The War of the Jewels (38 page)

$129. 'the lordship of Gumlin was in Hithlum' > 'the lordship of Galion was in Dorlomen'

Throughout the text the form Duarfs (see V.277, $122) was changed to Dwarves.

*

The next step was the striking out of the entire text of Chapter 10

from the beginning as far as 'Hador the Goldenhaired' at the end of $125, and the substitution of a new and much enlarged form, carefully written and inserted into the QS manuscript. This has a few subsequent emendations (almost all made at the same time in red ink), and these are shown in the text that now follows. One of these emendations concerns the title itself. As the revised version was first written the title was Of Dwarves and Men, with a subtitle Concerning the Dwarves (but no subtitle where the section on Men begins). The title was struck out, and replaced by Of the Naugrim and the Edain; the subtitle Concerning the Dwarves was retained; and a new subtitle Of the Edain was inserted at the appropriate place.

In order not to interrupt the numbering of the QS text in Vol.V, for reference in the commentary that follows the text I number the paragraphs of the revised version from $1. - It will be seen that the opening paragraph repeats almost exactly that of QS ($122), but loses the original concluding sentence: 'For though the Dwarfs did not serve Morgoth, yet they were in some things more like to his people than to the Elves.'

Of the Naugrim and the Edain.

Concerning the Dwarves.

$1. Now in time the building of Nargothrond was completed, and Gondolin had been raised in secret; but in the days of the Siege of Angband the Gnomes had yet small need of hiding-places, and they ranged far and wide between the Western Sea and the Blue Mountains. And it is said that they climbed Eredlindon and looked eastward in wonder, for the lands of Middle-earth seemed wild and wide; but few ever passed over the mountains while Angband lasted. In those days the folk of Cranthir first came upon the Dwarves, whom they

[> the Dark-elves] named the Naugrim; for the chief dwellings of that race were then in the mountains east of Thargelion, the land of Cranthir, and were digged deep in the eastern slopes of Eredlindon. Thence they journeyed often into Beleriand, and were admitted even into Doriath. There was at that time no enmity between Elves and Dwarves, but nonetheless no great love.

Here are the words of Pengolod concerning the Naugrim.*

$2. The Naugrim are not of Elf-kind, nor of Man-kind, nor yet of Melkor's breeding; and the Noldor in Middle-earth knew not whence they came, holding that they were alien to the Children, albeit in many ways like unto them. But in Valinor the wise have learned that the Dwarves were made in secret by Aule, while Earth was yet dark; for he desired the coming of the Children of Iluvatar, that he might have learners to whom he could teach his crafts and lore, and he was unwilling to await the fulfilment of the designs of Iluvatar. Wherefore, though the Dwarves are like the Orcs in this: that they came of the wilfulness of one of the Valar, they are not evil; for they were not made out of malice in mockery of the Children, but came of the desire of Aule's heart to make things of his own after the (* All that follows in the section 'Concerning the Dwarves' is written in a much smaller script than that of the opening paragraph.) pattern of the designs of Iluvatar. And since they came in the days of the power of Melkor, Aule made them strong to endure.

Therefore they are stone-hard, stubborn, fast in friendship and in enmity, and they suffer toil and hunger and hurt of body more hardily than all other speaking-folk. And they live long, far beyond the span of Men, and yet not for ever. Aforetime the Noldor held that dying they returned unto the earth and the stone of which they were made; yet that is not their own belief.

For they say that Aule cares for them and gathers them in Mandos in halls set apart for them, and there they wait, not in idleness but in the practice of crafts and the learning of yet deeper lore. And Aule, they say, declared to their Fathers of old that Iluvatar had accepted from him the work of his desire, and that Iluvatar will hallow them and give them a place among the Children in the End. Then their part shall be to serve Aule and to aid him in the re-making of Arda after the Last Battle.

$3. Now these Fathers, they say, were seven in number, and they alone return (in the manner of the Quendi) to live again in their own kin and to bear once more their ancient names. Of these Durin was the most renowned in after ages, father of that Dwarf-kin most friendly to the Elves whose mansions were at Khazad-dum.

$4. In the darkness of Arda already the Naugrim wrought great works, for they had, even from the first days of their Fathers, marvellous skill with metals and with stone, though their works had little beauty until they had met the Noldor and learned somewhat of their arts. And they gave their friendship more readily to the Noldor than to any others of Elves or Men, because of their love and reverence for Aule; and the gems of the Gnomes they praised above all other wealth. But in that ancient . ': time the Dwarves still wrought iron and copper rather than silver and gold; and the making of weapons and gear of war was their chief smith-craft. They it was that first devised mail of linked rings, and in the making of byrnies and of hauberks none among Elves or Men have proved their equals. Thus they aided the Eldar greatly in their war with the Orcs of Morgoth; though the Noldor believed that some of that folk would not have been loath to smithy also for Morgoth, had he been in need of their work or open to their trade. For buying and selling and exchange were their delight, and the winning of wealth thereby; and this they gathered rather to hoard than to use, save in further trading.

$5. The Naugrim were ever, as they still remain, short and squat in stature; they were deep-breasted, strong in the arm, and stout in the leg, and their beards were long. Indeed this strangeness they have that no Man nor Elf has ever seen a beardless Dwarf - unless he were shaven in mockery, and would then be more like to die of shame than of many other hurts that to us would seem more deadly. For the Naugrim have beards from the beginning of their lives, male and female alike; nor indeed can their womenkind be discerned by those of other race, be it in feature or in gait or in voice, nor in any wise save this: that they go not to war, and seldom save at direst need issue from their deep bowers and halls. It is said, also, that their womenkind are few, and that save their kings and chieftains few Dwarves ever wed; wherefore their race multiplied slowly, and now is dwindling.

$6. The father-tongue of the Dwarves Aule himself devised for them, and their languages have thus no kinship with those of the Quendi. The Dwarves do not gladly teach their tongue to those of alien race; and in use they have made it harsh and intricate, so that of those few whom they have received in full friendship fewer still have learned it well. But they themselves learn swiftly other tongues, and in converse they use as they þ may the speech of Elves and Men with whom they deal. Yet in secret they use their own speech only, and that (it is said) is slow to change; so that even their realms and houses that have been long and far sundered may to this day well understand one another. In ancient days the Naugrim dwelt in many mountains of Middle-earth, and there they met mortal Men (they say) long ere the Eldar knew them; whence it comes that of the tongues of the Easterlings many show kinship with Dwarf-speech rather than with the speeches of the Elves.*

$7. In their own tongue the Dwarves name themselves Khuzud [> Khazad]; and the Dark-elves called them / the Naugrim [> Naug], the stunted. Which name the exiled Noldor also used [> likewise took for them], but called them also the Nyrn [struck out: of like meaning], and the Gonnhirrim masters of stone; and those who dwelt in Belegost they called the Ennfeng or Longbeards, for their beards swept the floor before their feet. The chief cities of the Khuzud [> Khazad] in the west of Middle-earth in those days were at Khazaddum, and at (* [Marginal note] Thus the Lammas.)

Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar, which are interpreted in the Gnomish tongue Nornhabar the Dwarrowdelf, and Belegost Mickleburg, and Nogrod the Hollowbold. Greatest of all the mansions of the Naugrim was Khazaddum, that was after called in the days of its darkness Moria, but it was far off in the Mountains of Mist beyond the wide leagues of Eriador; whereas Belegost and Nogrod were upon the east side of Eredlindon and nigh to the lands of the Eldar. Yet few of the Elves, save Meglin of Gondolin, went ever thither; and the Dwarves trafficked into Beleriand, and made a great road that passed under the shoulders of Mount Dolmed and followed thence the course of Ascar, crossing Gelion at Sarn-athrad. There battle later befell; but as yet the Dwarves troubled the Elves little, while the power of the Gnomes lasted.

$8. Here end the words that Pengolod spoke to me concerning the Dwarves, which are not part of the Pennas as it was.

written, but come from other books of lore, from the Lammas, the Dorgannas, and the Quentale Ardanomion: quoth AElfwine.

Of the Edain.

$9. It is reckoned that the first meeting of the Noldor and the Naugrim befell in the land of Cranthir Feanor's son about that time when Fingolfin destroyed the Orcs at Drengist, one hundred and fifty-five years after the crossing of the Ice, and one hundred and five before the first coming of Glomund the dragon. After his defeat there was long peace, and it lasted for wellnigh two hundred years of the sun. During this time the fathers of the Houses of the Men of the West, the Atani

[> Edain], the Elf-friends of old, were born in the land of Eriador east of the mountains: Beor the Vassal, Haleth the Hunter, and Hador the Goldenhaired.

Here the revised part of QS Chapter 10 ends. It will be seen that while it was composed with the original QS text before him and with the actual retention of some of it, my father now introduced many new conceptions concerning the Dwarves. The long-enduring 'hostile' view has at last virtually vanished, with the loss of the sentence at the end of the first paragraph (see p. 203) - although in the original QS text the likeness of Orcs and Dwarves was subsequently ($123) spoken of only in terms of the analogous origin of the two races, each deriving from one of the Valar acting independently, and this remains in the revision.

We learn now that:

the Dwarves live far longer than Men ($2);

- they themselves believe that Aule gathers them after their death into halls in Mandos set apart, and that after the Last Battle they will aid Aule in the remaking of Arda ($2);

- there were Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, who are reincarnated in their own kin (after the manner of the Elves), bearing their ancient names ($3);

- Durin was the father of the Dwarf-kindred of Khazad-dum, most friendly to the Elves ($3);

- the Dwarves were better disposed to the Noldor than to any others among Elves or Men on account of their reverence of Aule ($4);

- the Dwarves are bearded from birth, both male and female ($5);

- Dwarf-women cannot be distinguished from the men by those of other race ($5);

- Dwarf-women are very few, and never go to war, nor leave their deep homes save at the greatest need ($5);

- few Dwarves ever wed ($5);

- the Dwarf-speech changes only very slowly, so that sundering of houses and realms does not greatly impair understanding between them ($6);

- Dwarves met Men in Middle-earth long before the Eldar met them, and hence there is kinship between Dwarf-speech and the languages of the Easterling Men ($6).

This revised version was of course a part of the 1951 revision. There are notable likenesses to what is said in the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings concerning the Dwarves: thus in Appendix A, III (Durin's Folk) there are references to the fewness of Dwarf-women, who remain hidden in their dwellings, to the indistinguishability of Dwarf-women from Dwarf-men to people of other races, and to the rarity of marriage (III.360); and in Appendix F (III.410) the slow changing of their tongue is described.

There follows now a commentary on particular points.

$1. The change made to the original QS text (p. 201, $122) of 'whom the Dark-elves named Naug-rim' to 'whom they [the Noldor]

named the Naug-rim' was now reversed, by a subsequent emendation (later, in $7, the attribution of the name to the Dark-elves appears in the text as written).

$2. 'And since they came in the days of the power of Melkor': i.e., before the awakening of the Elves, the Battle of the Gods, and the captivity of Melkor in Mandos.

$3. It is here that Durin of Khazad-dum, 'most renowned' of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, enters The Silmarillion. It is not said here that Durin's people were the Longbeards; but his association with the Longbeards goes back in fact to The Hobbit, where at the end of the chapter A Short Rest Thorin says (in the text as originally published): 'He was the father of the fathers of one of the two races of dwarves, the Longbeards, and my grandfather's ancestor.' In the Tale of the Nauglafring there were the two peoples, the Dwarves of Nogrod and the Dwarves of Belegost, and the latter were the Indrafangs or Longbeards; in the Quenta the same was true (or at least, no other peoples were mentioned), although the Longbeards had become the Dwarves of Nogrod (IV.104), and this remained the case in QS ($124).

In the present text two things are said on the subject. Durin was

'the father of that Dwarf-kin ... whose mansions were at Khazaddum' ($3); but (reverting to the Tale of the Nauglafring) the Longbeards were the Dwarves of Belegost ($7) - and this is said also both in the Annals of Aman and in the Grey Annals (see p. 108, $22).