At last we’ve reached what we all think of as The Two Towers – though
the long preview of Sam and Frodo’s adventures a chapter or two back show just
how fuzzy the division is. After all, while Tolkien was writing, he had no idea
the book would be published in multiple volumes.
Nevertheless, it is an important marker that at
this point he split up the Fellowship, and began to pursue two or three
different plotlines. This seems to have spurred his imagination, as from here
on he invents vast amounts of story that he did not foresee at all even as he
was outlining his own intentions just a little while before.
Chapter XIX. The Departure of Boromir
Continuing the outline from the previous chapter.
The Orcs attack while Trotter is on the hill. He finds Boromir dying. What to
do? Who to follow? Trotter sends Boromir’s body over the falls with Legolas and
Gimli’s help. Tolkien decides these are Saruman’s orcs and some from Moria.
“Saruman is playing a double game.”
CT cites evidence to show that at this point in the
writing it was the winter of 1941-42. JRRT says it took him almost a year to
get from Balin’s tomb to Lothlorien and the Great River “late in 1941”; but CT
believes it is more likely two years, since as he showed in Shadow JRRT
stopped at Balin’s tomb in late 1939.
Tolkien begins to write a draft from the outline
above. He finds Trotter’s visions from Amon Hen “inartistic” and cuts them: so
Trotter sees nothing, in fact in one version does not sit in the seat at all.
CT cannot explain the difference in experience, since JRRT was originally
explicit that the high seat, not the Ring, gave Frodo his power of
vision.
The lament for Boromir was composed at this time
and intended to be “Denethor’s Lament”, though composed by Trotter. It was not
inserted into the text until much later. Trotter is more and more being
referred to as Aragorn.
Trotter tells L. and G. of Boromir’s confession
that he tried to seize the Ring. They are horrified. Tolkien eliminates this
immediately. They set out after the Orcs. JRRT makes a note on the side: “They
meet an old man coming up hill to meet them. . . . there is something
familiar. Suspect he is Saruman.”
This follows the old outline, where it was
anticipated that L. and G. would meet Gandalf while heading home. It did not
make it into these drafts, as story was changing so fast now. But Trotter’s
vision of the eagle from Amon Hen was the eagle dropping Gandalf off in the
vicinity so he could meet up with them.
As they head after the Orcs, and consider how the
Orcs intend to cross Rohan by night only on their way to Isengard, Trotter
expresses a hope to get horses there. The draft manuscript is lost after this
point.
Chapter XX. The Riders of Rohan
Tolkien’s notes at this point: Trotter etc. descend
from ridge to plains. Meet Rohiroth, go on to Fangorn, find no survivors, meet
Gandalf who is in white now. They all go to Minas Tirith. The rest of the war
to be told as seen by Frodo in visions or dreams, and also as overheard from
Orcs: Minas Tirith defeats the Haradwaith, cross at Osgiliath, defeats orcs and
Nazgul, overthrow Minas Morghul, and move on to Dagorlad.
Notes on the Rohiroth: they speak Gnomish, though
they are men, relations of the woodmen and Beornings. Trotter should know
Eomer. Invention of Eowyn Elfsheen daughter of Eomund – or of Theoden.
The Rohan drafts are chaotic because T. erases
earlier versions and writes over on the same paper. Only parts of earlier bits
survive because copied over in ink. Hard to track what comes first in order of
composition.
First draft “rougher in expression” still captures
much of the final version. Eomer is on his way to support the Second Marshal,
who with only 25 men is up ahead, chasing the Orcs. Trotter dominates him from
the start: names, sword, endurance, etc. (“Trotter. That is no name for a man
that you give” is unconscious joke on the hobbit name. Yet T. kept the line
when name changed to Strider!)
T. breaks off, and realizes “This complicates
things”. He decides Eomer is returning from battle with the Orcs, not riding
towards them.
New draft follows. Aragorn sings song to Ondor,
much like final. First mention of White Tree and Winged Crown. Legolas sees
Eagle approaching. T. realizes Eagle is no longer bringing Gandalf to them,
but away from Tolbrandir (high place!) where G. saved Frodo, so changes
Legolas’ lines so Eagle is heading north, away from them – notes say the Eagle
is carrying Gandalf at this time! Later T. wrote large NO next to this
line.
Aragorn discovers brooch, it is freshly inscribed
“M & P”. The lack of an “F” tells him that Frodo is not among the captives.
Aragorn says they nevertheless cannot turn back, even though they are no longer
rescuing the Ringbearer. (CT admits this contradicts A.’s statements about
Frodo’s movements back at the River). First appearance of brooches, later
rewritten into gift scene.
Encounter with Eomer much like final. Mention of
Theoden sitting in Torras -> Meodarn, Meduarn (‘mead-hall’) -> Winseld
(‘wine-hall’), the high house in Eodor (Eodor singular = fence, enclosure,
dwelling), Eodoras (plural).
Final appearance of ragged old man on the eaves of
Fangorn written with Gandalf in mind, not Saruman. The horses are wild, but do
not escape, and Legolas quiets them.
Chapter XXI. The Uruk-Hai
Brief outline: very similar to final version.
Clearly the Orcs are from different masters, only the ‘great orcs’ are from
Saruman.
Most of the original draft for this chapter is
missing, mostly because it was erased and written over in ink. In the ink
version, Pippin casts off his brooch in the plains, though in the outline it
was still up in the hills. The Orcs call Saruman the old Uthwit, which
is from Old English ūþwita, ‘sage, philosopher, one of great
learning.’
This does not make it to the final version. CT
gives one example of the draft to show how close JRRT got to his final text on
first try, and remarks: “it can be said this chapter was achieved with far
greater facility than any previous part of the story of The Lord of the
Rings.” Tolkien, on a roll, did not mark a chapter ending with the death of
Uglúk, but continued right on with:
Chapter XXII. Treebeard
The “Giant Treebeard” is referred to several times
in earlier notes looking forward in the story. But nowhere had Tolkien given
any sign that he was to become what he did: an Ent in Tolkien’s reinvented
term, not at all a giant man as tall as a tree, but a tall (10-, then 12-, then
14-foot) half-human, half-tree creature who is a kind of shepherd of the
woods.
There are some penciled notes dating from the time
when Tolkien was working out the plot after the Breaking of the
Fellowship:
“Did first Lord of the Elves make Tree-folk in
order to or through trying to understand trees?” Difference between
trolls -- stone inhabited by goblin-spirit, stone-giants, and the
‘tree-folk’ (Ents). [CT comments that this is the first use of Ents in this
sense; up to now Tolkien had used it in its Anglo-Saxon sense of ‘giant or
mighty person’, c.f. the Ettenmoors north of Rivendell were originally
Entish Lands.]
Treebeard anxious for news, never hears much.
Bothered by Saruman, a machine-minded man. Too much East Wind these days. Only
three of us left: myself and Skinbark and Leaflock. Saruman took Skinbark off
to Isengard some time ago. -- Offers to take M. and P. to Minas Tirith. He
smells war coming.
How to meet Gandalf? Perhaps Gandalf comes up to
the gates of Minas Tirith as a bent old beggar, and then when siege is at
darkest hour, he throws off his cloak and stands up in white, and leads
sortie. Or else he comes with horses of Rohan. -- Perhaps separate Sam and
Frodo. Sam gets lost, meets Gandalf, they have adventure getting into Minas
Tirith. No, rejects this. -- Stair goes up from Gorgoroth to watch-tower. Cut
out Minas Morgul. -- Trotter sends Legolas and Gimli with Boromir to Minas
Tirith. He wanders looking for hobbits, meets Gandalf. -- What are Treebeard
and Ents to do about Saruman? Seek help of Rohiroth?
CT points out that JRRT was struggling with the
prospect that those who saw Gandalf in the Mirror (Sam and Frodo) are not the
ones who actually meet him (Merry and Pippin).
The draft manuscript, as with the previous chapter,
is partly missing from having been written over. Again, the final form of the
chapter was reached fairly easily, “written so fast as to touch on total
illegibility if the later text did not generally provide sufficient
clues.”
After giving an example (the approach to Fonthill
-> Funtial -> Wellandhouse, later Wellinghall) of the existing first draft to
show how similar it is to the final text, CT then comments: “All the tiny
meticulous changes of word and rhythm that differentiate this from the text of
TT were introduced in the writing of the fair copy manuscript.”
Some changes noted: There are no longer any evil
trees (“according to their kind and light”) in Fangorn, they have been weeded
out by the Ents. Old Forest trees were queer from the beginning, due to “some
old sorcery in the Dark Days”. They have no Ents to care for them. On
Tombombadil (“So that is what you call him”), Treebeard says “he is not
an Ent. He is no herdsman. He laughs and he does not interfere. He never made
anything go wrong, but he never cured anything either.”
Treebeard’s rant against Saruman grows and grows
until he says “we’ll go to Isengard!” and CT comments: “in these last hastily
jotted lines we see the emergence of a major new idea and new direction. The
role that Treebeard was to play in the raising of the siege of Minas Tirith is
gone and all is suddenly clear: Treebeard’s part is to attack
Saruman.”
Chapter XXIII. Notes on Various Topics
Various scrap notes collected together, of
uncertain date, just insert them here.
First thought that the wizards are “angels”.
Gandalf reappears as the White Wizard. “He has thus acquired something
of the awe and terrible power of the Ring-wraiths, only on the good side.”
Repeats thought that perhaps the balrog on the bridge could be Saruman.
Time Scheme. Too much winter. Delay leaving
Rivendell from Nov. 24 to Dec. 24 (later 25 to conform to later calendar
dates).
Geography (dated Feb. 9, 1942). Ondor becomes
Gondor. Osgiliath becomes Elostirion.
Geography and Language: Testing a new name
for Sarn Gebir: Sern Lamrach; Tarn Felin; Trandoran; (added later)
Emyn Muil.
Another note: “Language of Shire = modern English;
Language of Dale = Norse (used by Dwarves of that region); Language of Rohan =
Old English; ‘Modern English’ is lingua franca spoken by all people
(except a few secluded folk like Lorien) – but little and ill by orcs.”
Chapter XXIV. The White Rider
All the various drafts, rough, rewritten, and fair,
exist, though they underwent constant correction after first completion, and
cannot be treated as distinct entities. “The history of almost every sentence
can be followed until near the end of the chapter.”
For instance, Aragorn’s words about the old man in
the night not scaring the horses, as seen in the fair copy, suggest that JRRT
intended him to be Gandalf. But in the first draft later on in the chapter the
old man certainly was Saruman, or “some wraith of his making”: Gandalf says so
to Gimli. (Yet JRRT wrote a note at that point: Vision of Gandalf’s
thought. CT points out that these words are not clear: did Gandalf project
a ‘vision’ of himself, a ‘wraith’ that he had made? Or was Gandalf so focused
in his thought on Saruman, that a vision of S. was ‘projected’ for the three
companions to see?)
The meeting with Gandalf follows the earliest draft
quite closely. We learn that Gandalf struggled with Sauron over Frodo from
Methedras (not from Tol Brandir as originally), and so the eagle over Rohan was
not Gandalf’s transportation, but just a scout. But the eagle did not carry G.
to Lórien from the peak; the implication here is that G. made his way from
Moria to Methedras himself.
Gandalf tells them what is going on, that the
hobbits are safe, and asks for their story. He explains who Treebeard and the
Ents are: “Stone-old, tree-hale, snail-slow, strong as a growing root.” Then
says, ‘We must go. We are needed South.’ He consoles Aragorn ‘your coming to
Minas Tirith will now be very different from what would have been, had you come
there alone reporting that Boromir son of the Lord Denethor had fallen while
you lived . . .’ He then tells him he must now go to Winseld (later Edoras) to
help Rohan, where war has come and ‘it goes ill for the horsemasters.’
Interestingly, I don’t see CT commenting here about
another abrupt change from JRRT’s outlines: Aragorn’s detour to Rohan was
never contemplated before this line was written, I think. Even “we are
needed South” seems to imply they are off for Minas Tirith.
But at this point, G will not speak of the battle
with the balrog, and the chapter ended originally with “‘Name him not!’ and for
a moment it seemed that a cloud of pain passed over his face . . .”
At some time JRRT decided to add Gandalf’s escape
from Moria; it first appears as they are riding away south from Fangorn.
Originally Gandalf says ‘Naked I returned’, not
‘Naked I was sent back’. He says more explicitly that in Lorien he tarried in a
long time that was just a brief hour of the world.
Galadriel’s message to Aragorn refers more fully to
the green stone: “In the south under snow a green stone thou shalt see.”
Nothing about the Grey Company or the Paths of the Dead.
Chapter XXV. The Story Foreseen from Fangorn
Here JRRT made an outline of how things should go
in Rohan. Gandalf goes to Theoden, where he is unwelcome as a “herald of
trouble”. A messenger from Minas Tirith is present, and Theoden gives a precis
of the entire assault prepared against him by Saruman, and against Minas Tirith
by Sauron, the “whole of Rhun the Great, the endless East”, the “fierce dark
men of the South, the Haradwaith”. (JRRT makes note: remove this whole speech
to after Isengard’s fall)
Theoden is in despair: “Not long now shall the hall
(which Brego son of Brytta, later Eorl son of Eofor built) stand. Fire shall
eat up the high seat.” Gandalf speaks words of comfort, advises to do one deed
at a time. First deal with Saruman, then turn East. There is a hope in the West
(he does not name the Ents).
They all ride off. They find the forces of Rohan
beset, the Second Master is dead, but the new force with aid of Aragorn drives
the enemy back across the river Isen. In the morning they awake, and see in
wonder a wood between the Isengarders and the West. Vapour columns seen
rising in Isengard. The enemy are driven into the river or assailed by the
trees which suddenly seem to come to life.
They go on to Isengard. Piles of rubble with Merry
and Pippin on top. Ents flooded Isengard after breaking the tower’s stair and
door.
Saruman is let out of his tower. “Ah, my dear
Gandalf! I am so pleased to see you; we at least (we wizards) understand one
another.” Etc. tries to be purely charming. Gandalf laughs, then in a terrible
voice demands his staff, and breaks it. He changes Saruman’s coat to many
colours from white, and evicts him to be a beggar. (later: have this at end of
story; he is watched in mean time by Ents.)
Tolkien considered an alternative way to tell all
this: from Merry and Pippin’s point of view, they are with the Ents near
Isengard. They wait til the orcs have left for the battle and watch the battle
from a distance, first see orcs winning, then Aragorn and the mysterious White
Rider are victorious. Then Gandalf and Treebeard assault Isengard.
Back to Edoras, funeral of the Second Master, a
feast, and appearance of Eowyn sister of Eomer. Description of her, and her
love for Aragorn. Messenger from Minas Tirith arrives with news of siege,
Theoden rides East, with Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Merry and Pippin.
(add later: Eowyn goes as Amazon).
Tolkien also wrote up how to structure the larger
story now that it was so fragmented:
Bring each party to crisis: end Ent scene with
“night lies over Isengard”; end Gandalf, Aragorn etc. with vision of Winseld’s
golden roof and sight of smoke.
Then Frodo and Sam. Meet Gollum, betrayal, Frodo
captured and imprisoned in tower of Kirith Ungol.
The back to Gandalf and battle of Isen, feast and
ride to relief of Minas Tirith, march to Dagorlad and the gates of Kirith
Ungol.
Return to Frodo. He looks out into night from
tower. Light of the phial allows him to see forces of deliverance approaching.
Grieves for Sam. Orcs come and take phial and shutter window, he lies in dark
and despair.
Where to put the parley of Sauron and Gandalf? If
after Frodo’s capture, then readers will know that Frodo (and so Sauron) has
not the Ring. Added: But no, not if you break off with Frodo carried off
by Orcs and before Sam rescues him. Added: But even if you do tell that
Sam took the Ring, you can end with him fleeing with orcs on his trail and his
escape seemingly unlikely.
Probably best as originally planned: tell only of
Gandalf etc. until reach Kirith Ungol, then go back to Sam and Frodo. Sam
rescues Frodo and while battle is fought at the mouth of Gorgoroth they fly
towards Orodruin.
Chapter XXVI. The King of the Golden Hall
Again the fair manuscript was written in stages
after each section of rough draft was finished, except for the last third,
where the penciled draft was inked over in revision.
Gandalf rides on ahead with Gimli; Aragorn and
Legolas follow them to Eodoras. There are only seven mounds, and Legolas says
it has been a little over two hundred years since the Rohiroth arrived from the
north. In a revision, the entire “Beowulf” entrance is added. The guard speaks
originally in Anglo-saxon, no less, though this was quickly rejected.
In revision, the separate entry of Gimli and
Gandalf is rejected, though it took a long time for Gimli to get into the
action at the doors of the house; Tolkien seems to have forgotten he was there
again.
Aragorn’s song about the horse and the rider
appears, about Eorl the Old (quickly changed to ‘the Young’). Eorl fought in
the final Battle at Gorgoroth, when the Ring was taken from Sauron. The
exterior of the hall, the portico, is described in fine detail, and CT thinks
it was dropped from the final text by accident.
When we finally meet Theoden after all this
revision, he is bent with age, with a large green stone on his forehead; two
fair women attend him; and “a wizened figure of a man with a pale wise face”
sits on the step. First appearance of Wormtongue. But Wormtongue’s words of
ill-welcome still are spoken by Theoden. Wormtongue gets these lines in
revision, but Theoden is still equally suspicious. Gandalf triumphs, and when
Theoden gets up he dismisses the girls. The younger one looks back, and Aragorn
is smitten: “after she was gone he stood still, looking at the dark doors and
taking little heed of other things.”
Gandalf’s words to Theoden about the quest are
explicit. At this point Theoden wonders that Eomer’s words about Gandalf’s fall
into Moria were not false. Aragorn reassures him that Eomer repeated the truth
as far as Aragorn knew it at the time, and adds that even now Gandalf has not
told them how he escaped. So when this part of the chapter was being written,
T. had still not had Gandalf tell the tale back in Fangorn.
For quite a long time the other girl survived in
the story at Edoras: Idis, daughter of the King. It’s unclear why she was even
invented (when in an earlier outline Tolkien had already named Eowyn sister of
Eomer as the sole server to the companions at the feast); and unclear why the
daughter Idis, older and with more rank than Eowyn, should have remained so
silent and so overshadowed by the niece.
Likewise Aragorn’s infatuation with Eowyn appears
throughout the chapter. Later versions kept these scenes, but simply reversed
the infatuation. In his notes at the time JRRT foresees their wedding. But
later in other notes we see: “?Cut out the love-story of Aragorn and Eowyn.
Aragorn is too old and lordly and grim. Make Eowyn the twin-sister of Eomund, a
stern amazon woman. Probably Eowyn should die to avenge or save Theoden. (JRRT
added in a hasty scribble that possibly Aragorn did indeed love Eowyn and never
wedded after her death.)
With these notes, Tolkien reminds himself to alter
Galadriel’s prophecy to Aragorn. “In the south under snow a green stone thou
shalt see” was the stone on Theoden’s brow under his white hair, and it was a
token that Eowyn, standing near by, was meant for Aragorn!
Chapter XXVII. Appendix on Runes
All I can say is this chapter deals with Tolkien’s
runic alphabets in extreme detail. Its placement at the end of
Treason is not particularly explained. CT dates the texts from shortly
before LotR was begun. Look this chapter up to read and enjoy, but not
here!
Ah, we’ve reached the end. Enjoyed your tour of
The Treason of Isengard?
. . . .
You’re kidding. Really?
Well, anyway, as before, I had to compress this
last third of the book into a third and final paragraph for the Encyclopedia.
Here it is:
Only Chapters 19-26 cover the textual development
of TT, Book 3, which recounts the struggle with the forces of Isengard. The
history of the Riders of Rohan and the tale of the Ents of Fangorn grow even as
Tolkien first writes them down. It is clear that the plot-diversion that led
the Three Hunters, two hobbits, and Gandalf west to war with Saruman had not
been anticipated by Tolkien in the story-notes presented just a few chapters
earlier. Then, as CT explains in his introduction, for reasons of space he ends
this volume abruptly at Edoras. He continues the story of the writing of Book 3
and the rest of LotR in the next two volumes.
Not bad. 117 words. Add that to the other two, and
I used 315 words out of my limit of 1000 to explain what the book contained. An
additional 153 words were dedicated to a quick introduction and explanation of
the title, and the book’s context within the
History of the Lord of the
Rings series.
From there, of course, I was free to use my
remaining 532 words to talk about what it meant—if it meant anything, that is.
More on
Friday.
The Critics Speak:
The most striking revision of all, one also noted by Christopher Tolkien, appears in a draft of the preceding chapter, “Farewell to Lórien,” in which two canceled sentences and Tolkien’s note on their cancellation reinforce speculations about whether time does or does not pass and supply the rationale for the debate in all its versions. As the Company prepares to leave Lórien, their Elf-guide Haldir announces, “I have just returned from the Northern Fences . . . and I am sent now to be your guide again. [struck out: There are strange things happening away back there. We do not know the meaning of them. But].” Above the canceled words is penciled the provocative comment “This won’t do—if Lórien is timeless, for then nothing will have happened since they entered” (Treason of Isengard, 286). Tolkien’s mind here is plain. It “won’t do” to have an Elf in a timeless land report things happening in time. (Verlyn Flieger, A Question of Time: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Road to Faërie, pp. 103-04)squire online:
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