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Elfeawen Lomiondil
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Post The History of Middle-Earth Vol. 8: The War of the Ring
on: August 13, 2023 03:17
I wanted a place where I could post anything I found interesting as I read The War of the Ring 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 War of the Ring is the third 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, sketches, 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 War of the Ring? This volume contains first drafts and revised drafts of material that became The Two Towers and Return of the King. The remainder of Return of the King is the main topic of the next book, Sauron Defeated. The War of the Ring also contains maps and a few simple ketches and diagrams Tolkien made, including some different concepts for Orthanc.

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 some alternate ideas for Eowyn and the first appearance of Faramir.
"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 13, 2023 03:37
In one version of “The Last Debate”, Tolkien tries out some explanations and justifications for what Gandalf thinks would happen if Sauron got the Ring and what would have happened if someone used the Ring against Sauron. I found it very interesting and could see some of these ideas being “canon” but I concluded that they probably are not. If Tolkien were satisfied with these explanations, then surely he would have used them?

Here’s a sample.

Gandalf tells those assembled that they should not lose hope because Sauron has not yet discovered Frodo and taken the Ring. How does he know this? Gandalf says if Sauron got the Ring, they would know or feel it right away. (I love how ominous this sounds!) Darkness would fall on Middle-Earth, a supernatural darkness and not the mere clouds that Sauron used to darken Gondor before the siege. At first Gandalf thought the clouds meant the worst had happened and nearly despaired. But he eventually realized that the clouds were a trick meant to induce despair. The second sign was that fighting would break out among the leaders who opposed Sauron. The text ended right after that, so I can’t elaborate on the second sign.

This idea about the signs seems like it could have been canon. Why did Tolkien remove it?

Gandalf tells those assembled that using the Ring would have assured their victory over Sauron, but doing so would only set up a new dark lord every bit as bad. This sentiment seems consistent with LOTR, but the next part does not. Whereas in LOTR someone’s capacity to use the Ring depended on their spiritual power (my words), this draft appears to say that anyone who used the Ring to conquer would become just as powerful and just as bad as Sauron. In fact, the new Ring lord could subjugate Sauron and basically drain his power and knowledge. That is how the new Ring lord would be become virtually the same as Sauron.

Sometimes I can make good guesses why Tolkien changed his ideas and plot points, but not this time. I like this idea because it makes it easy (and dreadful) to visualize what would happen if someone claimed the Ring. It also helped me understand why some people compare the Ring to the atomic bomb.
"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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Posts: 349
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Post Faramir on the Three Fold Division of Elves and Men
on: August 27, 2023 12:28
In Amazon’s Rings of Power, Numenorians refer to Men not from Numenore as “Low Men”. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Low Men used in the books before. Or Low Elves. Yet there are High Elves, and so that naturally raises the question of what those not deemed High are called. Plus there is a certain symmetry between the different “tiers” of Elven peoples and those of Men, I’ve always thought.

On page 157, Faramir explains the three fold division of Elves and Men in a deleted scene. Faramir is first introduced in this book (this stage of the writing) and at first he had a long conversation with Sam and Frodo about Gondorian history and culture. Tolkien later moved a lot of this information to the appendices.

Faramir says that just as there are High Elves who were spiritually enriched in the West (my wording), there are High Men, also called Men of the Light or Men of the West. These are Numenoreans and their descendants only.

Next there are Elves of the Middle, also called Lingerers or Elves of the Woods. These are Elves that lingered on the shores rather than completing the journey to Valinor, like the Sindar and Falathrim. Men of the Middle are also called Men of the Shadow. They are not evil, but they have always lived in the shadow of Morgoth/Sauron and never experienced the Light of the West as the Numenoreans did. They include the Rohirrim and related kindred in Dale and the Mirkwood region.

Faramir avoids calling anyone “low”. Instead the lowest tier of Elves are called Wild Elves, and they are Elves of woods and mountains. I wish I knew if the Silvan of Mirkwood are Wild Elves, but I lean towards yes. There are also Wild Men, or Men of the Darkness.

But as in ROTK, Faramir says that he thinks it would be more accurate to classify the Gondorians as Men of the Shadow at this point.
"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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