Sauron Defeated (69 page)

The Eledai had long disappeared. Some said they had died, or faded into nothing; some that they had never been, and were but the inventions of old-time tales; some few that they had passed over the Sea to their land in the West.

A mariner arose in that time who was called Earendel, and he was king of Men upon the west shore of the Great Sea in the North of the world. He reported that once taken by a great wind he had been borne far out of his course and had indeed seen many islands in the regions of the setting sun - and one most remote from which there came a scent as of gardens of fair flowers. And it came to pass that all the Men of the West who had not died or fallen or fled into waste places were now hemmed in a narrow land, a large island some say, and they were assailed by Meleko, but only because their land was an isle, divided by a narrow water from the Great Lands, were they able still to hold out. Then Earendel took his ship and said farewell to his people. For he said it was his purpose to sail into the West and find the Eledai and ask for their help. 'But I shall not return,' he said.

'If I fail then the sea will have me, but if I succeed then a new star will arise in heaven.'

And what deeds Earendel did upon his last voyage is not known for certain, for he was not seen again among living Men. But after some years a new star did indeed arise in the West, and it was very bright; and then many men began to look for the return of the Eledai to their aid; but they were hard pressed by evil.

Here Sketch II ends as a continuously written text, but my father added some scribbled and disjointed notes at the end, which include this passage:

Meleko was defeated with the aid of the Eledai and of the Powers, but many Men had seceded to him. The Powers (under orders of Iluvatar) withdrew the Eledai to the Isle of Eresse, whose chief haven was westward, Avallon(de).(6) Those that remained in Middle-earth withered and faded. But faithful men of the Eruhildi (Turkildi) were also given an isle, between Eresse and Middle-earth.

Sketch I (written at extreme speed in soft pencil on small slips) was essentially the same as Sketch II, though much briefer, to the point where Earendel enters in the latter. In Sketch I, however, there was no reference to Earendel, and all that is told is that when there came a respite in the war with 'the tyrant' (who is not named in this text) 'and his Easterlings' the Men of the West set sail, having been instructed in the art of ship-building by 'the last lingering Enkeladim' and they landed 'on a large island in the midst of the Great Sea'. At the head of the page my father noted: 'The first to set sail was Earendel. He was never seen again.' Then follows (in very slightly edited form): But there is another smaller isle out of sight to the West - and beyond that rumour of a Great Land [?uninhabited] in the West.

This island is called Westernesse Numenor, the other Eressea.

The religion of the Numenoreans was simple. A belief in a Creator of All, Iluvatar. But he is very remote. Still they offered bloodless sacrifice. His temple was the Pillar of Heaven, a high mountain in the centre of the island. They believed Iluvatar to dwell outside the world altogether; but symbolized that by saying he dwelt in High Heaven.

[Added: But they believe he has under him Powers (Valar), some at his special command, some residing in the world for its immediate government. These though good and servants of God are inexorable, and....... hostile in a sense. They do not pray to them but they fear and obey them (if ever any contact occur). Some are Valandili (Lovers of the Powers).]

But they believe the world flat, and that 'the Lords of the West'

(Gods) dwell beyond the great barrier of cloud hills - where there is no death and the Sun is renewed and passes under the world to rise again.

[Struck out: His servants for the governance of the world were Enkeladim and other greater spirits. Added: There were lesser beings - especially associated with living things and with making...

- called Eldar.] These they asked for assistance in need. Some still sailed to Eressea. [In margin: Elendili] But the most did not, and except among the wise the theory arose that the great spirits or Gods (not Iluvatar) dwelt in the West in a Great Land beyond the sun. [Bracketed: The Enkeladim told them that the world was round, but that was a hard saying to them.] Some of their great mariners tried to find out.

They lived to a great age, 200 years or more, but all the more longed for longer life. They envied the Enkeladim. They grew mighty in ship-building, and began to adventure to sea. Some try to reach the West beyond Eressea but fail to return.

The Pillar of Heaven in neglected by all but a few. The kings build great houses. The custom of sending their bodies adrift to sea in an east wind grows up. The east wind begins to symbolize Death.(7) Some sail back to the Dark Lands. There they are greeted with awe, for they are very tall ............ They teach true religion but are treated as gods.

Sauron comes into being.

He cannot prevail in arms against the Numenoreans who now have many fortresses in the West.

The text ends with a very rough sketch of the coming of Sauron and the Downfall. 'Sauron is brought to Numenor to do allegiance to Tarkalion'. He 'preaches a great sermon', teaching that Iluvatar does not exist, but that the world is ruled by the Gods, who have shut themselves in the West, hating Men and denying them life. The one good God has been thrust out of the world into the Void; but he will return. In an added passage (but no doubt belonging to the time of the writing of the text) it is told, remarkably, that 'Sauron says the world is round. There is nothing outside but Night - and other worlds.'(8) Sauron has 'a great domed temple' built on the Pillar of Heaven (see p. 384), and there human sacrifice takes place, the purpose of which is

'to add the lives of the slain to the chosen living'. The Faithful are persecuted, and chosen for the sacrifice; 'a few fly to Eressea asking for help - but the Eresseans have departed or hidden themselves.' A vast fleet is prepared 'to assault Eressea and go on to take the West Land from the Gods'; and the text ends with the bare statements that the fleet was sucked into the great chasm that opened, and that 'only those Numenoreans who had withdrawn east of the isle and refused to....

war were saved.' This is followed by a morass of names, including

'Elendil son of Valandil and his sons Arundil and Firiel', from which emerges 'Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion'. Finally there are some further notes: 'Sauron flees East also. The Pillar of Heaven is volcanic.(9) Sauron builds a great temple on a hill near where he had landed. The Pillar of Heaven also begins to smoke and he calls it a sign; and most believe him.'

The third text ( Sketch III ) begins with a note on names: Iluve Ilu: Heaven, the universe, all that is (with and without the Earth); menel: the heavens, the firmament.'(10) Then follows:

In the beginning was Eru the One God (Iluvatar the Allfather, Sanavaldo the Almighty). He appointed powers (Valar) to rule and order the Earth (Arda). One Meleko, the chief, became evil. There were also two kindreds of lesser beings, Elves: Eldar (* Eledai), and Men (Hildi = sons, or followers). The Eledai came first, as soon as Arda became habitable by living things, to govern there, to perfect the arts of using and ordering the material of the Earth to perfection and beauty in detail, and to prepare the way for Men. Men (the Followers or Second Kindred) came second, but it is guessed that in the first design of God they were destined (after tutelage) to take on the governance of all the Earth, and ultimately to become Valar, to

'enrich Heaven', Iluve. But Evil (incarnate in Meleko) seduced them, and they fell. They became immediately estranged from the Eldar and Valar. For Meleko represented their tutelage as usurpation by Eldar and Valar of Men's rightful heritage. God forbade the Powers to interfere by violence or might. But they sent many messages to Men, and the Eldar constantly tried to befriend Men and to teach them. But the power of Meleko increased, and the Valar retreated to the isle of Eresse in the Great Seas far west of the Great Lands (Kemen) - where they had always had as it were a habitation and centre in their early strife with Meleko.(11)

Meleko now (because evil decreased him, or to further his designs, or both) took visible shape as a Tyrant King, and his seat was in the North. He made many counterfeits of the Eledai who were evil (but did not always so appear), and who cozened and betrayed Men, and so increased their fear and suspicion of the true Eldar.

There was war between the Powers and Meleko (the second war: the first had, been in the making of the world, before Elves and Men were). Though all Men had 'fallen', not all remained enslaved. Some repented, rebelled against Meleko, and made friends of the Eldar, and tried to be loyal to God. They had no worship but to offer firstfruits to Eru on high places. They were not wholly happy, as Eru seemed far off, and they dared not pray to him direct; and so they regarded the Valar as gods, and so were often corrupted and deceived by Meleko, taking him or his servants (or phantoms) for

'gods'. But in the war against the seats of Meleko in the North there were three kindreds of good men (sons of God, Eruhildi) who were wholly faithful and never sided with Meleko. Among these there was Earendel, and he was alone of Men partly of the kindred of the Eledai, and he became the first of Men to sail upon the Sea. In the days of the Second War when Men and the remaining Eledai were hard pressed he set sail West. He said: 'I shall not return. If I fail you will hear no more of me. If I do not fail a new star will arise in the West.' He came to Eresse and spoke the embassy of the Two Kindreds before the Chief of the Valar, and they were moved. But Earendel was not suffered to return among living men, and his vessel was set to rise in the sky as a sign that his message was accepted. And Elves and Men saw it, and believed help would come, and were enheartened. And the Powers came and aided Elves and Men to overthrow Meleko, and his bodily shape was destroyed, and his spirit banished.

But the Powers now withdrew the Eldar to Eresse (where they had themselves dwelled, but now they had no longer any local habitation on earth, and seldom took shape visible to Elves or Men).

Those who lingered in Kemen were doomed to fade and wither. But in Eresse was long maintained an earthly paradise filled with all beauties of growth and art (without excesses), the dwelling of the Eldar, a memorial of what Earth 'might have been' but for Evil. But the Men (Eruhildi) of the Faithful Houses were allowed (if they would) to go and dwell in another isle (greater but less fair) between Eresse and Middle-earth. Elros son of Earendel was their first king, in the land of Andor also called Numenor: so that the kings of the Numenoreans were called 'Heirs of Earendel'. Earendel was not only partly of Elf-kin but he was an Elf-friend (Elendil), whence the Kings of Numenor were also called Elendilli (AElfwinas). [Marginal addition: Elrond his other son elected to remain in Kemen and dwell with Men and the Elves that yet [?abode] in the West of Middle-earth.]

In that time the world was very forlorn and forsaken, for only fading Elves dwelt in the West of Middle-earth, and the best of Men (save others of the Eruhildi far away in the midst of Kemen) had gone westward. But even the Eruhildi of Numenor were mortal. For the Powers were not allowed to abrogate that decree of God after the fall (that Men should die and should leave the world not at their own will but by fate and unwilling); but they were permitted to grant the Numenoreans a threefold span (over 200 years).

And in Numenor the Eruhildi became wise and fair and glorious, the mightiest of Men, but not very numerous (for their children were not many). Under the tutelage of the Eresseans - whose language they adopted (though in course of time they altered it much) - they had song and poesy, music, and all crafts; but in no craft did they have such skill and delight as in ship-building, and they sailed on many seas. In those days they were permitted, or such of their kings and wise men who were favoured and called Elf-friends (Elendilli), to voyage to Eresse; but there they might come only to the haven of Avallon(de) on the east side of the isle and the city of [Tuna >] Tirion on the hill behind, there to stay but a short while.(12) Though often the Elendilli craved to abide in Eresse this was not permitted to them by command of the Powers (received from God); for the Eruhildi remained mortal and doomed at the last to grow weary of the world and to die, even their high-kings the heirs of Earendel. And they were not suffered to sail beyond Eresse westward, where they heard rumour of a New Land, for the Powers were not willing that that land should as yet be occupied by Men.

But the hearts of the Eruhildi felt pity for the forsaken world of Middle-earth, and often they sailed there, and wise men or princes of the Numenoreans would at times come among men in the Dark Ages and teach them language, and song, and arts, and bring to them corn and wine; and men of Middle-earth revered their memory as gods. And in one or two places nigh to the sea men of the western race made settlements and became kings and the fathers of kings. But at last all this bliss turned to evil, and men fell a second time.