The Nature of Middle-earth
Page 39
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XVIII Note on the Delay of Gil-galad and the Númenóreans
fn1 That is, of the numerous tribes of Men, whom the Elves called Men of Good Will, who lived in Eriador and Calenardhon and the Vales of Anduin and in the Great Wood and the plains between that and Mordor and the Sea of Rhûn. In Eriador there were actually some of the remnants of the Three Houses of Men that had fought with the Elves against Morgoth. Others were of their kin, who (like the Silvan Elves) had never passed the Ered Luin, and others of remoter kin. But nearly all were descendants of ancient rebels against Morgoth. (Some evil men there were also.)
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XXII The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor
fn1 Though none of the regions of the Two Kingdoms were before (or after!) the Númenórean settlements densely populated as we should reckon it.
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fn2 All Elves were naturally skilled in making boats, but the craft that were to make a long voyage over Sea, perilous even to Elven-craft until Middle-earth was far behind, required more skill and knowledge.
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fn3 Cf. the Coronation of Aragorn.
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fn4 That would have been regarded as sacrilegious.
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fn5 And, as was generally believed by their rulers, all who accepted their leadership and received their instruction. See next note.
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fn6 For the Númenórean view of the previous inhabitants see Faramir’s conversation with Frodo, especially II 287 [i.e. LR:678–9]. The Rohirrim were according to his classification Middle Men, and their importance to Gondor in his time is chiefly in mind and modifies his account; the description of the various men of the southern “fiefs” of Gondor, who were mainly of non-Númenórean descent, shows that other kinds of Middle Men, descended from others of the Three Houses of the Edain, lingered in the West, in Eriador (as the Men of Bree), or further south — notably the people of Dor-en-Ernil (Dol Amroth).
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fn7 Because such matters had little interest for the Gondorian chroniclers; and also because it was assumed that they had in general remained faithful to the monotheism of the Dúnedain, allies and pupils of the Eldar. Before the removal of most of the survivors of these “Three Houses of Men” to Númenor, there is no mention of the reservation of a high place for worship of the One and the ban on all temples built by hand, which was characteristic of the Númenóreans until their rebellion, and which among the Faithful (of whom Elendil was the leader) after the Downfall and the loss of the Meneltarma became a ban on all places of worship.
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fn8 The Men of Darkness built temples, some of great size, usually surrounded by dark trees, often in caverns (natural or delved) in secret valleys of mountain-regions; such as the dreadful halls and passages under the Haunted Mountain beyond the Dark Door (Gate of the Dead) in Dunharrow. The special horror of the closed door before which the skeleton of Baldor was found was probably due to the fact that the door was the entrance to an evil temple hall to which Baldor had come, probably without opposition up to that point. But the door was shut in his face, and enemies that had followed him silently came up and broke his legs and left him to die in the darkness, unable to find any way out.
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NOTES
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PART ONE: TIME AND AGEING
I The Valian Year
1 In the c. 1937 Annals of Valinor, the Valian Year is implied to be, as here, exactly the same as 10 sun-years: “The First Ages are reckoned as 30,000 [sun-]years, or 3,000 years of the Valar” (V:118). This was also the case in the first version of the c. 1951 Annals of Aman (X:50, and see X:57–8 n.17).
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2 Tolkien here actually wrote: “of the 14,400th Valian Year”, an obvious slip of the pen.
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3 In the c. 1951 Annals of Aman the Elves awoke (as here) in VY 1050 and arrived in Aman in VY 1132 (X:71, 84) and in VY 1500 the Sun and the Moon were fashioned and first rose (X:131); and with that first sunrise Men awoke (X:130). At the time that Tolkien was (first) working on the AAm the Valian Year was still just 10 sun-years, and so Men awoke 1500 – 1050 = 450 × 10 = 4,500 years after the Elves. Here, with the VY = 144 SY, Men awoke 1150 – 1050 = 100 × 144 = 14,400: a more than three-fold increase in time.
It may further be noted that, since, by the time he wrote text 2, Tolkien had decided that the Sun and the Moon were coëval with Arda, the awakening of Men no longer has any chronological correspondence with either the return of the Exiles to Middle-earth or the first rising of the Sun, and so there is no mention of them.
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II Valinorian Time-Divisions
1 Regarding the “domes of Varda” in the “Round World” version of the mythology, see X:369–72, 375–8, 385–90.
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III Of Time in Arda
1 The full significance of this statement will become clearer in part two of this book, esp. in chap. XV, “Elvish Reincarnation”; and cf. my introduction to part two. What it means, in short, is that the Valar give material form to the basic, undifferentiated prime matter (Q. erma) of Arda, in accordance with the Music of the Ainulindalë and the Vision of Arda shown to them by Eru prior to its physical creation; and so are, in a sense, its spirit.
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2 “Elendil (< eledndil)”: The TS here actually reads: “(< eld-ndil)”, but this seems a likely typographical error; cf. the form derivation “Eled-ndil > Elendil” in the preceding MS version. With the citation of Quenya/Old English pairings here of the names Valandil/Oswine (‘lover of the Valar’ and ‘God-friend’, respectively) and Elendil/Ælfwine (‘lover of the Elves’ and ‘Elf-friend’, respectively), see the significant paired use of these same names in the c. 1937 The Lost Road (V:7 ff.), the c. 1945 Notion Club Papers (esp. Part II, IX: 222 ff.), and the subsequent Drowning of Anadûnê (IX:331 ff.).
The typescript ends with this lengthy note, at the bottom of a page, with only: “√ndur” following (indicating the intent to begin a discussion of the stem √ndur as in the manuscript version; but apparently never taken up).
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IV Time-scales
1 Cf. X:401: “The Valar ‘fade’ and become more impotent, precisely in proportion as the shape and constitution of things becomes more defined and settled.”
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2 On the natural unity of hröa (body) and fëa (spirit) in Incarnates, see BODY AND SPIRIT in App. I.
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3 Cf. X:427: “Then an Elf would begin … to ‘fade’, until the fëa as it were consumed the hröa until it remained only in the love and memory of the spirit that had inhabited it.”
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4 The age-range “90–96” was a later alteration of original “100”. Note that the corresponding passage in the typescript text (chap. III, “Of Time in Arda”, above) has “100” in both this case and that in the next endnote.
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5 The age “90” here was likewise a later alteration of original “100”.
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6 In this long footnote the C.E. root “√yer-”, at both occurrences, is a replacement of a previous form, heavily struck through, but possibly “√ūyer-”. On love as “primarily a motion or inclination of the fëa,” cf. X:233. On the dual ends of marriage – unity and procreation – see the discussion of MARRIAGE in App. I. On the “kinship” of Incarnates “to all things in Arda, through their hröar” see chap. II, “Primal Impulse”, in part three of this volume. With “a normally unbreakable bond (of feeling, not here to speak of ‘law’)” see Tolkien’s Laws and Customs among the Eldar (X:
207 ff.) for a closely contemporary, thematically related, and expansive discussion of marriage among the Elves.
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7 The ages “12” and “60” here are later replacements for original “10” and “50”, respectively.
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8 In chap. X, “Difficulties in Chronology”, below, Anairë is said to have been the mother of Idril and to have “refused the Exile”. In all other published sources that name her, Anairë is the wife of Fingolfin and thus Idril’s grandmother, not mother (cf. XI:323, XII:363).
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9 “Elwë” and “Melyanna” are the Quenya forms of the Sindarin names “Elu” and “Melian”, respectively.
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10 On the increased fixing of soul and body together with increased usage among those not naturally incarnate, see chap. IX, “Ósanwe-kenta” in part two of this book; and BODY AND SPIRIT in App. I.
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11 With Eldún and Elrún as the twin sons of Dior, cf. XI:257, 300 n. 16, and 349–50. These names were in Tolkien’s last writings replaced with Eluréd and Elurín (cf. XII:369, 372 n.8).
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12 As first written, the gestation period was given as “9 months or ¾ of a löa”. The alteration was made in red ball-point pen. The correction to “96 months or 8 years” entered as a marginal note in pencil.
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13 As first written, this sentence ended: “for one year”. The alteration was made in red ball-point pen.
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14 As first written, the range of years was given as “10 to 50 years”. The alteration was made in red ball-point pen.
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15 As first written, this paragraph ended: “the next birth was usually from 3 to 9 years; but it might range from 2 years (very rarely less) to 12 years (seldom more)”. The alteration was made in red ball-point pen. An earlier version of this paragraph (heavily struck through) as first written has:
Gestation taking about 1 year, the days of begetting and of birth being normally the same (or nearly so). The “Time of the Children” (ontalúmë or onnalúmë) was in normal lives a continuous series occupying 10–50 years. The interval between children was [?sometimes] less than 2 [?or as much as] 12 years.
Cf. X:212: “As for the begetting and bearing of children: a year passes between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the days of both are the same or nearly so, and it is the day of begetting that is remembered year by year.”
This paragraph was subsequently altered in black nib-pen to read:
Gestation occupied (on the average) about the same time period as among Mortals, though it was perhaps more variable, often being speedier, and on occasion longer – Feänor was borne in the womb for a whole year! The “Time of the Children” (ontalúmë or onnalúmë) was in normal lives a continuous series occupying 10–50 years. The interval between children was between 3 and 9 years; but might be from 2 (rarely less) to 12 years (rarely more).
The whole was then struck through in black nib-pen.
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16 As first written, this paragraph ended: “the Ñoldor grew to maturity less quickly than did Sindar”. The alteration was made in broad nib-pen in the act of writing.
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17 Regarding the perception of time, see chaps. XII, “Concerning the Quendi in Their Mode of Life and Growth” and XX, “Time and its Perception”, below.
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18 As first written, this paragraph ended: “occupies a whole yén, or 144 MY”. Tolkien placed an “X” next to this paragraph, apparently considering it for change/deletion, but did not in the event actually strike it through. The changes to the time occupied by gestation were made in red ball-point pen.
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19 On the lack of pain during childbirth among the Eldar, see THE FALL OF MAN in App. I.
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20 With this “greater expense of the vigour of hröa and fëa (of ‘youth’ as the Eldar say) than is usual among Men” in the begetting of children, cf. X:212.
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21 An earlier and increasingly hastier and difficult version of this concluding section, subsequently struck through, reads:
Thus the Quendi do not “live slowly”, achieving in 144 years only what a mortal could in 1 year; they are not like tortoises moving ponderously while Time flickers past them. Actually, they move and think rather swifter than Men and get more into any given length of time than any Man could. But they have a much greater natural vitality and energy to draw upon, so that it takes very much longer to expend it all.
The procreative act and “gestation” thus take place quickly, at more or less mortal speed, not taking 144 times as long! In fact, the act of union does take longer and gestation a little longer – it [gestation] occupies a löa or sun-year in Middle-earth.
But the production of children expends a very great amount of physical and spiritual energy; the desire for the next act is therefore at the Elvish rate, and when we speak of a 3 year interval we thus mean 432 years.
All matters of growth which are not directly controlled by the conscious fëa are slow in Quendi. Gestation therefore takes a very long while – about 144 MY, during all of which time husband and wife are conscious of the growth of the child, and experience a much longer joy and expectation. For Elvish childbirth is not accompanied by fear or pain – but there is a great expense of vigour followed by quiescence and weariness in both of them. But the act of procreation not being one of growth until the union of the seed and being under full control of the will does not take long – though it is longer and of more intense delight in Elves than in Men: too intense to be long endured.
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V Natural Youth and Growth of the Quendi
1 Tolkien replaced the original “1000 VY” with “96 Valian years” in the act of writing. With the unfallen state of Elves, cf. chaps. VI, “The Awaking of the Quendi”, and XII, “Concerning the Quendi in Their Mode of Life and Growth”, below. See also THE FALL OF MAN in App. I.
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2 With “The Awaking” cf. chap. VIII, “Eldarin Traditions Concerning the ‘Awakening’”, below.
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3 For more on the essekilmë ‘chosen-name’ (or ‘name-choosing’, also spelt essecilmë) and its attendant ceremony, see X:214 ff.
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4 This sentence originally ended at “fatherhood”, but was extended by a marginal insertion in black nib-pen. This insertion originally ended: “It was seldom if ever delayed beyond age”, before it was struck through. A later insertion, in red ballpoint – above “until soon age 48 became regarded as” – and subsequently struck through, appears to read: “not by life-year but by growth-year, [?by] 12, 24, 48”. The idea is perhaps that the postponement resulted from an increase in the number of “growth-years” in the Eldar.
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5 As first written, this sentence began: “It could occur up to about a male age of 192, though it did not usually occur much after age 96”. Next, the figure “192” was crossed through, and calculations added in the line above that read: “24 + 144 (168 year period) 18 + 144 (162)”. Subsequently, these calculations and everything between “192” through “after age” were heavily struck through. The sentence originally ended: “seldom if ever occurred”.
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6 As first written, this sentence ended: “not seldom before they were of age 20”. The words “not seldom” were heavily deleted, and replaced with “sometimes”, which was also then struck through.
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7 This sentence is given as first written, despite subsequent cross-throughs and additions, because the alterations do not seem to have been carried through to completion to form a coherent revision. The words “indeed some postponement” were lightly crossed-through, and a rough note added above them reading
(so far as I can now determine): “[??] the date of [?first birth]”; and the words “[?past growth]” were added above the word “usual” at apparently the same time. Finally, the words “at 21 was the” were struck through, but with no replacement or harmonization with the rest of the sentence supplied.
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8 As first written this sentence ended: “this could quite well be done up to an age of 144 {>> 162} (at latest) – but a first child-bearing seldom occurred after age 72 {>> [?90]}.
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9 The words “one desired as spouse” were altered in the act of writing from: “a desired wi” (apparently a false start for “wife”).
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10 Tolkien did in fact write the apparently singular form “yên” in each case.
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11 Cf. X:213.
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VI The Awaking of the Quendi
1 Christopher Tolkien notes (X:49) that: “The Tale of Years, a chronological list of the same sort as that in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings, exists in different forms, associated with the earlier and later Annals; the later form, closely associated with [the Annals of Aman] and its companion the Grey Annals (Annals of Beleriand), is perhaps the most complex and difficult text of all that my father left behind him.” As such, the text, considered as a complex of layers and developments, has only been partially edited and published (see X:56–7, XI:342–54). The dates cited from the “Tale of Years” here, however, agree with those in the c. 1951 Annals of Aman (or at any rate, with their final forms; see X:47–8) in which (X:71) the Quendi awake in VY 1050, and in which (X:72) Oromë finds them in VY 1085 (there said to be 335 of “our years”, i.e. löar, after they awoke = 9.57 VY). Nor is there any indication given by Christopher Tolkien in his editorial notes on The Tale of Years that these dates were any different in that text as originally written.