A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien || Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-earth: A Lifetime of Imagination

A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, First Edition. Edited by Stuart D. Lee.© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-earth: A Lifetime of

Imagination

Elizabeth A. Whittingham

10

Tolkien’s Process

The wonderful aspect of Unfinished Tales (Tolkien 1998c; first published 1980) and of the History of Middle-earth series (1983–1996) is that they contain works by Tolkien that many readers still have not discovered. Evident in these tales as in his well-known works are Tolkien’s facility with turning a phrase, his sense of humor, and his ability to tell a good story. Tolkien’s first works related to the secondary world of Middle-earth were written during World War I, during the years 1914–1917, but he contin-ued to work on these stories for the rest of his life, right up until his death in 1973 at the age of 81. Many of these stories are ones that Tolkien wrote and rewrote many times.

In the summer of 1967, Clyde Kilby, a professor at Wheaton College in Illinois, went to Oxford hoping to assist Tolkien in any way that would further the completion and publication of the long-awaited Silmarillion. Visiting Tolkien’s home, Kilby saw numerous boxes of written material, which he anticipated would fill 12 volumes if published – a close estimate (Kilby 1976). Christopher Tolkien, after his father’s death, edited and published The Silmarillion (1977), Unfinished Tales, but also the 12 volumes of The History of Middle-earth, a total of 14 books. Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth include a variety of previously unpublished works: unfinished stories and poems, author’s notes, essays, and maps. Christopher Tolkien took on the monumental task of reading and organizing those texts, and supplementing them with textual and editorial notes and commentaries. He worked directly from his

Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-earth 147

father’s manuscripts (some hastily penned first versions and some beautiful calli-graphic fair copies) and typescripts that were often heavily annotated. Indeed through-out The History of Middle-earth are occasional photocopies of these pages mixed together with the texts that remain unknown to many readers.

Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth

When Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion, it was as a novel without notes and commentaries, but Unfinished Tales was the first book of unpublished texts presented in the form that his father left them. Most of the material is divided into the First, Second, and Third Ages of Men and includes information that fans of The Lord of the Rings may be eager to learn: accounts concerning Celeborn and Galadriel, the Rings of Power, and most especially the Istari/Wizards. The section on the First Age consists of lengthy versions of the separate tales concerning Tuor and Túrin. Many details missing from The Silmarillion are part of the stories of these two heroic cousins. Described are Tuor’s youth among the Eldar after the death of both parents, for example, and his extended journey to the gates of Gondolin. Also included are “Narn i Hîn Húrin, The Tale of the Children of Húrin,” which though it contains some gaps, is still the fullest version written. The account does not vary from The Silmarillion’s in any dramatic way but contains details and conversations that are missing from other versions, including those later published in The History of Middle-earth.

“Aldarion and Erendis,” a tale from the Second Age, tells the story of a prince of Númenor and the woman who eventually becomes his queen. Although this mariner king is a courageous man, dealing with a growing shadow in Middle-earth, his pride and temperament prevent him from being an understanding and accommodating husband and father. The stormy relationship is far different from other love stories in Tolkien’s writings, those relationships between noble and self-sacrificing characters such as Lúthien and Beren or Arwen and Aragorn. Following this tale, “The History of Celeborn and Galadriel” provides many details about the lives of these two Eldar over three Ages of Man. Interestingly, Tolkien wrote many versions of their history together, and Christopher Tolkien includes these varying accounts in this volume.

The section on the Third Age has a number of stories that supplement The Lord of the Rings itself and the information in the Appendices. One tale describes Isildur’s journey north with the One Ring when he was killed and the Ring lost during an Orc attack near the Gladden Fields. The fight and Isildur’s efforts to safeguard the Ring are described along with the corresponding conversations. A brief document, “The sources of the legend of Isildur’s death,” reveals surprising information about a secret compartment in Orthanc being discovered by King Elessar with Gimli’s help. The account gives details about their finding personal possessions of Isildur’s includ-ing the container in which Isildur carried the One Ring and also the Elendilmir, the symbol of the royal house of Arnor.

148 Elizabeth A. Whittingham

The Third Age section also contains a history of the Northmen revealing the events that led to Eorl’s remarkable ride to aid Cirion, Steward of Gondor, and Cirion’s granting the lands that became the kingdom of Rohan. The ceremony on Amon Anwar, the Holy Hill and the secret site of Elendil’s tomb, includes the profound oaths of Cirion and Eorl. Perhaps more widely known is “The Quest of Erebor,” which relates in a much fuller fashion than in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings, how an unexpected meeting between Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield led to the quest to the Lonely Mountain and how Gandalf had to pester Thorin before the Dwarf would consider taking a silly Hobbit along (see also ch. 8). “The Hunt for the Ring” details the Ringwraiths’ search along with accounts of Saruman’s visits to and early dealings with the Shire. A brief scene from the White Council of 2851 includes Saruman mocking Gandalf for his use of pipe-weed, despite his own secret use.

The fourth and final section of Unfinished Tales contains writings regarding the Drúedain (Woses), the Istari, and the Palantíri. These texts expand on those in The Lord of the Rings, the Appendices, and The Silmarillion. Noteworthy accounts describe the Drúedain’s brief sojourn in Númenor, their escape before the island kingdom’s downfall, the identification of Queen Beruthiel and her creepy cats, and the uses and eventual fates of the palantíri. One text contains the debate among the Valar concern-ing which Maiar to include in the Istari and Olórin/Gandalf’s reluctance to volunteer. An author’s note reveals that the single surviving palantír of the North Kingdom, which resides in the Tower Hills west of the Shire, is a seeing stone not used for com-munication but looks into the far West to Eressëa. For the reader who wants more particulars about the above-mentioned characters and events, Unfinished Tales is a goldmine.

The History of Middle-earth: Twelve Captivating Volumes

After Tolkien’s death, his son Christopher sorted through his unpublished writings, organizing them largely chronologically, and after publishing The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, issued the 12 volumes of The History of Middle-earth between 1983 and 1996. The works in The History of Middle-earth include many versions of some stories in both prose and verse forms, and for the most part, the material is arranged in the order that they were written with detailed notes and commentary by Christopher. For example, Tolkien’s creation myth first appears in The Book of Lost Tales I as “The Music of the Ainur,” a text composed sometime between the fall of 1918 and the spring of 1920. Tolkien wrote another version of that myth in the 1930s, entitled “Ainulindalë,” which is published in The Lost Road and Other Writings. A final version of the “Ainulindalë” completed sometime about 1948 is printed in Morgoth’s Ring. This version is the one on which Christopher based the creation story in the 1977 Silmarillion. Besides such revisions over the years, there are also examples of multiple versions of tales written within a short period of time. For example, during the late 1930s, the “Quenta Silmarillion” was composed in four


different stages (A, B, C, and D) and in longer and shorter versions, QS I and QS II respectively.

The Book of Lost Tales I (1983) and II (1984)

These first two volumes of The History of Middle-earth series cover primarily the same time period of Tolkien’s writing, the stories being arranged in accordance with the “Silmarillion”s overall exposition. The poem “Tinfang Warble” was first penned in 1914, but most of the stories were written between 1917 and 1920. These early versions of the stories whose later revisions appear in The Silmarillion have many interesting elements missing from the 1977 text. The stories are set in the framework of a larger story: Eriol, a traveler, comes to the Cottage of Lost Play on the Lonely Island, Tol Eressëa. While he visits there, he hears the lost tales mainly related by various Eldar in the Room of the Log Fire, and the links that connect the various stories include characters and circumstances that were eliminated from the later works when the framework was abandoned. In these early tales, many names and details differ from their later forms. Eriol is told about the creation of the universe in “The Music of the Ainur,” a tale that already contains most of the elements of the later “Ainulindalë.” “The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor” introduces the Valar and the array of lesser spirits that enter the world and describes the spec-tacular palaces built by Aulë for his fellow divinities, though these fanciful dwellings disappear from later versions. Within the pages of this tale is also an early visual representation of Arda’s cosmology, fashioned like a ship. “The Tale of the Sun and Moon” explains how the ships that bore the Sun and Moon came to be built and set in the heavens and includes an early published version of the poem “Why the Man in the Moon came down too soon.” Attached to the Sun and Moon, according to “The Hiding of Valinor,” are heavy cables and slender cords that measure the years as time passes. Book I concludes with “Gilfanon’s Tale,” a brief account of Tû the Wizard and Nuin, the Dark Elf.

Book II contains intriguing tales from this early period: “The Tale of Tinúviel,” “Turambar and the Foalókë,” and “The Nauglafring.” The story about Tinúviel is different from later versions in that Beren’s name is left out of the title and he is also one of the Eldar. As a result of this difference in status, much of Beren’s background and the tensions between Beren and Lúthien’s father because of his being a mortal are altered or missing. There is no great wolf guarding Melko’s gates and no reference to Sauron, but instead Tevildo Prince of Cats occupies great halls, and Melko gives Beren into the great cat’s keeping. In “Turambar and the Foalókë,” certain elements found in later versions are missing, such as Túrin’s involvement with Mîm and the Petty-dwarves, but this early tale includes a conversation between Mavwin/Morwen and Glorund/Glaurung that is later omitted. Túrin’s parents are admitted into the halls of Mandos, a fate denied all Men in future versions, and initially Túrin and his sister are rejected because of their incest. “The Fall of Gondolin,” the first tale to be written,


is fully developed and in a form that already contains many elements of the final version.

The Lays of Beleriand (1985)

The third volume of the series contains primarily verse works from the 1920s. The two major works are “The Lay of the Children of Húrin,” written in alliterative verse, and “The Lay of Leithian.” “The Lay of the Children of Húrin” explores the early events in the lives of Húrin and his children, Túrin Turambar and Nienor/Níniel; the alliterative form seems well suited to these dark episodes in their family history and is particularly effective in the dialogue between Húrin and Morgoth. “The Lay of Leithian,” which relates the story of Beren and Lúthien, provides one of many versions of that tale. Among poems that were set aside after only limited development are “The Flight of the Noldoli from Valinor,” “The Lay of Eärendel,” and “The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin.” Readers of Humphrey Carpenter’s 1977 authorized biography, aware of the humorous commentary by C. S. Lewis concerning “The Lay of Leithian,” can now read the scholarly examination of the poem voiced by Peabody, Pumpernickel, and Bentley.

The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)

The fourth volume of the series contains works from the early 1930s. Besides a few annals, the one major work, the “Quenta Noldorinwa,” is the only complete version of the “Silmarillion” ever finished by Tolkien. It is also the version of the “Silmaril-lion” that was in existence when Tolkien was writing The Hobbit. The annals divide the material into two sections: “The Annals of Valinor,” which covers the time in Valinor before the awakening of the Elves and while the Eldar dwelt in the Undying Lands, and “The Annals of Beleriand,” which covers the events in Beleriand and the war between Melkor and Elves and Men during the First Age. This collection also contains early maps and “The Ambarkanta,” a description of the cosmology of the lands and universe of Middle-earth as conceived by Tolkien during the early 1930s.

The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)

The fifth volume of the series contains works from the mid-to-late 1930s including later versions of the annals and the last version of the “Silmarillion” before Tolkien began writing The Lord of the Rings. “The Fall of Númenor” and “The Lost Road” include references to Tolkien’s recurring Atlantis dream. “The Fall of Númenor” is fully set in Middle-earth and later evolves into the “Akallabêth” in The Silmarillion. Though brief, it is the earliest account of Númenor and the Edain during the Second


Age. “The Lost Road,” a tale of time-travel, is the result of the agreement between Tolkien and C. S. Lewis to write stories that they would enjoy and connects the Primary World in the twentieth century to Tolkien’s Secondary World, Middle-earth, through Númenor. Etymological works also comprise a significant portion of the book.

The Return of the Shadow (1988)

In the sixth volume of the series, the beginning of The Lord of the Rings emerges in its various versions. The work, begun in December of 1937, continued through the next two years and tracks the Hobbits and their companions as far as the Mines of Moria. These early versions and numerous rewritings focus on events in the Shire and on Tolkien’s first concepts of the Ring’s history. These accounts contain many elements that never survived into the tale’s final form: Bingo Baggins instead of Frodo, Odo as a companion on the journey instead of Sam, and Trotter the Hobbit as a precursor to Strider the Dúnedain. This last aspect grew out of the idea suggested in The Hobbit that from time to time Gandalf had spirited away young Hobbit boys and girls on adventures. Reading these early concepts and seeing the tales evolve are intriguing for those who appreciate the published The Lord of the Rings.

The Treason of Isengard (1989)

The seventh volume of the series includes continuing revisions of early sections of The Lord of the Rings as well as further development of the story beyond the Mines of Moria. As in the previous volume, many characters and events from these writings disappear or take on a completely different incarnation in Tolkien’s revisions: Hamilcar Bolger, Tarkil the Dúnedan, Saramund the Grey, Treebeard the evil giant, and Gandalf’s rescue of Hamilcar from the Black Riders on his swift horse Galeroc. Also included is the tale as it progresses, describing the journey of the company from the Mines of Moria, through Lothlórien, down the Great River to the breaking of the Fellowship. In the final section are chapters on the Riders of Rohan, the Uruk-Hai, Treebeard the Ent – no longer a fell foe – and other elements that eventually appeared in The Two Towers.

The War of the Ring (1990)

The story of the war against Sauron continues in the eighth volume of the series, and contains material from 1942, before the break from writing that Tolkien took during 1943 and 1944, and the material he wrote after his return. The text picks up with the journey from Edoras to Helms Deep and continues through a chapter in which Gandalf contemplates the significance of the palantír, Pippin’s involvement being


eventually included. The second section of this volume takes up Frodo and Sam trying to find their way into Mordor, which was begun in the spring of 1944, and continues through the carrying away of Frodo’s body into the tower of Kirith Ungol. The third section begins with Gandalf’s and Pippin’s arrival in Minas Tirith, “The Muster of Rohan,” “The Seige of Gondor,” and subsequent events through to and including the opening of the Black Gate. Though there are fewer major differences between these early versions and the published text, a few significant differences are evident: Faramir is originally named Falborn; Éowyn dies in the attack by the Witch King of the Nazgûl; there are many spiders instead of only Shelob in Kirith Ungol; and the pro-jected ending tells of Sam wrapping up many loose ends for the reader by reading to his children from his book.

Sauron Defeated (1992)

The ninth volume of the series includes texts largely from the mid-1940s beginning with the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings in their preliminary form, which picks up with Frodo and Sam in Mordor. In these chapters, the original Sharkey was not Saruman but Cosimo Sackville-Baggins – later named Lotho – and Frodo is lively, aggressive, and determined, unlike the weary, wounded character of the published text. The most interesting difference is an Epilogue, similar to the one previously anticipated, that focuses on Sam and his numerous children and provides an oppor-tunity to inform the reader about the future adventures of the members of the Fel-lowship. Also included in the ninth volume are the intriguing “Notion Club Papers,” the minutes of a group similar to the Inklings, of which Tolkien was a member. This tale, which is one of the treasures of the entire series, presents the mysteries found in the twenty-first century among discarded papers. “The Drowning of Anadûnê,” the third section of the book, is a later version of “The Fall of Númenor,” surprising in the major alterations and deletions made to the earlier text. Christopher Tolkien attributes these changes to the amount of time that had elapsed since the writing of the previous version and the growing significance of Númenor as The Lord of the Rings developed.

Morgoth’s Ring (1993)

The series’ tenth volume has the most intriguing title of all the volumes: Morgoth has, in the creation process, put himself and his discordant elements into the universe, and the World, corrupted from creation, is Morgoth’s Ring. As Sauron cannot fully be destroyed while the One Ring exists, the Dark Lord cannot be destroyed while the World exists. This volume contains many works that resulted from the popularity of The Lord of the Rings. Following the book’s publication in 1954 and 1955, Tolkien was inundated with questions from readers about his characters and their world, which


resulted in much of Tolkien’s writing in the late 1950s as he considered those ques-tions. Consequently, this volume contains details concerning the lives of Elves, rein-carnation, and body/spirit relationships for both Elves and Men. The story of “Finwë & Míriel” includes a debate among the Valar, and the conversation in the “Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth” centers on the metaphysical differences between Elves and Men, a philosophical discussion with a personal slant. The book also incorporates versions of the “Silmarillion” from both the early and late 1950s as well as a final section entitled “Myths Transformed” that contains some interesting notes on cosmology, Melkor, Orcs, and Aman.

The War of the Jewels (1994)

In the eleventh volume, the “Silmarillion” of the 1950s continues. Also included are a number of significant texts such as “The Grey Annals,” a revision of “The Annals of Beleriand,” and “The Later Quenta Silmarillion.” “Quendi and Eldar” is a signifi-cant linguistic work, and “The Tale of Years” is useful for understanding the chronol-ogy of the later Elder Days. Among this volume’s most interesting texts are stories and notes about Húrin, Ælfwine, Maeglin, and the Ents and Eagles. The most fully developed of these texts, “The Wanderings of Húrin,” describes the release of Húrin from Angband following 28 years of captivity and his journeys that include an attack on the Easterlings of Hithlum, his gathering of men around him, the sorrowful reunion with Morwen just before her death, and his trial by the Haladin. The chapter “Maeglin” examines variations and expansions of the text that appears in The Silmarillion.

The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)

Most of the twelfth volume focuses on the last of The Lord of the Rings writings, in particular, Tolkien’s preliminary work on the Appendices. The rest of the book brings together short pieces generally from the last years of Tolkien’s life. “Of Dwarves and Men” reflects on the Book of Mazarbul and informs about the Longbeard Dwarves. “The Shibboleth of Fëanor,” “The Problem of Ros,” and “Dangweth Pengoloð” are linguistic in focus but include various facts about the family of Finwë and the lives of Elves and Men. “Last Writings,” from the last year of the author’s life, tells briefly of “The Five Wizards,” “Círdan,” and “Glorfindel,” Tolkien’s one example of a reincarnated Elf. Another short piece, “Of Lembas,” explains that waybread came from the Valar and is followed by two noteworthy unfinished works. “The New Shadow” picks up a century after the events of The Lord of the Rings and looks ahead into the Fourth Age and what happens after Aragorn’s reign ends. “Tal-Elmar” describes the Second Age arrival of Númenóreans in Middle-earth from the per-spective of those who already live there.


The 12 volumes of The History of Middle-earth undoubtedly represent the prolific nature of Tolkien’s writing throughout his life and contain some wonderful treasures. Different people will be attracted by varying works, and some may see the volumes as an interesting resource for information, while others will want to read piecemeal, picking through to choose only favorite tidbits, and a few will want to devour them in their entirety – a feast to be savored over an extended period of time. One of the many pleasures of enjoying all these books is to observe the evolution of individual tales over many decades of the author’s life.

Tolkien’s “Great Saga”: A “Long Defeat” That May or May Not Include a “Final Victory”

Of all the heroes’ tales of The Silmarillion, although the tale of Beren and Lúthien has received much attention and is closely associated with Tolkien’s own life, the tales about Húrin and his children came to be the author’s “great saga” (Jewels ix). In the Foreword of The War of the Jewels, the eleventh volume of The History of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien explains that the abandonment of many of the tales of the “Sil-marillion” in 1930 was due largely to “the centrality that my father accorded to the story of Húrin and Morwen and their children, Túrin Turambar and Niënor Níniel. This became for him, I believe, the dominant and absorbing story of the end of the Elder Days” (Jewels viii–ix).

Christopher attributes this focus to the “complexity of motive and character, trapped in the mysterious workings of Morgoth’s curse, [which] sets it altogether apart” (ix). As Christopher notes, this intricate tale is entangled with the end of the People of Haleth, the fall of Doriath, and the ruin of the Havens of Sirion (ix). Addi-tionally, Túrin plays a significant role in the destruction of Nargothrond, and Húrin’s search for Gondolin alerts Morgoth to the general location of Turgon’s realm, contrib-uting to the fall of the third hidden kingdom, Gondolin, and thereby to the ultimate destruction of Beleriand. Furthermore, the tale is intertwined with the other great heroes’ tales of the First Age – Beren and Lúthien, Tuor, and Eärendil – for Beren opens the way for Men to be allowed to enter Doriath where Túrin is fostered; Tuor is Túrin’s first cousin, and their fathers together entered Gondolin, married cousins, and fought side by side in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad; and Eärendil and Elwing meet in the Havens and marry as a result of their escape from Gondolin and Doriath respec-tively. Elements of this tale are spread throughout several chapters, and ultimately, this tale draws together numerous narrative strands within the “Silmarillion” and is, indeed, the “great saga” of Tolkien’s legendarium.

Christopher’s description of his father’s writing process in regards to “The Wander-ings of Húrin” is true of this entire tale and many of his stories about Middle-earth: “the story grew and changed as he wrote” (Jewels 260). The tale of Túrin Turambar, which encompasses all the members of his family and their individual deeds and


experiences, is a good example of the evolution of many of Tolkien’s works both in the moment as he was working on any one tale and then further over nearly six decades of writing and revision. The History of Middle-earth series allows a reader to follow this evolution. In the 1919 “Turambar and the Foalókë” from The Book of Lost Tales II, Tolkien uses many names that appear in different forms in later versions as his stories and languages evolve: Úrin becomes Húrin; Mavwin becomes Morwen; Tin-welint becomes Thingol, and Glorund becomes Glaurung. The tale is told by Eltas in the framework of the storytelling of the two volumes of Lost Tales. Some elements of the later versions are missing, such as Morwen residing for a lengthy time in Doriath with Thingol’s people and Túrin taking refuge in Amon Rûdh with Mîm and the Petty-dwarves. Other elements of the tale apparently exist from the begin-ning, such as Túrin’s mistakenly slaying his friend Beleg, Nienóri’s loss of memory because of the dragons’ spell, and Nienóri/Níniel’s pregnancy as a result of her unwit-tingly incestuous relationship with her brother.

One of the most unusual aspects of this early version is in the final paragraph, which describes Úrin and Mavwin praying for Manwë to take pity on their children: “Túrin and Nienóri entered into Fôs’Almir, the bath of flame . . . and so were all their sorrows and stains washed away, and they dwelt as shining Valar among the blessed ones” (Lost Tales II 115–116). The idea of two humans living as Valar is incredible and inconsistent with the developing metaphysics of Middle-earth, so it is not surpris-ing that it disappears from the tale in the very next telling. Also averred in the tale’s last paragraph is Túrin’s role at the end of Arda in what is later referred to as the Last Battle: “Turambar indeed shall stand beside Fionwë in the Great Wrack, and Melko and his drakes shall curse the sword of Mormakil” (Lost Tales II 116). Some version of this final role for Túrin survives at least until the late 1950s and perhaps until the author’s death.

A contemporary version of the story, “The Lay of the Children of Húrin,” is in verse form, a task possibly begun as early as 1918 (Lays 3), though not com-pleted until some years after “Turambar and the Foalókë” (West 2000, 240–241). Although Tolkien wrote many poems about Middle-earth, only the tales of Túrin Turambar and of Beren and Lúthien are developed into lengthy works, which are contained in The Lays of Beleriand, volume three of the History of Middle-earth. As a scholar of medieval literature, Tolkien had a special appreciation for allit-erative verse and chose that form to relate the earliest elements of Túrin’s tale. The poem begins with the capture of Húrin, but the two versions of the poem cover little of the story: the fostering of Túrin by Thingol, Túrin’s partnership with Beleg, Beleg’s death, Túrin’s time in Nargothrond, and the love of Finduilas for Túrin. The poems break off before the appearance of the dragon, the events involving Níniel, the death of Glaurung, and the tale’s tragic ending. Noteworthy in this work is the conversation between Húrin and Morgoth, which is recounted in detail. The allitera-tive form with its harsh and percussive consonant sounds highlights the malice of this exchange:


Said the dread Lord of Hell: “Dauntless Húrin,stout steel-handed, stands before meyet quick a captive, as a coward might be!Then knows he my name, or needs be toldwhat hope he has in the halls of iron?The bale most bitter, Balrogs’ torment!”

Then Húrin answered, Hithlum’s chieftain –his shining eyes with sheen of firein wrath were reddened: “O ruinous one,by fear unfettered I have fought thee long,nor dread thee now, nor thy demon slaves,fiends and phantoms, thou foe of Gods!”His dark tresses, drenched and tangled,that fell o’er his face he flung backward,in the eye he looked of the evil Lord –since that day of dread to dare his glance

has no mortal Man had might of soul. (Lays 97)

This excerpt from the second version (IIA) of the “Lay” presents a weighty moment told in commanding images and powerful language.

Two versions of Túrin’s tale are found in The Shaping of Middle-earth, the fourth volume. The full title of “The Earliest ‘Silmarillion’ ” as it appears on the actual manuscript is “Sketch of the mythology with especial reference to the ‘Children of Húrin’ ” and was written 1926–1930. Christopher characterizes this concise text as “a new starting-point in the history of ‘The Silmarillion’ ” and the basis for ver-sions that followed (Shaping 11). The next such text, the early 1930s “Quenta Noldorinwa,” is only about a third as long as the earliest version, “Turambar and the Foalókë.” In this later text, many elements of the final version exist but in an extremely reduced form. Mîm the Dwarf appears, though not until after Túrin’s death, and his role is quite limited in comparison to its final form in the 1977 Silmarillion. Though brief, Túrin’s story is complete in the “Quenta Noldorinwa,” but it is the last whole version.

The “Quenta Silmarillion” from the mid-to-late 1930s, contained in The Lost Road and Other Writings, the last version of the “Silmarillion” before Tolkien set his mythol-ogy aside to work on The Lord of the Rings, breaks off at the point at which Túrin flees from Menegroth and becomes an outlaw. Most of Túrin’s tale, all of Tuor’s tale, and the beginning of Eärendel’s tale are omitted. The final section picks up with Eärendel’s appeal to the Valar, the subsequent battle against Morgoth at the end of the First Age, and the prophecy concerning the Last Battle at the End of Days, which still mentions Túrin’s triumphant return and places Túrin “among the sons of the Valar” (Lost Road 333), slightly altering his estate but maintaining some connection to the Powers.


Tolkien picks up the story again in the 1950s in a variety of texts published in The War of the Jewels: “The Grey Annals,” the “Later Quenta Silmarillion,” “The Wander-ings of Húrin,” “Ælfwine and Dírhaval,” and “The Tale of Years.” The 1951 “Grey Annals,” organized by years of the First Age in annalistic fashion, includes some new elements in brief form. These changes are significant because they are a reduction of the latter section of the “Narn i Hîn Húrin” that Christopher published in the 1980 Unfinished Tales. Initially, Christopher believed that “The Grey Annals” was the earlier text, but specific alterations to names and to the narrative prove the reverse, and certain changes indicate that at times Tolkien may have been working on both the “Narn” and the “Annals” simultaneously. In these two texts, Sador Labadal appears as a character, though unnamed in the “Annals,” and Túrin saves the Haladin of Brethil from Orcs upon their first meeting. Mablung’s role in the fortunes of Húrin’s family is developed, and the changing account of Túrin and certain companions stalk-ing the dragon moves toward its final form. Also, Brandir learns of the sibling rela-tionship between Túrin and Nienor/Níniel from overhearing Glaurung himself rather than Níniel’s “last lament” as in the “Quenta Noldorinwa” (Shaping 130), another example of being able to follow such developments of the narrative over the decades of Tolkien’s writing and revision through the History of Middle-earth series.

Also included in War of the Jewels is the second part of the “Later Quenta Silmaril-lion,” the first part of which was published in Morgoth’s Ring. This text does not progress as far as the chapter on Túrin but picks up with the conclusion, which tells of the Valar’s decision concerning the fate of Eärendel and Elwing, the Great Battle between the Valar and Morgoth, the final fate of the Silmarils, and the Second Proph-ecy of Mandos. The description of the Last Battle and Túrin’s return to slay Morgoth is reworded to read that instead of “coming from the Halls of Mandos” (Lost Road 333), Túrin Turambar is “returning from the Doom of Men at the ending of the world” (Jewels 247). This text concludes Tolkien’s work on the “Quenta Silmarillion” as a discrete text. The eleventh volume advances and develops the story of Húrin and Túrin more fully in “The Wanderings of Húrin” and in “Ælfwine and Dírhaval.” Further-more, “The Tale of Years” changes and adds some aspects of the story. “The Wander-ings of Húrin” relates in detail the events that follow Húrin’s release by Morgoth after 28 years of captivity: his seeking for the entrance to Gondolin, his travels in Hithlum where he gathers some men around him, his finding Morwen only in time to hold her as she dies, and an extensive account of his trial before the Halad of Brethil and of the eradication of the third house of the Edain. From this work, Christopher bor-rowed only “Húrin’s vain attempt to reach Gondolin” and Morwen’s death for the published Silmarillion (Jewels 298).

“Ælfwine and Dírhaval” exists in two versions that form “an introductory note” to the “Narn i Hîn Húrin” (UT 187). This text explains that the “Narn” was “the work of a Mannish poet, Dírhavel” and “composed in that mode of verse which was called Minlamad thent / estent” (Jewels 311), the word Narn indicating “a tale that is told in verse to be spoken and not sung” (313). It further elucidates the means by which the poet became privy to some of the details of Túrin’s life among the outlaws,


interviewing the aged son of the only survivor of the battle on Amon Rudh, and his gathering of “tidings and lore” from “fugitives of Dorlómin, . . . Nargothrond, [and] . . . Doriath” (311). The “Narn” was “prized by the Elves and remembered by them” (311), in part because of the great deeds and profound sorrow of the tale and in part because “Dírhaval used the Grey-elven tongue” (313), Sindarin. Furthermore, according to this text, Ælfwine then, at great labor, translated the “Narn” into English, but as he explains, “rendered it in prose, judging my skill too small to be at once scop and walhstod” (313), “poet” and “interpreter” (315). These statements emphasize the fact that it is a tale by Men and about Men, this explanation of the tale’s history providing a protracted introduction to the longest and most detailed form of the tale.

The text of the “Narn i Hîn Húrin” published in Unfinished Tales also appears in a separate volume, The Children of Húrin (2007). The “Narn” is by far the most fully developed and polished version and appears to provide evidence of the “centrality” of focus mentioned by Christopher. It seems, as Richard West (2000, 241) confirms, that Tolkien may have worked on the “Narn” throughout the 1920s and perhaps well into the 1930s. Particular conversations and events are related in far greater detail than in other versions, and there are references to “doom” and “fate” that do not exist in the other versions: Sador tells a young Túrin about “the fate of Men” and suggests that when the Edain associate with the Eldar “[Men’s] doom lies the heavier on [them]” (UT 81). When Morwen delays and does not flee Dor-lómin as her husband advised, the text foretells, “Therefore the voice of Húrin . . . was denied, and the first strand of the fate of Túrin was woven” (92). Melian tells Túrin upon his arrival in Doriath, “Your fate is twined with that of the Elven-folk, for good or for ill” (102), and Brandir, of the People of Haleth, laments, “Doom willed it not so” (144). All of these references and many more appear in the “Narn” in Unfinished Tales, a recurring theme in this dark tale.

Túrin’s tale took a long time to evolve into its final form, one form of which was edited and presented by Christopher in The Silmarillion. Being able to examine this evolution step-by-step and in detail is the greatest benefit of the History of Middle-earth series. One of the changes that is evident is the progression from the fanciful to the moral. It is not surprising that Tolkien eliminates such strange ideas as the purify-ing fire, Fôs’Almir, which cleanses Túrin Turambar and his sister Nienor of their incestuous sin, and the deification of the two mortals, since Tolkien also deletes other fanciful ideas found in early texts. For instance, from the contemporary story “The Coming of the Valar” a host of lesser beings such as ‘brownies, fays, pixies, [and] leprawns” (Lost Tales I 66) vanish before the next version. Certainly, the concept of Húrin’s offspring becoming Valar or the children of Valar is completely inconsistent with the metaphysics of Arda as Tolkien’s Secondary World progressed.

There is one alteration in the 1977 text that does not seem to have been the author’s choice. Túrin’s victory in the Last Battle, by which “the children of Húrin and all Men [will] be avenged” (Lost Road 333), disappears from the published Silmarillion along with the entire second prophecy of Mandos, and there is no vengeance for


Húrin’s family or mankind as a whole. Douglas Kane (2009) discusses this choice made in finalizing the “Quenta Silmarillion” and suggests that Christopher placed “too much weight” on the statement that originally appeared at the end of the “Val-aquenta” (236) claiming that Manwë and Varda have not “revealed” what they may know of “the fate of Arda Marred” and that “it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos” (S 306). Indeed, Kane claims that there is every indication that Tolkien intended the prophecy of Mandos concerning the Last Battle and Arda Healed to stand.

The Silmarillion as published, and as first read by most people, omits the Second Prophecy, and the absence of Túrin’s ultimate victory over Morgoth and the corre-sponding loss of any vengeance or justice for “the children of Húrin and all Men” seriously increase the darkness of the tale. As West writes, “It is a tragic story of almost unrelieved gloom” (2009, 244). In its final version, it is no longer consistent with Tolkien’s statement, “I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’ – though it contains . . . some samples or glimpses of final victory” (Letters 255). The hero has been denied his moment of victory. No tale of Middle-earth is as dark as that of Túrin Turambar and his family, and in the published Silmarillion the “glimpses of final victory” have been lost and all glimmer of hope has been extinguished. Further-more, this last change seems to underscore the pervasiveness of evil, which is woven into the very fabric of the created world since, as is told in the “Ainulindalë,” Melkor participated in creation, and seems in conflict with Eru’s declaration of his sovereignty and his ongoing intention to bring good out of evil.

Accordingly, Verlyn Flieger (2009, 173) in an article on “Fate and Free Will in Middle-earth” notes Tolkien’s intention as stated in a letter of 1951 to conclude the legendarium with “a vision of the end of the world, its breaking and remaking, and the recovery of the Silmarilli” (Letters 149). Certainly, this letter supports the retention of the second prophecy of Mandos. Flieger develops the idea that Men have a special “task,” a particular part to play in making right the evil caused by Morgoth so that they may take their appointed role in the performance of the Second Music (173). The “Later Quenta Silmarillion” of the late 1950s still retains the prophecy, and in fact Tolkien makes one addition to the eschatological account, writing “and Beren Camlost” in a marginal note (Jewels 247), which suggests that Tolkien intended that Beren would join Túrin in avenging humanity. Though Tolkien never finalized his text of the “Silmarillion,” the tale of the Last Battle and the regathering of the light of Valinor as preserved in Fëanor’s gems seems not only consistent but also necessary to the resolution of the “Quenta Silmarillion” and to Tolkien’s image of hope and confidence in a final victory. Christopher’s thorough and excellent work in the compilation, organization, and presentation of his father’s unpublished works with his own editorial notes and commentary allows readers to examine these texts in the legendarium and come to their own conclusions. Without Unfinished Tales and the 12 volumes of The History of Middle-earth, readers would be denied dozens of fascinating texts and their evolving portrayal of Tolkien’s incredible world.


References

Flieger, Verlyn. 2009. “The Music and the Task: Fate and Free Will in Middle-earth.” Tolkien Studies, 6: 151–181.

Kane, Douglas Charles. 2009. Arda Reconstructed: The Creation of the Published Silmarillion. Bethle-hem, PA: Lehigh University Press.

Kilby, Clyde S. 1976. “The World of C. S. Lewis.” Lecture at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, NY, March 12.

West, Richard C. 2000. “Túrin’s Ofermod.” In Tolk-ien’s Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth, edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter, 233–245. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Documents

A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien || Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-earth: A Lifetime of Imagination