lost in that darkness or wandered far from the light of
the Valar the ear of Ulmo was ever open; nor has he ever
forsaken Middle-earth, and whatso may since have befallen of
ruin or of change he has not ceased to take thought for it, and
will not until the end of days.
The following passage concerning Yavanna and Orome derives
from $34 in C; it was omitted at that point in D (p. 33).
[$34] And in that time of dark Yavanna also was unwilling
utterly to forsake the outer lands; for all things that grow are
dear to her, and she mourned for the works that she had begun
in Middle-earth but Melkor had marred. Therefore leaving the
house of Aule and the flowering meads of Valinor she would
come at times and heal the hurts of Melkor; and returning she
would ever urge the Valar to that war with his evil dominion
that they must surely wage ere the coming of the Firstborn. And
Orome tamer of beasts would ride too at whiles in the darkness
of the unlit forests; as a mighty hunter he came with spear and
bow [pursuing to the death the monsters and fell creatures of
the kingdom of Melkor. Then borne upon his tireless steed with
shining mane and golden hoof, he would sound the great horn
Rombaras, whereat >] upon his tireless steed with shining mane
and golden hoof, pursuing to the death the monsters and fell
creatures of the kingdom of Melkor. Then in the twilight of the
world he would sound his great horn, the Valaroma, upon the
plains of Arda, whereat I the mountains echoed and the shad-
ows of Utumno fled away, and even the heart of Melkor himself
was shaken, foreboding the wrath to come.
The following paragraph, after Pengolod's address to AElfwine (not
in C), takes up a passage in Ainulindale' B, V.160 - 1 (itself not greatly
modified from the original Music of the Ainur in The Book of Lost
Tales, 1.57), which was not used in C:
Now all is said to thee, AElfwine, for this present, concerning
the manner of the Earth and its rulers in the time before days
and ere the world became such as the Children have known it.
Of these thou hast not asked, but a little I will say and so make
an end. For Elves and Men are the Children; and since they
understood not fully that theme by which they entered into the
Music, none of the Ainur dared to add anything to their fashion.
For which reason the Valar are to these kindreds rather their
elders and their chieftains than their masters; and if ever in their
dealings with Elves and Men the Ainur have endeavoured to
force them when they would not be guided, this has seldom
turned to good, howsoever good the intent. The dealings of the
Ainur have been mostly with the Elves, for Iluvatar made the
Eldar more like in nature to the Ainur, though less in might and
stature, whereas to Men he gave strange gifts.
$38 For it is said that after the departure of the Valar there
was silence and for an age Iluvatar sat alone in thought. Then he
spoke, and he said: 'Behold I love the Earth, which shall be a
mansion for the Eldar and the Atani! But the Eldar shall be the
fairest of all earthly creatures, and they shall have and shall
conceive and bring forth more beauty than all my children; and
they shall have the greater bliss in this world. But to the Atani
(which are Men) I will give a new gift.'
$39 Therefore he willed that the hearts of Men should seek
beyond the world and should find no rest therein; but they
should have a virtue to shape their life, amid the powers and
chances of the world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is
as fate to all things else; and of their operation everything
should be, in form and deed, completed, and the world fulfilled
unto the last and smallest. [The following passage struck out:
Lo! even we of the Eldalie have found to our sorrow that Men
have a strange power for good or for ill, and for turning things
aside from the purpose of Valar or of Elves; so that it is said
among us that Fate is not the master of the children of Men; yet
they are blind, and their joy is small, which should be great.]
$40 But Iluvatar knew that Men, being set amid the tur-
moils of the powers of the world, would stray often, and would
not use their gifts in harmony; and he said: 'These too in their
time shall find that all that they do redounds at the end only to
the glory of my work.' Yet we of the Eldar believe that Men are
often a grief to Manwe, who knows most of the mind of
Iluvatar. For it seems to us that Men resemble Melkor most of
all the Ainur, and yet he has ever feared and hated them, even
those that served him.
It is one with this gift of freedom that the children of Men
dwell only a short space in the world alive, and are not bound to
it, and depart soon whither we know not. Whereas the Eldar
remain until the end of days, and their love of the Earth and all
the world is more single and poignant, therefore, and as the
years lengthen ever more sorrowful. Memory is our burden. For
the Eldar die not till the world dies, unless they are slain or
waste in grief (and to both these seeming deaths they are
subject); neither does age subdue their strength, unless one grow
weary of ten thousand centuries; and dying they are gathered in
the halls of Mandos in Valinor, whence often they return and
are reborn among their children. But the sons of Men die
indeed, and leave the World (it is said)-; wherefore they are
called the Guests, or the Strangers. Death is their fate, the gift of
Iluvatar, which as Time wears even the Powers shall envy. But
Melkor has cast his shadow upon it, and confounded it with
darkness, and brought forth evil out of good, and fear out of
hope. Yet of old the Valar said unto us that Men shall join in the
Second Music of the Ainur, whereas Iluvatar has not revealed
what he purposes for the Elves after the World's end, and
Melkor has not discovered it.
Commentary on the Ainulindale text D.
It will be seen that this text, which can only in part be called a new
version, does not extend, contradict, or clarify the 'new cosmology' in
any respect - that is to say, as D was originally written. The alteration
in $24 of 'they went down into the Halls of Aman' to 'they came down
into the fields of Arda' only makes this particular passage more
coherent: for Arda had now been established, and it was to the conflict
in Arda that those other spirits came. The change in $23 of 'in the
midst of the vast halls of the World' to 'in the midst of the vast halls of
Aman' is presumably not significant, since the one is clearly equivalent
to the other (see p. 28) ..
With additions and corrections to the text, however, a new element
enters: Ea. This was the word that Iluvatar spoke at the moment of the
Creation of the World: 'Ea! Let these things Be!'; and the Ainur knew
that 'Iluvatar had made a new thing, Ea, the World that Is' ($20). In
$23, where the reading of C 'the vast halls of the World' had become
in D 'the vast halls of Aman', 'Aman' was replaced by 'Ea'. The failure
to change 'the Halls of Aman' to 'the Halls of Ea' in $15 was
obviously an oversight. The later meaning of 'Aman', the Blessed
Realm, appears in an addition to the text in $32.
There can be no doubt that Ea, the Word of Creation that is also the
word for the World Created, functions here as did Aman; the 'Being'
that the word.contained and brought forth was the 'new World...
globed amid the Void' that the Ainur had seen in vision ($11), and
which now they saw as a light far off, 'as it were a cloud with a living
heart of flame' ($20), and into which those of them who wished
descended.
But it is perfectly explicit that the Ainur, created by Iluvatar ($1),
dwelt in 'fair regions' that Iluvatar had made for them ($10); some of
them remained 'beyond the confines of the World' ($21) - and Tulkas
heard 'in the far heaven' of the War in Arda. How then can the word
Ea be defined in the list of '1951 alterations' (p. 7) as 'Universe of that
which Is'? This expression can surely not be made equivalent to 'the
World that Is' ($20). Must not the 'Universe of that which Is' contain
'Ea, the World', and the Ainur who saw it created?
Other points arising from differences between C and D, and from
emendations made to D, are referred to under the paragraphs in which
they occur:
$31 The omission of the words 'of the Noldor' after 'loremasters'
was probably made because Pengolod is expressly a Noldo: cf.
$36 where D has 'whom we Noldor name Elbereth'.
In the substantially revised latter part of this paragraph
(p. 32; C text p. 17) the names of the Lamps are changed again,
from Foros and Hyaras to Foronte and Hyarante; and by early
emendation they reach at last the final forms Illuin and Ormal
(as given in the list of '1951 alterations', p. 7). Now it is
specifically Yavanna who planted seeds in Middle-earth; and it
is Aule who made the Lamps - but this was told in both the
earlier and later Annals of Valinor (IV.263, V.110), and indeed
goes back to the original Music of the Ainur (1.69).
In the correction made to the passage about the first growth in
Arda under the light of the Lamps the narrative is brought back
to the older tradition concerning the first flowers (yet 'grasses'
already appeared); see p. 22 note 17.
'Almaren in the Great Lake', as in the 1951 list (p. 7), now
replaces 'Almar in a great lake'.
$32 Aman, in an addition to the manuscript, now acquires its later
meaning. - The account of the assault on Melkor by the Valar
coming forth from Valinor is slightly extended in D: they came
'with a great host', and Melkor 'lay hid until they had departed',
then 'returned to his dwelling in the North', where he built
Utumno.
$36 The late change of 'she it was who wrought the Stars' to 'she it
was who wrought the Great Stars' is notable: the suggestion
must be that Varda only made the Great Stars. See p. 376 and
note 4.
$34 (p. 35; passage omitted at its place in C). The name Rombaras
for the Horn of Orome is found uniquely here; the name that
replaces it in the revision of the passage, Valaroma, appears in
the 1951 list (p. 7).
D was the last version of the Ainulindale'. A typescript was made of
it, but this is an amanuensis text of no significance, save for a few
notes that my father made on it. This text was taken from D when
most, but not all, the corrections had been made to it. At the top of the
first page he pencilled the following (unfortunately not entirely legible)
note:
The World should be equivalent to Arda (the realm) = our planet.
Creation the Universe (........ universe) should be Ea, What Is.
This raises again, and again inconclusively, the question discussed on
pp. 37 - 8. The note is at least clear to this extent, that 'the World' is no
longer to be the 'new World ... globed amid the Void' which the
Ainur saw ($11), but is to be applied to Arda - and this is of course a
reversion, so far as the word is concerned, to the stage of the
Ambarkanta, where Ilu (Arda) is 'the World' (see p. 28). But the
difficulty with the definition of Ea as the 'Universe of that which Is' in
the 1951 list, or as 'Creation the Universe' in the present note,
remains - remains, that is, if the conception of a 'World globed amid
the Void' and separate from the Void remained. It looks, indeed,
rather as if my father were thinking in quite different terms: Arda, the
World, is set within an indefinite vastness in which all 'Creation' is
comprehended; but there is no way of knowing when this note was
written. See further pp. 62-4.
Another pencilled note on the first page of the typescript reads:
'Iluvatar All-father (iluve "the whole")'; cf. the Etymologies (V.361):
stem IL 'all', ILU 'universe', Quenya ilu, iluve; Iluvatar. For the
original etymology of Iluvatar ('Sky-father') see 1.255.
On the title-page of the typescript my father wrote: 'Atani (Second)
Followers = Men'. Atani (which is listed among the 1951 alterations)
is not found in Ainulindale' C, but appears in D (title-page and $38).
Ainulindale C *.
I have already discussed the relationship of this very remarkable
version to Ainulindale' C, and shown that it preceded C and was
composed before The Lord of the Rings was finished (see pp. 3 - 6). I
have noted also that when lending the typescript C * to Katherine
Farrer in 1948 my father labelled it 'Round World Version', and that
he gave her also the old B manuscript (in all probability before he
covered it with new writing to form version C), which he labelled 'Flat
World Version'.
There are-only two details to be observed in the first part of this
version. In $15 C* had, as did C, 'the Halls of Anar', and again as in C
this was later emended to 'the Halls of Aman'. This emendation was
made at the same time on both texts; but on C* my father added a
footnote: 'Anar = the Sun' (see p. 44). And in $19, whereas both C
and D have 'for the history was incomplete and the circles not
full-wrought when the vision was taken away', C* has 'the circles of
time' (this reading was adopted in the published Silmarillion, p. 20).
But from part way through $23 to the end of $24 C* develops the B
text quite differently from C:
$23 So began their great labours [rejected immediately: in
the beginning of Time and in the immeasurable ages forgotten]
in wastes unmeasured and unexplored, and in ages uncounted
and forgotten, until in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the
vast halls of the World there came to be that hour and that place
where was made the habitation of the Children of Iluvatar. And
many of the Valar repaired thither from the uttermost parts of
heaven. But the first of these was Melkor. And Melkor took the
Earth, while it was yet young and full of fire, to be his own
kingdom.
$24 But Manwe was the brother of Melkor, and he was the
chief instrument of the second Theme that Iluvatar had raised
up against the discord of Melkor. And he called unto himself
others of his brethren and many spirits both greater and less,
and he said to them: 'Let us go to the Halls of Anar [not
emended], where the Sun of the Little World is kindled, and
watch that Melkor bring it not all to ruin!'
And they went thither, Manwe and Ulmo and Aule, and
others of whom thou shalt yet hear, AElfwine, and behold!
Melkor was before them; but he had little company, save a few
of those lesser spirits that had attuned their music to his; and he
walked alone"and the Earth was in flames. The coming of the
Valar was not indeed welcome to Melkor, for he desired not
friends but servants, and he said: This is my kingdom, which I
have named unto myself.' But the Valar answered that this he
could not lawfully do, for in making and governance they had
all their part. And there was strife between the Valar and
Melkor; and for a time Melkor departed and withdrew beyond
the arrows of the Sun, and brooded on his desire.
On the two sentences which I have italicised see pp. 43 - 4. The
narrative in this version differs from that of C, since here Melkor
preceded the other Ainur, and Manwe's summons was not made out
of Arda to other spirits that had not yet come, but was an invitation
to enter Arda with him.
From the beginning of $25 C* reverts to the common text (more
accurately, from this point C follows C*); the expression 'Kingdom of
Anar' in $25 was later emended to 'Kingdom of Arda' (in C this
change was made in the act of writing, p. 22 note 13). But near the end
of $27 C* diverges again:
... for as surely as the Valar began a labour so would Melkor
undo it or corrupt it; so that forests became fierce and rank and
poisonous, and beasts became monsters of horn and ivory, and
they fought, and dyed the earth with blood.
In C this passage comes in later ($32), and the corruption described
is that worked by Melkor on the living things that came to being in the
light of the Lamps; but in C*, as will be seen, the story of the Lamps
had been abandoned (p. 43).
C* then jumps from the end of $27 to $31, which in C is a part of
the words of Pengolod (Pengolod) after the end of the Ainulindale
proper, and proceeds as follows:
$31 And this tale also I have heard among the sages of the
Noldor in ages past: that in the midst of the War, and before yet
there was any thing that grew or walked on Earth, there was a
time when the Valar came near to the mastery; for a spirit of
great strength and hardihood came to their aid, hearing in the
far heaven that there was battle in the Little World. And he
came like a storm of laughter and loud song, and the Earth
shook under his great golden feet. So came Tulkas, the Strong
and the Merry, whose anger passeth like a mighty wind,
scattering cloud and darkness before it. And Melkor was shaken
by the laughter of Tulkas and fled from the Earth. Then he
gathered himself together and summoned all his might and his
hatred, and he said: 'I will rend the Earth asunder, and break it,
and none shall possess it.'
But this Melkor could not do, for the Earth may not be
wholly destroyed against its fate; nevertheless Melkor took a
portion of it, and seized it for his own, and reft it away; and he
made it a little earth of his own, and it wheeled round about in
the sky, following the greater earth wheresoever it went, so that
Melkor could observe thence all that happened below, and
could send forth his malice and trouble the seas and shake the
lands. And still there is rumour among the Eldar of the war in
which the Valar assaulted the stronghold of Melkor, and cast
him out, and removed it further from the Earth, and it remains
in the sky, Ithil whom Men call the Moon. There is both
blinding heat and cold intolerable, as might be looked for in any
work of Melkor, but now at least it is clean, yet utterly barren;
and nought liveth there, nor ever hath, nor shall. And herein is
revealed again the words of Iluvatar; for Ithil has become a
mirror to the greater Earth, catching the light of the Sun, when
she is invisible; and because of malice silver has been made of
gold, and moonlight of sunlight, and Earth in its anguish and
loss has been greatly enriched.
But of all such matters, AElfwine, others shall tell thee...
These last words are the beginning of $28 in C, the end of the
Ainuliedale proper, and the paragraph appears in C* in almost exactly
the same form. After this C* ends abruptly with the concluding
passage, C $$38-40, in which however there are some notable
differences. $38 reads thus in C*:
But out beyond the World in the Timeless Halls after the
departure of the Valar there was silence, and Iluvatar sat in
thought, and the Holy Ones that stood nigh moved not. Then
Iluvatar spoke and he said: 'Verily I love the World and am glad
that it Is. And my thought is bent to that place where are the
mansions of the Elves and of Men. Behold! the Eldar shall be
the fairest of Earthly creatures, and they shall have and shall
conceive more beauty than all other offspring of my thought;
and they shall have the greater bliss in the World. But to Men I
will give a new gift.'
It is to be noted that the scrap of manuscript found with the
Adunaic papers, discussed on p. 4, has precisely the structure of C*:
it begins with 'But of all such matters, AElfwine ...' and continues to
the end of the paragraph '... and thus thy feet are on the beginning of
the road', following this with 'But out beyond the World in the
Timeless Halls...'
$39 is virtually the same in both texts; but $40, after the opening
sentence (Iluvatar's words concerning Men), continues thus to the
end:
Yet the Eldar know that Men have often been a grief to the
Valar that love them, not least to Manwe, who knows most of
the mind of Iluvatar. For Men resemble Melkor most of all the
Ainur; and yet he hath ever feared and hated them, even those
that serve him.
It is one with this gift of freedom that the Children of Men
dwell only a short space in the world alive, and yet are not
bound to it, nor shall perish utterly for ever. Whereas the Eldar
remain until the end of days, and therefore their love of the
world is deeper and more joyous, save that when evil is done to
it, or its beauty is despoiled, then they are grieved bitterly, and
the sorrow of the Elves for that which might have been fills now
all the Earth with tears that Men hear not. But the sons of Men
die indeed and leave what they have made or marred. Yet the
Valar say that Men shall join in the Second Music of the Ainur,
but Manwe alone knoweth what Iluvatar hath purposed for the
Elves after the World's end: the Elves know not, and Melkor
hath not discovered it.
The concluding section $$38 - 40 was struck through, and against it
my father wrote a question, whether to place it 'in The Silmarillion' or
to insert it 'in modified form' earlier in the present text.
The fundamental difference between C* and C lies in this, that in
C* the Sun is already present from the beginning of Arda (see the
italicised passages in $24 on p. 40), and the origin of the Moon,
similarly 'de-mythologised' by removal from all association with the
Two Trees, is placed in the context of the tumults of Arda's making. It
seems strange indeed that my father was prepared to conceive of the
Moon - the Moon, that cherishes the memory of the Elves (V.118,
240) - as a dead and blasted survival of the hatred of Melkor, however
beautiful its light. In consequence, the old legend of the Lamps was
also abandoned: whence the different placing of the passage about
Melkor's perversion of living things, p. 41.
There is no indication whatsoever of how the myth of- the Two
Trees was to be accommodated to these new ideas. But for that time
the 'de-mythologising' version C* was set aside; and the D text
followed from C without a trace of them. The Annals of Aman,
certainly later than the end of the Ainulindale series, contains a full
account of the Making of the Sun and Moon; and in my father's long
letter to Milton Waldman, written almost certainly in 1951, the old
myth is fully present and its significance defined (Letters no.131):
There was the Light of Valinor made visible in the Two Trees of
Silver and Gold. These were slain by the Enemy out of malice, and
Valinor was darkened, though from them, ere they died utterly,
were derived the lights of Sun and Moon. (A marked difference here
between these legends and most others is that the Sun is not a divine
symbol, but a second-best thing, and the 'light of the Sun' (the world
under the sun) become terms for a fallen world, and a dislocated
imperfect vision).
In conclusion, there remains the perplexing question of the name
Anar in C* and C, to which I can find no satisfactory solution. Anar
occurred first in $15, where the reference is to the 'habitation in the
Halls of Anar which the Elves call Arda, the Earth'; and here in both
texts my father later emended 'Anar' to 'Aman', while in C* he added
a footnote: 'Anar = the Sun'. In $24 the spirits whom Manwe
summoned to his aid 'went down into the Halls of Anar', and here
again 'Anar' was later changed to 'Aman' in C; in C* the reading is
somewhat different, and in this text 'Anar' was left to stand: Manwe
said to the other spirits 'Let us go to the Halls of Anar where the Sun
of the Little World is kindled'. The retention of 'Anar' in C* seems
however to be no more than an oversight. Finally, in $25 are named
'the Seven Great Ones of the Kingdom of Anar', changed subsequently
in C* but in the act of writing in C to 'the Kingdom of Arda'.
The name Anar (Anor) = 'the Sun' goes back a long way - to The
Lost Road, the Quenta Silmarillion, and the Etymologies (see the
Index to Vol.V), and had been repeated in The Notion Club Papers
(IX 302-3, 306), beside Minas Anor, Anarion, Anorien in The Lord of
the Rings. It seems therefore at first sight very probable that Anar
means 'the Sun' in these texts of the Ainulindale'. On this assumption
the footnote to $15 in C* was no more than an explanatory gloss;
while 'the Kingdom of Anar' in $25 = 'the Kingdom of the Sun' ('the
Sun of the Little World'): cf. the change in D $14 (p. 30) of 'the whole
field of the Sun' to 'the whole field of Arda'. The fact that in C, in
which the myth of the Making of the Sun and Moon is implicitly
present, my father wrote 'the Kingdom of Anar' would be explicable
on the basis that he had C* before him, and wrote 'Anar' inadvertently
before immediately changing it to 'Arda'.
There is however a radical objection to this explanation. In $$15,
24 'the Halls of Anar' is the name given to 'the vast halls of the World'
with their 'wheeling fires', in which Iluvatar chose a place for the
habitation of Elves and Men; and subsequently Anar > Aman > Ea
(p. 31, $23). Here the interpretation of Anar as 'the Sun' seems
impossible. It may be therefore that my father's note to C* $15 'Anar
= the Sun' (made at the same time as he changed 'Anar' to 'Aman' in
the body of the text) implies that he had been using the name in
another sense, but was now asserting that this and no other was the
meaning of Anar.
'책,영화,리뷰,' 카테고리의 다른 글
| JRR Tolkien - The History of Middle Earth Series vol10 GL3 (0) | 2023.03.18 |
|---|---|
| JRR Tolkien - The History of Middle Earth Series vol10 GL2 (0) | 2023.03.18 |
| JRR Tolkien - The History of Middle Earth Series vol10 FOREWORD (0) | 2023.03.18 |
| JRR Tolkien - The History of Middle Earth Series vol10 DOPOLN (0) | 2023.03.18 |
| J.R.R. Tolkien - Mythopoeia (0) | 2023.03.18 |