The History of Middle Earth: Volume 8 - The War of the Ring
Page 4
Greenleaf, Greenleaf, bearer of the elven-bow,
Far beyond Mirkwood many trees on earth grow.
Thy last shaft when thou hast shot, under strange trees
shalt thou go!
His words were not corrected on the manuscript, and survived into the typescript that followed (see p. 420).
NOTES.
1. For the subsequent history of this passage see pp. 4-6.
2. Tindtorras: earlier name for the Thrihyrne; see VII.320.
3. In the first version of 'The King of the Golden Hall' the Second Master of the Mark was Eofored, and when Théodred appears he is not Théoden's son (see VII.446 - 7 and note 17). The 'First Battle of the Fords of Isen', in which Théodred fell, was now present (VII.444 and note 12), and in a contemporary time- scheme is dated January 25, the day before the death of Boromir and the Breaking of the Fellowship (in LR February 25 and 26).
4. On the First Map (redrawn section IV, VII.319) Westfold was written against a vale on the western side of the Misty Mountains, south of Dunland (though afterwards struck out. in this position and reinserted along the northern foothills of the Black Mountains west of Eodoras). It cannot be said whether Dunland and Westfold originally stood together on the map as names of distinct regions, or whether Dunland was only entered when Westfold was removed.
5. The change from Trumbold to Herulf, Heorulf (afterwards Erkenbrand) was made while this initial drafting was in progress.
6. My father first wrote Dimgraef, but changed it as he wrote to Heorulf's Clough; above this he wrote the Dimhale (hale representing Old English halh, healh, 'corner, nook of land'), and after it Herelaf's Clough, this being struck out. In the margin he wrote Nerwet (Old English, 'narrow place'); and at the head of the page Neolnearu and Neolnerwet (Old English neowol, neol 'deep, profound'), also the Clough, the Long Clough, and Theostercloh (Old English peostor 'dark'). Clough is from Old English cloh 'steep-sided valley or ravine'.
7. Following this my father wrote, but struck out, 'Dimhale's Door, by some called Herulf's Hold (Burg)'; and in the margin he wrote Dimgraf's gate, and Dimmhealh (see note 6).
8. Nerwet: see note 6.
9. The words enclosed in square brackets are lost (but are obtained from the following draft) through a square having been cut out of the page: possibly there was a small sketch-map here of 'Heorulf's Clough' and the 'Hold'.
10. Before Helm's Deep my father first wrote Helmshaugh, haugh being the Northern English and Scottish development of Old English halh (note 6).
11. Heorulf's Hoe: Hoe is from Old English hoh 'heel' (used in place-names in various senses, such as 'the end of a ridge where the ground begins to fall steeply').
12. The map redrawn on p. 269 is anomalous in this respect as in many others.
13. The extension of the ride across the plain by a day, and the shift in the date of the (second) battle of the Fords of Isen to January 31, entered in revision to the completed manuscript of 'Helm's Deep': see p. 18.
14. Stanscylf, beside Stanshelf, has the Old English form scylf (sc = sh).
15. the cliff: i.e. the Stanshelf, the great natural fall in the ground, constituting a rampart.
16. Cf. the two versions of the scout's report: 'many are making for Herulf's Hold, and say that Herulf is already there' (p. 10); 'some are making for the Clough, but it seems that Nothelm [> Heorulf] is not there' (p. 11).
17. In the first draft the fastness was deserted when the host from Eodoras arrived (p. 13). 'Then follows story as told above until rescue of King' refers to the story in the first draft given on pp. 13-16.
18. This presumably refers to the outline given on p. 16, where the assault was at the line of Helm's Dike, unless some other early account of the assault has been lost.
19. A scrap of drafting has the phrase 'Fitful late moon saw men fighting on the top of the wall'; but the illegible word here is not saw, though that may have been intended,
20. It is subsequently said (but rejected) of the Deeping Stream in this manuscript that 'far to the north it joined the Isen River and made the western border of the Mark.'
21. The second of these passages (VII.386) was lost in TT (p. 22). In the fair copy manuscript of 'The Departure of Boromir' as originally written Legolas in the first passage (TT p. 16) said only: 'Alas! We came when we heard the horn, but we are too late. Are you much hurt?'; the fuller form of his opening words on seeing Aragorn, in which he mentions the hunting and slaying of Orcs with Gimli in the woods, was added later (both to the manuscript and the following typescript). It is therefore possible that my father had now rejected the idea that appears in the second passage ('We slew many'), and did not reinstate it again until after the writing of 'Helm's Deep'. But this seems unlikely, and in any case does not alter the fact of the inconsistency in the published work. This inconsistency may have been observed before, but it was pointed out to me by Mr. Ralph L. McKnight, Jr.
22. Another notable instance of the overlapping in this part of the story is found in the name Erkenbrand. This appears in late stages of the revision of the completed manuscript of 'Helm's Deep', but it was a replacement of Erkenwald (itself replacing Heorulf); and Erkenwald is still the name of the Lord of Westfold in drafting for what became the chapter 'Flotsam and Jetsam'. See p. 40 note 2.
23. In TT (p. 142) Gamling says: 'Not in half a thousand years have they forgotten their grievance that the lords of Gondor gave the Mark to Eorl the Young and made alliance with him.'
24. In addition, the form Rohir is found in this chapter; this has occurred in the manuscript of 'The White Rider' (VII.433 note 8). Rohirrim is found in the completed manuscript of 'Helm's Deep', but it was not yet established, for Rohir appears in the final fair copy manuscript of 'The Road to Isengard' (p. 40), and much later, in 'Faramir' ('The Window on the West'), both Rohir and Rohiroth are used (pp. 155-6).
III. THE ROAD TO ISENGARD.
This chapter was at first continuous with 'Helm's Deep', and when the division was made it received the title 'To Isengard' (Chapter XXIX). The preparatory drafting was here much more voluminous than that of 'Helm's Deep', because the first form of the story had reached a developed form and a clear manuscript before it was rejected. The interpretation of the very confused papers for this chapter is particularly difficult, since it is necessary to distinguish between drafts (often closely similar) for passages in the first version and drafts for passages in the second.
The essential differences in the original version from the form in The Two Towers are these: Gandalf and Théoden and their companions left Helm's Deep shortly after the end of the battle (see p. 5, $ III); they did not see the Ents as they left the mysterious wood, and they did not go down to the Fords of Isen; but they encountered, and spoke with, Bregalad the Ent, bearing a message from Treebeard, in the course of their ride to Isengard, which they reached on the same day. In this chapter I shall give those parts of the original version that are significantly different from the later form, citing them from the completed manuscript of that version but with certain passages from the initial drafts given in the notes.(1)
First, however, there is an outline that my father evidently set down before he began work on the chapter. This was written in the rapid and often barely legible soft pencil that was usual for these preliminary sketches, but in this case a good deal of the outline was inked over.
Meeting of the chieftains. Eomer and Gimli return from Deep. (Both wounded and are tended by Aragorn?) Gandalf explains that he had ridden ranged about gathering scattered men. The coming of the King had diverted Isengard from Eodoras. But he [Gandalf] had sent some men back to defend it against marauders. Erkenbrand (2) had been [? ambushed] and the few horses remaining after the disaster at Isenford had been lost.
He had [?perforce retreated] into hills. They ask Gandalf about the Trees. The answer lies in Isengard, he said. We go now thither speedily - such as will.
Aragorn, Eomer, Gimli, Legolas, King Théoden and his company and [?a force] .... to Is
engard. Erkenbrand. Gamling.
Repair of Hornburg.
They pass down a great.... aisle among the trees that [?seems now to have opened]. No orcs to be seen. Strange murmurs and noises and half-voices among the trees. [Added: Gandalf discusses his tactics. Gimli describes the caves. Here the over- writing in ink begins:]
The sun shines in the plain. They see a tall giant figure striding towards them. The Riders draw swords, and are astonished. The figure greets Gandalf.
I am Bregalad the Quickbeam, he said. I come from Treebeard.
What does he wish? said Gandalf.
He wishes you to hasten. He wants to know what he is to do with Saruman!
Hm! said Gandalf. That is a problem. Tell him I am coming!
What was that, said Théoden. And who is Treebeard?
He was an Ent, said Gandalf. And so is Treebeard.
They hasten and enter Nan Gurunir. There they find a heap of ruins. The great walls of Isengard were burst and flung down in confusion. Only the tower of Orthanc stood alone in the midst of desolation, from which a great smoke went up. The great arch still stands, but a pile of rubble stands before it. On the top of the pile sat - Merry and Pippin, having lunch.(3) They jumped up, and as Pippin had his mouth full, Merry spoke.
'Welcome, lords, to Isengard!' he said. 'We are the door- wardens: Meriadoc son of Caradoc of Buckland is my name; and my companion is Peregrin son of Paladin of Tuckborough.(4) Far in the North is our home. The lord Saruman is within, but [alas, he is indisposed and unable to receive guests. o] at the moment he is closeted with one Wormtongue discussing urgent business.'
'It is possible that we could help in the debate,' laughed Gandalf. 'But where is Treebeard? I have no time to jest with young hobbits.'
'So we find you at last,' said Aragorn. 'You have given us a long journey.'
'How long have you been at Isengard?' said Gimli.
'Less than a day,' said Pippin.(5)
I turn now to the first version of the story, that is the first completed and coherent manuscript. In this, Théoden's words with Gandalf about riding to Isengard (TT p. 149) have a different outcome:
'Nonetheless to Isengard I go,' said Gandalf. 'Let those who are weary rest. For soon there will be other work to do. I shall not stay long. My way lies eastward. Look for me in Eodoras, ere the moon is full!'
'Nay,' said Théoden. 'In the dark hour before dawn I doubted. But we will not part now. I will ride with you, if that is your counsel. And now I will send out messengers with tidings of victory through all the vales of the Mark; and they shall summon all men, old and young, to meet me at Eodoras, ere the moon wanes.'
'Good!' said Gandalf. 'Then in one hour we ride again....'(6)
After a brief hour of rest and the breaking of their fast, those who were to ride to Isengard made ready to depart.(7)
The account of the treatment of the men of Dunland and the burials (TT p. 150) reaches the final form,(8) but the description of the departure of the trees in the night and of the valley after they had gone, told in almost the same words as in TT,(9) first entered at this point, whereas in TT it is postponed till much later in the chapter (p. 158). The passage of the wood, and Gimli's description to Legolas of the Caves of Helm's Deep, reach in the completed manuscript of the first version almost exactly the form in TT (pp; 152 - 3), but with a slight structural difference, in that here the company had already left the trees and come to the road-parting when this conversation took place:
They passed through the wood and found that they had come to the bottom of the coomb, where the road from Helm's Deep branched, going one way to Eodoras and the other to the fords of the Isen. Legolas looked back with regret.
'Those are the strangest trees that ever I saw,' he said...
Thus at the end of their talk together the old version again differs:
'You have my promise,' said Legolas. 'But now we must leave all that behind. How far is it to Isengard, Gandalf?'
'It is about twelve [later > fourteen o eleven] leagues from the bottom of Deeping Coomb to the outer wall of Isengard,'(10) said the wizard, turning round.
'And what shall we see there?' asked Gimli. 'You may know, but I cannot guess.'
'I do not know myself for certain,' answered Gandalf. 'Things may have changed again, since I was there last night. But we shall all know before long. If we are eager for the answer to riddles, let us quicken the pace!'
[Added: 'Lead us!' said Théoden. 'But do not let Shadowfax set a pace we cannot keep!'
The company rode forward now with all the speed they could, over the wide grasses of the Westemnet.]
Thus the Caves of Helm's Deep do not receive from Gandalf here the name 'the Glittering Caves of Aglarond', which was only added to the typescript text at a later stage (see p. 77).
The first version of the story now becomes decisively different from that in The Two Towers (pp. 154 ff.).
The sun shone upon the vale about them. After the storm the morning was fresh, and a breeze was now flowing from the west between the mountains. The swelling grass-lands rose and fell, with long ridges and shallow dales like a wide green sea. Upon their left long slopes ran swiftly down to the Isen River, a grey ribbon that bent westward, winding away out of sight through the great Gap of Rohan to the distant shores of Belfalas.(11) Below them now lay the fords of Isen, where the river spread in stony shoals between long grassy terraces. They did not go that way. Gandalf led them due north, and they passed by, riding along the high ground on the east of the river; yet as they rode other eyes were turned towards the stony fords and the battlefield where so many good men of the Mark had fallen.(12)
They saw crows wheeling and crying in the air, and borne upon the wind they heard the howling of wolves. The carrion-birds were gathered at the fords, and even the bright day had not driven them from their business.
'Alas!' cried Théoden. 'Shall we leave the steeds and riders of the Mark to be picked and torn by fowl and wolf? Let us turn aside! '
'There is no need, lord,' said Gandalf. 'The task would take us long, were it still left to do; but it is not. No horse or rider of your folk lies there unburied. Their graves are deep and their mounds are high; and long may they watch the fords! My friends have laboured there.(13) It is with the orcs, their masters, that the wolves and carrion-birds hold their feast: such is the friendship of their kind.'
'You accomplished much in an evening and a night, Gandalf my friend,' said Théoden.
'With the help of Shadowfax - and others,' answered Gandalf. 'And this I can report for your comfort: the losses in the battles of the ford were less grievous than we thought at first. Many men were scattered but not slain. Some I guided to join Erkenwald, and some I gathered again and sent back to Eodoras. I found that all the strength of Saruman was hurrying to Helm's Deep; for the great force that had been ordered to go straight to Eodoras was turned aside and joined to those that had pursued Erkenwald. When it was known that you, Théoden King, were in the field, and Eomer beside you, a mad eagerness came upon them. To take you and slay Eomer was what Saruman most desired. Nonetheless I feared that wolf-riders and cruel plunderers might be sent swiftly to Eodoras and do great harm there, since it was unmanned. But now I think you need not fear; you will find the Golden Hall to welcome your return.'
They had been riding for about an hour since they left the Coomb, and already the dark mountainous arms of Nan Gurunir were opening wide before them. It seemed filled with smoke. Out of it the river flowed, now near upon their left. Suddenly they were aware of a strange figure striding south along the stream towards them.
This last paragraph was replaced by the following:
They had been riding for almost an hour [> It was close on noon. They had been riding for two hours](14) since they left the Coomb, and now the mountainous arms of Nan Gurunir began to stretch towards them. There seemed to be a mist about the hills, and they saw rising up out of deep shadows a vast spire of smoke and vapour; as it mounted it caught the light
of the sun, and spread in glowing billows in the sky, and the wind bore them over the plain.
'What do you think of that, Gandalf?' said Théoden. 'One would say that all the Wizard's Vale was burning.'
'There is ever a fume above that valley in these days,' said Eomer; 'but I have never seen anything like this before. These are steams, rather than smokes. Some devilry Saruman is brewing to greet us.'
'Maybe,' said Gandalf. 'If so, we shall soon learn what it is.'(15) Out of the steaming vale the river Isen flowed, now close upon their left hand. As they were gazing north, they were suddenly aware of a strange figure striding south along the east bank of the stream. It went at great speed, walking stilted like a wading heron, and yet the long paces were as quick, rather, as the beat of wings; and as it approached they saw that it was very tall, a troll in height, or a young tree.
Many of the horsemen cried aloud in wonder, and some drew their swords. But Gandalf raised his hand.
'Let us wait,' he said. 'Here is a messenger for me.'
'A strange one to my eyes,' said Théoden. 'What kind of creature may it be?'