The Lays of Beleriand (34 page)

with wild white roses in her hair,

remembering her elven voice that rung 1790

while stars in twilight round her hung.

He spake of Thingol's marvellous halls

by enchantment lit, where fountain falls

and ever the nightingale doth sing

to Melian and to her king. 1795

The quest he told that Thingol laid

in scorn on him; how for love of maid

more fair than ever was born to Men,

of Tinuviel, of Luthien,

he must essay the burning waste, 1800

and doubtless death and torment taste.

This Felagund in wonder heard,

and heavily spake at last this word:

'It seems that Thingol doth desire

thy death. The everlasting fire 1805

of those enchanted jewels all know

is cursed with an oath of endless woe,

and Feanor's sons alone by right

are lords and masters of their light.

He cannot hope within his hoard 1810

to keep this gem, nor is he lord

of all the folk of Elfinesse.

And yet thou saist for nothing less

can thy return to Doriath

be purchased? Many a dreadful path 1815

in sooth there lies before thy feet -

and after Morgoth, still a fleet

untiring hate, as I know well,

would hunt thee from heaven unto hell.

Feanor's sons would, if they could, 1820

slay thee or ever thou reached his wood

or laid in Thingol's lap that fire,

or gained at least thy sweet desire.

Lo! Celegorm and Curufin

here dwell this very realm within, 1825

and even though I, Finrod's son,

am king, a mighty power have won

and many of their own folk lead.

Friendship to me in every need

they yet have shown, but much I fear 1830

that to Beren son of Barahir

mercy or love they will not show

if once thy dreadful quest they know.'

True words he spake. For when the king

to all his people told this thing, 1835

and spake of the oath to Barahir,

and how that mortal shield and spear

had saved them from Morgoth and from woe

on Northern battlefields long ago,

then many were kindled in their hearts 1840

once more to battle. But up there starts

amid the throng, and loudly cries

for hearing, one with flaming eyes,

proud Celegorm with gleaming hair

and shining sword. Then all men stare 1845

upon his stern unyielding face,

and a great hush falls upon that place.

'Be he friend or foe, or demon wild

of Morgoth, Elf, or mortal child,

or any that here on earth may dwell, 1850

no law, nor love, nor league of hell,

no might of Gods, no binding spell,

shall him defend from hatred fell

of Feanor's sons, whoso take or steal

or finding keep a Silmaril. 1855

These we alone do claim by right,

our thrice enchanted jewels bright.'

Many wild and potent words he spoke,

and as before in Tun awoke

his father's voice their hearts to fire, 1860

so now dark fear and brooding ire

he cast on them, foreboding war

of friend with friend; and pools of gore

their minds imagined lying red

in Nargothrond about the dead, 1865

did Narog's host with Beren go;

or haply battle, ruin, and woe

in Doriath where great Thingol reigned,

if Feanor's fatal jewel he gained.

And even such as were most true 1870

to Felagund his oath did rue,

and thought with terror and despair

of seeking Morgoth in his lair

with force or guile. This Curufin

when his brother ceased did then begin 1875

more to impress upon their minds;

and such a spell he on them binds

that never again till Turin's day

would Gnome of Narog in array

of open battle go to war. 1880

With secrecy, ambush, spies, and lore

of wizardry, with silent leaguer

of wild things wary, watchful, eager,

of phantom hunters, venomed darts,

and unseen stealthy creeping arts, 1885

with padding hatred that its prey

with feet of velvet all the day

followed remorseless out of sight

and slew it unawares at night -

thus they defended Nargothrond, 1890

and forgot their kin and solemn bond

for dread of Morgoth that the art

of Curufin set within their heart.

So would they not that angry day

King Felagund their lord obey, 1895

but sullen murmured that Finrod

nor yet his son were as a god.

Then Felagund took off his crown

and at his feet he cast it down,

the silver helm of Nargothrond: 1900

'Yours ye may break, but I my bond

must keep, and kingdom here forsake.

If hearts here were that did not quake,

or that to Finrod's son were true,

then I at least should find a few 1905

to go with me, not like a poor

rejected beggar scorn endure,

turned from my gates to leave my town,

my people, and my realm and crown! '

Hearing these words there swiftly stood 1910

beside him ten tried warriors good,

men of his house who had ever fought

wherever his banners had been brought.

One stooped and lifted up his crown,

and said: '0 king, to leave this town 1915

is now our fate, but not to lose

thy rightful lordship. Thou shalt choose

one to be steward in thy stead.'

Then Felagund upon the head

of Orodreth set it: 'Brother mine, 1920

till I return this crown is thine.'

Then Celegorm no more would stay,

and Curufin smiled and turned away.

*

NOTES.

1593 - 4. Original readings of B Glingol, Bansil, as at line 1141.

1598 - 9. Couplet marked for revision, partly on account of did start, partly on account of Gnomes. I do not record further instances of this sort, which occur casually throughout.

1619. Here is written on the B-text: 'A see the Qenta.' This is the

'Silmarillion' version of 1930, and presumably refers to the form of the Oath as it appears there.

1620. Varda the Holy is written in the margin of the B-text, which like A has Bridhil the Blessed. Bridhil occurs.earlier in A (note to lines 377 - 81), where B has a different reading.

1632-3. Cf. lines 506 - 9.

1647. Finweg A, and B as typed, early emended in B to Fingon.

1654. As line 1647.

1656. Cf. The Children of Hurin, first version line 1975, second version line 19, from which the words (referring to Finweg/Fingon) fell in flame of swords are derived; in the second version occur also the king's white banners.

1710 - 11. A: a great people were gathered of the Gnomes in these new-builded secret homes.

1736. Against the words by western winds is written (in such a way as to show that this was the point reached, not the starting-point) the date '29 Mar. 1928', the previous date being 27 - 28 March 1928 at line 1161.

1859. Tun B] Cor A

1867. A: if Felagund should with Beren go; 1891. A: and forgot their blood and kinship's bond 1900. helm is an emendation in B for crown.

1920. An X is written against this line, probably long after when Orodreth was moved from his place as Felagund's brother (see p. 91).

1921. crown B] realm A

Commentary on Canto VI.

The plot-outline 'Synopsis I' continues thus: Beren goes to Celegorm, who disguises him [struck out: and gives him a magic knife. Beren and his Gnomish guides* are captured by Orcs: and a few survivors taken before (Melko >) Morgoth. Beren tells M. he is a 'trapper of the woods'.]

(* This phrase was changed to: 'Beren gets lost and separated from his Gnomish guides'; and was then struck out with the rest of the passage.) They go and seek to break into Angband disguised as Orcs, but are captured [struck out: and set in chains, and killed one by one. Beren lies wondering which will be his turn.] by the Lord of Wolves, and set in bonds, and devoured one by one.

It is interesting here to see how the relevant features of the story are treated in the 'Sketch of the Mythology' of 1926, as originally written. In this account Beren's father is Barahir, and he 'had been a friend of Celegorm of Nargothrond'. After Thingol's demand that Beren get him a Silmaril:

Beren sets out to achieve this, is captured, and set in dungeon in Angband, but conceals his real identity, and is given as a slave to Thu the hunter.

This passage is evidently earlier than 'Synopsis I' (at the earliest, the end of May 1926, the date of the latest of the three invoices on which it is written), since the 'Sketch' contains no reference to Celegorm's aid, Beren's companions, their disguising as Orcs, and their capture by the Lord of Wolves. On the contrary, Beren goes to Angband alone just as he did in the Tale of Tinuviel, and - most notably - is given to 'Thu the hunter' as a slave, just as in the Tale he was given to Tevildo Prince of Cats as a slave. In Synopsis I we see, I think, the very point at which the story of Beren's Gnomish companions came into being, of their disguise as Orcs, and of their deaths one by one in the dungeons of the Lord of Wolves. (Thu appears first in the fragment of the Lay of the Fall of Gondolin (p. 146), and in The Children of Hurin as Morgoth's most mighty thane: first version line 391, second version line 763).

But already at lines 296ff. in the A-text of the Lay of Leithian (summer 1925) there is a reference to the 'deed of service' done by Egnor Beren's father to Celegorm, and the gift of the ring: while in the 'Sketch'

Barahir 'had been a friend of Celegorm of Nargothrond'. Thus: Lay of Leithian. Egnor Beren's father performed a service for Celegorm, Canto II. from whom he received a ring.

(summer 1925).

Sketch of the. Barahir Beren's father was a friend of Celegorm of Mythology. Nargothrond.

(early in 1926,

Beren sets out alone and is captured and imprisoned see p. 3)

in Angband, but is given as a slave to Thu the hunter.

Synopsis I. Beren goes to Celegorm who aids him (story of the (after May 1926) Gnomish companions appears).

The rather surprising conclusion must be that the association of Egnor/Barahir with Celegorm and the gift of the ring preceded the emergence of the story of Beren's going to Celegorm for aid.

In the rejected part of Synopsis I here we see a last survival from the Tale of Tinuviel: Beren tells Morgoth that he is a trapper of the woods; cf. the Tale (II. 15): Beren said therewith that he was a great trapper of small animals and a snarer of birds' - and it was indeed this explanation of Beren's to Melko that got him his post in Tevildo's kitchens. The mention in this rejected passage of a magic knife given to Beren by Celegorm was clearly a passing idea to account for the knife with which Beren would cut the Silmaril from the Iron Crown, since the kitchen-knife with which he did the deed in the Tale (II. 33) had been abandoned with the kitchens.

Other loose papers in addition to Synopsis I show the further development of the narrative. The first of these I will refer to as 'Synposis II', it begins with the beginning of Canto VI and I cite it here as far as the end of the Canto.

Beren comes to Felagund at Nargothrond; who receives him well, but warns him of the oath of the sons of Feanor, and that Curufin and Celegorm dwelling with him have great power in his realm.

Curufin and Celegorm learn of Beren's purpose, and recalling their oath forbid the Gnomes to aid Beren to get the Silmaril for Thingol.

The Gnomes fearing war in Nargothrond, or war against Thingol, and in [any] case despairing utterly of reaching the depths of Angband by force or guile will not support Felagund. Felagund mindful of his own oath hands his kingdom over to Orodreth, and with only his own faithful followers of his household (ten in number) goes forth with Beren.

In the Lay of Leithian the 'Nargothrond Element' in the story had by this time (the spring of 1928) evolved further (see p. 171).' The major figure of (Felagoth >) Felagund, son of Finwe's third son Finrod, had emerged (see p. 91), and by Canto VI was present also in the A-text; it was he, not Celegorm, who was rescued in the battle that ended the Siege of Angband and who then went south with his brother Orodreth to found Nargothrond, and Celegorm with his brother Curufin have been shifted by the movement of the legend into the role of Felagund's overpowerful

'guests' (it is not made explicit in the Lay why they were there, though it could be guessed that they also had fled from 'the Northern battlefields').

In the passage from Synopsis II just given my father is seen working out the narrative from this point and on this narrative basis, and many of the motives that are important in the final version now appear: on account of their oath Celegorm and Curufin are the cause of the refusal of the Elves of Nargothrond to support Felagund in the aiding of Beren; Felagund gives the crown to Orodreth; and only ten of Felagund's people go with him." I think it certain that Synopsis II was written as, and did in fact provide, the outline narrative for this and the following Cantos.

(* An intermediate stage is seen in a rewritten passage of the 1926 'Sketch of the Mythology', to be given in Vol. IV, where Celegorm has already been displaced by Felagoth (not yet Felagund) but where Celegorm only learns the errand of Felagoth and Beren after their departure from Nargothrond, and they leave with a large force.) In Canto VI we meet for the first time several central features of the earlier history of the Gnomes in Beleriand and the North, though these are not necessarily their first occurrences in my father's writings. Thus the story of the rescue of Maidros by (Finweg >) Fingon from his torment on Thangorodrim, where he was hanged by his right hand, is almost certainly implied in The Children of Hurin, where it is said that Maidros wielded his sword with his left (see p. 86); and it is fully told in the 'Sketch' as first written early in 1926, some two years before the date of the present Canto (see note to line 1736). Here also are references to the long years of the Siege of Angband after the healing of the feud among the Gnomish princes (the cause of which we do not yet know); and to the bursting of Morgoth's armies black (cf. The Silmarillion p. 151: the black armies of the Orcs') across the Thirsty Plain (for which see p. 55). Here we meet for the first time (apart from a later note to The Children of Hurin, p. So) Angrod and Egnor, sons of Finrod and brothers of Felagund and Orodreth, who meet their deaths in the battle; and here it is said that Felagund was wounded (line 1691), and that his rescuers withdrew 'to the fen' - very probably the 'mighty fen' of Sirion referred to at line 1726.