The History of Middle Earth: Volume 8 - The War of the Ring

by J. R. R. Tolkien

  The words 'Gandalf must tell the king as he rides off' can only refer to his leaving Dol Baran on Shadowfax after the Nazgûl passed over; but no such change was in fact introduced in that place.

  At the foot of this rejected page is written: 'Éowyn tells of Aragorn's coming and his departure. The Paths of the Dead. The road of Monoliths.'

  2. westward was, I think, no more than a slip. It was repeated in the following text (p. 313) but corrected, probably at once.

  3. Iscamba: cf. Old English camb (Modern English comb), comb, crest (as of a cock, a helmet, etc.).

  4. For the name Firienholt of the later Dimholt see p. 251 and note 21.

  5. For the origin of this sentence see p. 246. It reappears in changed form in 'The Passing of the Grey Company' in RK (p. 59), where the Company halted before the Dark Door: 'Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed from it like a grey vapour.'

  6. The first part of the name of the Golden Hall is so scrawled that it could be read in almost any way, but it is clearly not Wínseld, the earlier name, and is almost certainly the first occurrence of Meduseld.

  7. Apparently there were two messengers, for while the writing is so fast that no detail of letter is entirely certain, my father seems to have written 'Men are here, errand-riders out of Gondor.' Théoden's reply could be equally well read as 'Let him come' or 'Let them come'. But only one man enters. - The war-arrow that he bears is green-feathered (black in RK).

  8. The name Calenard(h)on emerged in the course of writing the chapter 'Faramir': see pp. 155 - 6, with notes 18 and 22.

  9. The reference is to 'The King of the Golden Hall', TT p. 127: '[Gimli] chose a cap of iron and leather that fitted well upon his round head; and a small shield he also took. It bore the running horse, white upon green, that was the emblem of the House of Eorl.' This passage, in which is recounted also the arming of Aragorn and Legolas 'in shining mail', was added on a rider to the fair copy manuscript of 'The King of the Golden Hall'.

  10. Thus the provision of a coat of mail for Merry, referred to in the preceding sentence, was immediately denied.

  11. The following names and name-forms in the typescript may be mentioned. The Firienholt remains, for later Dimholt. Brego is now again spelt thus, not Bregu, but his son's name is here Bealdor (changed to Baldor on the typescript): both of these are Old English variants. The path down from the Dark Door ('the road of Monoliths', note 1) is again called 'the Stony Road', capitalised, as in the text K (p. 315). Hirgon speaks of the Harad, where RK has the Haradrim.

  12. In RK (p. 71) the old withered man is said to have been once 'tall and kingly'. Cf. The Lord of the Rings Appendix F (Of Men): 'The Dunlendings were a remnant of the peoples that had dwelt in the vales of the White Mountains in ages past. The Dead Men of Dunharrow were of their kin.'

  Note on the Chronology.

  In the last of the texts (H) of the abandoned opening of 'The Muster of Rohan' Théoden asked if the moon had not been full on the night before, and Eomer replied that on the contrary the moon would be full that night (pp. 251 - 2, 272 - 3). In the first of the later texts (J) Théoden himself says 'Tonight the moon will be full, and in the morning I shall ride to Edoras to the gathering of Rohan', and this remained into the typescript M.

  In 'The Road to Isengard' the date of the muster at Edoras was changed over and over again according to the shifting chronology. For the earliest texts see p. 27 and note 6; the second fair copy of that chapter had 'before the waning of the moon', changed to 'at the last quarter of the moon'. This was retained in the following typescript, but there changed subsequently to 'on the first day after the full moon' - which is the date in the present texts. (In 'The Road to Isengard' in TT, p. 150, the date of the muster is to be 'the second day after the full moon', and so at the beginning of 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK, p. 65, Théoden says: 'Last night the moon was full, and in the morning I shall ride to Edoras to the gathering of the Mark.')

  In the note on text J (see note 1 above) it is said that 'Gandalf must tell the king as he rides off [from Dol Baran] that he will order the muster at Dunharrow and speed it up', and that this 'will necessitate altering remarks about the full moon.' I do not understand this. If my father was referring to the passage in 'The Road to Isengard' in which the date of the muster is set, this would seem to have no relevance: for Gandalf was proposing, in view of the coming of the Nazgûl, to change the arrangement that had been made and 'speed up' the muster.

  All these later 'Muster of Rohan' texts agree that the moon was full on the night that Théoden came to Harrowdale (February 6); cf. p. 299 and note 9. This was the night following the day on which Gandalf and Pippin reached Minas Tirith at sunrise; the sunset of that day was 'ominous', and the Darkness began on February 7 (p. 295). With this the present texts agree: the second errand-rider from Gondor, arriving on the morning of the 7th, says that the Darkness 'began last night at sunset' (p. 317), and the departure of the Riders from Dunharrow takes place in deepening gloom. It is interesting to see that in text K, as Merry sat alone in his tent on the Firienfeld, 'Slowly night came on, and the half-seen heads of the mountains were crowned with small stars in the West, but the East was dark and shadowy, and the moon did not appear until late at night'; whereas in the typescript M (where it was still the night of full moon) the moon is not mentioned. The natural presumption is that the moon was hidden by the vast cloud spreading out of Mordor.

  How my father was at this stage relating the full moon of February 6 to Frodo's movements is not clear to me. In The Tale of Years in LR the full moon was on March 7 (since Frodo left Henneth Annûn on March 8, and he saw the full moon setting before dawn on the morning of his departure: 'The Forbidden Pool', TT pp. 292 - 3), and Théoden came to Dunharrow on the evening of March 9; but with this the king's words in 'The Muster of Rohan', RK p. 65, 'Last night the moon was full', do not accord, and should have been 'Two nights ago'. This in turn would require alteration of the date set for the muster in 'The Road to Isengard' (see above).

  VI. THE SIEGE OF GONDOR.

  My father's first start on this chapter was a brief, roughly pencilled text ('A') which he then wrote over in ink, so that a good deal is lost, especially of the latter part of it; but Taum Santoski has managed to recover quite enough to show that the ink overwriting ('B') followed it for the most part very closely. I shall here describe B rather than A, noting subsequently passages in which A is significantly different. Text B (numberless and titleless) begins as does Chapter 4 in The Return of the King with 'Pippin was roused by Gandalf', and extends through the paragraph beginning 'It was dark and dim all day' (RK p. 80). After Pippin's question 'Why did you bring me here?' the text differs from that of RK:

  'Because it was not safe to leave you behind,' answered the wizard. 'Safe for others, I mean. It is no safe place here for you or anyone else, as you'll probably soon discover. But you brought it on yourself.' Pippin said no more.

  Before long he was walking with Gandalf back again down the long cold passage to the doors of the Tower Hall. Within Denethor sat in a grey gloom, like an old patient spider, Pippin thought, and looking as if he had not moved since he dismissed his new esquire the day before. He beckoned Gandalf to a seat, but Pippin was left standing for a while unheeded. Presently the old man turned to him with a cold smile, whether of mockery or welcome Pippin could not tell.

  'And why have you come, Peregrin son of Paladin?' he said.

  'I was told that you wanted me, sir,' said Pippin, 'to, well, to learn my new duties.'

  'Ah yes,' said Denethor. 'It is to be hoped that you spent yesterday well and to your liking, if less in eating [struck out: and sleeping] than you might wish. Today you shall take your turn to wait on me. I have little more now to do, until my son Faramir returns with tidings. And if there comes no ill news and the great ones' (he looked at Gandalf) 'do not occupy all my leisure, you shall talk to me. Can you sing?'

  Pippin's apologetic account of the songs he
knew and his horror at the thought of singing a comic song of the Shire before the grim Steward of Minas Tirith follows as in RK, as does Denethor's discussion with Gandalf, the arming and clothing of Pippin,(1) and the darkness over the city, up to 'as if all the Vale of Anduin waited for a ruinous storm.' Then follows:

  His duties he found irksome and dull, so much so that he would even have welcomed a chance to sing one of his comic songs. But he was not asked to sing, and indeed few spoke to him at all.

  Here the overwritten text B ends. In the underlying pencilled text A the discussion between Gandalf and Denethor did not concern Rohan, but was on the subject of the immediate strategy: though very little of it can be made out, the phrase 'Gandalf had already been urging on the Steward' and the name 'West Osgiliath' can be read. After Pippin had returned from the armoury it is said that he spent the day idly, 'for Denethor sat mostly behind closed doors'; and at some point during the day 'There was a clamour in the city. Faramir had returned. Pippin witnesses the greeting of Denethor and Faramir.'

  The pencilled and the overwritten texts end at the same point on the page, although in substance they had diverged.

  My father evidently doubted the rightness of beginning the chapter in this way, for at the head of the first page of this 'doubled' text he wrote in pencil: '? Begin with Pippin and Berethil (2) talking again on wall on eve[ning] of 9th....' This was in fact overwritten by part of the B text in ink, and as a result some further words of the note cannot be read; presumably therefore my father had (but only temporarily) abandoned the idea that the chapter might open differently.

  At the end of the 'doubled' text the following notes were written in pencil:

  ? Sunset - a gleam far off. Gandalf says there is hope still in the West.

  Next day there is a council and soon Faramir departs. Pippin has more talk with Berethil and hears that Faramir has gone to Osgiliath. Time passes slowly. Ill news comes on 11th March (next day) that there is a Fell Captain on the enemy's side. He has won the Crossings and Faramir is driven to Ramas Coren.(3) Still the darkness grows. It is like a slow disease, thought Pippin. Some time on 9th Pippin must look out from the walls and see Nazgûl (6 or 7) flying over Pelennor, and see them pursue a few riders. But Gandalf rides out - and saves them. It is Faramir! Just in time. Great joy in City. Faramir sees Pippin as he comes up to the Citadel, and is astonished.

  In these notes is the first appearance of the final calendar, the month being now March instead of February. Whether it entered at this very time or somewhat earlier cannot be said: but the last actual date found in the texts is February 5-6 in the outline for a part of 'Many Roads Lead Eastward' given on p. 296, so that the change had at any rate been made not long since. The conception of the month 'lost' in Lórien had now been abandoned: see VII.367 - 9. The relative dates have however not been changed: in the note suggesting a different way of opening the chapter Pippin and Berethil are to be talking on the wall of the city 'on the evening of the 9th', which would be February 7 according to the former dating (see the Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter).

  My father now returned to the idea of a different opening, and began a new draft ('C') in which the matter of the opening already written was omitted or compressed, and referred to only in retrospect. This draft was written in thick soft pencil, in ink over pencil, and in ink with pencilled corrections and clarifications, and is throughout a formidably difficult manuscript. I have no doubt that it all proceeded from the same time and impulse.

  This new text is numbered 'XLVI', without title; it begins with the words 'It had been dark all day; from the sunless dawn until the evening the heavy gloom had deepened ...', and continues essentially as in RK pp. 80 - 1 as far as 'now he was one small soldier in a city preparing for a great assault, clad in the grim and sombre manner of the Tower of Guard'; but there is no reference to the errand of Berethil (Beregond) across the Pelennor, nor to the last gleam of the sun as it escaped from the pall of cloud (see below). Then follows:

  For in the morning Denethor had summoned him, and bidden him to take up his duties as the lord's esquire; and he had been sent straight to the armouries where already clothes and gear were made ready for him by Denethor's command.

  In some other time and place he might have taken pleasure in his new array, but he knew now too clearly that this was a deadly serious matter, and no masquerade in borrowed plumes. The small coat of black mail seemed heavy and burdensome, and the helmet with its wings weighed on his head. Black too was the tunic or surcoat that he now wore above his mail, except where upon the breast was broidered in white the device of the Tree. He had been permitted to retain the grey cloak of Lórien [added: when not on duty], but that was now cast aside on the seat beside him, for the air was close. He turned his gaze away from the darkling plain far below, and yawned, and then he sighed.

  In Pippin's complaint to Berethil and their words about the Darkness, the failure of Faramir to return across the River and Gandalf's anxiety, and the sudden cry of the Nazgûl, the draft reaches the text of RK pp. 81-2 almost word for word (save only that Pippin does not name the Prince of Dol Amroth as present at the deliberations with Denethor, and he says that Gandalf left the council before the evening meal, where RK has 'noon-meal'); but when Pippin climbs on to the seat and looks out there enters the description of the last gleam of sun that shone also on the head of the ruined king at the Cross-roads, omitted at its place in RK (on the synchronisation see the note at the end of this chapter). Then again the draft reaches the final text in almost every turn of expression in the description of the Nazgûl swooping on the horsemen, the distant sound of Faramir's horn call, and the radiance of the White Rider racing towards them, as far as Pippin's wild shouting 'like an onlooker at a great race urging on a runner who is far beyond encouragement.' At this point my father stopped and set down a brief outline:

  Gandalf saves Faramir. Faramir sees Pippin at gate of Citadel and wonders - Gandalf introdures them, and takes Pippin along to Denethor's council. So Pippin hears a lot and hears Faramir accept orders to go to Osgiliath. Denethor and Faramir marvel at Gandalf's power over Nazgûl. Gandalf says things are still not so bad - because the W[izard] King has not yet appeared. He reveals that he is a renegade of his own order ... [?from] Númenor. 'So far I have saved myself from him only by flight - for many an age he has lain in hiding or sleep while his master's power waned. But now he is grown more fell than ever. Yet it was foretold that he should be overthrown, in the end, by one young and gallant. But maybe that lies far in the future.'

  He hears about Frodo and Sam. Also how Faramir crossed from Tol Varad (the Defended Isle) [> Men Falros] with three companions, and came on horse. The rest of the 'task force' he had despatched to the Pelennor Gate.

  Last half of chapter must deal with situation after taking of Pelennor, the battle of Pelennor and the fall of the Gate.(4)

  The draft continues with 'And now the swooping dark shadows were aware of the newcomer' (RK p. 83), and again the final form is closely approached, if with rougher and less full expression, through the coming of Faramir with Gandalf to the Citadel, his wonderment at seeing Pippin, and his story told in Denethor's private chamber. Only Pippin's emotion when he first saw Faramir was at this time different from the form in RK (pp. 83 - 4): the passage 'Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed ...' is lacking (and remains absent in the following fair copy manuscript).

  From the point where Faramir reached the story of his meeting with Frodo and Sam I give the draft text in full, for though in many respects it closely approaches that of RK there are also many differences, and some are very noteworthy.

  As the tale of his meeting with Frodo and Sam was unfolded, pippin became aware that Gandalf's hands were trembling as they clutched the carven wood; white they seemed now and very old, and as he looked at them suddenly with a thrill of fear he knew that Gandalf - Gandalf himself was afraid, mastering a great dread, and not yet daring to speak. At last w
hen Faramir told how he had parted with the travellers and that they were resolved to take the road to Kirith Ungol his voice fell, and he shook his head and sighed. But Gandalf sprang up. 'Kirith Ungol and Morghul Vale,' he cried. 'The time, Faramir. When was this, do you say? Tell me, tell me. When did you part with them? When would they reach the Morghul Vale? When did this darkness begin? Do you not see - that it may be a sign that all is indeed lost?'

  'I spoke with them yestermorn,'(5) said Faramir. 'It is nigh on [20 >] 7 leagues from Henneth Annûn to the road that runs from M[inas Morghul] to Osgiliath, [and from the nearest point up that road west [sic] of our landing place it is 5 or 6 leagues to the Vale of Dread >] and if they went straight southward then they would find the road some 5 or 6 leagues west of the Vale of Dread. But the darkness came soon; I deem [?under cover] of that very night, long ere they could reach the vale. Indeed I see your fear; but it is clear to me that the Enemy had long planned this war, and the hour was already determined and nought to do with the errand of the travellers.'

  Gandalf paced up and down. 'Yesterday morn?' he said. 'Then you have been swift. How far hence is the place where you parted?'

  'Maybe 75 leagues (6) as bird flies,' said Faramir. 'But I am swift. Yestereve I lay at Men Falros, the isle in the river northward which we hold in defence, and on the hither bank we keep horses. As the darkness drew on I saw that haste was needed. So I rode hither with the four men that could be horsed, and sent the rest of my company to strengthen the guard at the fords of Osgiliath. Have I done ill?'