JRR Tolkien - The History of Middle Earth Series vol03 GL4
IV.
THE LAY OF LEITHIAN
RECOMMENCED.
When my father began the Lay of Leithian again from the beginning, he
did not at first intend much more, perhaps, than a revision, an improve-
ment of individual lines and short passages, but all on the original plan
and structure. This, at least, is what he did with Canto I; and he carried
out the revisions on the old B typescript. But with Canto II he was
quickly carried into a far more radical reconstruction, and was virtually
writing a new poem on the same subject and in the same metre as the old.
This, it is true, was partly because the story of Gorlim had changed, but
it is also clear that a new impulse had entered, seeking a new rather than
merely altered expression. The old typescript was still used at least as a
physical basis for the new writing, but for a long stretch the typed verses
were simply struck through and the new written on inserted pages and
slips.
The old Canto II of just over 300 lines was expanded to 500, and
divided into new Cantos 2 and 3 (the old and the new can be conveniently
distinguished by Roman and Arabic numerals).
The rewriting on the old typescript continues for a short distance into
Canto III (new Canto 4) and then stops. On the basis of this now
extremely chaotic text my father wrote out a fine, decorated manuscript,
'C', inevitably introducing some further changes; and this stops only a
few lines short of the point where the rewriting on the B-text stops.
Subsequently, an amanuensis typescript ('D') was made, in two copies,
apparently with my father's supervision, but for the moment nothing
need be said of this beyond noticing that he made certain changes to these
texts at a later time.
The rewriting on the B-text was no doubt a secondary stage, of which
the preliminary workings no longer exist; for in the case of the new
Canto 4 such preliminary drafts are extant. On one of these pages, and
quite obviously done at the same time as the verse-drafts, my father drew
a floor-plan of part of the house 99 Holywell Street, Oxford, to which he
removed in 1950. He doubtless drew the plan shortly before moving
house, while pondering its best arrangement. It is clear then that a new
start on the Lay of Leithian was one of the first things that he turned to
when The Lord of the Rings was complete.
I give below the text of the manuscript C in its final form (that is, after
certain changes had been made to it) so far as it goes (line 624), incor-
porating one or two very minor alterations made later to the D type-
script(s), followed by a further short section (lines 625 - 60) found only in
draft before being added to D. Brief Notes and Commentary are given on
pp, 348 ff.
THE LAY OF LEITHIAN.
I. OF THINGOL IN DORIATH.
A king there was in days of old:
ere Men yet walked upon the mould
his power was reared in caverns' shade,
his hand was over glen and glade.
Of leaves his crown, his mantle green,
his silver lances long and keen;
the starlight in his shield was caught,
ere moon was made or sun was wrought.
In after-days, when to the shore
of Middle-earth from Valinor 10
the Elven-hosts in might returned,
and banners flew and beacons burned,
when kings of Eldamar went by
in strength of war, beneath the sky
then still his silver trumpets blew 15
when sun was young and moon was new.
Afar then in Beleriand,
in Doriath's beleaguered land,
King Thingol sat on guarded throne
in many-pillared halls of stone: 20
there beryl, pearl, and opal pale,
and metal wrought like fishes' mail,
buckler and corslet, axe-and sword,
and gleaming spears were laid in hoard:
all these he had and counted small, 25
for dearer than all wealth in hall,
and fairer than are born to-Men,
a daughter had he, Luthien.
OF LUTHIEN THE BELOVED.
Such lissom limbs no more shall run
on the green earth beneath the sun; 30
so fair a maid no more shall be
from dawn to dusk, from sun to sea.
Her robe was blue as summer skies,
but grey as evening were her eyes;
her mantle sewn with lilies fair, 35
but dark as shadow was her hair.
Her feet were swift as bird on wing,
her laughter merry as the spring;
the slender willow, the bowing reed,
the fragrance of a flowering mead, 40
the light upon the leaves of trees,
the voice of water, more then these
her beauty was and blissfulness,
her glory and her loveliness.
She dwelt in the enchanted land 45
while elven-might yet held in hand
the woven woods of Doriath:
none ever thither found the path
unbidden, none the forest-eaves
dared pass, or stir the listening leaves. 50
To North there lay a land of dread,
Dungorthin where all ways were dead
in hills of shadow bleak and cold;
beyond was Deadly Nightshade's hold
in Taur-nu-Fuin's fastness grim, 55
where sun was sick and moon was dim.
To South the wide earth unexplored;
to West the ancient Ocean roared,
unsailed and shoreless, wide and wild;
to East in peaks of blue were piled, 60
in silence folded, mist-enfurled,
the mountains of the outer world.
Thus Thingol in his dolven hall
amid the Thousand Caverns tall
of Menegroth as king abode: 65
to him there led no mortal road.
Beside him sat his deathless queen,
fair Melian, and wove unseen
nets of enchantment round his throne,
and spells were laid on tree and stone: 70
sharp was his sword and high his helm,
the king of beech and oak and elm.
When grass was green and leaves were long,
when finch and mavis sang their song,
there under bough and under sun 75
in shadow and in light would run
fair Luthien the elven-maid,
dancing in dell and grassy glade.
OF DAIRON MINSTREL OF THINGOL.
When sky was clear and stars were keen,
then Dairon with his fingers lean, 80
as daylight melted into eve,
a trembling music sweet would weave
on flutes of silver, thin and clear
for Luthien, the maiden dear.
There mirth there was and voices bright; 85
there eve was peace and morn was light;
there jewel gleamed and silver wan
and red gold on white fingers shone,
and elanor and niphredil
bloomed in the grass unfading still, 90
while the endless years of Elven-land
rolled over far Beleriand,
until a day of doom befell,
as still the elven-harpers tell.
2. OF MORGOTH & THE SNARING OF GORLIM.
Far in the Northern hills of stone 95
in caverns black there was a throne
by flame encircled; there the smoke
in coiling columns rose to choke
the breath of life, and there in deep
and gasping dungeons lost would creep 100
to hopeless death all those who strayed
by doom beneath that ghastly shade.
A king there sat, most dark and fell
of all that under heaven dwell.
Than earth or sea, than moon or star 105
more ancient was he, mightier far
in mind abysmal than the thought
of Eldar or of Men, and wrought
of strength primeval; ere the stone
was hewn to build the world, alone 110
he walked in darkness, fierce and dire,
burned, as he wielded it, by fire.
He 'twas that laid in ruin black
the Blessed Realm and fled then back
to Middle-earth anew to build 115
beneath the mountains mansions filled
with misbegotten slaves of hate:
death's shadow brooded at his gate.
His hosts he armed with spears of steel
and brands of flame, and at their heel 120
the wolf walked and the serpent crept
with lidless eyes. Now forth they leapt,
his ruinous legions, kindling war
in field and frith and woodland hoar.
%here long the golden elanor 125
had gleamed amid the grass they bore
their banners black, where finch had sung
and harpers silver harps had wrung
now dark the ravens wheeled and cried
amid the reek, and far and wide 130
the swords of Morgoth dripped with red
above the hewn and trampled dead.
Slowly his shadow like a cloud
rolled from the North, and on the proud
that would not yield his vengeance fell; 135
to death or thraldom under hell
all things he doomed: the Northern land
lay cowed beneath his ghastly hand.
But still there lived in hiding cold
Beor's son, Barahir the bold, 140
of land bereaved and lordship shorn
who once a prince of Men was born,
and now an outlaw lurked and lay
in the hard heath and woodland grey.
OF THE SAVING OF KING INGLOR FELAGUND BY THE XII BEORINGS
Twelve men beside him still there went, 145
still faithful when all hope was spent.
Their names are yet in elven-song
remembered, though the years are long
since doughty Dagnir and Ragnor,
Radhruin, Dairuin and Gildor, 150
Gorlim Unhappy, and Urthel,
and Arthad and Hathaldir fell;
since the black shaft with venomed wound
took Belegund and Baragund,
the mighty sons of Bregolas; 155
since he whose doom and deeds surpass
all tales of Men was laid on bier,
fair Beren son of Barahir.
For these it was, the chosen men
of Beor's house, who in the fen 160
of reedy Serech stood at bay
about King Inglor in the day
of his defeat, and with their swords
thus saved of all the Elven-lords
the fairest; and his love they earned. 165
And he escaping south, returned
to Nargothrond his mighty realm,
where still he wore his crowned helm;
but they to their northern homeland rode,
dauntless and few, and there abode 170
unconquered still, defying fate,
pursued by Morgoth's sleepless hate.
OF TARN AELUIN THE BLESSED.
Such deeds of daring there they wrought
that soon the hunters that them sought
at rumour of their coming fled. 175
Though price was set upon each head
to match the weregild of a king,
no soldier could to Morgoth bring
news even of their hidden lair;
for where the highland brown and bare 180
above the darkling pines arose
of steep Dorthonion to the snows
and barren mountain-winds, there lay
a tarn of water, blue by day,
by night a mirror of dark glass 185
for stars of Elbereth that pass
above the world into the West.
Once hallowed, still that place was blest:
no shadow of Morgoth, and no evil thing
yet thither came; a whispering ring 190
of slender birches silver-grey
stooped on its margin, round it lay
a lonely moor, and the bare bones
of ancient Earth like standing stones
thrust through the heather and the whin; 195
and there by houseless Aeluin
the hunted lord and faithful men
under the grey stones made their den.
OF GORLIM UNHAPPY.
Gorlim Unhappy, Angrim's son,
as the tale tells, of these was one 200
most fierce and hopeless. He to wife,
while fair was the fortune of his life,
took the white maiden Eilinel:
dear love they had ere evil fell.
To war he rode; from war returned 205
to find his fields and homestead burned,
his house forsaken roofless stood,
empty amid the leafless wood;
and Eilinel, white Eilinel,
was taken whither none could tell, 210
to death or thraldom far away.
Black was the shadow of that day
for ever on his heart, and doubt
still gnawed him as he went about
in wilderness wandring, or at night 215
oft sleepless, thinking that she might
ere evil came have timely fled
into the woods: she was not dead,
she lived, she would return again
to seek him, and would deem him slain. 220
Therefore at whiles he left the lair,
and secretly, alone, would peril dare,
and come to his old house at night,
broken and cold, without fire or light,
and naught but grief renewed would gain, 225
watching and waiting there in vain.
In vain, or worse - for many spies
had Morgoth, many lurking eyes
well used to pierce the deepest dark;
and Gorlim's coming they would mark 230
and would report. There came a day
when once more Gorlim crept that way,
down the deserted weedy lane
at dusk of autumn sad with rain
and cold wind whining. Lo! a light 235
at window fluttering in the night
amazed he saw; and drawing near,
between faint hope and sudden fear,
he looked within. 'Twas Eilinel!
Though changed she was, he knew her well. 240
With grief and hunger she was worn,
her tresses tangled, raiment torn;
her gentle eyes with tears were dim,
as soft she wept: 'Gorlim, Gorlim!
Thou canst not have forsaken me. 245
Then slain, alas! thou slain must be!
And I must linger cold, alone,
and loveless as a barren stone! '
One cry he gave - and then the light
blew out, and in the wind of night 250
wolves howled; and on his shoulder fell
suddenly the griping hands of hell.
There Morgoth's servants fast him caught
and he was cruelly bound, and brought
to Sauron captain of the host, 255
the lord of werewolf and of ghost,
most foul and fell of all who knelt
at Morgoth's throne. In might he dwelt
on Gaurhoth Isle; but now had ridden
with strength abroad, by Morgoth bidden 260
to find the rebel Barahir.
He sat in dark encampment near,
and thither his butchers dragged their prey.
There now in anguish Gorlim lay:
with bond on neck, on hand and foot, 165
to bitter torment he was put,
to break his will and him constrain
to buy with treason end of pain.
But naught to them would he reveal
of Barahir, nor break the seal 270
of faith that on his tongue was laid;
until at last a pause was made,
and one came softly to his stake,
a darkling form that stooped, and spake
to him of Eilinel his wife. 275
'Wouldst thou,' he said, 'forsake thy life,
who with few words might win release
for her, and thee, and go in peace,
and dwell together far from war,
friends of the King? What wouldst thou more?' 280
And Gorlim, now long worn with pain,
yearning to see his wife again
(whom well he weened was also caught
in Sauron's net), allowed the thought
to grow, and faltered in his troth. 285
Then straight, half willing and half loath,
they brought him to the seat of stone
where Sauron sat. He stood alone
before that dark and dreadful face,
and Sauron said: 'Come, mortal base! 290
What do I hear? That thou wouldst dare
to barter with me? Well, speak fair!
What is thy price?' And Gorlim low
bowed down his head, and with great woe,
word on slow word, at last implored 295
that merciless and faithless lord
that he might free depart, and might
again find Eilinel the White,
and dwell with her, and cease from war
against the King. He craved no more. 300
Then Sauron smiled, and said: 'Thou thrall!
The price thou askest is but small
for treachery and shame so great!
I grant it surely! Well, I wait:
Come! Speak now swiftly and speak true!' 305
Then Gorlim wavered, and he drew
half back; but Sauron's daunting eye
there held him, and he dared not lie:
as he began, so must he wend
from first false step to faithless end: 310
he all must answer as he could,
betray his lord and brotherhood,
and cease, and fall upon his face.
Then Sauron laughed aloud. 'Thou base,
thou cringing worm! Stand up, 315
and hear me! And now drink the cup
that I have sweetly blent for thee!
Thou fool: a phantom thou didst see
that I, I Sauron, made to snare
thy lovesick wits. Naught else was there. 320
Cold 'tis with Sauron's wraiths to wed!
Thy Eilinel! She is long since dead,
dead, food of worms less low than thou.
And yet thy boon I grant thee now:
to Eilinel thou soon shalt go, 325
and lie in her bed, no more to know
of war - or manhood. Have thy pay! '
And Gorlim then they dragged away,
and cruelly slew him; and at last
in the dank mould his body cast, 330
where Eilinel long since had laid
in the burned woods by butchers slain.
Thus Gorlim died an evil death,
and cursed himself with dying breath,
and Barahir at last was caught 335
in Morgoth's snare; for set.at naught
by treason was the ancient grace
that guarded long that lonely place,
Tarn Aeluin: now all laid bare
were secret paths and hidden lair. 340
*
3. OF BEREN SON OF BARAHIR & HIS ESCAPE.
Dark from the North now blew the cloud;
the winds of autumn cold and loud
hissed in the heather; sad and grey
Aeluin's mournful water lay.
'Son Beren', then said Barahir, 345
'Thou knowst the rumour that we hear
of strength from the Gaurhoth that is sent
against us; and our food nigh spent.
On thee the lot falls by our law
to go forth now alone to draw 350
what help thou canst from the hidden few
that feed us still, and what is new
to learn. Good fortune go with thee!
In speed return, for grudgingly
we spare thee from our brotherhood, 355
so small: and Gorlim in the wood
is long astray or dead. Farewell!'
As Beren went, still like a knell
resounded in his heart that word,
the last of his father that he heard. 360
Through moor and fen, by tree and briar
he wandered far: he saw the fire
of Sauron's camp, he heard the howl
of hunting Orc and wolf a-prowl,
and turning back, for long the way, 365
benighted in the forest lay.
In weariness he then must sleep,
fain in a badger-hole to creep,
and yet he heard (or dreamed it so)
nearby a marching legion go 370
with clink of mail and clash of shields
up towards the stony mountain-fields.
He slipped then into darkness down,
until, as man that waters drown
strives upwards gasping, it seemed to him 375
he rose through slime beside the brim
of sullen pool beneath dead trees.
Their livid boughs in a cold breeze
trembled, and all their black leaves stirred:
each leaf a black and croaking bird, 380
whose neb a gout of blood let fall.
He shuddered, struggling thence to crawl
through winding weeds, when far away
he saw a shadow faint and grey
gliding across the dreary lake. 385
Slowly it came, and softly spake:
'Gorlim I was, but now a wraith
of will defeated, broken faith,
traitor betrayed. Go! Stay not here!
Awaken, son of Barahir, 390
and haste! For Morgoth's fingers close
upon thy father's throat; he knows
your trysts, your paths, your secret lair.'
Then he revealed the devil's snare
in which he fell, and failed; and last 395
begging forgiveness, wept, and passed
out into darkness. Beren woke,
leapt up as one by sudden stroke
with fire of anger filled. His bow
and sword he seized, and like the roe 400
hotfoot o'er rock and heath he sped
before the dawn. Ere day was dead
to Aeluin at last he came,
as the red sun westward sank in flame;
but Aeluin was red with blood, 405
red were the stones and trampled mud.
Black in the birches sat a-row
the raven and the carrion crow;
wet were their nebs, and dark the meat
that dripped beneath their griping feet. 410
One croaked: 'Ha, ha, he comes too late! '
'Ha, ha! ' they answered, 'ha! too late! '
There Beren laid his father's bones
in haste beneath a cairn of stones;
no graven rune nor word he wrote 415
o'er Barahir, but thrice he smote
the topmost stone, and thrice aloud
he cried his name. 'Thy death', he vowed,
'I will avenge. Yea, though my fate
should lead at last to Angband's gate.' 420
And then he turned, and did not weep:
too dark his heart, the wound too deep.
Out into night, as cold as stone,
loveless, friendless, he strode alone.
Of hunter's lore he had no need 425
the trail to find. With little heed
his ruthless foe, secure and proud,
marched north away with blowing loud
of brazen horns their lord to greet,
trampling the earth with grinding feet. 430
Behind them bold but wary went
now Beren, swift as hound on scent,
until beside a darkling well,
where Rivil rises from the fell
down into Serech's reeds to flow, 435
he found the slayers, found his foe.
From hiding on the hillside near
he marked them all: though less than fear,
too many for his sword and bow
to slay alone. Then, crawling low 440
as snake in heath, he nearer crept.
There many weary with marching slept,
but captains, sprawling on the grass,
drank and from hand to hand let pass
their booty, grudging each small thing 445
raped from dead bodies. One a ring
held up, and laughed: 'Now, mates,' he cried
'here's mine! And I'll not be denied,
though few be like it in the land.
For I 'twas wrenched it from the hand 450
of that same Barahir I slew,
the robber-knave. If tales be true,
he had it of some elvish lord,
for the rogue-service of his sword.
No help it gave to him - he's dead. 455
They're parlous, elvish rings, 'tis said;
still for the gold I'll keep it, yea
and so eke out my niggard pay.
Old Sauron bade me bring it back,
and yet, methinks, he has no lack 460
of weightier treasures in his hoard:
the greater the greedier the lord!
So mark ye, mates, ye all shall swear
the hand of Barahir was bare!'
And as he spoke an arrow sped 465
from tree behind, and forward dead
choking he fell with barb in throat;
with leering face the earth he smote.
Forth, then as wolfhound grim there leapt
Beren among them. Two he swept 470
aside with sword; caught up the ring;
slew one who grasped him; with a spring
back into shadow passed, and fled
before their yells of wrath and dread
of ambush in the valley rang. 475
Then after him like wolves they sprang,
howling and cursing, gnashing teeth,
hewing and bursting through the heath,
shooting wild arrows, sheaf on sheaf,
at trembling shade or shaken leaf. 480
In fateful hour was Beren born:
he laughed at dart and wailing horn;
fleetest of foot of living men,
tireless on fell and light on fen,
elf-wise in wood, he passed away, 485
defended by his hauberk grey
of dwarvish craft in Nogrod made,
where hammers rang in cavern's shade.
As fearless Beren was renowned:
when men most hardy upon ground 490
were reckoned folk would speak his name,
foretelling that his after-fame
would even golden Hador pass
or Barahir and Bregolas;
but sorrow now his heart had wrought 495
to fierce despair, no more he fought
in hope of life or joy or praise,
but seeking so to use his days
only that Morgoth deep should feel
the sting of his avenging steel, 500
ere death he found and end of pain:
his only fear was thraldom's chain.
Danger he sought and death pursued,
and thus escaped the doom he wooed,
and deeds of breathless daring wrought 505
alone, of which the rumour brought
new hope to many a broken man.
They whispered 'Beren', and began
in secret swords to whet, and soft
by shrouded hearths at evening oft 510
songs they would sing of Beren's bow,
of Dagmor his sword: how he would go
silent to camps and slay the chief,
or trapped in his hiding past belief
would slip away, and under night 515
by mist or moon, or by the light
of open day would come again.
Of hunters hunted, slayers slain
they sang, of Gorgol the Butcher hewn,
of ambush in Ladros, fire in Drun, 520
of thirty in one battle dead,
of wolves that yelped like curs and fled,
yea, Sauron himself with wound in hand.
Thus one alone filled all that land
with fear and death for Morgoth's folk; 525
his comrades were the beech and oak
who failed him not, and wary things
with fur and fell and feathered wings
that silent wander, or dwell alone
in hill and wild and waste of stone 530
watched o'er his ways, his faithful friends.
Yet seldom well an outlaw ends;
and Morgoth was a king more strong
than all the world has since in song
recorded: dark athwart the land 535
reached out the shadow of his hand,
at each recoil returned again;
two more were sent for one foe slain.
New hope was cowed, all rebels killed;
quenched were the fires, the songs were stilled, 540
tree felled, heath burned, and through the waste
marched the black host of Orcs in haste.
Almost they closed their ring of steel
round Beren; hard upon his heel
now trod their spies; within their hedge 545
of all aid shorn, upon the edge
of death at bay he stood aghast
and knew that he must die at last,
or flee the land of Barahir,
his land beloved. Beside the mere 550
beneath a heap of nameless stones
must crumble those once mighty bones,
forsaken by both son and kin,
bewailed by reeds of Aeluin.
In winter's night the houseless North 555
he left behind, and stealing forth
the leaguer of his watchful foe
he passed - a shadow on the snow,
a swirl of wind, and he was gone,
the ruin of Dorthonion, 560
Tarn Aeluin and its water wan,
never again to look upon.
No more shall hidden bowstring sing,
no more his shaven arrows wing,
no more his hunted head shall lie 565
upon the heath beneath the sky.
The Northern stars, whose silver fire
of old Men named the Burning Briar,
were set behind his back, and shone
o'er land forsaken: he was gone. 570
Southward he turned, and south away
his long and lonely journey lay,
while ever loomed before his path
the dreadful peaks of Gorgorath.
Never had foot of man most bold 575
yet trod those mountains steep and cold,
nor climbed upon their sudden brink,
whence, sickened, eyes must turn and,shrink
to see their southward cliffs fall sheer
in rocky pinnacle and pier 580
down into shadows that were laid
before the sun and moon were made.
In valleys woven with deceit
and washed with waters bitter-sweet
dark magic lurked in gulf and glen; 585
but out away beyond the ken
of mortal sight the eagle's eye
from dizzy towers that pierced the sky
might grey and gleaming see afar,
as sheen on water under star, 590
Beleriand, Beleriand,
the borders of the Elven-land.
4. OF THE COMING OF BEREN TO DORIATH; BUT FIRST IS TOLD OF
THE MEETING OF MELIAN AND THINGOL.
There long ago in Elder-days
ere voice was heard or trod were ways,
the haunt of silent shadows stood 595
in starlit dusk Nan Elmoth wood.
In Elder-days that long are gone
a light amid the shadows shone,
a voice was in the silence heard:
the sudden singing of a bird. 600
There Melian came, the Lady grey,
and dark and long her tresses lay
beneath her silver girdle-seat
and down unto her silver feet.
The nightingales with her she brought, 605
to whom their song herself she taught,
who sweet upon her gleaming hands
had sung in the immortal lands.
Thence wayward wandering on a time
from Lorien she dared to climb 610
the everlasting mountain-wall
of Valinor, at whose feet fall
the surges of the Shadowy Sea.
Out away she went then free,
to gardens of the Gods no more 615
returning, but on mortal shore,
a glimmer ere the dawn she strayed,
singing her spells from glade to glade.
A bird in dim Nan Elmoth wood
trilled, and to listen Thingol stood 620
amazed; then far away he heard
a voice more fair than fairest bird,
a voice as crystal clear of note
as thread of silver glass remote.
Here the manuscript C ends. Of the next short section there are no less
than five rough drafts, with endless small variations of wording (and the
first ten lines of it were written onto the B-text). The final form was then
added, in type, to the D typescript:
Of folk and kin no more he thought; 625
of errand that the Eldar brought
from Cuivienen far away,
of lands beyond the Seas that lay
no more he recked, forgetting all,
drawn only by that distant call 630
till deep in dim Nan Elmoth wood
lost and beyond recall he stood.
And there he saw her, fair and fay:
Ar-Melian, the Lady grey,
as silent as the windless trees, 635
standing with mist about her knees,
and in her face remote the light
of Lorien glimmered in the night.
No word she spoke; but pace by pace,
a halting shadow, towards her face 640
forth walked the silver-mantled king,
tall Elu Thingol. In the ring
of waiting trees he took her hand.
One moment face to face they stand
alone, beneath the wheeling sky, 645
while starlit years on earth go by
and in Nan Elmoth wood the trees
grow dark and tall. The murmuring seas
rising and falling on the shore
and Ulmo's horn he heeds no more. 650
But long his people sought in vain
their lord, till Ulmo called again,
and then in grief they marched away,
leaving the woods. To havens grey
upon the western shore, the last 655
long shore of mortal lands, they passed,
and thence were borne beyond the Sea
in Aman, the Blessed Realm, to be
by evergreen Ezellohar
in Valinor, in Eldamar. 66o
52. On one of the copies of D Dungorthin was changed to
Dungortheb, but this belongs to a later layer of nomen-
clature and I have not introduced it into the text.
55. Taur-nu-Fuin C: the line as written on the B-text still had
Taur-na-Fuin.
140. Beor's son: changed on one of the copies of D to the
Beoring, i.e. a man of Beor's house. This was a change made
when the genealogy had been greatly extended and Barahir
was no longer Beor's son but his remote descendant (see
P. 198).
249-330. In this section of the Canto the rewriting on (or inserted into)
the B-text exists in two versions, one the immediate fore-
runner of the other. The difference between them is that in
the earlier Gorlim was still, as in the earlier Lay, taken to
Angband and to Morgoth himself. Thus the passage in the
first rewriting corresponding to lines 255 - 66 reads:
to Angband and the iron halls
where laboured Morgoth's hopeless thralls;
and there with bonds on hand and foot
to grievous torment he was put
In what follows the two versions are the same, except that
in the first it is Morgoth, not Sauron: precisely the same lines
are used of each. But at lines 306-x x the first version has:
Then Gorlim wavered, and he drew
half back; but Morgoth's daunting eyes
there held him. To the Lord of Lies
'tis vain in lies the breath to spend:
as he began, so he must end,
and all must answer as he could
and at lines 318-21 Morgoth says:
Thou fool! A phantom thou didst see
that Sauron my servant made to snare
thy lovesick wits. Naught else was there.
Cold 'tis with Sauron's wraiths to wed!
547. The word aghast is marked with an X in C (because Beren
was not aghast).
567-8. At first the passage in B (p. 167, lines 369 - 82) beginning No
more his hidden bowstring sings was scarcely changed in
the rewriting, but as first written C had (old lines 376 - g):
found him no more. The stars that burn
about the North with silver fire
that Varda wrought, the Burning Briar
as Men it called in days long gone
Old lines 373 - 5 were then cut out and 376 - g rewritten:
The stars that burn with silver fire
about the North, the Burning Briar
that Varda lit in ages gone
This was in turn changed to the text given, lines 567 - 8.
581. In one of the copies of D an X is placed against this line. I
think this was probably very late and marks my father's
changed ideas concerning the making of the Sun and Moon.
596. Nan Elmoth: in the preliminary draft the name of the wood
was first Glad-uial, emended to Glath-uial; then Gilam-
moth, emended to Nan Elmoth. It was here that the name
Nan Elmoth emerged.
627. In one of the drafts of this passage the line is from Waking
Water far away.
634. In one of the drafts of this passage Tar-Melian stands in the
margin as an alternative.
Commentary on lines 1 - 660.
A strictly chronological account of the evolution of the legends of the
Elder Days would have to consider several other works before the
revisions to the Lay of Leithian were reached. By treating the Lay
revised and unrevised as an entity and not piecemeal I jump these stages,
and names which had in fact emerged a good while before appear here for
the first time in this 'History'. I do little more than list them:
65. Menegroth
89. elanor and niphredil. At line 125 is -a reference to the
golden elanor.
115. Middle-earth
149 ff. The names of the men of Barahir's band, beside Beren and
Gorlim: Dagnir, Ragnor, Radhruin, Dairuin, Gildor,
Urthel, Arthad, Hathaldir; Belegund and Baragund.
Belegund and Baragund are the sons of Bregolas (Barahir's
brother); and Gorlim is the son of Angrim (199).
All these names appear in The Silmarillion (pp. 155, 162).
161. 'the fen of reedy Serech.' Beren came on the Orcs at the well
of Rivil, which 'rises from the fell/down into Serech's reeds
to flow' (434 - 5).
162. Felagund is called Inglor (Inglor Felagund in the sub-title,
P 335).
182, 560. Dorthonion
186. Elbereth
196, etc. (Tarn) Aeluin
255, etc. Sauron
259,347. Gaurhoth. Cf. Tol-in-Gaurhoth 'Isle of Werewolves' in The
Silmarillion.
434. Rivil
494. Hador
512. Dagmor. Beren's sword is named nowhere else.
519. Gorgol the Butcher. He is named nowhere else.
520. Ladros (the lands to the north-east of Dorthonion that were
granted by the Noldorin kings to the Men of the House of
Beor).
520. Drun. This name is marked on the later of the 'Silmarillion'
maps (that on which the published map was based) as north
of Aeluin and west of Ladros, but is named in no other place.
574. Gorgorath. This has occurred in the prose outline for Canto
X of the Lay, but in the form Corgoroth (p. 272).
596, etc. Nan Elmoth. See note to line 596.
634. Ar-Melian (Tar-Melian). The name is not found elsewhere
with either prefix.
659. Ezellohar (the Green Mound of the Two Trees in Valinor).
In addition may be noted here Dungorthin (52), where the new
version changes the old lines 49 - 50
To North there lay the Land of Dread
whence only evil pathways led
to
To North there lay a land of dread,
Dungorthin where all ways were dead
In the old version 'the Land of Dread' clearly meant, simply, 'the land of
Morgoth'. Here Dungorthin is placed as it is in The Silmarillion (p.
121), between the Mountains of Terror and the northern bound of the
Girdle of Melian; see p. 314.
In the revised Lay the story of Gorlim was greatly developed. In the
old (see pp. 162 - 4, 169-70), Gorlim left his companions and went 'to
meet / with hidden friend within a dale', he found 'a homestead looming
pale', and within it he saw a phantom of Eilinel. He left the house, in fear
of Morgoth's hunters and wolves, and returned to his companions; but
after some days he deliberately sought out Morgoth's servants and offered
to betray his fellows. He was taken to the halls of Morgoth-who does not
say that the wraith was set to decoy Gorlim:
a wraith of that which might have been,
methinks, it is that thou hast seen!
(But in lines 241 - 2 it is said that 'men believed that Morgoth made/the
fiendish phantom'.)
There is also a remarkable development in the revised Lay, in that 'the
XII Beorings' (one would expect XIII, including Barahir himself) of
Dorthonion were the very men who saved King Felagund in the Battle
of Sudden Flame:
For these it was, the chosen men
of Beor's house, who in the fen
of reedy Serech stood at bay
about King Inglor in the day
of his defeat... (159-63)
In?he Silmarillion the story is that 'Morgoth pursued [Barahir) to the
death, until at last there remained to him only twelve companions'
(p. 162): there is no suggestion that these survivors were a picked band,
already joined as companions in an earlier heroic deed.
Felagund (Inglor) is now said to have m turned to Nargothrond (lines
166 - 7) after his rescue by Barahir and his men (see pp. 85-6).
From this point onwards substantial rewriting of the poem is restricted
to a few sections.
Canto III continued.
From the end of the rewritten opening of the poem (line 660 above) the D
typescript continues as a copy of B to the end of the poem, but though it
was certainly made under my father's supervision it is of very minor
textual value in itself.
The passage in the original text (p. 173) lines 453 (Thus Thingol
sailed not on the seas) to 470 was left unchanged; but for lines 471 (In
later days when Morgoth first) to approximately 613 my father substi-
tuted 142 lines of new verse (omitting the long retrospective passage lines
563 ff. concerning Beren's journey over the Mountains of Terror), in
which there is very little of the old Lay, and as the passage proceeds
progressively less. There is no doubt that these lines are (relatively) very
late: an apparently contemporaneous piece of rewriting in Canto X is
certainly post-1955 (see p. 360), and they may well be considerably later
than that. There is a quantity of rough draft material in manuscript but
also a typescript made by my father of the first 103 lines, inserted into the
D-text.
In later days, when Morgoth fled
from wrath and raised once more his head
and Iron Crown, his mighty seat
beneath the smoking mountain's feet
founded and fortified anew, 5
then slowly dread and darkness grew:
the Shadow of the North that all
the Folk of Earth would hold in thrall.
The lords of Men to knee he brings,
the kingdoms of the Exiled Kings 10
assails with ever-mounting war:
in their last havens by the shore
they dwell, or strongholds walled with fear
defend upon his borders drear,
till each one falls. Yet reign there still IS
in Doriath beyond his will
the Grey King and immortal Queen.
No evil in their realm is seen;
no power their might can yet surpass:
there still is laughter and green grass, 20
there leaves are lit by the white sun,
and many marvels are begun.
There went now in the Guarded Realm
beneath the beech, beneath the elm,
there lightfoot ran now on the green 25
the daughter of the king and queen:
of Arda's eldest children born
in beauty of their elven-morn
and only child ordained by birth
to walk in raiment of the Earth 30
from Those descended who began
before the world of Elf and Man.
Beyond the bounds of Arda far
still shone the Legions, star on star,
memorials of their labour long, 35
achievement of Vision and of Song;
and when beneath their ancient light
on Earth below was cloudless night,
music in Doriath awoke,
and there beneath the branching oak, 40
or seated on the beech-leaves brown,
Daeron the dark with ferny crown
played on his pipes with elvish art
unbearable by mortal heart.
No other player has there been, 45
no other lips or fingers seen
so skilled, 'tis said in elven-lore,
save Maelor* son of Feanor,
forgotten harper, singer doomed,
who young when Laurelin yet bloomed 50
to endless lamentation passed
and in the tombless sea was cast.+
But Daeron in his heart*s delight
yet lived and played by starlit night,
until one summer-eve befell, 55
as still the elven harpers tell.
Then merrily his piping trilled;
the grass was soft, the wind was stilled,
the twilight lingered faint and cool
in shadow-shapes upon the pool f 60
beneath the boughs of sleeping trees
standing silent. About their knees
a mist of hemlocks glimmered pale,
and ghostly moths on lace-wings frail
went to and fro. Beside the mere 65
quickening, rippling, rising clear
the piping called. Then forth she came,
as sheer and sudden as a flame
of peerless white the shadows cleaving,
her maiden-bower on white feet leaving; 70
and as when summer stars arise
(* Both Maglor and Maelor appear in the draft manuacripts of this passage. The final
typescript has Maelor, changed to Maglor, but not I think by my father.
+ In The Silmarillion (p.254) it is not said that Maglor ended his life in the sea: he cast
the Silmaril into the sea, 'and thereafter he wandered ever upon the shores, singing in pain
and regret beside the waves'.
| There is no other reference to a 'pool' or 'mere' at the place in the woods where Beren
came upon Luthien.)
radiant into darkened skies,
her living light on all was cast
in fleeting silver as she passed.
There now she stepped with elven pace, 75
bending and swaying in her grace,
as half-reluctant; then began
to dance, to dance: in mazes ran
bewildering, and a mist of white
was wreathed about her whirling flight. 80
Wind-ripples on the water flashed,
and trembling leaf and flower were plashed
with diamond-dews, as ever fleet
and fleeter went her winged feet.
Her long hair as a cloud was streaming 85
about her arms uplifted gleaming,
as slow above the trees the Moon
in glory of the plenilune
arose, and on the open glade
its light serene and clear was laid. 90
Then suddenly her feet were stilled,
and through the woven wood there thrilled,
half wordless, half in elven-tongue,
her voice upraised in blissful song
that once of nightingales she learned 95
and in her living joy had turned
to heart-enthralling loveliness,
unmarred, immortal, sorrowless.
Ir Ithil ammen Eruchin
menel-vir sila diriel 100
si loth a galadh lasto din!
A Hir Annun gilthoniel,
le linnon im Tinuviel!
The typescript ends here, but the final manuscript draft continues:
O elven-fairest Luthien
what wonder moved thy dances then? 105
That night what doom of Elvenesse
enchanted did thy voice possess?
Such marvel shall there no more be
on Earth or west beyond the Sea,
at dusk or dawn, by night or noon 110
or neath the mirror of the moon!
On NeIdoreth was laid a spell;
the piping into silence fell,
for Daeron cast his flute away,
unheeded on the grass it lay, 115
in wonder bound as stone he stood
heart-broken in the listening wood.
And still she sang above the night,
as light returning into light
upsoaring from the world below 120
when suddenly there came a slow
dull tread of heavy feet on leaves,
and from the darkness on the eaves
of the bright glade a shape came out
with hands agrope, as if in doubt 125
or blind, and as it stumbling passed
under the moon a shadow cast
bended and darkling. Then from on high
as lark falls headlong from the sky
the song of Luthien fell and ceased; 130
but Daeron from the spell released
awoke to fear, and cried in woe:
'Flee Luthien, ah Luthien go!
An evil walks the wood! Away! '
Then forth.he fled in his dismay 135
ever calling her to follow him,
until far off his cry was dim
'Ah flee, ah flee now, Luthien! '
But silent stood she in the glen
unmoved, who never fear had known, 110
as slender moonlit flower alone,
white and windless with upturned face
waiting
Here the manuscript comes to an end.
Canto IV.
A small section of this Canto was partly rewritten at some late date. Lines
884ff. were changed to:
Then Thingol said: '0 Dairon wise,
with wary ears and watchful eyes,
who all that passes in this land
dost ever heed and understand,
what omen doth this silence bear?
This was written rapidly on the B-text and was primarily prompted, I
think, by the wish to get rid of the word 'magic' at line 886, which is
underlined and marked with an X on the D typescript. At the same time
'wild stallion' at 893 was changed to 'great stallion', and Tavros to Taurus
at 891. A little further on, lines 902 - 19 were changed, also at this time:
beneath the trees of Ennorath.*
Would it were so! An age now hath
gone by since Nahar trod this earth
in days of our peace and ancient mirth,
ere rebel lords of Eldamar
pursuing Morgoth from afar
brought war and ruin to the North.
Doth Tauros to their aid come forth?
But if not he, who comes or what?'
And Dairon said: 'He cometh riot!
No feet divine shall leave that shore
where the Outer Seas' last surges roar,
till many things be come to pass,
and many evils wrought. Alas!
the guest is here. The woods are still,
but wait not; for a marvel chill
them holds at the strange deeds they see,
though king sees not - yet queen, maybe,
can guess, and maiden doubtless knows
who ever now beside her goes.'
Lines 926 - 9 were rewritten:
But Dairon looked on Luthien's face
and faltered, seeing his disgrace
in those clear eyes. He spoke no more,
and silent Thingol's anger bore.
But these rewritings were hasty, at the level of rough draft, and in no way
comparable to what has preceded.
(* Ennorath: 'Middle-earth'; cf. The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E (III.393, footnote t).
I
Cantos V - IX.
There is no later recasting in these Cantos save for four lines in Canto IX:
the dying words of Felagund to Beren (2633 ff.):
I now must go to my long rest
in Aman, there beyond the shore
of Eldamar for ever more
in memory to dwell.' Thus died the king,
as still the elven harpers sing.
At this point my father wrote on one of the copies of the D-text:
'He should give ring back to Beren' (for the later history of the ring see
Unfinished Tales p. 171 note 2, and The Lard of the Rings Appendix A,
III. 322 note r and 338). But in fact it is nowhere said that Beren had
returned the ring to Felagund.
Canto X
With the beginning of this Canto a substantial passage of new writing
begins, at first written on the B-text, and then, with further change, in a
typescript made by father, to all appearance at the same time as that given
on pp. 352 - 5 (but in this case the new verse was retyped as part of the
D-text).
Songs have recalled, by harpers sung
long years ago in elven tongue,
how Luthien and Beren strayed
in Sirion's vale; and many a glade
they filled with joy, and there their feet 5
passed by lightly, and days were sweet.
Though winter hunted through the wood,
still flowers lingered where they stood.
Tinuviel! Tinuviel!
Still unafraid the birds now dwell 10
and sing on boughs amid the snow
where Luthien and Beren go.
From Sirion's Isle they passed away,
but on the hill alone there lay
a green grave, and a stone was set, 15
and there there lie the white bones yet
of Finrod fair, Finarfin's son,
unless that land be changed and gone,
or foundered in unfathomed seas,
while Finrod walks beneath the trees 20
in Eldamar* and comes no more
to the grey world of tears and war.
To Nargothrond no more he came
but thither swiftly ran the fame
of their dead king and his great deed, 25
how Luthien the Isle had freed:
the Werewolf Lord was overthrown,
and broken were his towers of stone.
For many now came home at last
who long ago to shadow passed; 30
and like a shadow had returned
Huan the hound, though scant he earned
or praise or thanks of Celegorm.
There now arose a growing storm,
a clamour of'many voices loud, 35
and folk whom Curufin had cowed
and their own king had help denied,
in shame and anger now they cried:
'Come! Slay these faithless lords untrue!
Why lurk they here? What will they do, 40
but bring Finarfin's kin to naught,
treacherous cuckoo-guests unsought?
Away with them! ' But wise and slow
Orodreth spoke: 'Beware, lest woe
and wickedness to worse ye bring! 45
Finrod is fallen. I am king.
But even as he would speak, I now
command you. I will not allow
in Nargothrond the ancient curse
from evil unto evil worse 50
to work. With tears for Finrod weep
repentant! Swords for Morgoth keep!
No kindred blood shall here be shed.
Yet here shall neither rest nor bread
the brethren find who set at naught 55
(* Eldamar: earlier reading the Blessed Realm.- With these lines cf. the revised version
of Felagund's dying words in Canto IX (p. 357).)
Finarfin's house. Let them be sought,
unharmed to stand before me! Go!
The courtesy of Finrod show! '
In scorn stood Celegorm, unbowed,
with glance of fire in anger proud 60
and menacing; but at his side
smiling and silent, wary-eyed,
was Curufin, with hand on haft
of his long knife. And then he laughed,
and 'Well?'said he. 'Why didst thou call 65
for us, Sir Steward? In thy hall
we are not wont to stand. Come, speak,
if aught of us thou hast to seek! '
Cold words Orodreth answered slow:
'Before the king ye stand. But know, 70
of you he seeks for naught. His will
ye come to hear, and to fulfil.
Be gone for ever, ere the day
shall fall into the sea! Your way
shall never lead you hither more, 75
nor any son of Feanor;
of love no more shall there be bond
between your house and Nargothrond! '
'We will remember it,' they said,
and turned upon their heels, and sped, 80
saddled their horses, trussed their gear,
and went with hound and bow and spear,
alone; for none of all the folk
would follow them. No word they spoke,
but sounded horns, and rode away 85
like wind at end of stormy day.
The typescript made by my father ends here, but the revision written on
the B-text continues (and was incorporated in the D typescript).
Towards Doriath the wanderers now
were drawing nigh. Though bare was bough,
and winter through the grasses grey
went hissing chill, and brief was day, 90
they sang beneath the frosty sky
above them lifted clear and high.
They came to Mindeb swift and bright
that from the northern mountains' height
to Neldoreth came leaping down 95
with noise among the boulders brown,
but into sudden silence fell,
passing beneath the guarding spell
that Melian on the borders laid
of Thingol's land. There now they stayed; 100
for silence sad on Beren fell.
Unheeded long, at last too well
he heard the warning of his heart:
alas, beloved, here we part.
'Alas, Tinuviel,' he said, 105
'this road no further can we tread
together, no more hand in hand
can journey in the Elven-land.'
'Why part we here? What dost thou say,
even at dawn of brighter day? ' 110
From lines 2936 to 2965 no further changes were made (except
Elfinesse to Elvenesse at 2962). In the preceding passage, Inglor
Felagund son of Finrod has become Finrod Felagund son of Finarfin,
which dates the revision to, at earliest, 1955, for the change had not been
made in the first edition of The Lord of the Rings.
A further short stretch of rewriting begins at 2966, returning to the
original text two lines later:
My word, alas! I now must keep,
and not the first of men must weep
for oath in pride and anger sworn.
Too brief the meeting, brief the morn,
too soon comes night when we must part! 5
All oaths are for breaking of the heart,
with shame denied, with anguish kept.
Ah! would that now unknown I slept
with Barahir beneath the stone,
and thou wert dancing still alone, 10
unmarred, immortal, sorrowless,
singing in joy of Elvenesse.'
'That may not be. For bonds there are
stronger than stone or iron bar,
more strong than proudly spoken oath. IS
Have I not plighted thee my troth?
Hath love no pride nor honour then?
Or dost thou deem then Luthien
so frail of purpose, light of love?
By stars of Elbereth above! 20
If thou wilt here my hand forsake
and leave me lonely paths to take,
then Luthien will not go home...
At the same time line 2974 was changed to
beyond all hope in love once more
and 2988 ff. to
In rage and haste
thus madly eastward they now raced,
to find the old and perilous path
between the dreadful Gorgorath
and Thingol's realm. That was their road
most swift to where their kin abode
far off, where Himring's watchful hill
o'er Aglon's gorge hung tall and still.
They saw the wanderers. With a shout
straight on them turned their steeds about...
Cantos XI - XIII.
There is no rewriting in Cantos XI and XII, but a little towards the end
of XIII. Lines 4092 - 5 were replaced by:
the Silmarils with living light
were kindled clear, and waxing bright
shone like the stars that in the North
above the reek of earth leap forth.
Lines 4150 - 9 were replaced by:
In claws of iron the gem was caught;
the knife them rent, as they were naught
but brittle nails on a dead hand.
Behold! the hope of Elvenland,
the fire of Feanor, Light of Morn 5
before the sun and moon were born,
thus out of bondage came at last,
from iron to mortal hand it passed.
There Beren stood. The jewel he held,
and its pure radiance slowly welled 10
through flesh and bone, and turned to fire
with hue of living blood. Desire
then smote his heart their doom to dare,
and from the deeps of Hell to bear
all three immortal gems, and save IS
the elven-light from Morgoth's grave.
Again he stooped; with knife he strove;
through band and claw of iron it clove.
But round the Silmarils dark Fate
was woven: they were meshed in hate, 20
and not yet come was their doomed hour
when wrested from the fallen power
of Morgoth in a ruined world,
regained and lost, they should be hurled
in fiery gulf and groundless sea, 25
beyond recall while Time shall be.
Canto XIV.
Lines 4185 - go were rewritten:
At last before them far away
they saw a glimmer, faint and grey
of ghostly light that shivering fell
down from the yawning gates of Hell.
Then hope awoke, and straightway died -
the doors were open, gates were wide;
but on the threshold terror walked.
The dreadful wolf awake there stalked }
The wolf awake there watchful stalked }
and in his eyes the red fire glowered;
there Carcharoth in menace towered,
a waiting death, a biding doom:
Lines 4208-11 were rewritten:
and Beren in despair then strode
past Luthien to bar the road,
unarmed, defenceless, to defend
the elven-maid until the end.
*
Of the original Lay scarcely more than a sixth is represented in the
rewriting, and the proportion of new verse to old is less than a quarter; so
that Humphrey Carpenter's statement in The Inklings, p. 31, that
'Eventually, indeed, he came to rewrite the whole poem' must, alas, be
corrected.
Note on the original submission of the
Lay of Leithian and The Silmarillion
in 1937.
In the wake of the immediate success of The Hobbit, which was published
on 21 September 1937, Stanley Unwin, the chairman of George Allen &
Unwin, was naturally anxious that my father should produce a sequel or
successor - about hobbits. The result of the first meeting between them,
not long after the publication of the book, was that my father sent in
various manuscripts, among them the Lay of Leithian (referred to in the
correspondence of that time as the Gest(e) of Beren and Luthien) and
The Silmarillion.
Humphrey Carpenter says in his Biography (p. 183) that 'the manu-
script [of The Silmarillion] - or rather, the bundle of manuscripts - had
arrived in a somewhat disordered state, and the only clearly continuous
section seemed to be the long poem "The Gest of Eeren and Luthien".'
Rayner Unwin has told me that in the record kept by Allen L Unwin of
incoming manuscripts the works delivered on 15 November 1937 were
listed as:
x Farmer Giles of Ham
Long Poem
Mr Bliss
The Gnomes Material
The Lost Road
Notes of my father's show that together with The Silmarillion 'proper' he
sent at this time Ainulindale (The Music of the Ainur), Ambarkanta
(The Shape of the World), and The Fall of the Numenoreans. I think
that this is why the fourth item in the record book was written down as
'The Gnomes Material'. It may be that the different manuscripts were
not very clearly differentiated, while the title-pages of the different works
would certainly seem obscure; and 'The Gnomes Material' was a con-
venient covering phrase.* But perhaps one may detect in it a note of
helplessness as well, apparent also in the description of item z as a 'Long
Poem'. - On the other hand, it should be mentioned that the text of?he
Silmarillion was at that time a fine, simple, and very legible manuscript.
(* There is.no question that The Silmarillion itself did go to Allen R Unwin at this time.
My father made a note while it was gone about changes to be made to it when it came back to
him, and he specifically acknowledged the return of it (Letters p. 27): 'I have received
safely... the Geste (in verse) and the Silmarillion and related fragments.'
There is no evidence that The Silmarillion and the other Middle-earth
prose works were submitted to the publishers' reader. In his report on
the poem he referred only to 'a few pages' and 'some pages' in prose, and
Stanley Unwin, when he returned the manuscripts on 15 December
I937, mentioned 'the pages of a prose version' which accompanied the
poem. Humphrey Carpenter seems certainly right in his suggestion
(Biography p. 184) that these pages were attached 'for the purpose of
completing the story, for the poem itself was unfinished'; they were
pages from the story of Beren and Luthien as told in The Silmarillion.
But it is also obvious from the reader's report that he saw nothing else of
The Silmarillion. He headed his report: 'The Geste of Beren and
Luthien (Retold in Verse by? )', and began:
I am rather at a loss to know what to do with this - it doesn't even seem
to have an author! - or any indication of sources, etc. Publishers'
readers are rightly supposed to be of moderate intelligence and read-
ing; but I confess my reading has not extended to early Celtic Gestes,
and I don't even know whether this is a famous Geste or not, or, for
that matter, whether it is authentic. I presume it is, as the unspecified
versifier has included some pages of a prose-version (which is far
superior).
By the last sentence he meant, I think, that the story, as represented
in what he took to be a close prose translation, was authentic 'Celtic
Geste', and that 'the unspecified versifier' had proceeded to make a poem
out of it.
However, he was a critic positive in his taste, and he contrasted the
poem, greatly to its disadvantage, with 'the few pages of (presumably)
prose transcript from the original'. In the poem, he said, 'the primitive
strength is gone, the clear colours are gone' - a notable conclusion, even if
the actual evolution of the Matter of Beren and Luthien was thus turned
onto its head.
It may seem odd that the reader who was given the poem should have
had so little to go on; even odder, that he wrote with some enthusiasm
about the fragment of prose narrative that accompanied it, yet never saw
the work from which the fragment came, though that was the most
important manuscript sent in by the author: he had indeed no reason to
suspect its existence. But I would guess that my father had not made it
sufficiently clear at the outset what the Middle-earth prose works were
and how they related to each other, and that as a result 'the Gnomes
Material' had been set aside as altogether too peculiar and difficult.
At the bottom of the reader's report Charles Furth of Allen R Unwin
wrote: 'What do we do?'; and it was left to the tact of Stanley Unwin to
devise a way. When he returned the manuscripts to my father he said:
As you yourself surmised, it is going to be a difficult task to do
anything with the Geste of Beren and Luthien in verse form, but our
reader is much impressed with the pages of a prose version that
accompanied it
- and he quoted from the report only the approving (if misdirected)
remarks which the reader had made about the Silmarillion fragment,
and which Humphrey Carpenter quotes- 'It has something of that mad,
bright-eyed beauty that perplexes all Anglo-Saxons in the face of Celtic
art,' &c. But Stanley Unwin then went on to say:
?he Silmarillion contains plenty of wonderful material; in fact it is a
mine to be explored in writing further books like The Hobbit rather
than a book in itself.
These words effectively show in themselves that The Silmarillion had
not been given to a reader and reported on. At that time it was an
extremely coherent work, though unfinished in that version.* Beyond
question, Stanley Unwin's object was to save my father's feelings, while
(relying on the reader's report - which concerned the poem) rejecting the
material submitted, and to persuade him to write a book that would
continue the success of The Hobbit. But the result was that my father was
entirely misled; for in his reply of 16 December 1937 (given in full in
Letters pp. 26 - 7) - three days before he wrote saying that he had
completed the first chapter, 'A Long-expected Party', of 'a new story
about Hobbits' - he said:
My chief joy comes from learning that the Silmarillion is not rejected
with scorn... I do not mind about the verse-form [i.e. the verse-form
of the tale of Beren and Luthien, the Lay of Leithian] which in spite of
certain virtuous passages has grave defects, for it is only for me the
rough material.+ But I shall certainly now hope one day to be able, or
to be able to afford, to publish the Silmarillion!
He was quite obviously under the impression that The Silmarillion had
been given to a reader and reported on (no doubt he saw no significance
in Stanley Unwin's phrase 'the pages of a prose version'); whereas so far
as the existing evidence goes (and it seems sufficiently complete) this was
not the case at all. He thought it had been read and rejected, whereas it
had merely been rejected. The reader had certainly rejected the Lay of
Leithian; he had not rejected The Silmarillion, of which he had only
seen a few pages (not knowing what they were), and in any case enjoyed
them - granting the difficulties that an Anglo-Saxon finds in appreciating
Celtic art.
(* There was not in fact a great deal more to be done in reworking the 1930 text: the new
version extended (in some 40,000 words) to part way through Chapter XXI, Of Turin
Turambar.
+ This may seem a rather surprising thing to say; but it is to be remembered that he had
abandoned the poem six years before, and was at this time absorbed in the perfecting of the
proee Silmarillion.)
It is strange to reflect on what the outcome might conceivably have
been if The Silmarillion actually had been read at that time, and if the
reader had maintained the good opinion he formed from those few pages;
for while there is no necessary reason to suppose even so that it would
have been accepted for publication, it does not seem absolutely out of the
question. And if it had been? My father wrote long after (in 1946, Letters
P. 346):
I then [after the publication of The Hobbit] offered them the legends
of the Elder Days, but their readers turned that down. They wanted a
sequel. But I wanted heroic legends and high romance. The result was
The Lord of the Rings.
GLOSSARY OF OBSOLETE, ARCHAIC,
AND RARE WORDS AND MEANINGS.
In this list words occurring in the Lay of the Children of Hurin (H, and
the second version H ii) and in the Lay of Leithian (L, and the con-
tinuous part of the later rewriting L ii) are referenced to the lines; words
from other poems or passages are referenced to the pages on which they
occur.
Both Lays, but especially The Children of Hurin, make use of some
totally lost words (and lost meanings), but the list includes also a good
many that remain well-known literary archaisms, and some words that
are neither but are of very limited currency.
an if, H 63, 485.
as as if, H 310, ii. 659.
astonied astounded, H 578.
bade H ii.646. If This Thingol she bade means 'This she offered to
Thingol' the word is used in two senses within the line: she bade
(offered) him the helm, and bade (asked) him to receive her
thanks', but more probably the line means 'she asked him to receive
it, and her thanks' (cf. H 301).
bale evil, woe, torment, H 56, ii. 81.
balusters the pillars of a balustrade, p. 132.
bated restrained, held in, H 1121.
bent open place covered with grass, H 1032, 1517, 1539, ii. 500;
L 1369, 2281.
betid come to pass, L 2408
blent mingled, H 453, 583; L ii. 317.
boots in it boots not, it is of no use, H 1871.
bosmed (in bare-bosmed) bosomed, H 1198.
brand blade, sword, H 1340, ii. 149.
carping talk, chatter, H 477; carped H 506.
casque helmet, H ii. 655.
chaplet garland, L 753
chase hunting-grounds, L 3297
clomb old past tense of climb, H 1494; L 1382, 3872.
corse corpse, H 1295, 1404; L 3620.
cozening beguiling or defrauding, p. 305.
croft enclosed plot of arable land, L 1968.
dear precious, valuable, H 480.
dolour suffering, L 2814.
dolven (also in dark(ly)-, deep-dolven) delved, dug, H 2052; L 213,
1677, 11. 63.
dreed endured, suffered, H 531.
drouth (the same word in origin as drought) dryness, H 946, 972;
(plains of, fields of) drouth, thirst, H 826; L 2047.
eld old age, H ii. 595; of eld, of old, H x x 8, ii. 262.
enfurled (in mist-enfurled) enveloped, swathed (in something
twisted or folded), L 59, ii.61. The word is not recorded with the
prefix en-. Cf. furled, wrapped, L 1551, unfurled, opened out,
L 404, 1591, 3986.
enow enough, L 1304.
error (probably) wandering, H ii. 495.
fain gladly, H 130; L 823; glad, L ii.368; fain of eager for, or
well-pleased with, H 410, 458, ii. 786; warfain eager for war,
H 386, 1664, ii. 137, bloodfain ii. 750; I had fainer I would like it
better, H ii. 146.
falchion (broad) sword, H 1217, ii.63, 146
fallow golden brown, H 2106; pp. 128 - g; fallow-gold p. 129;
fallow deer L 86. (A distinct word from fallow of ground.)
fare journeying, H 2184.
fast fixedly, unmovingly, H 1614 (or perhaps adjective qualifying
pondering, deep, unbroken, cf. fast asleep); secure against
attack, L 360.
fell hide, L 2344, 3398, 3458, 3484, 3941, 4I24, ii. 528.
fey death-bound, L 3305; see unfey.
flittermouse bat, L 4074.
fold land, H 765; folds H 533, 1632 probably the same, but perhaps
'windings'.
force waterfall, H 1595.
forhungered starved, L 3076.
forwandered worn out by wandering, H 190, 897, ii.498; L 550,
2354.
*354
freshets small streams of fresh water, H 1597; L 1934.
frith wood, woodland, H 1795; p. 132; L 896, 2264, ii. 124.
frore frosty, H ii. 594; very cold, L 578, 1718.
garth enclosed ground beside a house, garden, yard, H 149, ii. 313.
ghyll deep rocky ravine, H 1498.
glaive lance, or sword, H 322, 1210, ii.680.
glamoury magic, enchantment, pp. 122 - 3;L 2073.
gloam twilight, p. 146.
grasses plants, herbs, L 3122.
guerdon recompense, H 658; L 222, 1064, 4139.
haggard (of clothes) ragged, disordered, H 466; (of hills) wild,
H 2120, L 3167; modern meaning H 1890, L 3720 (in transferred
sense, haggard hunger, haggard care H I437, L 564)
haled drew, pulled out, H ii. 551.
hap fortune, lot, condition, H 340.
hest command, H 86, 689.
hie hasten, H 838.
hight called, named, H 366, 863.
hold fastness, stronghold, L 52, 1702, 2457; p. 134 (or perhaps
'grasp'); refuge, L 210.
holt wood, copse, L 2342.
inane empty, void, L 3533.
keep central part of the stronghold, L 1677.
lambent of flame, playing on a surface without burning, H 1217.
lapped hemmed in, H 690; enfolded, H 709.
lea grassland, H 35, 1797, ii. 66.
leasows meadows, H 1797.
leeches physicians, L 3055, 3144.
let hinder, L 2019.
levin lightning, H 1681.
lief willing, L 3417; lievet better, more delightful, H 78.
like please, H go, 286, 598, 1376, ii. 226, 626 (but 'like' H 616)
lind linden, lime-tree, p. 120.
loath hateful to, L 3419; unwilling, L 3417.
lode path, road, H 798.
louted bent, bowed, H 1520.
march borderland, H ii. 493; L 3672.
marge margin, H 1555.
mavis song-thrush, L ii. 74.
meed reward, requital, H 81, 268, 701, 793, ii. I95, 231, 604.
meet fitting, H 487.
mete deal out (used in the construction I shall mete thee a meed, his
meed was meted) H Sr, 532, 7O1 1092, ii. 195.
mews seagulls, p. 129; seamew H 1551.
neb beak, bill, L 255, 570, ii. 381, 409.
nesh soft, tender, L 4220.
opes opens, L 3740; oped H 550.
or ever before ever, L 1821.
or... or either... or, H 439 - 40 L 54, 2886; p. 359
outer utter, uttermost (?), L 2079.
palfrey small saddle-horse, L 3379.
parlous perilous, dangerous, L ii. 456.
pled old past tense of plead, L 2983.
pleniluae full moon, p. 354.
prate chatter, talk to no purpose, H 501.
quick living, alive, H ii. 78.
quod (quoth), said, H 88.
quook old past tense of quake, L 3582.
recked cared, H 619; L ii. 629; unrecked unheeded, disregarded,
H 1799.
redeless without resource, devoid of counsel, L 3427.
rive cleave, H 1211; past tense rove, L 4149.
roamed wandered, went (of a path or journey), H 1432; extended (?)
(of regions), H 1577. (These usages appear to be unrecorded.)
rout company, troop, band, L 2997.
rove see rive.
ruel-bone some kind of ivory, L 2261 (cf. J. R. R. Tolkien, Sir
Gawain, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo, translation of Pearl stanza 18: And
her hue as rewel ivoty man).
nath pity, compassion, H 306, 1941, 1969, 2134, ii.654; L 116;
remorse, H 509; sorrow, H 1661
shaws woods, thickets, H 647 (cf. the Trollshaws west of Rivendell).
sheer (of light) bright, L 689; (of water) clear and pure, L 1439.
shoon old plural of shoe, L 490.
shores supports, props, L 3880.
sigaldry sorcery, L 2072 (cf. stanza 3 of the poem Errantry, in J. R. R.
Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, 1962).
slade valley, dell, H 235, I 150 2171 ii. 561; s1ades of death H 685,
886.
slot track, trail (of a hunted creature), H 745, 1314
alough mire, mud, H 881.
sped availed (attained his purpose), H 41; prospered (transitive),
H 247, (intransitive) ii. 574; pressed, urged on, H 284; sent with
haste, H 654.
stared (probably) shone, L 3I32 a meaning of the verb found in the
mediaeval alliterative poems: cf. J. R. R. Tolkien, Sir Gawain,
Pearl, and Sir Orfeo, translation of Pearl stanza 10: stars stare in
the welkin in minter night, where the original has staren with
this meaning.
strikes runs, flows, H 240, 520, ii. 567.
suage assuage, relieve, H 612.
sued petitioned for, appealed for, H 857.
swath 'the space covered by a sweep of the mower's scythe' (O.E.D.),
H 33, ii.64; L 2106.
swinking toiling, H 784.
sylphine of the nature of a sylph (spirit inhabiting the air, see p. 306),
L 4077. (This adjective to sylph is not recorded.)
tale count, amount, sum, H 159, 471, ii. 326. Cf. untold uncounted,
H ii. 678, L 12, 2251.
targe shield, H 13 I 409, 2 I 53, it. 284, 785.
thewed in mighty-thewed, of great strength, with mighty sinews,
H ii. 714.
thirled pierced, H 697.
tilth cultivated land, H 1798.
tors rocky hill-tops, H 2119.
travail hardship (as endured on a journey, i.e. both travail and
travel), H xyg, ii. 300.
unfey not 'fey', not fated to die, H ii. 752 (or possibly the meaning is
'not feeble, not timid', reversing another sense of fey). This word is
apparently not recorded in English, but u-feigr 'unfey' is found in
Old Norse.
unkempt uncombed, H 490.
unreeked see reeked.
wading going, passing, H 1605.
waiviag refusing, rejecting, H ii. 154.
wallet bag for provisions, H 228, ii. 551.
wan dark, L 261, ii. 561.
wanhope despair, H 188.
web woven fabric, L 1471l; used of ring-mail L 324, and of the
'weavings' of fate H ii. 13.
weeds clothes, H 445.
weft woven fabric, L 3061.
weird fate, doom, H 160, ii. 119, 246, 327; L 2290, 3173.
weregild the price to be paid in compensation for the killing of a man,
varying according to his rank, L ii. 177.
whin gorse, L ii. 195.
wieldy (capable of easily wielding body or weapon), vigorous, agile,
H 1765.
wildered lost, H 188, 204, 1316, ii.516; p. 146; bewildered, H 774; L
641 (see p. 323).
minding (1) of the motion of wind or water (without any necessary
suggestion of twisting), H 769, 1857. (2) (of trumpet) blowing,
H 1832.
wist see wot.
mold forested hills or uplands (see p. 88), H 1816, 1992, 1994; L 1742.
wolfham(e) wolfskin, L 3398; pp. 271 - 3, 283 (see p. 271).
woof woven fabric, L 4149.
wot (present tense of verb wit), know, H 204, ii. 516; past tense wist
knew, H 160, 200, 399, ii.327; past participle unwiet unknown,
H 257.
wrack (1) ruin, disaster, destruction, H 27, 629, 2036, ii. 120; p. 142.
(2) seaweed, H 1569
wrights craftsmen, H 300 I 147, ii. 641, 671.