The War of the Ring (72 page)

At this stage in the evolution of the book Theoden had told at Dunharrow how Baldor son of Brego passed the Dark Door and never returned (p. 315; cf. 'The Muster of Rohan' in RK, p. 70). But with the removal of the story of the paths of the Dead from the present chapter to 'The Passing of the Grey Company', the discovery of the skeleton of Baldor came to stand before Theoden's words about him at Dunharrow; and this I suppose was why my father changed the passage. It was certainly not because he concluded that Aragorn did not know who he was. In the passage in RK it is clear that he did know, though he did not name him; for he knew that he had lain there in the dark

'through all the long years' as the burial mounds of the Kings of the Mark were raised one by one.

There are now nine mounds and seven at Edoras.(22) In the original draft of this passage the text is interrupted at Aragorn's words 'Here lies Bealdor son of Brego' by a very roughly written list of the Kings of the Mark, set down in two columns, thus:

1. Eorl. 10. [Bealdor > Folca >] Frealaf Eowyn's.

2. Brego. son (sister-son of king).

(Bealdor). 11. [Brego >] Hama.

3. Aldor. 12. Walda.

4. Frea. 13. Folca.

5. Freawine. 14. Folcwine.

6. Goldwine. 15. Fengel.

7. Deor. 16. Thengel.

8. Gram. 17. Theoden.

9. Helm.

The names Folca and Folcwine replaced rejected forms that I cannot make out. It will be seen that these are the names found in Appendix A (11, The House of Eorl) to The Lord of the Rings, with the sole exception of the eleventh king Hama (in LR the eleventh king was Brytta: this name has already appeared in early texts as the father of Brego, VII. 435, 445, but is here absent). Beneath is written a long series of Old English names, many of them those that appear in the list of kings above, together with others, such as Beorn, Brytta, Haeleth, Leod, Oretta, Sigeric, Sincwine, &c. I suppose that it is possible that this series of names was written first, though it stands second, and that the names of the kings in the numbered list were selected from it. At any rate, it looks very much as if it were at this very point that the First Line and the Second Line of the Kings of the Mark, and their names,, came into being.(23)

Beside the names of the kings are written dates. My impression (not having studied the actual original page) is that only the dates of Fengel, Thengel, and Theoden belong with the writing of the manuscript page and the list of kings, but that these certainly do so. The dates are:

Fengel born 1268, died 1353.

Thengel born 1298, died 1373.

Theoden born 1328, died 141[? 8].

The last figure in the date of Theoden's death is unfortunately obscure, but is certainly not 9. The dates of these kings in LR are 2870-2953, 2905-2980, and 2948 - 3019, which in the Shire Reckoning become 1270-1353, 1305-1380, and 1348-1419. It is clear then that at this stage in the writing of The Lord of the Rings my father was working with a chronology that is esentially similar to that of LR in respect of Rohan - but the actual numerical years are given according to the Shire Reckoning.(24)

Gimli does not record any words of Aragorn's to the Dead that followed:

'And so we turned away and left the dead untouched, and passed out of the hall that was his tomb, and hurried on, for behind us now fear seemed treading ever closer. And just when we felt that we could endure no more, and must either find an ending and escape, or else turn and run back in madness to meet the following fear, our last torch sputtered out.

'Of the next hour or hours I remember little, save a blind groping dread that pressed behind us, and a rumour that came behind like the shadow of the noise of endless feet, as horrible as the ghosts of men themselves. And we stumbled on till some of us were crawling on the ground like beasts.

'Then suddenly I heard the trickle of water ...

Allowing of course for the difference in mode of narration (e.g.

'Then Legolas turning to speak to me looked back, and I can remember still the glitter in his bright eyes before my face', cf. RK

p. 61), the story of the emergence of the Company from the caverns and descent down the Vale of Morthond was little changed afterwards. Legolas takes up the narration at:

'The Dead were following,' said Legolas. 'A great grey host I saw come flowing behind us like a shadowy tide: shapes of men there were, and horses, and grey banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter thickets on a misry night. "The Dead are following," I said. "Yes, the Dead ride behind," said Elladan.

"Ride on!"'

It seems that Gimli then takes up the tale again with 'And so we came at last out of the ravine as suddenly as if we had issued from a crack in a wall', for he refers to himself as 'Gimli of the Mountain' in his description of the ride to Erech. Elladan's answer to Gimli's question in RK 'Where in Middle-earth are we?' does not appear; it is here Gimli who describes the course of Morthond (with the explanation 'so I was after told'). He says that the river 'flows at last to sea past Barad Amroth (25) where dwells Prince Imrahil ., and he does not refer, as does Elladan in RK, to the significance of the name Blackroot.

The ride to Erech is described thus:

'Bells I heard ringing in fear far below, and all the people fled before our faces; but we being in haste rode swiftly as though in pursuit, until our horses were stumbling weary, and [struck out: I at least,] even Gimli of the Mountain, was spent. And thus just ere the midnight hour - and black it was wellnigh as in the caverns, for though we did not know it yet the darkness of Mordor was creeping over us - just ere midnight we came to the Hill of Erech.'

On the Darkness out of Mordor coming over the sky as the Company rode to Erech see the Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter. - The text at this point becomes the primary draft, and continues:

'And what is that?' asked Merry.

'You should ask Aragorn,' said Gimli, 'or the brethren: they know, as is fitting, all the lore of Gondor of old. It is a black stone, they say, that old tales tell was brought (26) in ages past from Numenor before its fall, when its ships would come to the west shores of the world. And it was set upon a hill. And there-on the King of the [struck out: Dark] Men of the Mountains had sworn [> once swore] allegiance to the West; but afterwards the

[?Shadow] Men fell again under the dominion of Sauron. Isildur came to the Stone of Erech, when he gathered strength to resist the power of Mordor, and he summoned the Men of the Mountains to come to his aid, and they would not.

'Then Isildur said to their king of that day: "Thou shalt be the last. Yet if the West prove mightier than thy black Master, this curse I set on thee and thy folk: to rest never till your oath is fulfilled. For this war shall last down many ages, and you shall be summoned once again ere the end." And they fled before the wrath of Isildur, and did not dare to go forth to war on Sauron's part. And they hid themselves in secret places in the mountains and seldom came forth again, but slowly died and dwindled in the barren hills.

This account of Gimli's to Merry and Pippin at Minas Tirith is the forerunner of Aragorn's to Legolas and Gimli at the Hornburg (RK

p. 55). I think that it may very well have been at this point that the story of the breaking of their oath to Isildur by the Men of the Mountains first emerged, and that it was now that Aragorn's words at the Hornburg were enlarged to include it.

Gimli continues:

'But afterwards, in the days of Gondor's later power, men set a ring-wall about the Stone of Erech, and built beside it on the hilltop a tall dark tower, and there was guarded the seventh Palantir, which now is lost.(27) The tower is ruinous and the ring-wall is broken, and all about the land is empty, for none will dwell near the Hill of Erech, because it is said that at times the Shadow-men will gather there, thronging about the ruined wall, and whispering. And though their tongue is now long forgotten, it is said that they cry "We are come!" and they wish to fulfill the broken oath and be at rest. But the terror of the Dead lies on that hill and all the land about.

'Thither in the blackness before the storm we came. And at last we halted. And Elladan blew his silver horn, and Elrohir unfurled the banner that at the Hornburg he bore still wrapped in grey [later > black];(28) and dark as it was the stars glinted on it, as it was spread on a wind like a breath of ghosts coming down from the mountains. Nothing could we see but the seven stars of Elendil, and yet we were aware of a great host gathered all about us upon the hill, and of the sound of answering horns, as if their echo came up out of deep caverns far away.

'But Aragorn stood by the banner and cried aloud. "The hour is come at last, and the oath shall be fulfilled. I go to Pelargir, and ye shall come behind me. And when all this land is clean, return, and be at peace! For I am Elessar, Isildur's heir of Gondor."

'Then there was a silence, and no whisper or rustle did we hear as the night wore away. We lay within the ruined ring-wall, and some slept; though we felt the terror of the Dead that hedged us round.

At this point a revised version begins, and I follow this, since it adheres very closely to the initial draft (see however notes 33, 34, and 35).

'Then followed the weariest journey that I have ever known, wearier than our hunting of orcs over wide Rohan on our feet; three days and nights and on into another day with little pause or rest.(29) No other mortal men could have endured it and fought at the end of it, save only the Dunedain, these Rangers of the North. They are as tough as dwarves, 1 swear it, though none of my kin should believe me. Almost I wished I was an elf and had no need of sleep, or could both sleep and wake at once, as it seems that Legolas can.

'I was never in that land before, and I could not tell you much of our road, even if you wished to hear. But it is, I reckoned, some 60 leagues as birds fly from Erech, over Tarlang's Neck (30) into Lamedon, and so, crossing Kiril and Ringlo, to Linhir beside the waters of Gilrain, where there are fords that lead into Lebennin. And from Linhir it is a hundred miles, if it is a step, to Pelargir on Anduin.(31)

'The next morning day did not dawn, as you will remember well, but it must have been before the sun rose above the vapours of Mordor that we set out again,(32) and east we rode to meet the gathering gloom; and ever close behind us came the Shadow Host, some riding, some striding, but all moving silently and with the same great speed, and when they overtook our horses, though we pressed them to their utmost, the Shadow Host swept about us wide on either flank, and some went on ahead.

'Terror and wonder ran on wings before us, and all that was left of the folk of Lamedon hid, or fled to the woods and hills.(33) Thus we came at nightfall of the second day from Erech to Linhir. There the men of Lamedon had been contesting the passage of Gilrain with a great strength of the Haradrim, and of their allies the Shipmen of Umbar, who had sailed up Gilrain-mouth and far up the waters of Anduin with a host of ships and were now ravaging Lebennin and the coast of Belfalas. But defenders and invaders alike fled at our approach. And thus we crossed into Lebennin unopposed, and there we rested, and sorely we needed it.

'Next day we made our greatest endeavour, for Aragorn was pressed with a great fear lest all that he did would prove too late. "I counted on two days more at the least," he said; "but those who challenge Sauron will ever fall short of their reckoning. Now already Minas Tirith is beset, and I fear it will fall ere we can come to its aid."

'So we rose ere night had passed, and went as swift as our stouthearted horses could endure over the flat plains of Lebennin; and behind us and about us the host of the Dead flowed like a grey tide.

'Great rumour of dismay went on before us. I do not know who set the tales on the wing, but as we learned after among both friends and foes the tidings ran wild: "Isildur has come back from the dead. The dead are come to war, but they wield living swords. [The Lord of the Ring has arisen!]"(34) And all the enemy who heard these things fled as best they could back to Anduin, for they had many ships there and great strength; and we hunted them out of the land: all that day and through the next night, with few brief halts, we rode. And so we came at the bitter last to the Great River again, and we knew ere we came that it was near, for there was salt in the air. The mouths of Anduin were indeed still far away south and west of us, but Anduin is even at Pelargir so great and wide that almost it seems a slow-flowing sea, and countless birds are on its shores.

'It was day, I guessed, by the veiled/hidden sun - the fourth since we left Dunharrow - when we reached those shores, and saw the fleets of Umbar. And then we had to fight, at last. But fear was our mightiest weapon. Many of those who learned of our coming had already gone aboard and thrust off and escaped down Anduin to the the Sea. But the enemy, whose main task it was to ravage South Gondor and prevent help going north to the City, had been too wide-scattered for all to escape so. And while they marched abroad their ships were left with small guard. But there were among them captains sent by Mordor, and orc-chieftains, and they were not so easily dismayed, and they endeavoured to hold their men to a defence. And indeed the Haradrim are a grim folk, and not easily daunted by shade or blade. But their resistance did not last long. For now seeing that we were indeed come to aid them, many of the more stouthearted men of the land gathered to Aragorn. And on the ships the slaves rebelled. For the Corsairs of Umbar had in their ships many new-captured prisoners, and the oarsmen were all slaves, many taken in Gondor in petty raids, or unhappy descendants of slaves made in years gone by. Before the fifth day was over we had taken well nigh all the fleet, save some ships that their masters set ablaze; and all the enemy that were not slain or drowned were gone flying over the [?borders] into the desert that lies north of Harad.(35)