The War of the Ring (53 page)

'Less sombre is their gear than the others' ').

When Aragorn came from the gate of the Burg the new text follows the earlier closely (pp. 299 - 300), but he does not name the 'grave peril unlooked for' that threatens Gondor, and he no longer says 'We shall meet at Dunharrow ere we part', but 'I shall be gone ere you come there, if my purpose holds'. His account of his looking into the palantir of Orthanc is somewhat developed, though his sarcasm to Gimli remains; from his words 'If I have done ill I have done ill, but I do not think so' this text continues:

'To know that I lived and walked the earth was a blow to his heart, I deem, for he knew it not till now. But he has not forgotten the sword of Isildur or his maimed hand and the pain that lives ever with him. That in this very hour of his great designs the heir of Isildur should be revealed and the sword of Elendil - for I showed him that - will disturb his counsels.

Certainly now he will hasten all his strokes, but the hasty stroke goes often wild.

'And I learned much. For one thing, that there are other Stones yet preserved in this ancient land. One is at Erech. And thither we are going. To the Stone of Erech, if we can find and dare the Paths of the Dead.'

'The Paths of the Dead?' said Gimli. 'That has a fell name!

Where does it lie?'

'I do not know yet,' said Aragorn. 'But I know much old lore of these lands, and I have learned much myself in many journeys; and I have a guess. To prove it we shall ride fast ere the day is much older. But harken, here is an old rhyme of my kindred, almost forgotten. It was not said openly, but Halbarad tells me that the message that came to Rivendell ended so. "Bid Aragorn remember the dark words of old:

Out of the mountain shall they come their tryst keeping; At the Stone of Erech their horns shall blow

The only differences in this form of the verse from that in the previous draft B (p. 300) are: horns for horn in line 2; lost for dead in line 3; shadow for darkness in line 4; and man for lord in line 7.

This text C was very substantially altered, by pencilled changes, and by the substitution of rewritten pages to replace existing ones. I doubt that much time if any elapsed between the initial writing of the manuscript and the making of these changes: my impression is that the text as first written ended at this point, with 'the dark words of old', at almost the same point as the preceding draft B ended (p. 300), and that my father at once began to develop it further.

The points in which B differed from RK, mentioned in note 6, were now all altered to the final form (save that the name Dunadan had not yet arisen); and while Elboron remained, Elbereth was changed to Elrohir. The passage (RK p. 48) in which Elrohir delivers Elrond's message to Aragorn, and Halbarad speaks the message of Arwen accompanying her gift, is still altogether lacking; but after the description of the Rangers (RK p. 51) the following was inserted: Halbarad their leader carried a tall staff, upon which it seemed was a great standard, but it was close-furled and covered with a black cloth bound about it with many thongs.

A major rewriting (14) was inserted into the C manuscript at the point where Aragorn came from the gate of the Burg; the text of RK is now much more nearly approached, yet not reached, for Aragorn seeks knowledge of the Paths of the Dead, whereas in RK (p. 52) he does not.

'I am troubled in mind, lord,' he said, standing by the king's stirrup. 'Strange words have I heard and I see new perils afar off, I have laboured long in thought, and now I fear that I must change my purpose. But tell me, Theoden, what do you know in this land of the Paths of the Dead?'

'The Paths of the Dead! ' said Theoden. 'Why do you speak of them?' Eomer turned and gazed at Aragorn, and it seemed to Merry that the faces of the Riders that sat within hearing turned pale at the words, and he wondered what they could mean.

'Because I would learn where they are,' said Aragorn.

'I do not know if indeed there be such paths,' said Theoden;

'but their gate stands in Dunharrow, if old lore be true that is seldom spoken aloud.'

'In Dunharrow!' said Aragorn. 'And you are riding thither.

How long will it be ere you come there?'

'It is now two hours past noon,' said Eomer. 'Before the night of the second day from now we should come to the Hold. That night the moon will rise at the full, and the muster that the king commanded will begin the day after. More speed we cannot make, if the strength of Rohan is to be gathered.'

Aragorn was silent for a moment. 'Two days,' he murmured,

'and then the muster of Rohan will only be begun. But I see that it cannot now be hastened.' He looked up, and it seemed that he had made some decision; his face was less troubled.

'Well, by your leave, lord, I must take new counsel. For myself and my kindred, we will now be secret no longer. For me the time of stealth has passed. I will make ready now, and then with my own folk I will ride the straight and open way with all speed to Edoras, and thence to Dunharrow, and thence - who shall say?'

'Do as you will,' said Theoden. 'Your foes are mine; but let each fight as his wisdom guides him. Yet now I must take the mountain-roads and delay no longer. Farewell! '

'Farewell, Aragorn!' said Eomer. 'It is a grief to me that we do not ride together.'

'Yet in battle we may meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor should lie between,' said Aragorn.

'If you seek the Paths of the Dead,' said Eomer, 'then it is little likely that we shall meet among living men. Yet maybe it is your doom to tread strange ways that others dare not.'

'Goodbye, Aragorn!' said Merry. 'I did not wish to be parted from the remnant of our Company, but I have entered the King's service.'

'I could not wish you better fortune,' said Aragorn.

'Goodbye, my lad,' said Gimli. 'I am sorry, but Legolas and I are sworn to go with Aragorn. He says that he needs us. Let us hope the Company will be gathered again some day. And for the next stage yours will be the better road, I think. As you jog on your pony, think of me clinging here, while Legolas vies at horse-racing with those fell Rangers yonder.'

'Till we meet again!' said Legolas. 'But whatever way we chose, I see a dark path and hard before each of us ere the end.

Farewell! '

The text then continues with Merry's sad farewell, and the departure of the Riders down the Coomb (in this text spelt throughout Combe), but Aragorn's words with Halbarad about Merry and the Shire-folk are absent. Aragorn's account of the Orthanc-stone was now rewritten again, with various minor changes bringing the text still closer to that in RK (his words 'The eyes in Orthanc did not see through the armour of Theoden' are however not present: see p. 77

and note 17). But in answer to Gimli's objection 'But he wields great dominion, nevertheless, and now he will move more swiftly' he replies in this revised version:

'The hasty stroke goes often astray,' said Aragorn. 'And his counsels will be disturbed. See, my friends, when I had mastered the Stone I learned many things. A grave peril I saw coming unlooked-for upon Gondor from the South that will draw off great strength from the defence of Minas Tirith. And there are other movements in the North. But now he will hesitate, doubting whether the heir of Isildur hath that which Isildur took from him, and thinking that he must win or lose all before the gates of the City. If so, that is well, as well as an evil case may be.

'Another thing I learned. There are other Stones yet preserved in this ancient land. One is at Erech. Thither I will go. To the Stone of Erech, if we can find the Paths of the Dead.'

The Paths of the Dead! said Gimli. That is a fell name, and little to the liking of the men of Rohan, as I saw. Where do they lie, and why must we seek them?'

'I do not yet know where they lie,' said Aragorn. 'But in Dunharrow it seems that we may learn the answer. To Dunharrow at the swiftest, then, I will go.'

'And you would have us ride with you?' said Legolas.

'Of your free will I would,' said Aragorn. 'For not by chance, I deem, are we three now left together of the Company. We have some part to play together. Listen! Here is an old rhyme of my kindred, almost forgotten, never understood.

The days are numbered; the kings are sleeping.

It is darkling time, the shadows grow.

Out of the Mountain they come, their tryst keeping; at the Stone of Erech horns they blow.

Three lords I see from the three kindreds: halls forgotten in the hills they tread,

Elpord, Dwarflord, Man forwandred,

from the North they come by the Paths of the Dead!(15) Why does this point to us, you may ask. I deem it fits the hour too well for chance. Yet if more is needed: the sons of Elrond bring this word from their father in Rivendell: "Bid Aragorn remember the Paths of the Dead."

'Come then!' Aragorn rose and drew his sword and it flashed in the twilight of the dim hall of the Burg. 'To the Stone of Erech! I seek the Paths of the Dead! Come with me who will!'

Legolas and Gimli answered nothing, but they rose also and followed Aragorn from the hall. There on the green waited silently the hooded Rangers. Legolas and Gimli mounted.

Aragorn sprang on Hasufel. Then Halbarad lifted a great horn and the blast of it echoed in Helm's Deep; and they leapt away, tiding down the Combe like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze.

The last page of the manuscript carries the words pencilled at the end of version B (p. 300): 'So now all roads were running together to East ³ ..', the paragraph that opens 'The Muster of Rohan' in The Return of the King.

At this point my father typed a fair copy, which I will call 'M',(16) very closely based on the manuscript C as revised. This text, numbered

'XLV', bore the title 'Many Roads Lead Eastward'. Only a few passages need be noted. I have mentioned (p. 304) that after the departure of Theoden from the Hornburg 'Aragorn's words with Halbarad about Merry and the Shire-folk are absent' in C revised; but the forerunner of the passage in RK (p. 53) now appears: Aragorn rode to the Dike and watched till the king's men were far down the Combe. Then he turned to Halbarad. 'There go three that I love,' he said, 'and not least the hobbit, Merry, most dearly. For all our love and dooms, Halbarad, and our deeds of arms, still they have a great worth, that greatheart little people; and it is for them that we do battle, as much as for any glory of Gondor. And yet fate divides. Well, so it is. 1 must eat a little, and then we too must haste away ...'(17) Secondly, after Aragorn's words, 'If so that is well, as well as an evil case can be' (p. 304) he now continues:

'... These deadly strokes upon our flanks will be weakened.

And we have a little room in which to play.

'Another thing I learned. There is another Stone preserved in the land of Gondor that he has not looked:n. It is at Erech.

Thither I will go....'

And lastly, Aragorn now introduces the 'old rhyme' in these words:

'Listen! Here is an old rhyme-of-lore among my kindred, almost forgotten, never understood: it is but a shard of the rhymes of Malbeth, the last Seer of our folk in the north' (see note 15). The verse differs from the form in C revised (p. 305) in lines 2-4, which here read:

It is darkling time, the shadow grows.

Out of the Mountain he comes, his tryst keeping; At the Stone of Erech his horn be blows.

From the point where 'Aragorn sprang on Hasufel' the typescript M

continues thus:

... Then Halbarad lifted a great horn, and the blast of it echoed in Helm's Deep, and with that they leapt away, riding down the Combe like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze.

So now all roads were running together to the East to meet the coming of war and the onset of the Shadow. And even as Pippin stood at the Gate of the City and saw the Prince of Dol Amroth ride in with his banners, the King of Rohan came down out of the hills.

Day was waning. In the last rays of the sun the Riders cast long pointed shadows that went on before them....

The paragraph 'So now all roads were running together to the East ...' had been written at the ends of texts B and C (pp. 300, 305), from which it was already clear that my father had in mind a chapter that should fall into two parts: first, the story of the return of Theoden and Aragorn to the Hornburg and Aragorn's looking into the palantir of Orthanc, followed by the separate departures of Theoden and the Riders and of Aragorn and the Rangers; and second, the story of Theoden's coming to Dunharrow. The paragraph 'So now all roads were running together to the East' was devised as the link between them (and provided the title of the chapter in the typescript, which I have adopted here). In terms of RK, this 45th chapter of The Lord of the Rings consisted of 'The Passing of the Grey Company' (pp. 46 - 56) and 'The Muster of Rohan' (pp. 64 ff.); but all account of Aragorn and the Rangers after they had left the Hornburg was to be postponed.