An Emended and Expanded Silmarillion Reading Roadmap
by Voronmirdil
Arienlië
Status and Copyright Version 0.006
Copyright 2020-2022, |
Introduction
(When the name of a person or item is followed by a name or abbreviation in parentheses, that is the short reference that will be used in this work.)
When The Silmarillion was first published in 1977 (as published, S) it quickly drew criticism that it was more the work of Christopher Tolkien (Christopher) than that of his father, J.R.R. Tolkien (Tolkien). After some early protestations to the contrary, Christopher responded to that by first publishing a selection of Tolkien's writings, Unfinished Tales (1980, UT), and then by publishing the twelve volumes of the History of Middle-Earth (1983-1996, HoMe) writings, and the three standalone "great tales" books, The Children of Húrin (2007, CoH), Beren and Lúthien (2017, BaL), and The Fall of Gondolin (2018, FoG). (Those later sixteen books together are herein collectively called the "post-S writings".) In those volumes, Christopher candidly acknowledged that some mistakes had been made in S and that other things could have been done better. He also invited readers to judge for themselves what should best be included in Tolkien's legendarium.
And as it turned out, when the source materials were published the criticism substantially diminished. That was in large part because it became recognized that the task of creating a coherent, fully-realized history of the first and second ages of Arda was utterly staggering due to the different versions left by Tolkien of the components of that history, the fact that many source documents were fragmentary, incomplete, or merely comments or notes, and the fact that Tolkien's final intent was often continuously changing right up until the point that he stopped working on the material and later passed away. With that also grew the realization that, as Douglas Charles Kane - perhaps the most detailed and comprehensive of Christopher's critics - has said, "under the circumstances that he faced, Christopher did an extraordinary job, and that The Silmarillion will stand the test of time as an important element of his father's legacy." [fn1]
[fn1] | "An Interview With Douglas Charles Kane", Michael Martinez, Middle-Earth Blog, 18 Nov 2011, https://middle-earth.xenite.org/an-interview-with-douglas-charles-kane/, retrieved 5 May 2020 |
However, a consensus also developed that, in addition to the errors which Christopher acknowledged, that there were a number of additional emendations which would have substantially improved S while not straying from Tolkien's intent. Many of these were a result of Christopher's desires (some stated, some apparent) to keep S as concise, internally proportional in relative length of episodes, and consistent [fn2] as possible while not omitting anything of prime importance to the history. There is also reason to believe that Christopher recognized that even a book which achieved those goals was going to have a much different appeal and require much different appreciation skills than did The Hobbit (TH) and The Lord of the Rings (LotR). As a result he apparently decided to eliminate some elements which went beyond even the difficulties of a complex history and into areas which might be too philosophical or esoteric even for the readers who might initially be open to reading S. [fn3]
[fn2] | The goal of consistency was not just Christopher's. Tolkien himself said that one of the difficulties that he was facing in putting the history in publishable form was that it needed to be consistent and to proceed from one event to another. Humphrey Carpenter ed., The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 1981, p. 333, Letter 247 To Colonel Worskett, 20 Sept. 1963. | ||
[fn3] | Principal among these were the elimination of the matters taken up in the longer story of Finwe and Míriel and the associated "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar" and the material in the "Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth". |
That introduces the purpose of my current effort. Here it is perhaps worth the time to consider Christopher's comments in the 1977 pamphlet The Silmarillion [by] J.R.R. Tolkien: A Brief Account of the Book and its Making published shortly after S and long before publication of UT or HoMe:
To bring it into publishable form was a task at once utterly absorbing and alarming in its responsibility toward something that is unique. To decide what that form should be was not easy; and for a time I worked toward a book that would show something of this diversity, this unfinished and many-branched growth. But it became clear to me that the result would be so complex as to require much study for its comprehension; and I feared to crush The Silmarillion beneath the weight of its own history. I set myself, therefore, to work out a single text, by selection and arrangement.
The post-S writings are, plainly, Christopher's later attempt to create that many-branched tree. But as critic Jason Fisher says in his excellent review [fn4] of Douglas Charles Kane's Arda Reconstructed (AR) [fn5]:
I think Kane (like Charles Noad, and no doubt others) wishes for something in between the two extremes: something in between the many-branched tree, so over-grown that it collapses under its own weight, as I daresay some would describe The History of Middle-earth; and the tree pruned of many of its youngest branches and loveliest leaves, as Kane might describe Christopher's Silmarillion.
[fn4] | "Reviews: Arda Reconstructed", Jason Fisher, Mythopoeic Society website, http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/arda-reconstructed.htm retrieved 5 May 2020. | ||
[fn5] | Douglas Charles Kane, Arda Reconstructed:The Creation of the Published Silmarillion, 2011. Kane's work, which exhaustively analyzes, lists, and comments upon Christopher's editorial choices in creating S, is a particular and primary source for my work here. |
My effort here is towards such a mid-level production, one that creates a S which is both more complete and more correct.
This is not the first effort of its kind. I am aware of at least two attempts to either entirely rewrite S or to extensively revise it, in both cases from the post-S writings. One is the online, crowd-sourced New Silmarillion Project which has been ongoing since 2001 but which is now apparently in its later stages, at the venerable Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum. [fn6] Another is an excellent one-person effort from Reddit user Iredc. Both of those efforts, which are excellent and admirable in themselves (more about which in a moment), suffer in my opinion from two issues. First, mechanically, is their expression. Both are full-narrative replacements in that they create a new S in full text. Neither is freely or easily publicly available and the most likely reason is likely fear of copyright complaint from the always-prickly Tolkien Estate. Second, however, those efforts second-guess Christopher's expertise with this material.
[fn6] | The project homepage is https://forum.barrowdowns.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 but the newest one-page progress summary I've been able to find as of this writing in May, 2020, is post #209 from February, 2019 on this page: https://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=4453&page=6. |
No one alive other than Tolkien himself knew his father's thought or writings so well as Christopher and, according to Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien, he was specifically asked by Tolkien to finish the history if he died without doing so. [fn7] To simply discard his work and start over using one's own judgment, even supplemented by Christopher's notes and commentary in the post-S writings and other sources, seems to me to be taking a substantial risk that Christopher may have employed unpublished documents or knowledge (including knowledge or analysis of which he himself may not have been consciously aware) in making editorial decisions in the creation of S which he never made part of his post-S writings, but which properly reflect the thoughts of his father.
[fn7] | Tolkien: A Biography, Humphrey Carpenter, 1977, Section VII, part 3, p. 255. |
For that reason, I have chosen to take a more conservative position, to trust Christopher, and use S as the base text rather than creating a new S. Doing so, however, fails to entirely correct the frequent absence of, in Fisher's words, Tolkien's "lovliest leaves" from S. One of the things which Christopher plainly did in attempting to make S concise and proportional was to remove substantial amounts of material - from instances of just a word or two to extended passages - which added nothing substantial to the facts or to the plot of S but which were descriptive and beautiful (an observation for which I must give Kane substantial credit). The emendations which I recommend here restore a great deal of that (some, indeed, only for that reason), but the full-text works of The New Silmarillion Project and Iredc accomplish that much more. And that is no small thing. Much of Tolkien's appeal is tied up in just such beauty. [fn8] A complete solution to that problem would, however, require so many additional emendations as to make the format of my effort (which also, importantly, avoids the copyright issue) impractical and near-unusable and thus untenable and, perhaps worse, further risk second-guessing Christopher's specific intent for any particular omission.
[fn8] | For example, one particularly notable and obvious instance is Christopher's omission on S pg. 83 of the poetic-form oath of Fëanor from HoMe Vol. X, Morgoth's Ring, "Annals of Aman", Section Five, §134, p. 112, choosing instead a much briefer and far less impactful text version from HoMe Vol. V, The Lost Road, "Quenta Silmarillion", Chapter 5, §67, p. 234, even though he takes all the rest of the surrounding materials from the Annals of Aman. |
With that, we finally reach the work for which this is an introduction. As noted, this work uses S as a base and provides precise instructions on what should should be changed and the specific material from the post-S writings to use to change it. Originally this was intended to be a work written entirely for my own use and based entirely on what Kane concluded in AR were Christopher's worst errors. [fn9] But I soon realized that effort would not be sufficient to really emend S in a reasonably full way based on the broader consensus of both Kane and the Tolkien community of what "needed to be fixed" in S while, at the same time, risking that those changes might merely substitute our editorial judgment for Christopher's. So I've attempted to identify and label those changes which reflect mistakes or questionable choices recognized by Christopher, those changes not recognized by Christopher but for which there is strong consensus that they were clear errors in judgment, and a few changes for which there is moderate consensus. I have attempted to avoid changes where there is only speculation about why Christopher did it the way that he did or which are merely someone's opinion that Christopher could have done it better than he did.
[fn9] | AR, "Conclusion", pp. 252-53, 261. |
As for the texts used to effect the changes that, too, is often fraught due to the availability of many different possible choices. In this, I have generally followed Christopher where he clearly expresses a solution or where a solution is obvious and then Kane when he expresses an opinion about the matter.
I used as a title to this work "An" Emended and Expanded Silmarillion Reading Roadmap. By "an" I'd like to emphasize, as I've discussed above, that this is only one possible approach to either emending S or to creating a mid-level approach to Tolkien's legendarium. While my location and emendation reference system is unquestionably cumbersome, it avoids problems with copyright while being precise enough to be relatively easily employed.
A word about numbers: All page numbers here to S and to the various post-S writings are to the U.S. hardback trade first editions of those various works. Those numbers seem to have been fairly consistent even in later individual editions. I have consistently attempted, nonetheless, to provide enough additional information to locate the changes even if a version of the work with different page numbers is utilized. Page numbers and quoted text are the most reliable references, paragraph numbers and sentence numbers are less precise.
Finally, this work presumes (as did Christopher in S) that one has read TH and LotR and, in particular, the Appendices to LotR.
The Roadmap
Abbreviations:S Chapter | Location in Chapter | Change | Level | Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Second title page | New page. Should appear between the last page of the index on pages 12 and the title page for the Ainulindalë on page 13 (neither page is marked with a page number). |
Bilbo Baggins |
CT | BoLT1 pp. 5-6, "Foreword" and PoMe p.
14, Part One, "The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings",
I, "The Prologue". The idea that S is based on these materials and that they
should have been used as a limited framing story for S is CT, but
the specific expression and placement of them are my editorial invention. See also LotR
Vol. I pp. 23-25, "Prologue", "Note on the Shire Records" and also
see the
Cirth and Tengwar inscription on the title page of Volume 1, The
Fellowship of the Ring, of LotR. That inscription was created by Tolkien
and specifically says that LotR was taken from the Red Book and that
Tolkien was the translator. (NB: Neither Frodo Baggins nor Samwise Gamgee is
mentioned here because there is no history that they contributed to the
Translations or the supplementary materials; we know only that their
contributions were to that part of the materials in Volume 1 of the Red
Book that became LotR.) For a more detailed discussion of this choice, see A Note on the Framework and the Round World at the bottom of this page. |
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SVal | p. 26, ¶ 5, "With Manwë dwells Varda" | In first sentence replace "With Manwë dwells Varda" with "With Manwë now dwells as spouse Varda". From MR p. 201, LQS, P2 , Val, §4. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SVal | p. 27, ¶ 9, "The spouse of Aulë" | In first sentence replace "The spouse of Aulë is Yavanna" with "The spouse of Aulë in Arda is Yavanna". From MR p. 202, LQS, P2 , Val, §5. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SVal | p. 28, ¶ 11, "Námo the elder" | In first sentence replace "which is westward in Valinor." with "which is northward in Valinor." From MR p. 202, LQS, P2 , Val, § 6. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SVal | p. 29, ¶ 15, "Oromë is a mighty" | In fourth sentence replace "all trees he loves,
... Lord of Forests." with "all trees he loves, Tauron he is called in
Middle-earth, the Lord of the Forests." Between the next-to-last sentence ending "evil creatures of Melkor." and the last sentence beginning "The spouse of Oromë" insert a new sentence reading, "But the Valaróma is not blown, and Nahar runs no more upon the Middle-earth since the change of the world and the waning of the Elves, whom he loved." From MR p. 202, LQS, P2 , Val, §7. |
CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SVal | p. 31, ¶ 23, "Of Melian much" | At the end of the paragraph add two new sentences, "He was humble in the land of the Blessed; and in Middle-earth he sought no renown. His triumph was in the uprising of the fallen, and his joy was in the renewal of hope." From MR p. 203, LQS, P2 , Val, §10a,b, "(Olórin)". | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 1 | p. 42, ¶ 24, "It is one with" | Between the second sentence ending "ever more sorrowful." and the third sentence beginning "For the Elves die" insert a new sentence, "Memory is their burden." From MR, p. 37, Part One, "Ainulindalë", Version D, § 40. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 3 | p. 49-50, ¶ 14, "Yet many of the" and ¶ 16, "But of those unhappy" | No change, but see note | Next to ¶ 14 Tolkien wrote a note, "alter this. Orcs are not Elvish." MR p. 80, AoA, Section 2, note against § 43. This is nonetheless retained because, first, Tolkien never resolved the origin of the Orcs and went through several different explanations (underground heat, slime, and stone, Elves (this), animals given reason by Melkor, Men, Men with some Elvish blood, Elves again first but later Men blended in, different Orcs having different origins, Men again, and some Orc leaders possibly being Maiar) without ever settling on just one and, second, this is clearly stated in ¶ 16 to be a speculative legend on the part of the Elves: "little is known of a certainty ... Yet this is held true". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 3 | p. 53, ¶ 31, "It is told that" | In first sentence replace "with gold; and passing ... toward the west." with "with gold. And they began their long journey and passed by the Sea of Helcar ere they bent somewhat westward." From MR p. 82, AoA, "Third Section", §58, and see MR p. 202, LQS, P2 , Val, § 6. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 5 | pp. 57-58, ¶ 3, "But the Teleri" | In the third sentence "Long they remained ... and sea-music." replace "and Ossë instructed them" with "and Ossë and Uinen instructed them". From MR p. 84, AoA, "Third Section", § 66 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 5 | p. 60, ¶ 14, "The seven sons of Fëanor" | No change but see note to right regarding, "In later days they [Amrod and Amras, sons of Fëanor] were great hunters in the woods of Middle-earth." | 1 | In a late story, which Christopher refers to as a "legend" (but which is included in an essay by Tolkien from which other things are taken by Christopher as canonical), it is told that Amrod is accidentally burnt to death by Fëanor, his father, when they first arrive in Middle-earth and Fëanor petulantly burns the ships stolen from the Teleri so as to prevent them from being used to ferry the remaining Noldor stranded in the freezing north of Aman (who had cursed Fëanor for drawing them into his exile; for the burning of those ships and its cause see S pp. 89-90, SQS 9, ¶¶ 47-49, "Therefore Fëanor halted ... Doom of the Noldor."). His death fulfils a prophecy by his mother, Nerdanel, from whom Fëanor had become estranged. Christopher did not choose to reflect this in S and mentions "Amrod and Amras" numerous times until they are slain in the Second Kinslaying very near the end of S. In light of Christopher's characterization of this, I have not chosen to emend this in this work, but it is a common criticism and must be at least mentioned. For the story of Amrod's death see PoMe pp. 352-55, Shib, "The Names of the sons of Fëanor with the legend of the fate of Amrod". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 5 | pp. 60-61, ¶ 15, "The sons of Fingolfin" | In the fourth sentence "Ar-Feineil she was ... silver and white." replace "Ar-Feineil" with "Aredhel". WotJ pp. 317-18, Mae. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 5 | p. 61, ¶ 16, "The sons of Finarfin" | In the first sentence, see note to right about
Orodreth. In the second sentence "A sister they had ... radiance of Laurelin." replace "all the house of Finwë; her hair" with "all the house of Finwë; and the most valiant. Her hair". From MR p. 177, LQS, P1, Chapter 5, §42 |
CT / 2 | Christopher acknowledges that based on late
genealogical material prepared by Tolkien, Orodreth was almost certainly
intended by Tolkien to be moved from being the son of Finarfin to being the son of Angrod, and thus Finarfin's
grandson. And a note mixed in with those materials says that Gil-galad was
to be Orodreth's son. But none of those ideas ever made it out of the
genealogical materials into a narrative and
nothing in the genealogical materials themselves ever said anything about Gil-galad
being a descendant of Finarfin. Due to the uncertainty and due to the complexity
(by which he probably means degree of editorial invention required) of the changes that would have been needed, Christopher says he chose
to leave the material about Orodreth in S (i.e. as being the son of Finarfin) untouched and wishes that he had done
the same about Gil-galad which would've knowingly left Gil-galad's parentage
- and a solution for how he came to be High King of the Elves in SA - ambiguous. (PoMe
pp. 349-51, Shib). I
concur and
have not made any change to Orodreth's references. First sentence note is Level CT, second sentence is Level 2. |
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SQS 6 | pp. 63-64, ¶¶ 1-6, "Now the Three Kindreds ... Lórien no more." | Replace ¶¶ 1-6 with MR p. 256-61, LQS, P2, "Later Versions of the Story of Finwë and Míriel", §§ 1-22 through "resembled Míriel rather." | 1 | It should be noted that in a late essay Míriel does not choose to forsake her body until Fëanor is full-grown instead of shortly after his birth as in S and in the emendation here. It says, "Fëanor loved his mother dearly, though except in obstinacy their characters were widely different. He was not gentle. He was proud and hot-tempered, and opposition to his will he met not with the quiet steadfastness of his mother but with fierce resentment. He was restless in mind and body, though like Míriel he could become wholly absorbed in works of the finest skill of hand; but he left many things unfinished. ... While she lived she did much with gentle counsel to soften and restrain him. Her death was a lasting grief to Feanor, and both directly and by its further consequences a main cause of his later disastrous influence on the history of the Noldor." I've not chosen to include this in the emendations, but it is worth noting since it adds further strength to Fëanor's resentment of his father's second wife, Indis, and her sons Fingolfin and Finarfin. For the story, see PoMe pp. 333-34, Shib. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 6 | pp. 64, ¶ 7, "All his love he gave" | Delete the opening clause, "All his love he gave thereafter to his son; and" but retain remainder of paragraph. | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 6 | p. 64 ¶ 8, "While still in his early youth" | Delete paragraph. Replace with MR p. 272, LQS, P2, "Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor", §46c, first two narrative paragraphs "While still in early youth ... and they became estranged." | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 6 | pp. 64-65, ¶¶ 9-10, "Now it came to pass ... would have been diminished." | Delete paragraphs. Replace with MR p. 261-63, LQS, P2, "Later Versions of the Story of Finwë and Míriel", §§ 23-28 (including footnotes) | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 7 | p. 70, ¶ 15, "Now the unrest" | Between the fifth sentence "There were also summoned ... asked of him." and sixth sentence "Then at last the root ... again to judgment." insert two new sentences, "Great must be the power and will of any who would lie to Mandos, or even refuse his questioning. But Fëanor had no thought of it. He was so besotted with the lies of Melkor that had taken root in his proud heart (though he did not yet clearly perceive their source) that he judged himself justified in all points, and other judgement he scorned." From MR pp. 278-279, LQS, P2, "Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor", § 53a. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 7 | p. 71, ¶ 17, "With him into banishment" | In the first and second sentence "With him into ... Noldor in Tirion." replace "went his seven sons ... Fingolfin ruled" with "went his seven sons, and Finwe his father, who would not be parted from him, in fault or guiltless, and some others also of the Noldor. But Nerdanel would not go with him, and she asked leave to abide with Indis, whom she had ever esteemed, though this had been little to the liking of Feanor. Northward in Valinor they made a strong place and treasury in the hills; and there at Formenos a multitude of gems were laid in hoard, and weapons also, and the Silmarils were shut in a chamber of iron. Fingolfin ruled". From MR p. 279, LQS, P2, "Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor", § 53d. | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 8 | pp. 73-76, ¶¶ 2-13, "Thus unseen he came at last ... that Melkor was afraid." | Delete paragraphs. Replace with MR p. 284-88, LQS, P2, "Of the Darkening of Valinor", §§ 55c-58f | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 9 | p. 79, ¶¶ 8-9, "Then Mandos said ... Silmarils were gone." | Delete paragraphs. Replace with MR p. 293-94, LQS, P2, "Of the Rape of the Silmarils", §§ 6-10 | 2 / 1 | The actual emendation here does not include S ¶ 8 or MR § 6, but only S ¶ 9 and MR § 7-10, but S ¶ 8 is replaced by MR § 6 because the replacement paragraph is so much lovelier than the paragraph replaced. So ¶ 8 is Level 2, and ¶ 9 is Level 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 9 | p. 80, ¶¶ 13-16, "'Blackheart!' ... "Open thy right hand.'" | Delete paragraphs. Replace with MR p. 295, LQS, P2, "Of the Thieves' Quarrel", § 15 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 9 | p. 83, ¶ 26, "Then Fëanor swore" | In the third sentence "They swore an oath ... from their possession." end the sentence with "and none should take". Replace the rest of the sentence with the poetic section "'Be he foe ... Manwë and Varda!" from MR p. 112, AoA, Section 5, § 134 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 9 | p. 90, penultimate ¶, "Then Fëanor laughed" | No change, but see note above at SQS 5, p. 60, ¶ 14, "The seven sons of Fëanor". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 9 | p. 90, last ¶, "Then Fingolfin seeing" | In third sentence "The fire of their hearts ... cruel hills of ice." replace "by Finrod and Galadriel, they dared" with "by Finrod and Galadriel the valiant and fair, they dared". From MR p. 120, AoA, "Fifth Section", § 163 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 11 | pp. 99-100, ¶ 7, "The maiden whom" | In the last sentence "Too bright were the eyes ... fullness of her splendour" replace "Too bright were" with "Fair indeed was Arien to behold, but too bright were". From MR p. 131, AoA, "Sixth Section", § 172 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 11 | p. 101, ¶ 14, "Still therefore" | At the end of the paragraph, add "Gods and Elves ... might and cunning of Morgoth." from LR p. 242, QS, Chapter 6, § 79. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 12 | p. 103, ¶ 6, "Immortal were the Elves" | Between the second sentence, "Their bodies indeed ... courses of time." and the third sentence "But Men were more ... old and died." insert new sentences "Therefore they could perish ... perish or grow less." from LR p. 247, QS, Chapter 7, § 85. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 13 | p. 108, ¶ 9, "Now rumor came" | In the second sentence, "But as the host ... stars were ended." change "his marching feet, and the ages of the stars" to "his marching feet. Good was made of evil, as happens still, and the ages of the stars". From LR p. 250, QS, Chapter 8, § 91. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 13 | p. 114, ¶ 26, "Now on a time Finrod" | Delete last two sentences. "And in that time was made ... with grace and loveliness." | 1 | Eliminates Christopher's invention of the Nauglamír being created for Finrod in Nargothrond. See corresponding changes in Chapter 22 ¶¶ 21-end, below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 13 | p. 115-16, ¶ 31, "A victory it was" | At end of paragraph add new sentences "But thus also ... his deadliest foes." from WotJ p. 38, GA, § 82. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOS 16 | p. 131, ¶ 1, "Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, the White" | In first sentence "Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, the White ... the Hidden Kingdom." change "Aredhel Ar-Feiniel" to "Aredhel". WotJ pp. 317-18, Mae, § 1. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOS 16 | p. 131-32, ¶ 5, "But when she came to the Ford" | In the fifth sentence "The speediest way ... Hill of Himring" replace "by the paths ... Brithiach through" with "by the East Road from Brithiach through". From WotJ p. 319, Mae, § 5, and see p. 333 paragraph beginning at bottom of page. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOS 16 | p. 132, ¶ 7, "But Aredhel, having sought" | In the first sentence "But Aredhel, having sought ... Siege of Angband." replace "children of Finwë, and she held on her way, and crossing" with "children of Finwë. At last she found the East road again, and crossing". From WotJ p. 319, Mae, § 5, and see p. 333 paragraph beginning at bottom of page. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOS 16 | p. 133, ¶ 9, "Now the traffic of" | In the fifth sentence, "And it came to pass ... in the dim land" change "Aredhel Ar-Feiniel" to "Aredhel". WotJ pp. 317-18, Mae, § 1. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOS 16 | p. 136, ¶ 25, "'I rejoice indeed" | Replace "Ar-Feiniel" with "Aredhel". WotJ pp. 317-18, Mae, § 1. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 18 | p. 153, ¶ 9, "Now news came to" | In the fourth sentence, "Thus he came alone ... to single combat." replace "forth to single combat." with "forth to single combat, crying: 'Come forth, thou coward king, to fight with thine own hand! Den-dweller, wielder of thralls, liar and lurker, foe of Gods and Elves, come! For I would see thy craven face.'" From WotJ p. 55, GA, § 155. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 18 | p. 153, ¶ 14, "Great was the lamentation" | At the end of the paragraph, remove the clause "; but his young son ... Gil-galad) he sent to the Havens." | CT | See note at SQS 5, p. 61, ¶ 16. Gil-galad is mentioned in Tolkien's writings that became S a few times, but generally only in the context, as here, as being sent as a child to the Havens by his father - but with different fathers, from different places, and at different times. All other mentions of Gil-galad in SQS are editorial inventions by Christopher and are being removed in this work. As mentioned in that note, Christopher ended up deciding that it was almost certainly Tolkien's final intent that Gil-galad's father was Orodreth, son of Angrod, son of Finarfin, but that it cannot be proved sufficiently to include it in S and also deciding that the parentage of Gil-gilad should be left ambiguous. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 18 | pp. 155-56, ¶ 16, "For nigh on two years" | In reference to first sentence see note to right. | n/a | Tolkien was very inconsistent about whether the fall of Minas Tirith happened before or, as in S, after the death of Fingolfin (S p. 154) and how much time passed between those events (two years in S). Also caught up in this uncertainty was whether Celegorm and Curufin went straight to Nargothrond from their defeat in the East, as in S, or first went to Minas Tirith with a small band of warriors gathered along the way and rescued Orodreth before going to Nargothrond (whereby they initially ingratiated themselves there by that deed), but which does not necessarily correspond with which event happened first. The most recent source of those variants with Minas Tirith first by about a year and with Celegorm and Curufin present is WotJ pp. 54-55, GA, §§153-155. Once again, I'm going to give Christopher the benefit of the doubt on this and make no emendation, but the ambiguity should be noted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 18 | pp. 155-56, ¶ 16, "For nigh on two years" | At end of paragraph add a new sentence, "Ereinion (who was after named Gil-galad) was sent by his father to the Havens." See note to right. | CT | While the text of this admittedly clunky insertion is taken from the text removed in SQS 18, p. 153, ¶ 14, (see that section, above, and the note there), its placement at this particular point in the narrative is my editorial invention for the purpose of introducing Gil-galad at least one time and establishing that he was sent to the Havens by his father without stating or implying by location in the text the identity of his father. Tolkien's placements of this event were as early as two years before this and as late as seven or eight years after this point in time, so the timing here is not inappropriate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 162, ¶ 1, "Among the tales" | At the end of the second sentence, replace "is the tale of Beren and Lúthien." with "is the tale of Beren and Lúthien; for it is sad and joyous, and touches on mysteries, and it is not ended.". From LR p. 296, QS, paragraph beginning "Among the tales" and footnote to that paragraph. | CT | All but one of the emendations in this Chapter 18 and in Chapter 20 correct things noted by Christopher as things that were not done correctly. Most of them are, however, very minor and the chapters can generally be read without bothering with the emendations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 164, ¶ 13, "Terrible was his southward" | In the second sentence replace "rising" with "raising". From note in LR, p. 299, QS, Chapter 12-15, "the rising of the Moon", Christopher says that all source texts have "raising." | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 174, ¶ 54, "In the pits of Sauron" | Replace "kindreds are apart. Farewell!" with "kindreds are apart. Yet perchance even that sorrow shall in the end be healed. Farewell!". From note in LR, p. 300, QS, Chapter 12-15, "the fates of our kindreds are apart". | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 175, ¶ 59, "But no wizardry", and ¶ 61, "There Lúthien stood" | In ¶ 59 at the end of the paragraph change
"mastery of thy tower." to "mastery of thy tower and reveal to me the spell
that bindeth stone to stone." In ¶ 61 in the first sentence remove "and the spell was loosed that bound stone to stone,". From note in LR, p. 300, QS, Chapter 12-15, "unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower". |
CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 182, ¶ 90, "Thus the quest" | In the last sentence replace "Thorondor and his vassals soared" with "Thorondor and his mightiest vassals, wide-winged Landroval, and Gwaihir, the lord of storm, soared". From note in LR, p. 301, QS, Chapter 12-15, "with wings swifter than the wind" | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 182, ¶ 91, "Then they lifted up" | At end of paragraph add new sentence, "But it is said in song that her tears falling from on high as she passed came like silver raindrops on the plain, and there a fountain sprang to life: the Fountain of Tinúviel, Eithel Ninui, most healing water until it withered in the flame." From note in LR, p. 301, QS, Chapter 12-15, "Gondolin the fair where Turgon dwelt". | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 19 | p. 182, ¶ 112, "These were the choices" | In second sentence replace, "and her sorrow, she should" with "and her sorrow, and because she was the daughter of Melian, she should". From comment in LR, QS, Chapter 12-15, top p. 305. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 20 | p. 188, ¶ 1, "It is said that" | In the last sentence replace "son of Barahir; and none saw" with "son of Barahir and whether the second span of his life was brief or long is not known to Elves or Men; none saw". From comment in LR, QS, Chapter 12-15, top p. 306. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 20 | p. 195-96, ¶ 31, "The Orcs and the wolves" | On pg. 196 in the fifth sentence "Smiths and
miners ... walls at last." replace "and makers of fire"
with "and masters of fire". WotJ p. 80, GA, § 256, and note
on that section p. 136. In the seventh sentence "Then the Havens ... the Dagor Bragollach." remove the last clause "; and among them ... the Dagor Bragollach." |
CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 21 | Entire chapter | Delete entire chapter. Replace with CoH pp. 33-257 but ending with "Teiglin had taken her" (essentially the entire book except the last two pages). | 1 | Some of the material in CoH duplicates or modifies material in Chapters 18 and 20. The CoH versions are the better, emended texts, but it would be too disruptive to try to insert them in or remove them from those chapters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 22 | pp. 227-230, ¶¶ 1-19, "So ended the tale of Túrin ... Shadow still followed him." | Delete paragraphs. Replace with WotJ, Part
Three, I, "The Wanderings of Húrin" as follows
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1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 22 | pp. 230-236, ¶¶ 20-43, "Húrin crossed over ... of Melian, and" |
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CT | The difficulty is that both Tolkien and
Christopher recognized the problems here, but Tolkien never provided
solutions for them and his last complete narrative of this material is
incompatible with his later writing. Christopher inserted solutions in the
form of editorial inventions in S, but he subsequently acknowledged that his
solutions went too far and changed Tolkien's story too much (WotJ p. 354-56,
ToY, "A note on Chapter 22 Of the Ruin of Doriath in the published
Silmarillion"). Having acknowledged that error, however, Christopher never
specifically said what he should have done. A non-comprehensive selection of unresolved issues (these are in addition to those mentioned in the outline):
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SQS 22 | p. 236-37, ¶ 48, "But Dior returned." | In third sentence "There fell Celegorm ... in the forest." remove "and Nimloth his wife". From WotJ p. 351, ToY, D2, year 506-507. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 22 | p. 237, ¶ 49, "Thus Doriath was destroyed." | In second sentence "But the sons ... by the sea." replace "Elwing Dior's daughter, and they escaped" with "Elwing Dior's daughter and Nimloth his wife, and they escaped". | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 23 | pp. 238-239, ¶¶ 1-5, part ¶ 6, "It has been told that ... in truth one sent by Ulmo." | Delete material. Replace with FoG pp. 145-201, "The Last Version". | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 23 | pp. 243-44, ¶ 18, "Thus led by Tuor" | Remove last sentence "And when the tidings ... Noldor in Middle-earth." | CT / 2 | Level CT is removal of Gil-galad; rest of removal is Level 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 23 | p. 244, ¶ 19, "But Morgoth thought" | In last sentence "Yet by Sirion ... of Ulmo's hand" replace "and Gondolin; and from ... among them, and they took" with "and Gondolin; and they took". | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 23 | pp. 244-45, ¶ 21, "In those days Tuor" | In last sentence "But in after days ... fate of Men." replace "whom he loved; and his fate" with "whom he loved, and in after time dwelt still ever upon his ship voyaging the sea of the Elven-lands, or resting a while in the harbours of the Elves of Tol Eressëa; and his fate". SoMe p. 155, QN II, § 17. | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 246, ¶ 2, "Now Eärendil became" | Remove first sentence "Now Eärendil became ...
and Eglarest." In second sentence "With the aid ... the argent moon." remove "With the aid of Círdan". |
2 | These do not appear in QN, from which this paragraph is taken, and are often identified as an editorial invention, but there is some support for them in a late writing by Tolkien about Círdan in which Eärendil is said to be Círdan's apprentice and that Círdan helped build Eärendil's ship. PoMe p. 386, XIII, "Last Writings", "Círdan". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 247, ¶ 5, "For the sons of" | Remove third sentence "Too late the ships ..
and her sons." In fourth sentence "Then such few ... into the sea." replace "in the assault joined ... and they told that" with "in the assault told that". |
CT / 2 | Level CT is removal of Gil-galad; rest of removal is Level 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 250-51, ¶ 22, "Yet it is said" | In the third sentence "But the host of ... son of Finwë." replace "But the host of the Valar prepared for battle; and beneath their white banners" with "But the sons of the Valar prepared for battle, and the captain of their host was Eonwë son of Manwë; and beneath their white banners." LR p. 326, QS, "The Conclusion of the Quenta Silmarillion", § 6, and also see note at PoMe p. 143, HotA, § 3. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 251, ¶ 22, "Of the march" | In the first sentence "Of the march ...
kinsfolk in Aman" replace "of the Valar to" with "of Eonwë to". In the second sentence "But at the last ... beneath their feet." replace "the last the might of Valinor came up" with "the last Eonwë came up". In the second sentence also replace "for the host of the Valar were" with "for the sons of the Valar were". LR p. 328, QS, "The Conclusion of the Quenta Silmarillion", § 15, and also see note at PoMe p. 143, HotA, § 3. |
CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 254, ¶ 38, "In those days" | In the last sentence "And the Vanyar ... broken and remade" replace "again unless the" with "again until the". LR p. 331, QS, "The Conclusion of the Quenta Silmarillion", § 26. | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 254, ¶ 39, "And when they came" | In the first sentence "And when they came ...
even to Valinor." replace "Beleriand dwelt upon Tol" with "Beleriand dwelt
for the most part upon Tol." In the first sentence also replace "east and west; ... even to Valinor." with "east and west; but some returned even to Valinor, as all were free to do who willed." LR p. 331-32, QS, "The Conclusion of the Quenta Silmarillion", § 27. |
1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | p. 254, ¶ 40, "Yet not all the" | In second and third sentences "Among those were ... abide with Men." replace "those were Círdan ... him was Elrond" with "those was Elrond". | CT / 2 | Level CT is removal of Gil-galad; rest of removal is Level 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SQS 24 | pp. 254-255, last ¶ of narrative and postscript, "But Morgoth himself ... dooms of Mandos." | Delete material. Replace with;
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1 | Whether or not S should end with the Second Prophecy of Mandos is controversial, indeed based on some remarks by Christopher in HoMe there has long been some doubt about its continued validity as part of Tolkien's intent. But its inclusion is supported by Kane and other scholars and, perhaps more significantly, by inclusion of the Prophecy by Christopher in FoG as the last thing he would say in what he knew would be his last book about his father's work, see FoG pp. 261-264,"Conclusion", "Conclusion of the Quenta Noldorinwa". The choice of the last sentence in b. is from that section of FoG and avoids issues in later conclusions about whether this is a Mannish or Elvish legend and further avoids references to the Ælfwine framing story. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 259, ¶ 3, "In the Great Battle" | In the first sentence "In the Great Battle ... fought for Morgoth." replace "when at last Morgoth was overthrown and" with "when at last Eonwë herald of Manwë overthrew Morgoth and". PoMe p. 143, HotA, § 3. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 267, ¶ 28, "In all this" | In the last sentence "But the King's ...
legends of Men." replace "and the lordships and strongholds" with "and
though the lordships and strongholds". In the last sentence also replace "legends of Men." with "legends of Men, the Eldar know naught of them. Only Pelagir they remember, for there was the haven of the Elf-friends above the mouths of Anduin the Great." PoMe p. 152, HotA, § 28. |
CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 267-68, ¶ 31, "In those days" | In the second sentence "And the nineteenth ...
in his hearing." replace "nineteenth" with "twentieth". In the fifth sentence "But worse was yet ... of the Faithful." replace "twenty-second" with "twenty-third." PoMe p. 154, HotA, § 31. |
CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 270, ¶ 38, "The mightiest and proudest" | Replace "three and twenty" with "four and twenty". PoMe p. 154, HotA, § 31. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 270, ¶ 41, "And men saw" | In the first sentence "And men saw ... fled far away." replace "red and gold" with "red gold". PoMe p. 155, HotA, § 41. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 275, ¶ 57, "'The days are dark" | In the first sentence "'The days are dark ... Faithful are few." replace "hope for Men" with "hope in Men". PoMe p. 156, HotA, § 57. | CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 278, ¶ 75, "But the fleets" | In the first sentence "But the fleets ... of the Númenóreans." replace "But the fleets of Ar-Pharazôn came up" with "Among Men none can tell the tale of their fate. For neither ship nor man of all that host returned ever to the lands of the living; and the world was changed in that time, and in Middle-earth the memory of all that went before is dim and unsure. But among the Eldar word has been preserved of the deeds and things that were; and the wisest in lore among them say that the fleets of Ar-Pharazôn came up". PoMe p. 156-57, HotA, § 75. | 2 | Note that I have editorially modified the inserted material to eliminate the references to this being a conversation with Ælfwine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 279, ¶ 77, "But the land" | In the first sentence "But the land ... Men for
ever" replace "and removed beyond the" with "and removed from the circles of
the world beyond the". In the fourth sentence "And there is not ... evil is preserved." replace "not now upon Earth any place abiding" with "not now within the circles of the world any place abiding". PoMe p. 157, HotA, § 77. |
2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA | p. 282, at end of SA | Add new paragraph, "Whether all these tales be feigned, or whether some at least be true, by them the Valar still keep alight among Men a memory beyond the darkness of Middle-earth." | 2 | Note that I have again editorially modified the inserted material to eliminate the references to this being a conversation with Ælfwine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OtR | pp. 285-86, ¶ 3, "In the Great Battle" | In the last sentence, "Gil-gilad son ... king of Númenor" replace "Gil-gilad son of Fingon was their" with "Gil-gilad was their". | CT | See note above at SQS 18 p. 153, ¶ 14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Family trees | p. 307 (unnumbered page), "Beör the Old" | Reverse the position of Belegund and Baragund, keeping their relative descendents and add Beleth as their sister to the left of Baragund. From WotJ p. 231, Part 2, 14, "Of the Coming of Men into the West", family tree that page. | 2 | Everyone on the chart except Belegund and Baragund are in birth order left to right. Beleth is inexplicably omitted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appendix II (new) | New appendix following existing Appendix [I], "Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names", to be entitled "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar" and subtitled "Of the Laws and Customs Among the Eldar Pertaining to Marriage and Other Matters Related Thereto: Together With the Statute of Finwë and Míriel and the Debate of the Valar At Its Making" | From MR, LQS, P2, "Laws and Customs Among the
Eldar", (including notes and indented smalller-font
sections).
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1 | Note that the text in a. and b. does not include the references to Ælfwine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appendix III (new) | New appendix following new appendix II, to be entitled "'Aman' and 'Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth'" |
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1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appendix IV (new) | New appendix following new appendix III, to be entitled "Translator's Notes On Motives In the Silmarillion by J.R.R.T." | Insert from MR pp. 394-406, MT, VII, "Sauron was 'greater' ... tendencies they possessed." | 2 |
A Note on the Framework and the Round World
From its earliest days, Tolkien envisaged his mythology as having a framework story to explain where the written accounts originated and to at least imply how those accounts came to be in our hands. To give an example, in one form of that framework a 14th Century (our time) mariner from England happens onto the Straight Road that departs from the surface of the Earth and leads to the Blessed Realm of Aman and finds himself on Tol Eressëa, the island of the Elves, where he learns the mythology and brings it back to England where it is preserved and passed down to us (this particular idea was revised many times with different details).
Thus, nearly all the principal writings that eventually became part of S had at one time or another in their evolution a preface or closing or internal comments that placed them in some version of a framework (and which often changed with later revisions). In their earliest inclusions, these were mostly to give an image of verisimilitude, depth, and context to the tales.
Yet none of that framework remains in S. About this, Christopher says:
The published work has no 'framework', no suggestion of what it is and how (within the imagined world) it came to be. This I now think to have been an error. ...
The original mode ... in which a Man, Eriol, comes after a great voyage over the ocean to the island where the Elves dwell and learns their history from their own lips, had (by degrees) fallen away. When my father died in 1973 ... in the latest writing there is no trace or suggestion of any 'device' or 'framework' in which it was to be set. I think that in the end he concluded that nothing would serve, and no more would be said beyond an explanation of how (within the imagined world) it came to be recorded. ...
In The Complete Guide to Middle-earth Robert Foster says: 'Quenta Silmarillion was no doubt one of Bilbo's Translations from the Elvish preserved in the Red Book of Westmarch.' So also I have assumed: the 'books of lore' that Bilbo gave to Frodo provided in the end the solution: they were 'The Silmarillion'. But apart from the evidence cited here, there is, so far as I know, no other statement on this matter anywhere in my father's writings; and (wrongly, as I think now) I was reluctant to step into the breach and make definite what I only surmised. [fn10]
[fn10] | HoMe, Vol. I, The Book of Lost Tales: Part One, "Foreword", pp. 5-6. |
So, what did he surmise that he could have made definite? That the Quenta Silmarillion was one of the Translations by Bilbo. And what was the significance of that? That it would be the solution, the "explanation of how (within the imagined world) it came to be recorded" beyond which his father would say no more by way of framework.
Indeed, not much surmise was required. In a much later comment, indeed in the last volume of HoMe, Christopher notes in discussing the history of the Preface of LotR:
The Note on the Shire Records entered in the Second Edition. In one of his copies of the First Edition my father noted: 'Here should be inserted Note on the Shire Records'; but he wrote against this later: 'I have decided against this. It belongs to Preface to The Silmarillion.' With this compare my remarks in the Foreword to The Book of Lost Tales Part One, pp. 5-6." [fn11]
[fn11] | HoMe, Vol. XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One, I, p. 14. |
But. At this point must be taken into consideration the round world/flat world dilemma. Tolkien from an early date (at least the mid-1940s) was bothered by the unreality of the idea that Middle-earth was once flat and only became round at the sinking of Númenor and that the celestial bodies, such as the Sun and Moon and stars, were fruits of the Two Trees carried in the sky by Maiar or anything other than what they are to us. He attempted to write versions of the Ainulindalë and the story of Númenor which were round world versions, but then later rewrote them to continue to reflect the flat world version. But the problem continued to bother him and some of his latest writings were musings on ways to reconcile the real world with the world of his legendarium.
One solution that he mused extensively upon, but which appears to have never been entirely satisfactory to him, was to make the legendarium "a 'Mannish' affair" in which the records were written by Men and recorded stories which they learned in associating with the Eldar of Beleriand (rather than receiving them from the High-elves in Arda who Tolkien says would have known better than to believe that the world was once flat) but which were "blended and confused with their own Mannish myths and cosmic ideas." [fn12] With this he could retain the beauty of the flat earth parts of the story by characterizing it as the myths of people who believe that the Sun really rises in the East and sets in the West. But though he mentions this idea in his narrative works on occasion, many students of his work believe that it is clear that he never fully adopts that idea and was still musing on the round world problem at the end of his work. To be more precise, it is fairly clear that Tolkien decided that the flat world version could not be true (though there is some evidence of him continuing to yearn for it to be true or to treat it as true), but it cannot be said that he ever devised a solution which he accepted as fully satisfying all aspects of the problem.
[fn12] | HoMe, Vol. X, Morgoth's Ring, Part Five, "Myths Transformed", I, pp. 370-74 |
As is obvious, the framework story is intimately connected with this dilemma. To adopt as the framework story the Mannish myth concept adopts something that Tolkien never gave any unambiguous indication he was ready to do (and which leaves many important elements of the stories unresolved as myth or fact; did, for example, Elrond's father Eärendil really get set into the sky as the Evening Star?). On the other hand, the original framework of a "modern" Englishman stumbling onto Tol Eressëa and bringing back the stories of the Elves directly to England not only eliminates the Mannish aspect but indeed gets the stories directly from the High-elves that Tolkien says certainly knew that the world was and always had been round so it, too, is unsatisfactory.
That leaves Bilbo as the "explanation of how (within the imagined world) it came to be recorded" beyond which Tolkien would say no more by way of framework. A number of commentators quote Christopher's admission of a mistake in regard to the exclusion of a framing story, but then stop there without taking into consideration the remainder of his statements quoted above. They then see this as giving them liberty to advocate for the restoration of the Englishman-visit or other versions of the framing story. But Christopher goes on, as quoted above, to quite clearly say that the framing story that should have been restored was Bilbo's Translations. I can find no evidence that he later changed his mind on this subject. Indeed, if what he wrote there is not sufficient, consider his comment from the last volume of HoMe, also quoted above.
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