Sauron Defeated (12 page)

'seven' as in RK: this presumably implies that the date of the departure from Minas Tirith had been changed to the 18th. - On the significance of the date 25 March see T. A. Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (1982) pp. 151 - 2.

VII.

MANY PARTINGS.

The original draft of this chapter ('A') was paginated continuously with that of 'The Steward and the King' and bore no title. In comparison with its subsequent form my father's initial account of the

'many partings' was remarkably brief and spare; and though his handwriting is very difficult and here and there altogether illegible I shall give a substantial part of it in full, for it differs in very many points from the story in RK.

The opening, however, remained almost unchanged from first draft to final text (apart from Queen Finduilas for Queen Arwen), as far as

'"Then I beg leave to depart soon," said Frodo.' Then follows (with no mention of the Queen's gift):

'In three days we will go,' said Aragorn. 'For we shall ride with you great part of the way. We too have errands to do.'

And so it was that the King of Gondor and his Queen set out once more upon the North Roads, and many knights rode with them; and the Princes of Dol Amroth and of Ithilien; and King Eomer and his householdmen were also in that riding, for he had come to the wedding of his lord and brother. And with slow songs of the Mark they brought from the Halls [probably for Hallows] and his resting in Rath Dinen King Theoden upon a golden bier; and as one that still slept deeply they laid him upon a great wain with Riders of Rohan all about it, and his banner borne before. And Merry being his esquire, and a Knight of the Riddermark, rode upon the wain and kept the arms of the dead king. But for the other companions steeds were furnished according to their stature, and Frodo and Sam rode at the king's side with Gandalf upon Shadowfax; and with them also went Legolas and Gimli upon Hasufel (1) who had borne them so far.(2) And slowly and at peace they passed into Anorien. And þ....... the Greywood (3) under Amon Din.

Here my father stopped and asked whether the homage of the Wild Men should be put here - referring, presumably, to the story in the original text of 'The Steward and the King', where Ghan-buri-Ghan and two of his headmen actually came to Minas Tirith (p. 56). He then wrote: 'and there stood Ghan-buri-Ghan by the eaves of the trees, and did them homage as they passed' (see p. 67). The text continues: And so at last after many days (15?) they brought King Theoden back to his own land, and they came to Edoras, and there they stayed and rested; and never so fair and full of light was the Golden Hall, for no king of the City of the South had ever come thither before. And there they held the funeral of Theoden, and he was laid in a house of stone with many fair things, and over him was raised a great mound, the eighth of those upon the east side of the Barrowfields, and it was covered with green turves of grass [and] of fair Evermind. And then the Riders of the King's House rode about it, and one among them sang a song of Theoden Thengel's son that brought light to the eyes of the folk of the Mark and stirred the hearts of all, even those that knew not [that] speech. And Merry who stood at the foot of the mound wept.(4)

And when the burial was over and the last song was ended there was a great feast in the hall, and when they came to the time when all should drink to the memories of mighty men forth came Eowyn Lady of Rohan, golden as the sun and white as snow, and she brought forth the cup to Eomer King of the Mark, and he drank to the memory of Theoden. And then a minstrel sang naming all the kings of the [?Mark] in their order, and last King Eomer; and Aragorn arose and [?wished him] hail

[and] drank to him. And then Gandalf arose and bid all men rise, and they rose, and he said: 'Here is a last hail (5) ere the feast endeth. Last but not least. For I name now [one >] those who shall not be forgotten and without whose valour nought else that was done would have availed; and I name before you all Frodo of the Shire and Samwise his servant. And the bards and the minstrels should give them new names: Bronwe athan Harthad and Harthad Uluithiad, Endurance beyond Hope and Hope unquenchable.'(6)

And to those names men drank in honour; but Sam went very red, and murmured to Frodo: 'I don't know what my Dad would think of the change: he was always against outlandish names. "The gentry can do as they please," he said, "with their Roriuses and Ronshuses, but for plain folk something shorter wears better." But even if I could say the name, I think it don't suit. My hope ........ low, Mr. Frodo, .........'(7)

The announcement by Eomer of the betrothal of Faramir and Eowyn and the words of Eowyn with Aragorn are particularly hard to read, but the passage does not differ significantly from that in RK (pp.

255-6). The text then continues:

And after the feast those that were to go took leave of King Eomer, and Faramir abode with him, for he would not be far from Eowyn any longer. And Finduilas also remained and took leave of her father and brethren. But Aragorn rode on with the companions, and they passed on to Helm's Deep and there rested. And then Legolas repaid his vow to Gimli and went into the Glittering Caves; and when he returned he was silent, for he said that only Gimli could find fit words. 'And now,' said he,

'we will go to Fangorn', at which Gimli looked little pleased.

And so they passed.... to Isengard and saw how the Ents had busied themselves, for all the stone circle was removed and was planted with trees, but in the midst of the orchards Orthanc rose up still, tall and [? unapproachable]. And there was Treebeard and other Ents to welcome them, and he praised all their deeds, of which it seemed he had full tidings. 'But Ents played their part,' said he. 'And there would have been no Golden Hall to return to but for Treebeard and his folk. For we caught a great army of those - burarum - those orcs that were coming down through the Wold and we drove them away. Or otherwise the king of the grassland would [?have never] ridden far.'

And Gandalf praised his work, and at last he said farewell with many long words, saying that he had added some new lines. And when Merry and Pippin at last said farewell he ....

them and said 'Well, my merry folk! Take a draught before you go!' And they said 'Yes, indeed! ' And he looked at them over the bowl, and he said 'Take care! For you have already grown since I saw you!' And they laughed, and then he [?went] sad, and he said 'And don't forget that if you ever hear news of the Entwives you must send word to us.' And Aragorn said 'The East lands now lie open.' But Treebeard shook his head and said that it was far away.

But Legolas and Gimli here said goodbye, and went into Fangorn, and from there they purposed [? to journey] together to their own countries. 'Alas, that our lands lie so far apart! But we will send word to Rivendell.' And Elrond looked at them and said: 'Send rather to the Shire.'

Then they rode to the Gap of Rohan, and Aragorn took leave of them in that very place where Pippin had looked in the Palantir. And Pippin said 'I wish we could have one to see all our friends.' 'But one only now remains,' said Aragorn .....,

'and the king must keep that. But forget not that my realm lies now also in the North; and later on I may come again.'

And so slowly they passed in[to] the waste lands west of the mountains and fared north, and summer wore away; and Galadriel and Celeborn and their folk passed over the Dimrill Stair and went back to Lorien. But Elrond and Gandalf and the hobbits came back at last to Rivendell.

The chapter ends in this earliest form with very rough sketching of the time that the hobbits spent with Bilbo, but most of the essentials of the final form are present. The chief difference lies in Bilbo's gifts:

'Then Bilbo gave Frodo his coat and sword, and he gave Sam a lot of books of lore, and he gave Merry and Pippin a lot of good advice.'

Bilbo's verse (The Road goes ever on and on) is lacking, but that there should be a verse at this point is indicated on the manuscript.

Gandalf's intimation that he would go with the hobbits 'at least as far as Bree' is lacking; and at the departure from Rivendell Elrond's words of farewell to Frodo, though the same as in RK (suggesting that 'about this time of the year' he should 'look for Bilbo in the woods of the Shire'), were heard also by the others: 'And they did not fully understand what he meant, and Gandalf of course would not explain.'

The text then runs straight on into what would become the opening of the next chapter, 'Homeward Bound'.

This first manuscript was greatly enlarged by the insertion of new material. The story of the visit to Isengard was elaborated, and Treebeard's account of the release of Saruman from Orthanc now enters - the necessary prelude, of course, to the encounter with Saruman and Wormtongue on the northward journey of the remaining company. There are a number of differences from the text of RK, but they are minor.(8) The farewell speeches of Treebeard with Celeborn and Galadriel now appear, differing from the final form only in the Quenya phrase: O vanimar vanimalion ontari (see note 16).

A long rider takes up at the words 'Then they rode towards the Gap of Rohan' (cf. RK p. 260), and the departure of Aragorn is told in almost the same words as in RK; but Galadriel said to him: 'Elfstone, through darkness you have come to your desire. Use well the days of light', and Celeborn said: 'Kinsman, farewell, but your doom is like to mine; for our treasure shall outlast us both' (see pp. 124-5 and note 16).

The story of the meeting with Saruman, which had been very obliquely referred to in 'The Story Foreseen from Kormallen' ('They come on Saruman and he is [?pardoned]', p. 52), was now fully told, but with a number of differences, one very notable. No indication is given of where or when the encounter took place: after the company had crossed the Isen they 'passed into the waste land west of the mountains, and they turned north, and summer wore away. And many days afterward they overtook an old man leaning on a staff...' See further p. 69.

To Saruman's remark 'I am seeking a way out of his realm' Gandalf at first replies:

'Then you are going the wrong way [bracketed: as seems to be your doom], unless you wish to pass into the utter North and there freeze to death. For from the Sea in the West to Anduin and thence many days' march east is the realm of the King, and east ere long it will spread beyond the water of Runaeluin.'(9) Without striking this out my father replaced it by:

'Then you have far to go,' said Gandalf, 'and should be going eastward. Yet even so you would have to travel far, and find the border of his realm ever marching up behind you.'

This was struck through, and the final text here is: ' "Then you have far to go," said Gandalf, "and I see no hope in your journey...." '

Wormtongue still names himself Frana, not Grima (cf. VII.445, VIII.55). Most curious is my father's remarkably different initial conception of Saruman's response to Merry's generosity (the sentence that I have bracketed was presumably rejected):

'Mine, mine, yes, and dearly paid for,' said Saruman, clutching at the pouch. And then suddenly he seemed touched. 'Well, I thank you,' he said. '[You do not crow, and your kind looks maybe are not feigned.] You seem an honest fellow, and maybe you did not come to crow over me. I'll tell you something. When you come to the Shire beware of Cosimo, and make haste, or you may go short of leaf.'

'Thankyou,' said Merry, 'and if you get tired of wandering in the wild come to the Shire.'

My father knew that Saruman acquired his supply of pipe-weed from the Shire (see VIII.59, note 8). There is no certain indication that he had at this stage begun to conceive of any more far-reaching relations between Saruman and Cosimo Sackville-Baggins, but in the original draft of 'The Scouring of the Shire' this idea was very fully present (see p. 84). On the other hand, it is a very notable feature of that draft that Saruman was not present in person in the Shire and did not preside over the last stages of its spoliation.

Since as will be seen subsequently the whole of the conclusion of The Lord of the Rings from 'Many Partings' to the 'Epilogue' was written in one continuous draft, it seems perfectly possible that all this new material was introduced into the original draft of 'Many Partings'

after the first draft of 'The Scouring of the Shire' had been written. If this is so, it was very probably when writing and developing the present passage that my father first conceived of Saruman's visit to the Shire (as in the story itself the decision to do so also arose in Saruman's mind at this juncture, RK p. 298); possibly it was in fact Merry's extraordinarily artless invitation (though immediately abandoned, as will be seen in a moment) that was the germ of the story.