Sauron Defeated (61 page)

The temple is now built, not on the Mountain sacred to Iluvatar, but

'in the midst of the city of the Numenoreans, Antirion the Golden'

($32), and ascent of the Mountain is forbidden under pain of death.

The 'Faithful' (named Avaltiri, $30) are referred to, and the story of Amardil (for later Amandil) and his son Elendil is told, with the statement that although Amardil was not of the elder line from which came the kings of Numenor, he also was descended from Earendil ($$26, 36, 38). These are only the most striking new developments in the narrative, and moreover comparison with the Akallabeth will show that some of the prose itself remained unchanged into the final form.

It seems that in DA I Adunaic was at the point of emergence, with Eru-bent, Avalai, and Zigur (said to be the name of Sauron among the men of Middle-earth, $19).

NOTES.

1. Wingalote: in the Quenta (Index to Vol.IV) the form was Wingelot

> Vingelot, in the Quenta Silmarillion (Index to Vol. V) Vingelot.

Wingalote was subsequently corrected to Vingalote on this typescript (see p. 377, $8).

2. The form Earendel occurs also in $$16, 20, but it was clearly no more than a casual reversion. Already in the manuscript E of Part Two of the Papers Wilfrid Jeremy notes that the name that he saw in his 'dream-manuscript' was Earendil, not Earendel.

3. Andore: Andor in The Fall of Numenor ($2) and The Lost Road (V.65).

4. The matter of 'Edwin Lowdham's page' was inserted into manuscript E of the Papers after the manuscript was completed so far as it went (see p. 291 note 70), and the name of the Pillar of Heaven in the accompanying Old English text was already Meneltyula (p. 314; for earlier Menelminda in E), as in DA I, so that this name is not here indicative of relative date. On the other hand, in the Old English text Sauron built the great temple on the Meneltyula itself, not in the midst of the city, which is good evidence that it was the earlier composition. So also, the ban upon landing on Eressea in the Old English text (p. 313) was clearly a development from the original story in The Fall of Numenor ($4), that the Numenoreans must not sail beyond Eressea, towards that in DA I that they must not sail beyond sight of the western coasts of Numenor.

(iii) The second text of The Drowning of Anadune.

This text, 'DA II', is a typescript typed with care and almost free of error.

A paper folded round it, in my father's writing, bears my name and the words 'Fair copy Anadune'. DA II represents so great an advance on and elaboration of DA I that (since it is almost free of alterations or hesitations during the original typing) it is hard to believe that no drafting intervened between the two, although there is no trace now of anything of the sort; but I do not think that I typed DA II (see p. 389, $28).

The title is The Drowning of Anadune. A fair number of alterations were pencilled on the typescript, and in addition several passages were rewritten or extended on typewritten slips attached to the body of the text. These are ignored in the text printed, but all changes of any substance are recorded in the commentary on DA II, pp. 376 ff.

I give the text in full, although this involves a certain amount of repetition especially in the latter part of the narrative, for the sake of clarity in the commentary and in making comparison with the Akallabeth. The paragraphs are numbered to provide convenient reference to DA I. In DA II both long marks and circumflex accents are used (inserted in pencil); the circumflex superseded the long mark, as is seen from the fact that it is found chiefly in corrected or added passages and on corrected names, and only here and there in the original text. The third text of The Drowning of Anadune uses the circumflex exclusively, and it is more convenient to do the same here.

THE DROWNING OF ANADUNE.

$1 Before the coming of Men there were many Powers that governed the Earth, and these were the Eru-beni, servants of God.

Many were their ranks and their offices; but some there were among them that were mighty lords, the Avaloi, whom Men remembered as gods, and at the beginning the greatest of these was the Lord Arun.

$2 But it is said that long ago, even in the making of the Earth, the Lord Arun turned to evil and became a rebel against Eru, desiring the whole world for his own and to have none above him.

Therefore his brother Aman endeavoured to rule the Earth and the Powers according to the will of Eru; and Aman dwelt in the West.

But Arun remained on Earth, dwelling in hiding in the North, and he worked evil, and he had the greater power. And the Earth was darkened in that time, so that to Arun a new name was given, and he was called Mulkher, the Lord of Darkness; and there was war between Mulkher and the Avaloi.

$3 At the appointed hour Men were born into the world, and they were called the Eru-hin, the children of God; but they came in a time of war and shadow, and they fell swiftly under the domination of Mulkher, and they served him. And he now came forth and appeared as a Great King and as a god; and his rule was evil, and his worship unclean, and Men were estranged from Eru and from his servants.

$4 But some there were of the fathers of Men who repented, seeing the evil of the Lord Mulkher and that his shadow grew ever longer on the Earth; and they and their sons returned with sorrow to the allegiance of Eru, and they were befriended by the Avaloi, and received again their ancient name, Eruhin, children of God. And the Avaloi and the Eruhin made war on the servants of Mulkher; and for that time they destroyed his kingdom and threw down his temples. But Mulkher fled and brooded in the darkness without, for him the Powers could not destroy. And the evil that he had begun still sprouted like a dark seed in Middle-earth, bearing bitter grain, which though it were ever reaped and burned, was never at an end. And still cruel kings and unholy temples arose in the world, and the most part of Mankind were their servants; for Men were corrupt and still hankered in their hearts for the Kingdom of Arun, and they made war on the Eruhin and pursued them with hatred, wheresoever they might dwell.

$5 Therefore the hearts of the Eruhin were turned westward, where was the land of Aman, as they believed, and an abiding peace. And it is said that of old there was a fair folk dwelling yet in Middle-earth, and Men knew not whence they came. But some said that they were the children of the Avaloi and did not die, for their home was in the Blessed Realm far away, whither they still might go, and whence they came, working the will of Aman in all the lesser deeds and labours of the world. The Eledai they were named in their own tongue of old, but by the Eruhin they were called Nimri, the Shining Ones, for they were exceeding fair to look upon, and fair were all the works of their tongues and hands. And the Nimri became sorrowful in the darkness of the days and withdrew ever westward; and never again was grass so green, nor flower so fair, nor water so filled with light when they had gone. And the Eruhin for the most part followed them, though some there were that remained in the Great Lands, free men, serving no evil lord; and they were shepherds and dwelt far from the towers and cities of the kings.

$6 But those of the Eruhin who were mightiest and most fair, closest in friendship with the Nimri, most beloved by the Servants of God, turned their faces to the light of the West; and these were the children of the fathers that had been most valiant in the war upon Mulkher. And at the end of journeys beyond memory they came at last to the shores of the Great Seas. There they halted and were filled with great dread, and with longing; for the Nimri passed ever over the waters, seeking the land of Aman, and the Eruhin could not follow them.

Then such of the Nimri as remained in the west of the world took pity on the Eruhin, and instructed them in many arts; and the Eruhin became wiser in mind, more skilled in hand and þ tongue, and they made for themselves many things that had not before been seen. In this way the dwellers on the shore learned the craft of ship-building and of sailing in the wind; and they built many fair ships. But their vessels were small, and they did not dare to essay the deep waters; for though their desire was to the unseen shores, they had not as yet the heart for the wastes of the Sea, and they sailed only about the coasts and among the hither isles.

$7 Yet it was by their ships that they were saved and were not brought to nought. For evil men multiplied in those days, and pursued the Eruhin with hatred; and the men of Middle-earth, being filled with the spirit of Mulkher, grew cunning and cruel in the arts of war and the making of many weapons, so that the Eruhin were hard put to it to maintain any land in which to dwell, and their numbers were diminished.

$8 In those dark days of fear there arose a man, and his daring upon the Sea was greater than that of all other men; and the Nimri gave him a name and called him Earendil, the Friend of the Sea, Azrabel in the language of the Eruhin. And it came into the heart of Azrabel that he would build a ship, fairer and more swift than any that men had yet made; and that he would sail out over deep water and come, maybe, to the land of Aman, and there get help for his kinsfolk. And with the help of the Nimri he let build a ship, fair and valiant; white were its timbers, and its sails were white, and its prow was carven in the light of a silver bird; and at its launching he gave it a name and called it Rothinzil, Flower of the Foam, but the Nimri blessed it and named it also in their own tongue, Vingalote. This was the first of all the ships of Men to bear a name.

$9 When at last his ship was ready, then Azrabel said farewell to his wife and to his sons and all his kin; for he was minded to sail alone. And he said to them: 'It is likely that ye will see me never again; and if ye do not, then harden your hearts, and cease not from war, but endure until the end. But if I do not fail of my errand, then also ye may not see me again; but a sign you will see, and new hope shall be given to you.'

$10 And it was at the time of evening that Azrabel set forth, and he sailed into the setting sun and passed out of the sight of men. But the winds bore him over the waves, and the Nimri guided him, and he went through the Seas of sunlight, and through the Seas of shadow, and he came at last to the Blessed Realm and the land of Aman and spoke unto the Avaloi.

$11 But Aman said that Eru had forbidden the Avaloi to make war again by force upon the kingdoms of Mulkher; for the Earth was now in the hands of Men, to make or to mar. Yet it was permitted to him, because of their fidelity and the repentance of their fathers, to give to the Eruhin a land to dwell in, if they would. And that land was a mighty island in the midst of the sea, upon which no foot had yet been set. But Aman would not permit Azrabel to return again among Men, since he had walked in the Blessed Realm where yet no death had come.

Therefore he took the ship Rothinzil and filled it with a silver flame, and raised it above the world to sail in the sky, a marvel to behold.

$12 Then the Eruhin upon the shores of the Sea beheld the new light rising in the West as it were a mighty star, and they knew that it was the sign of Azrabel. And hope and courage were kindled in their hearts; and they gathered all their ships, great and small, and their wives and their children, and all the wealth that they could bear away, and they set sail upon the deep waters, following the star. And there was a great calm in those days and all the winds were stilled. So bright was Rothinzil that even at morning men could see it glimmering in the West; and in the cloudless night it shone alone, for no other star might come beside it. And setting their course towards it the Eruhin came at last to the land that had been prepared for them, and they found it fair and fruitful, and they were glad. And they called that land Amatthane the Land of Gift, and Anadune, which is Westernesse, Numenore in the Nimrian tongue.

$13 But not so did the Eruhin escape the doom of death that had been pronounced upon all Mankind, and they were mortal still, although for their faithfulness they were rewarded by life of threefold span, and their years were full and glad and they knew no grief nor sickness, so long as they remained still true.

Therefore the Adunai, the Men of Westernesse, grew wise and fair and glorious; but their numbers increased only slowly in the land, for though sons and daughters were born to them fairer than their fathers, and they loved their children dearly, yet their children were few.

$14 Thus the years passed, and the Adunai dwelt under the protection of the Avaloi, and in the friendship of the Nimri; and the kings and princes learned the Nimrian tongue, in which much lore and song was preserved from the beginning of the world. And they made letters and scrolls and books and wrote in them many things of wisdom and wonder in the high tide of their realm, of which all is now forgot. And they became mighty in all other crafts, so that if they had had the mind, they would easily have surpassed the evil kings of Middle-earth in the making of war and the forging of weapons; but they were become men of peace. In ship-building still was their chief delight, and this craft they followed more eagerly than all others; and voyaging upon the wide seas was the chief feat and adventure of their younger men.