The Peoples of Middle-earth (44 page)

7. In Appendix B Elrond wedded Celebrian 2400 years before, in Third Age 100 (changed to 109 in the Second Edition).

8. Finduilas, earlier name of Arwen: see VIII.370, etc.

9. This was changed later to 'three parts Elven-blood'.

10. To this point the text was retained in abbreviated form in the preamble to the annals of the Third Age in Appendix B.

11. Earendur: T 3 has here Earendil (see p. 189).

12. In this text Isildur's death had been recorded under Second Age 3441 (p. 177).

13. In T 3 there are no entries at all before the coming of the Istari c.1000, but my father noted on that manuscript that more should be said here of Gondor and Arnor.

14. This entry concerning the Istari was preserved with some alteration in the preamble to the annals of the Third Age in Appendix B.

15. T 3 had here '(of whose kindred they were maybe a branch)', which was struck out.

16. With this passage concerning the region in which the Hobbits anciently dwelt and the reasons for their westward migration cf.

the Prologue, FR p. 12.

17. T 3 has here: 'The families of the Harfoots, the most numerous of the Periannath (though this people were ever small in number), crossed the Misty Mountains and came into eastern Eriador.

The Fallowhides, another and smaller clan, moved north along the eaves of the Forest, for the shadow was deeper in its southern parts. The Stoors tarried still beside the River.'

18. In T 3 the same is said concerning the 'Fallowhides', but the Stoors 'came over the Redhorn Pass into the desolate land of Hollin'.

19. On the date 1601 see note 4. Subsequent entries for some distance are given also in Shire-reckoning, but I have not included these dates in the text printed.

20. With this passage cf. the Prologue text given on p. 9. The entry in T 3 here begins: 'Owing to an increase in their numbers, which became too great for the small Bree-land, many of the Periannath crossed the R. Baranduin'; the text is then as in T 4, but without the reference to the Stoors.

21. In both the B and C texts of The Heirs of Elendil Angomaite and Sangahyanda were the great-grandsons of Kastamir (so also in Appendix A, RK p. 328).

22. T 3 ends the entry for 1640 'The Periannath were little harmed, for they mingled little with other folk.'

23. This entry belongs to the stage in the history of Gondor when there was an interregnum of sixteen years before Earnil II came to the throne, during which time Pelendur the Steward ruled the realm (see p. 216). It was later corrected to read: '1945 Earnil, descendant of a previous king, receives the crown of Gondor.'

24. In T 3 it is said that Arvedui was slain by the Witch-king; this apparently agrees with the original form of the B text of The Heirs of Elendil (p. 210).

25. T 3 has here: 'but after the end of the kingdom they claim "The Shire" as their own land, and elect a "Shire-king" from among their own chieftains.' On the name Shireking or Shirking see pp. 5-6, 87, 107. It seems to have been in this entry in T 3 that Bucca of the Marish first emerged.

26. This record of Saruman's coming to Orthanc is far earlier than in the additions made to text C of The Heirs of Elendil, where (pp. 205-6) 'Saruman comes to Orthanc' during the rule of the Steward Beren (2743-63), and in that of the Steward Turgon (2914-53) 'Saruman takes possession of Orthanc, and fortifies it'. In Appendix B 'Saruman takes up his abode in Isengard' in 2759.

27. These two entries concerning the finding of the Ring and Gollum's disappearance in the Misty Mountains are nine hundred years later than in the earliest text (p. 225).

28. With the entry for 2060 the substituted pages (see pp. 226 - 7) begin. The original entry for this year began:

The White Council is formed to unite and direct the resistance to the growing forces of evil, which the Wise perceive are all being governed and guided in a plan of hatred for the Eldar and the remnants of Numenor. The Council believe that Sauron has returned. Curunir, or Saruman the White, is chosen to be head of the White Council ...

The original text was then the same as that in the entry that replaced it under the year 2463.

29. The opening of this entry in T 3 seems to have been written first:

'Isumbras I, head of the rising Took family, becomes first Shireking (Shirking) of the Took-line', then changed immediately to

'becomes seventeenth [> thirteenth] Shire-king and first of the Took-line.'

30. The dates of the births of Elladan and Elrohir, and of Arwen, are given thus as two separate entries for the same year 2349 in the replacement text, with Arwen's birth subsequently changed to 2359. In the rejected version her birth was placed in 2400. Con-comitantly with the far earlier date introduced much later for the wedding of Elrond and Celebrian (see note 7), in Appendix B

Elladan and Elrohir were born in 139 (changed to 130 in the Second Edition) and Arwen in 241.

31. In The Heirs of Elendil Denethor I was the son not of Dior the ninth Steward but of Dior's sister (called in the C text Rian): pp.

204, 219. - The rejected text having placed the forming of the White Council four hundred years earlier, under 2060 (note 28), at this point it moved directly from the end of the Watchful Peace and the return of Sauron to Dol Guldur in 2460 to the attack on Gondor in the days of Denethor I. The postponement of the establishment of the White Council was the primary reason for the rejection and replacement of the two pages in the original manuscript, and the entries following 2463 were copied with little change into the new text to the point where it rejoins the old, near the end of the entry for 2510.

32. As in the earliest text (p. 226), T 3 states that Celebrian was slain by the Orcs.

33. 'Thror ... founds the realm of Erebor': the history of Thror's ancestors had not yet emerged.

34. The year 2698 was the date of the death of Ecthelion I in the texts of The Heirs of Elendil.

35. The War of the Dwarves and Orcs entered the history at this time.

In very difficult scribbled notes at the end of T 3 my father asked himself: 'When were the Dwarf and Goblin wars? When did Moria become finally desolate?' He noted that since the wars were referred to by Thorin in The Hobbit they 'must have been recent', and suggested that there was 'an attempt to enter Moria in Thrain's time', perhaps 'an expedition from Erebor to Moria'.

'But the appearance of the Balrog and the desolation of Moria must be more ancient, possibly as far back as c.1980-2000'. He then wrote:

'After fall of Erebor Thror tried to visit Moria and was killed by a goblin. The dwarves assembled a force and fought Orcs on east side of Moria and did great slaughter, but could not enter Moria because of "the terror". Dain returns to the Iron Hills, but Thorin and Thrain wander about.'

Entries were then added to the text of T 3 which were taken up into T 4. At this time the story was that Thrain and Thorin accompanied Thror, but made their escape. - Much later the dates of the war were changed from 2766-9 to 2793-9.

36. 'the fourteenth Thain': that is, of the Took line.

37. The statement here that Thrain had come to Dol Guldur seeking for one of the Seven Rings is strange, for the story that he received Thror's ring and that it was taken from him in the dungeons of Sauron goes back to the earliest text of The Council of Elrond (VI.398, 403). It seems to be a lapse without more significance; see further p. 252.

38. The date of the death of the Steward Belecthor II in all three texts of The Heirs of Elendil is 2872. The date 2852 in the later typescripts of the Tale of Years and in Appendix B is evidently a casual error.

39. In text C of The Heirs of Elendil (p. 206) the final desolation of Ithilien, where however Gondor keeps hidden strongholds, is placed in the time of the Steward Turin II (2882 - 2914). In Appendix B the corresponding entry is given under 2901.

Note on changes made to the manuscript T 4

of the Tale of Years.

(i) The Stoors.

c.1150. The original entry was covered by a pasted slip that cannot be removed, but the underlying text as printed (p. 229) can be read with fair certainty. The replacement differs only in the statement concerning the Stoors: after coming into Eriador by the Redhorn Pass 'some then moved south towards Dunland; others dwelt for a long time in the angle between the Loudwater and the Hoarwell.'

c.1400. This entry was struck out and replaced by another under the year 1600, but the date was then changed to 1550. This was almost the same as the rejected form, but for 'some of the Stoors return to Wilderland' has 'the northern Stoors leave the Angle and return to Wilderland'.

On the evolution of the early history of the Stoors see pp. 66 - 7, $$22-3.

(ii) Saruman.

c.2000. The far earlier coming of Saruman to Isengard (see note 26) was allowed to stand, but the reference to his becoming the head of the White Council in 2060 (note 28) was removed with the displacement of its forming to four hundred years later (2463). See p. 262, note 5.

2851. Saruman next appears in this entry, which was changed to read:

He does not reveal his thought to the Council, but sets a watch upon Anduin and the Gladden Fields, where he himself secretly searches for the One Ring.

The words of the original text 'and he fortifies Isengard' were presumably struck out while the manuscript was in progress, since they reappear under 2911 (where they were again removed).

2911. The last sentence in the original text was altered to 'He re-doubles the search for the Ring, but he says nothing to the Council.'

2940. This entry was not changed.

2953. The conclusion of this long entry, after the words 'the Power of the One Ring', was expanded thus:

The White Council meets and debates concerning the Rings, fearing especially that Sauron may find the One. Saruman feigns that he has discovered that it passed down Anduin to the Sea. He then withdraws to Isengard and fortifies it, and consorts no more with members of the Council. But Mithrandir (Gandalf) journeys far and wide ...

The new text then returns to the original. (Saruman's pretence that he knew that the Ring had gone down Anduin to the Sea had been cut out of the entry for 2851, and the reference to his fortifying Isengard from that for 2911.)

c.3000. The last sentence of the original text was replaced thus: His spies bring him rumours of Smeagol-Gollum and his ring, and of Bilbo of the Shire. He is angry that Gandalf should have concealed this matter from him; and he spies upon Gandalf, and upon the Shire.

(iii) Gollum.

c.2000 and c.2010. These entries concerning the finding of the Ring and Gollum's disappearance were struck out and replaced by additions under 2463 and 2470 (the dates in Appendix B). Many other additions were made concerning Gollum, but these are closely similar to those in Appendix B. There is no mention of his 'becoming acquainted with Shelob' under 2980, but an addition to the original entry for 3001 says 'About this time Gollum was captured and taken to Mordor and there held in prison.'

(iv) The return of Sauron to Mordor.

In the original text of T 4 it was said in the entry for 2953 that Sauron declared himself and his true name, re-entered Mordor prepared for him by the Ringwraiths, and rebuilt Barad-dur. In the revision, an addition was made to 2941: 'The Sorcerer returns in secret to Mordor which the Ringwraiths have prepared for him'; and at the same time the entry for 2953 was altered to read: 'At this time Sauron, having gathered fresh power, openly declares himself and his true name again, and claims Lordship over the West. He rebuilds Barad-dur ...'

The corresponding dates in Appendix B are 2942 and 2951.

(v) The Dwarves.

The statement under 2850 that Thrain went to Dol Guldur seeking one of the Seven Rings (see note 37) was replaced thus: 'Thrain was the possessor of the last of the Seven Rings of Power to survive destruction or recapture; but the ring was taken from him in Dol Guldur with torment, and he died there.' At the same time a new entry was added for the year 2840: 'Thrain the Dwarf goes wandering and is captured by the Sorcerer (about 2845?)'.

The entry for 2590 recording the founding of the realm of Erebor was changed to read: 'In the Far North dragons multiply again. Thror

... comes south and re-establishes the realm of Erebor ...' At the same time, at the end of the entry, this addition was made: 'He was the great-great-grandson of Thrain I Nain's son' (which does not agree with the genealogical table in Appendix A, RK p. 361: see pp. 276 - 7).

For the correction of the entry for 1960 (the accession of Earnil II to the throne of Gondor after a long interregnum) see note 23.

All the revisions of T 4 given above were taken up into the typescript T 5 as it was first made.

IX.

THE MAKING OF APPENDIX A.

(I) THE REALMS IN EXILE.

As with the major manuscript T 4 of the Tale of Years given in the last chapter, I believe that years passed after the making of the manuscript C of The Heirs of Elendil (pp. 191 ff.) before my father took up the matter again, with a view to its radical alteration, when The Lord of the Rings was assured of publication. His later work on this, almost entirely in typescript, is extremely difficult to explain.