The History of The Lord of the Rings

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

I'm currently reading the History of Middle-earth volumes that cover Lord of the Rings. I've read almost the whole History series at this point but I saved these four for last.

Despite my love of the trilogy, these were the HOME volumes I was least interested in. The reason being that nothing in these can be considered canon. While the HOME series is mostly early drafts, there are parts of it you can think of as loose canon for Middle-earth. Some of it hasn't been contradicted by anything else (The Ambarkanta, Finrod & Andreth, The New Shadow, etc.) and some of it can be seen as chronicles written by loremasters in-universe (The Book of Lost Tales, The Grey Annals, The Annals of Beleriand, etc.). That doesn't work for the History of LOTR. This is more like a parallel universe version of the story. That combined with the frequent interruptions by Christopher Tolkien's commentary makes these hard for me to get into.

Still, it's interesting to see these early stages of the story. So far, I've read The Return of the Shadow and The Treason of Isengard. I had heard of some of the changes but it's still weird to read about a hobbit called Trotter in place of Aragorn, the various name changes of the characters (Bingo Bolger-Baggins?), or the multiple versions of Bilbo's birthday party. What's really surprising is how much it feels like Tolkien was winging it and making things up as he went along. I'm used to thinking of the Professor as extremely detail-oriented and a master of world-building. To see Third Age Middle-earth evolve and grow as he wrote these chapters is a bit shocking. For instance, he didn't at first know what the Black Riders were and the backstory of the Ring developed as he wrote. Likewise, with Aragorn being Trotter, there wasn't a fully-formed backstory for the Numenoreans or Dunedain at this stage. Treebeard starts as a villainous giant and the gentle tree-herding Ents evolve over time. It's eye-opening to see how much Middle-earth changed as Tolkien crafted it and how fully developed it all feels in the final version.

I'm on The War of the Ring now. The editions I bought have The End of the Third Age as the last part, rather than Sauron Defeated. For those of you who've read it, is it worth seeking out Sauron Defeated for my collection as well?

[fanuidhol]

Sauron Defeated includes The Notion Club Papers and drafts for at least part of the 2nd Age. Also, if you are interested in languages it gives some Adunaic.
Like you I bought the set - History of LotR. I later bought Sauron Defeated and did not regret it.

I get what you are saying about the differences between The Silmarillion portions and LotR portions. Christopher had to pick and choose among his father's papers to determine what went into Sil. Did he choose rightly? If JRRT had published it instead, what form would it have taken? These questions can be answered in our imaginations, somewhat.
But, I found The History of LotR quite fascinating as a study of Tolkien's creativity and how he worked. I read it eagerly. I, too, wish that Chris had limited his intrusions, however.

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

Still trying to get through War of the Ring. I'm really struggling with this one. It feels like the interruptions by Christopher's commentary are much more frequent and there are fewer long stretches of narrative. This is largely because the characters and story are starting to coalesce into the final version and the changes are more minor. I really want to get through this and The End of the Third Age so I will have read all the Tolkien books on my shelf. I may have to alternate reading this with another book that has a more narrative structure though.

[fanuidhol]

Yeah, the structure leaves much to be desired.

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

I got to the part where Frodo and Sam face the spider of Cirith Ungol - and it was originally Ungoliant! That blew my mind. This was going to be another Silmarillion connection at first. I wonder if Tolkien changed it because it was unlikely that two little hobbits could face off against an evil spirit that threatened Melkor himself in the First Age. Ungoliant living on the borders of Mordor would also contradict the part of The Silmarillion that mentions her fleeing into the south of the world (unless that part hadn't been written yet. I read the HoME out of order).

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

It took me half a year but I finally finished The War of the Ring. This was my least favorite of the HOME books. As mentioned above, the back-and-forth structure of small segments of narrative and longer segments of Christopher's commentary was very tedious to me. And the changes between this and the final version were often slight. I finally just approached it as an "extended edition" of the novels and tried to imagine these as deleted scenes of the characters that might have taken place within the story we know.

I'm on The End of the Third Age now and it's a much easier read. The chapters are pretty short since (again) there aren't as many changes to cover. I find it interesting that Frodo originally had a more active role in the Scouring of the Shire. I assume Tolkien did this because he's the hero so it would be expected. But I think he made the right choice to make him less involved in the final version. It helped emphasize Frodo's PTSD after carrying the Ring for so long.

I just got to the Epilogue. Finally some genuinely new material that stands on its own! Of the two drafts, I definitely prefer the first version with Sam surrounded by his children after a reading of the Red Book. Not sure what Tolkien was thinking by changing it to the numbered list of questions in the second version. Maybe he wanted to simplify it by just having Sam and Elanor but I didn't feel like this worked as well. A written list felt very technical and not as organic as having the kids ask the questions. Regardless, it was nice getting to know Elanor as a character and to see an older, wiser Sam. I love the idea of it ending with Sam hearing the sound of the sea, foreshadowing his later journey to Valinor. Ultimately, it was probably for the best that the Epilogue was dropped. Much like the movie version of Return of the King, the book would have had too many endings and might have dragged on too long after the destruction of the Ring.

[Andorinha]

Congratulations, Freddy! I've only used this work for discrete research items.

RE Freddy: "Regardless, it was nice getting to know Elanor as a character and to see an older, wiser Sam. I love the idea of it ending with Sam hearing the sound of the sea, foreshadowing his later journey to Valinor."

Oooo, this sounds interesting, I'll fetch down my copy this afternoon, and give this portion a read!

[Andorinha]

Cannot find my copy of The War of the Ring, LOL, will make a thorough search when it grows light... May have to secure a new volume? Grrrr...

[Andorinha]

Have ordered a new copy -- LOL -- study is a mess from looking for my old The War of the Rings, no doubt it will turn up after I get the new one...

Still interested in Elanor and her siblings, and the variant "Epilogue" tales. Meanwhile, reading a bit in Sauron Defeated. "The Epilogue," of SD might be fun to compare/ contrast with the version(s) of The War of the Rings. From SD, pp. 116 and 122 we learn that Orcs have indeed survived the fall of Sauron, that Moria has not yet been cleansed of its various evil denizens, and both Gimli (with a suitable band of fellow Dwarves) and Legolas (with a group of Woodelves), now live in different parts of Gondor, not far from Minas Tirith.

I found it interesting that JRRT was going to include some version of "The Epilogue" in the published ROTK, was dissuaded by "others," but later regretted not adding a final chapter wherein Sam and his children could be displayed as real characters acting on their own. I think I would have advised him not to "dilute" the LOTR ending with any 4th Age material, but would like to see a more developed version of "Sam and his Kids" in an appendix.

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

Jan 2, 2021 10:42:10 GMT -6 Andorinha said:

Have ordered a new copy -- LOL -- study is a mess from looking for my old The War of the Rings, no doubt it will turn up after I get the new one...

Still interested in Elanor and her siblings, and the variant "Epilogue" tales. Meanwhile, reading a bit in Sauron Defeated. "The Epilogue," of SD might be fun to compare/ contrast with the version(s) of The War of the Rings. From SD, pp. 116 and 122 we learn that Orcs have indeed survived the fall of Sauron, that Moria has not yet been cleansed of its various evil denizens, and both Gimli (with a suitable band of fellow Dwarves) and Legolas (with a group of Woodelves), now live in different parts of Gondor, not far from Minas Tirith.

That's the same Epilogue that I was referring to. My edition has it in a book called The End of the Third Age, which is the first half of Sauron Defeated. The War of the Ring is a separate book that covers up to the Battle of the Morannon.

I've just ordered a copy of Sauron Defeated since it also contains the Notion Club Papers and some material on Numenor. Once I read that, I will have finished the History of Middle-earth (since I read them out of order).

[Andorinha]

Sorry, must have misread you, Freddy. Anyway, still have not found my copy of "War of the Rings," so re-order appropriate anyway...

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

I ordered a copy of Sauron Defeated and it got here already (thank you, Amazon Prime). I've started reading The Notion Club Papers and am enjoying it so far. It's quite refreshing to have a long stretch of (gasp!) uninterrupted narrative. A rare thing in the History of LOTR books.

It's interesting to see Tolkien essentially parodying his fellow Inklings and their interactions. I don't know the members well enough but I'm sure this is full of in-jokes. The era of the story is also quite amusing. It's set in the 1980s, which for Tolkien was the future but for us is now the past. Even the references to scholars finding the papers at a later date are in our past (2012 I think it said). Always a risk with stories set in the future. Time marches ever onward.

I'm getting a kick out of Tolkien's use of the words "scientifiction" and "scientifictatious." These sound funny by modern standards but I have to remember that science fiction was a relatively new genre at the time.

My only criticism is that it's taking a long time to get to the point. So far there's been no mention of Numenor or time travel. One of the club members, Ramer, is explaining how he projected his mind in dreams to view an alien planet and described it in his story. It's all getting very philosophical and a bit hard to follow. I'm curious how this will transition to the Numenor material. Did this story start as something separate and got drawn into the Numenor legend gradually? Or was this always intended as an update of The Lost Road?

[Fredeghar Wayfarer]

Just finished The Notion Club Papers. I liked the second half a lot better. Part 1 was a bit meandering and focused mostly on Ramer's astral projection techniques in dreams. Part 2 finally brought in the Numenor material with one of the members, Lowdham, getting flashes of "ghost-languages" which he tried to reconstruct. These of course were Sindarin and Adunaic and he gradually pieced together the Numenor story from them. Lowdham seems to be a stand-in for Tolkien in this story, given his linguist background and affinity for Anglo-Saxon culture and Old English. I wonder if Tolkien ever felt like this character, as if the languages already existed and were coming to him through race memory or the collective unconscious.

Lowdham's middle name is Arundel and there's a lot of exploration of the Earendil legend and the evolution of the name. This story also marks the return of Aelfwine, the Anglo-Saxon mariner who sailed to the Undying Lands and learned the history of the Elves. I'm a little unclear on whether Lowdham is meant to be a reincarnation of this character or a descendant who is somehow having visions of that era. In The Lost Road it was a case of reincarnation but here it's a bit more ambiguous. I loved the scene where the storm hits and Lowdham and Jeremy suddenly go into a trance and seem to be reliving the memories of their ancestors, raving about the downfall of Numenor and the Eagles of the Lords of the West. It was a very eerie and dramatic moment that I found quite engrossing. And my mind was blown by Christopher's footnote. Apparently there WAS a huge storm that hit England in the 80s and Tolkien's prediction was only off by a few months!

Alas, this was one of many stories Tolkien left unfinished. At least the frame story of this being the notes from a club of Oxford professors gives this an excuse to be unfinished. The last pages were simply lost over the decades. I think The Notion Club Papers was one of my favorite stories from the HOME series. Not only was it a long piece of narrative (without interruptions from commentary) but it was very unique. A Middle-earth-related tale set in our modern world and filled with semi-autobiographical elements influenced by Tolkien's life. I really wish he had finished this.

[fanuidhol]

My memory of this story is sketchy at best, but I do remember enjoying it very much. I'll have to have a reread. Thanks Freddie.

[Andorinha]

Yeah thanks Freddie. LOL -- likewise, will need to review Notion Papers as well...