‘Atarinya tye-meláne,’ said Herendil suddenly, and clasping his father’s knees he laid his [?head there] and wept. ‘It is an evil hour that [?putteth] such a choice on thee,’ said his father, laying a hand on his head. ‘But fate calleth some to be men betimes. What dost thou say?’

  ‘I stay, father.’

  Christopher Tolkien notes: ‘The narrative ends here. There is no reason to think that any more was ever written. The manuscript, which becomes increasingly rapid towards the end, peters out in a scrawl.’ He then continues with his appraisal of what, at the time, were his father’s plans for continuing the story:

  There are several pages of notes that give some idea of my father’s thoughts – at a certain stage – for the continuation of the story beyond the point where he abandoned it. These are in places quite illegible, and in any case were the concomitant of rapidly changing ideas: they are the vestiges of thoughts, not statements of formulated conceptions. More important, some at least of these notes clearly preceded the actual narrative that was written and were taken up into it, or replaced by something different, and it may very well be that this is true of them all, even those that refer to the latter part of the story which was never written. But they make it very clear that my father was concerned above all with the relation between the father and the son, which was cardinal. In Númenor he had engendered a situation in which there was the potentiality of anguishing conflict between them, totally incommensurate with the quiet harmony in which the Errols began – or ended. [The Errol family – ancestors and descendants – are the central protagonists of the intended narrative in The Lost Road.] The relationship of Elendil and Herendil was subjected to a profound menace. This conflict could have many narrative issues within the framework of the known event, the attack on Valinor and the Downfall of Númenor, and in these notes my father was merely sketching out some solutions, none of which did he develop or return to again.

  An apparently minor question was the words ‘the Eagles of the Lord of the West’: what did they mean, and how were they placed within the story? It seems that he was as puzzled by them as was Alboin Errol when he used them ([Road], pp. 38, 47). He queries whether ‘Lord of the West’ means the King of Númenor, or Manwë, or whether it is the title properly of Manwë but taken in his despite by the King; and concludes ‘probably the latter’. There follows a ‘scenario’ in which Sorontur King of Eagles is sent by Manwë, and Sorontur flying against the sun casts a great shadow on the ground. It was then that Elendil spoke the phrase, but he was overheard, informed upon, and taken before Tarkalion, who declared that the title was his. In the story as actually written Elendil speaks the words to Herendil ([Road] p. 62 [This volume, p. 237]), when he sees clouds rising out of the West in the evening sky and stretching out ‘great wings’ – the same spectacle as made Alboin Errol utter them, and the men of Númenor in the Akallabêth (p. 277 [This volume p. 185]); and Herendil replies that the title has been decreed to belong to the King. The outcome of Elendil’s arrest is not made clear in the notes, but it is said that Herendil was given command of one of the ships, that Elendil himself joined in the great expedition because he followed Herendil, that when they reached Valinor Tarkalion set Elendil as a hostage in his son’s ship, and that when they landed on the shores Herendil was struck down. Elendil rescued him and set him on shipboard, and ‘pursued by the bolts of Tarkalion’ they sailed back east. ‘As they approach Númenor the world bends; they see the land slipping towards them’; and Elendil falls into the deep and is drowned.* This group of notes ends with references to the coming of the Númenóreans to Middle-earth, and to the ‘later stories’; ‘the flying ships’, ‘the painted caves’, ‘how Elf-friend walked on the Straight Road’.

  Other notes refer to plans laid by the ‘anti-Saurians’ for an assault on the Temple, plans betrayed by Herendil ‘on condition that Elendil is spared’; the assault is defeated and Elendil captured. Either associated with this or distinct from it is a suggestion that Herendil is arrested and imprisoned in the dungeons of Sauron, and that Elendil renounces the Gods to save his son.

  My guess is that all this had been rejected when the actual narrative was written, and that the words of Herendil that conclude it show that my father had then in mind some quite distinct solution, in which Elendil and his son remained united in the face of whatever events overtook them.*

  In the early narratives there is no indication of the duration of the realm of Númenor from its foundation to its ruin; and there is only one named king. In his conversation with Herendil, Elendil attributes all the evils that have befallen to the coming of Sauron: they have arisen therefore in a quite brief time (forty-four years, p. 242); whereas in the Akallabêth, when a great extension of Númenórean history had taken place, those evils began long before, and are indeed traced back as far as the twelfth ruler, Tar-Ciryatan the Shipbuilder, who took the sceptre nearly a millennium and a half before the Downfall (Akallabêth p. 265, Unfinished Tales p. 221 [This volume p. 146]).

  From Elendil’s words at the end of The Lost Road there emerges a sinister picture: the withdrawal of the besotted and aging king from the public view, the unexplained disappearance of people unpopular with the ‘government’, informers, prisons, torture, secrecy, fear of the night; propaganda in the form of the ‘rewriting of history’ (as exemplified by Herendil’s words concerning what was now said about Eärendel, p. 235); the multiplication of weapons of war, the purpose of which is concealed but guessed at; and behind all the dreadful figure of Sauron, the real power, surveying the whole land from the Mountain of Númenor. The teaching of Sauron has led to the invention of ships of metal that traverse the seas without sails, but which are hideous in the eyes of those who have not abandoned or forgotten Tol-eressëa; to the building of grim fortresses and unlovely towers; and to missiles that pass with a noise like thunder to strike their targets many miles away. Moreover, Númenor is seen by the young as over-populous, boring, ‘over-known’: ‘every tree and grass-blade is counted’, in Herendil’s words; and this cause of discontent is used, it seems, by Sauron to further the policy of ‘imperial’ expansion and ambition that he presses on the king. When at this time my father reached back to the world of the first man to bear the name ‘Elf-friend’ he found there an image of what he most condemned and feared in his own.

  FOOTNOTES

  *Edited by Christopher Tolkien

  * Maps by Christopher Tolkien, coloured by Nicolette Caven

  * Some words of the original manuscript were omitted by the typist in this sentence.

  *But his capability of corrupting other minds, and even engaging their service, was a residue from the fact that his original desire for ‘order’ had really envisaged the good estate (especially physical well-being) of his ‘subjects’.

  * That is, of the numerous tribes of Men, whom the Elves called Men of Good Will, who lived in Eriador and Calenardhon and the Vales of Anduin and in the Great Wood and the plains between that and Mordor and the Sea of Rhûn. In Eriador there were actually some of the remnants of the Three Houses of Men that had fought with the Elves against Morgoth. Others were of their kin, who (like the Silvan Elves) had never passed the Ered Luin, and others of remoter kin. But nearly all were descendants of ancient rebels against Morgoth. (Some evil men there were also.)

  * It would be interesting to know if a tantalisingly obscure note, scribbled down in isolation, refers to this dimly-glimpsed story: ‘If either fails the other they perish and do not return. Thus at the last moment Elendil must prevail on Herendil to hold back, otherwise they would have perished. At that moment he sees himself as Alboin: and realises that Elendil and Herendil had perished.’

  * I have suggested ([Road] p. 31) that since Elendil of Númenor appears in FN II (§14 [Road, p. 28]) as king in Beleriand he must have been among those who took no part in the expedition of Tar-kalion, but ‘sat in their ships upon the east coast of the land’ (FN §9 [Road, pp. 27–28]).

  NOTES

  INTRODUCTION

  1The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien [Letters], No. 131, p. 143

  2ibid., No. 91, p. 104

  3Letters, No. 131, p. 150. Tolkien wrote this letter to Milton Waldman, an editor with William Collins, Sons & Co Ltd, seeking to interest him in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings because his existing publisher, George Allen and Unwin (despite having had considerable success with The Hobbit), were nervous about commissioning two large books at a time when the publishing industry was hampered by post-war paper shortages. For accounts of this difficult period in the birthing of a literary masterpiece, see Humphrey Carpenter, J. R. R. Tolkien: a biography (1977) pp. 207–18 and Rayner Unwin, George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer (2021) pp. 71–104

  4The Peoples of Middle-earth [Peoples], p. 142

  5Letters, No. 257, p. 347

  6ibid., No. 294, p. 378

  7Out of the Silent Planet was published in 1938, the first of C.S. Lewis’ ‘Space Trilogy’ (or ‘Cosmic Trilogy’) followed in 1943 by Perelandra (a.k.a. Voyage to Venus) and That Hideous Strength in 1945.

  8Letters, No. 257, p. 347

  9ibid., No. 294, p. 378

  10In January 1961, Tolkien wrote (Letters, No. 227, p. 303): ‘Númenor, shortened form of Númenórë, is my own invention, compounded from nume-n, ‘going down’ (vndu, nu), sunset, West, and norë ‘land, country’ = Westernesse. The legends of Númenórë are only in the background of The Lord of the Rings, though (of course) they were written first, and are only summarised in Appendix A. They are my own use for my own purposes of the Atlantis legend, but not based on special knowledge, but on a special personal concern with this tradition of the culture-bearing men of the Sea, which so profoundly affected the imagination of peoples of Europe with westward-shores.’

  11ibid., No. 131, p. 154

  12ibid., No. 24, p. 29

  BEFORE THE SECOND AGE

  1The quotations in this chapter are all taken from Letters, No 131, pp. 143 ff

  2Tolkien adds in a footnote: ‘As far as all this has symbolical or allegorical significance, Light is such a primeval symbol in the nature of the Universe, that it can hardly be analysed. The Light of Valinor (derived from light before any fall) is the light of art undivorced from reason, that sees things both scientifically (or philosophically) and imaginatively (or sub-creatively) and says that they are good – as beautiful. The Light of Sun (or Moon) is derived from the Trees only after they were sullied by Evil.’

  3Elsewhere in his letter to Milton Waldman Tolkien addressed what he saw as the primary themes in his writings about Middle-earth, one of which was the concept of ‘the Fall’, most usually associated with Judeo-Christian beliefs arising from the Biblical narrative of Adam and Eve (Genesis: Chapter 3), but given by Tolkien a far wider applicability:

  ‘In the cosmogony there is a fall: a fall of Angels we should say. Though quite different in form, of course, to that of Christian myth. These tales are “new”, they are not directly derived from other myths and legends, but they must inevitably contain a large measure of ancient wide-spread motives or elements. After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of “truth”, and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear. There cannot be any “story” without a fall – all stories are ultimately about the fall – at least not for human minds as we know them and have them. ‘So, proceeding, the Elves have a fall, before their “history” can become storial. (The first fall of Man, for reasons explained, nowhere appears – Men do not come on the stage until all that is long past, and there is only a rumour that for a while they fell under the domination of the Enemy and that some repented.)’

  4Tolkien adds, as a note: ‘Of course in reality this only means that my “elves” are only a representation or an apprehension of a part of human nature, but that is not the legendary mode of talking.’

  5The Children of Húrin and The Fall of Gondolin, edited by Christopher Tolkien as independent works were published, respectively, in 2007 and 2018.

  1 – FOUNDATION OF THE GREY HAVENS, AND OF LINDON

  1The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B [Appendix B], p. 1082

  2Peoples, p. 166

  3The Silmarillion, ‘Of the Rings of Power’ [Rings], p. 285

  4Letters, No. 131, p. 150. To understand the evolution of the narrative that is included in The Silmarillion as Akallabêth, readers should consult The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One: The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, V ‘The History of the Akallabêth’, pp. 140 ff.

  5Tol Eressëa, also known as the Lonely Isle, was situated east of Aman (‘blessed realm’) containing Valinor, home of the Valar. Its history is told in Chapter 5 of The Silmarillion.

  6The etymology of the name Avallónë is addressed in The Lost Road and Other Writings, ‘The Etymologies’, p. 349 and p. 370, but it is clear that this provided Tolkien with a happy coincidence of linking the island in the Middle-earth legendarium with the isle of Avalon featured in the Arthurian legends and which Tolkien cited as a literary influence, paralleling the dying King Arthur’s passing by barge with the Ring-bearer’s departure to the Undying Lands: ‘To Bilbo and Frodo the special grace is granted to go with the Elves they loved – an Arthurian ending, in which it is, of course, not made explicit whether this is an “allegory” of death, or a mode of healing and restoration leading to a return.’ (Sauron Defeated, Part One – ‘The End of the Third Age’, ‘The Epilogue’, p. 132)

  7The Silmarillion, Akallabêth [Akallabêth], p. 260. See note 4, above. Also of interest are Tolkien’s earlier versions of his Atlantean concept: The Lost Road and Other Writings, I ‘The Early History of the Legend’, pp. 7–10 and II ‘The Fall of Númenor’ pp. 11 ff.; and Sauron Defeated, Part Three: ‘The Drowning of Anadûnê’, pp. 331 ff.

  8Rings, p. 286

  9Appendix B, p. 1082. In Tolkien’s writings, various ancestry is ascribed to Gil-galad, but in editing The Silmarillion, Christopher Tolkien settled on using his father’s option: ‘Gil-galad son of Fingon’. His parentage is briefly discussed in Peoples, Part Two: Late Writings, XI ‘The Shibboleth of Fëanor [Shibboleth], p. 347. [Gil-galad, whose later story is inextricably linked with the fate of the Second Age, was named thus, in Quenya] ‘star of radiance… because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or moonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height.’

  10Unfinished Tales, [UT], pp. 234–5

  11UT, pp. 229–30. Part of a much longer description given in ‘a very late and largely philological essay’ cited by Christopher Tolkien in UT, see also note 14 below.

  12Fellowship, Book Two, VII ‘The Mirror of Galadriel’, pp. 354–5. In The Nature of Middle-earth Nature p. 352 note 8, with Tolkien’s further etymological comments on the name of Galadriel, it says: ‘The name Galadriel is in this form Sindarin. Its original meaning was “lady of the glittering coronal”, referring to the brilliant sheen of her golden hair, which in her youth she wore in three long braids, the middle one being wound about her head. Celeborn is also in this form Sindarin, but originally meant “silver-tall”.’

  13In full, Christopher Tolkien wrote: ‘There is no part of the history of Middle-earth more full of problems than the story of Galadriel and Celeborn, and it must be admitted that there are severe inconsistencies “embedded in the traditions”; or, to look at the matter from another point of view, that the role and importance of Galadriel only emerged slowly, and that her story underwent continual refashionings.’ See UT, Part Two: The Second Age, IV ‘The History of Galadriel and Celeborn’ pp. 288 ff; see also Nature, Part Three: The World, its Lands, and its Inhabitants, XVI ‘Galadriel and Celeborn’ pp. 346 ff.

  14Rings, pp. 286

  15The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A [Appendix A], p. 1034

  16Appendix A, pp. 1034–5

  32 – THE EDAIN REACH NÚMENOR

  1In Tolkien’s earlier drafts for ‘Of the Tale of Years’, he had chronicled ‘The Foundation of Númenor’ as being dated in the year Second Age 50 (see Peoples, Part One, VI p. 168); this date was subsequently amended to SA 32, but in preparing ‘The Tale of Years’ for inclusion in Return, Appendix B, the year 32 is given as being the date when ‘The Edain reach Númenór’. It is assumed that the author considered these two events – the Foundation of Númenor and the arrival of the Edain – as taking place within the same time frame.

  2See The Silmarillion: XII ‘Of Men’; XVII ‘Of the Coming of Men into the West’; the Genealogies (III ‘The House of Bëor’; IV and V ‘The House of Hador and The People of Haleth’)

  3Appendix A, p. 1035

  4The Silmarillion, Valaquenta [Valaquenta], p. 30

  5A chief of the Maiar described in Valaquenta, p. 30 as ‘the banner-bearer and herald of Manwë, whose might in arms is surpassed by none in Arda.’

  6A Maia described in Valaquenta, p. 30 as ‘master of the seas that wash the shores of Middle-earth’.

  7A Vala described in Valaquenta, p. 27 as having lordship ‘over all the substances of which Arda is made… the fashioning of all lands was his labour… a smith and master of all crafts.’