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Elfeawen Lomiondil
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Post The History of Middle of Middle-Earth Vol. 7: The Treason of Isengard
on: March 19, 2023 10:52
I mostly wanted to create a thread where I could post anything I found interesting as I read The Treason of Isengard for the first time. But there may be some people who are wondering what this book is about and whether they want to read it, so I will try to describe it first.

The Treason of Isengard is the second of four books in “The History of Lord of the Rings”, a series within a series since it is part of the History of Middle-Earth (HoME) series that Christopher Tolkien edited and published with his own commentary to help you make sense of it all.

I am reading HoME in order, and I think that CT did an excellent job of presenting texts in the right order so that you can best understand them. However, you are likely pretty familiar with LOTR already, so you can probably read “The History of Lord of the Rings” at any time. You do not have to read the first five volumes of HoME first because these books are all about the stories in The Silmarillion and the history of the First and Second Ages. Likewise, if you are more interested in the First and Second Ages, you can skip ahead to HoME volume 10, Morgoth’s Ring.

What is in “The History of Lord of the Rings”? These four volumes contain early drafts of LOTR that Christopher Tolkien published after his father died. There are some maps and information on runes as well. These drafts give you a look behind the scenes as LOTR was being written, and a glimpse into the mind of Tolkien and his creative process. Some people like this kind of thing and some are not interested. That is okay.

What is in The Treason of Isengard? This volume contains revised drafts of the story from the beginning to Moria, and the first draft of the story from Moria to Rohan. It also contains maps, an appendix on runes, and a few drawings Tolkien made, including the first illustration of the doors of Moria.

I won’t tell you about all the significant features of this book, only the ones I am most interested in. For instance, this book contains the first appearances of the Balrog, and Galadriel. It has a version of the Lay of Earendil that Tolkien kind of wanted to be published (but it got lost for a while). It contains information that may provide inspiration for the fan artist or fan fiction writer, even information that may be canon (depending on your definition) but is found nowhere else.
"There shall be war between the Children of Iluvatar and the Ainu Melko. What if we perish in our quest? The dark halls of Vê be little worse than this bright prison" ~ Fëanor
Elfeawen Lomiondil
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on: March 19, 2023 11:44
Galadriel and Celeborn both have white hair at their first appearance. They also wear white and have particularly piercing eyes. CT believed that Galadriel was always of the Noldor from across the sea based on something she said in her introductory scene. Celeborn would have been as well.

So we could have had white haired Noldor. The only white haired character encountered before this was Elwe, who in The Lost Tales was more of a precursor to both Elwe and Olwe. He was not Noldor, of course.

In the first re-write, Galadriel gets a bit of back story. She says of herself and Celeborn, “For we have dwelt here since the mountains were reared and the sun was young”, but she adds “And I have dwelt here with him since the days of dawn, when I passed over the seas with Melian of Valinor; and ever together we have fought the long defeat.” (Pg. 265)

This is the only time I’ve heard that Melian could have brought any Elves with her! It would have separated Galadriel from the rebellion and the ban and curse that followed it, but Tolkien didn’t stick to this origin story with Galadriel. It also suggests that from the very start Tolkien thought that Galadriel had a special connection to Melian, and you could imagine that Galadriel was Melian’s student already.
"There shall be war between the Children of Iluvatar and the Ainu Melko. What if we perish in our quest? The dark halls of Vê be little worse than this bright prison" ~ Fëanor
tarcolan
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on: April 01, 2023 01:41
An excellent appraisal and much appreciated.
It is often forgotten that Lúthien's mother was a Maia, and thus the Númenorean line of Kings, the line of Elendil and Elrond and Arwen were descendants. Why did Tolkien choose to have somewhat of the spirit of a lesser Ainur running through the main players in the story?

Melian did not stay in Middle Earth to fight the long defeat, as Galadriel says here. Left out of the following typescript then added later, perhaps we shouldn't assume that Melian was physically helping yet was with Galadriel in spirit.
Elfeawen Lomiondil
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on: May 31, 2023 03:05
Thanks, Tarcolan. I’m happy you enjoyed reading that. As for Melian and Galadriel, I did not mean to imply that they collaborated through the Third Age. Though I have been interested in imagining what this would be like ever since you mentioned it. I believe that the passage I quoted is saying that Celeborn is the person with whom Galadriel “ever together” fought the long defeat, same as the published version.

Something else related to Galadriel: the book has a draft of her song “I Sang of Leaves”. It has the same language as the published version about what ship would bear her back over so wide a sea if she wished to return to Valinor. As Galadriel is not an Exile here (having arrived with Melian) the song is not connected to the ban on returning as some people have speculated. There is some discussion of this in Unfinished Tales where there are some texts suggesting that Galadriel was not permitted to return to Valinor, even after the end of the First Age when the ban on all the other rebel Noldor was lifted. The texts suggest various reasons why her ban might persist, and why she was finally permitted to sail into the West. I found the appearance of the song at this early stage of the book’s (LOTR) development interesting because it seems the song is not connected with Galadriel’s status as I had long thought. Of course, I think it is okay to interpret the song that way if Galadriel has a personal ban in your head canon. But it looks like it was not what Tolkien originally intended the song to mean, so better not to use it as evidence for her ban if you get in a debate about this.
"There shall be war between the Children of Iluvatar and the Ainu Melko. What if we perish in our quest? The dark halls of Vê be little worse than this bright prison" ~ Fëanor
Elthir
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on: June 08, 2023 02:35
Elfeawen Lomiondil said:

Something else related to Galadriel: the book has a draft of her song “I Sang of Leaves”. It has the same language as the published version about what ship would bear her back over so wide a sea if she wished to return to Valinor. As Galadriel is not an Exile here (having arrived with Melian) the song is not connected to the ban on returning as some people have speculated.


This question is indeed interesting for various reasons. Christopher Tolkien posits that when Galadriel and Celeborn were introduced, certain phrases [see note 12, Galadriel] "strongly suggest that my father conceived them to be Elves of Valinor, exiled Noldor who did not return at the end of the First Age"

Concerning the initial workings for Galadriel's songs, Christopher states that they were "found with the earliest manuscripts of this chapter", adding that there is a completed form of "I sang of leaves"
-- which I note, indeed includes the line "what ship would come to me" (and so on), with its arguable suggestion of some kind of personal ban.

Over to the Silmarillion for a moment: in my opinion, according to the scenario as it stood in Quenta Silmarillion -- at this time anyway [draft writing for "Galadriel"] -- simply being an Exiled Noldo did not necessarily mean one had been banned from returning West at the end of the First Age.

And back to the Treason of Isengard description [note 31, Galadriel], as I read things, the Melian idea surfaces in an addition to both a manuscript and a typescript -- but the typescript (not made by Tolkien) doesn't include the Melian idea as typed, and its handwritten entry to the typescript [Christopher Tolkien]: "no doubt belongs to a later time."

So, two ideas in play at different times? I'll say this much, indeed, if Tolkien thought of Galadriel coming to Middle-earth with Melian, the arguable suggestion is that she was not even part of the Rebellion.


There is some discussion of this in Unfinished Tales where there are some texts suggesting that Galadriel was not permitted to return to Valinor, even after the end of the First Age when the ban on all the other rebel Noldor was lifted.


I'd make this case rather strongly, given that in The Road Goes Ever On Tolkien himself ultimately published that Galadriel was banned at the end of the First Age. Here he not only gave a reason why Galadriel was banned (she is also said to have proudly responded that she had no wish to return West, in any case), but he connected the ban to her songs ["What ship would bear me ever back . . ." and so on]. In any case, Galadriel became burdened with the desire to pass over sea.

To my mind, this isn't head canon, but canon

In other words, Tolkien-published material is as strong as it gets in my book, no matter the original meaning behind these songs.

Anywho, one could further muddy these waters, as, for instance, Christopher Tolkien relates that the The Elessar [written post-Lord of the Ring] -- as first written -- relates that Galadriel was "unwilling" to forsake Middle-earth -- revised to read -- but was not permitted yet to forsake Middle-earth.

When did this revision take place? All I can say with some certainty is that the notion of the ban was published in 1967 [again, in RGEO] and that there exists a draft letter dated to about the same time [letter 297, August 1967] which is in accord with the idea, Tolkien stating: "The Exiles were allowed to return -- save for a few chief actors in the Rebellion of whom at the time of the L. R. only Galadriel remained."

One could wonder then: if Tolkien had the idea of a ban in mind when he first wrote Nerwen's songs, why didn't he start The Elessar with the ban, as well as the text called Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn -- which was also written after the Lord of the Rings was published. Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn states [Unfinished Tales, the version paraphrased by Christopher Tolkien] that for "love of Celeborn" [and "probably" with some pride of her own] she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor.

Curious stuff!

[Edited on 06/08/2023 by Elthir]
Elfeawen Lomiondil
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on: August 06, 2023 12:30
It’s wonderful to hear from you, Elthir! I have always enjoyed your scholarly posts. Based on what I’ve seen of how Tolkien developed a story, I’d say it is quite normal for him to “discover” the significance of something after inventing it, sometimes years later. As time passed, the story accumulated significance as connections grew between ideas. So I find it believable that a line in a song started out not meaning much in particular and then got connected to Galadriel’s ban as he “discovered” more about what made her special and her significance in his story world. I find it fascinating, and at times it is quite startling to learn that something that seems super important started out kind of random.
"There shall be war between the Children of Iluvatar and the Ainu Melko. What if we perish in our quest? The dark halls of Vê be little worse than this bright prison" ~ Fëanor
Elfeawen Lomiondil
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on: August 06, 2023 12:34
P.S. I agree that Galadriel’s ban is canon. I remember being pretty convinced when I read Unfinished Tales, but that was a while ago, and I’ve had to re-evaluate a lot of my ideas as I read through HoME and learn more of the context and chronology of these stories.
"There shall be war between the Children of Iluvatar and the Ainu Melko. What if we perish in our quest? The dark halls of Vê be little worse than this bright prison" ~ Fëanor
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