The War of the Jewels (90 page)

By the laws of the Eldar I may not slay you at this time: here there is a footnote in the original: 'Because the Eldar (which included the Sindar) were forbidden to slay one another in revenge for any grievance however great. Also at this time Eol had ridden towards Aglon with no ill intent, and it was not unjust that he should seek news of Aredel and Maeglin.'

$23. for he perceived now that Maeglin and Aredhel were fleeing to Gondolin: 'For he saw now that he had been cheated, and that his wife and son were fleeing to Gondolin, and he had been delayed, so that it was now more than two days since they crossed the Fords.'

This narrative is followed by various notes. One of these is a genealogical table:

Miriel = Finwe = Indis

Feanor Turgon, Arehel = Eol

Curufin Maeglin

To this is added: So Curufin was half-nephew of Turgon and Areal.

Eol was uncle by marriage of Curufin, but that was denied as a forced marriage".' This genealogy is the basis for Eol's words cited under $22

above, 'to find one's nephew so kindly at need'; but it is of course entirely wrong. The correct genealogy is:

Miriel = Finwe = Indis

Feanor Fingolfin

Curufin Turgon, Aredel = Eol

Curufin was not Eol's nephew (through Aredel), but his cousin (by marriage). It is a strange error, one might say unprecedented, since it is not a mere casual slip.

On another page is the following long, rapidly written, and remarkably elaborate discussion of the motives of Celegorm and Curufin.

The meeting between Eol and Curufin (if not too long an interruption) is good, since it shows (as is desirable) Curufin, too often the villain (especially in the Tale of Tinuviel), in a better and more honourable light - though still one of dangerous mood and contemptuous speech. Curufin of course knew well of Eol's hatred of the Noldor, and especially of Feanor and his sons, as 'usurpers'

(though in this case unjust, since the lands occupied by the 5 sons had not been peopled before by the Sindar). Also he knew of Eol's friendship with the Dwarves of Nogrod (indeed Eol could not have journeyed alone across E. Beleriand to Nogrod unless allowed by the 5 sons), among whom he had tried with some success to stir up unfriendliness to the Noldor. Which was a grievance to the 5 sons, who had, before Eol's coming to Nan Elmoth, had much profit from the help of the Dwarves. Curufin also knew that Eol's wife was of the Noldor, indeed he had long known who she was, and now shrewdly guessed that she was [?seeking] to escape from her husband at last. Curufin could have slain Eol (as he greatly wished!) and no one beyond the few men with him at his camp (who would never have betrayed him) would ever have heard of it - or much mourned it. In Elmoth it would simply be learned that Eol had ridden in pursuit of Aredel and never come back, and there were perils enough upon the road to account for that. But this would have been in Eldarin law and sentiment murder; Eol came alone, on no errand of mischief at that time, but in distress. Also [he] had answered Curufin's contempt and insults soberly or indeed with courtesy (whether it were ironic or not). Also and more cogently he was one of the Eldar, and not so far as was known under any shadow of Morgoth - unless that vague one which afflicted many others of the Sindar (? due to whispers inspired by Morgoth) -

jealousy of the Noldor. Which was dangerous (whatever the faults of their rebellion) since if Morgoth had not been followed by the Exiles, it seems clear that all the Sindar would soon have been destroyed or enslaved.

An important point not made clear is Curufin and Celegorm's earlier action in the matter of Aredel. She had actually stayed with them, and made no secret of who she was - indeed they knew her well from of old. Why did they not send word to Gondolin? Her escort though valiant chiefs would seem to have been so bewildered and daunted by the horrors of the valleys west of Esgalduin that they had never reached the Bridge of Esgalduin or come near to Aglond. This makes it necessary, I think, not to name the most eminent and bravest chieftains (Glorfindel, Egalmoth, and Ecthelion) as her escort. The answer then to the above question is this: the perils of Dungorthin etc. were universally dreaded by the Eldar, and not least by the sons of Feanor, to him [read whom] refuge southward into Doriath was utterly closed. It had, of course, been expressly forbidden by Turgon that Aredel should go that way. Only her wilfulness had done this. Her escort plainly endured to the utmost of their strength the perils in their search, and so doubtless in fact aided her escape, by drawing to themselves the chief attention of the evil creatures. Now there had [been] since Gondolin was

'closed' no communication at all between the sons of Feanor and Turgon. It was known of course that any of these sons (or any fully accredited messengers) bearing tidings of Aredel would at once have been admitted. But Aredel had evidently told Curufin (and later Celegorm of whom she was most fond) enough of herself, to understand that she had escaped from Gondolin by her own will and was glad to dwell [with] them and be free. Now they could only get word to Gondolin by facing evil perils, which only her rescue from misery would have seemed to them sufficient reason. Moreover while she was happy and at ease they delayed - believing that even if Turgon was informed he would only have demanded her return (since his permission to her to depart was void after her disobedience). But before they had made up their minds she was again lost, and it was a long time before they knew or even guessed what had become of her. This they did eventually when Aredel again began to visit the borders of Nan Elmoth, or stray beyond them. For they held a constant watch on Nan Elmoth, mistrusting the doings and goings of Eol, and their scouts espied her at times riding in the sunlight by the wood-eaves. But now it seemed too late [to] them; and they all [? read they thought that all] they would get for any peril would be the rebuke or wrath of Turgon. And this [they]

wished in no way to receive. For they were now under a shadow of fear, and beginning to prepare for war again ere the strength of Thangorodrim became insuperable.

In this piece there are major difficulties, and also some minor points to mention. (1) It is said that Curufin 'knew of Eol's friendship with the Dwarves of Nogrod': in the narrative Eol's visits were to Belegost, changed on B(ii) to 'Nogrod or Belegost' (see under $9 above), but already in A the feast to which he had gone at the time of the flight of his wife and son was held at Nogrod ($14). Elsewhere among these late 'Maeglin' writings it is said of Eol: 'Lately he had visited Nogrod often; he had become very friendly with the Dwarves of Nogrod, since those of Belegost to the north had become friends of Caranthir son of Feanor.' (2) The pass is here named Aglond, though in the interpolated narrative itself it is named Aglon; see p. 338, note 3. (3) For the naming of Aredhel's escort, here rejected, see under $4 above. (4) The reference to Dungorthin rather than Dungortheb is a casual reversion to the old and long-enduring name.

(5) The five sons of Feanor are three times mentioned, but I cannot explain this. It does not seem credible that the Seven Sons of Feanor, so deeply rooted and so constantly recurring in the tradition, should become five by a mere slip of forgetfulness, as in the omission of Fingolfin from the genealogy (p. 327). By this time the story had entered that one of the twin brothers Damrod and Diriel, later Amrod and Amras, the youngest of Feanor's sons, died in the burning of the ships of the Teleri at Losgar, because he 'had returned to sleep in his ship': this was stated in a pencilled note on the typescript of the Annals of Aman (X.128, $162), although no consequential alteration to any text was ever made. Possibly my father had come to believe that both Amrod and Amras died in the burning ship.

(6) Lastly, the concluding sentence of the discussion, concerning the preparation for war by Celegorm and Curufin, is surprising. The Siege of Angband ended very suddenly at midwinter of the year 455.

Between the rout of Glaurung in 260 and the Battle of Sudden Flame there was (in the words of the Grey Annals, p. 46) 'the long peace of wellnigh two hundred years. In that time there was naught but affrays on the north-marches ...' It is true that in 402 (p. 49) there was

'fighting on the north-marches, more bitter than there had been since the routing of Glaurung; for the Orcs attempted to pierce the pass of Aglon'; while in 422 (p. 50) Fingolfin 'began to ponder an assault upon Angband', which came to nothing, because 'most of the Eldar were content with matters as they were and slow to begin an assault in which many must surely perish'. But Maeglin and Aredhel fled to Gondolin from Nan Elmoth in 400. There has nowhere been any indication that the sons of Feanor were beginning to prepare for war 55 years before the Dagor Bragollach, with which the Siege of Angband ended.

For the remainder of the narrative there are very few alterations to the top copy B(i) of the typescript, and I notice only the following: $35. It was appointed that Eol should be brought...: at the end of the paragraph my father added:

For the Eldar never used any poison, not even against their most cruel enemies, beast, ork, or man; and they were filled with shame and horror that Eol should have meditated this evil deed.

From this point also the published text follows the original very closely, and the small amount of editorial alteration in no way affects the narrative.

I have mentioned (p. 316) that in addition to the very late emendations and annotations, recorded above, made to the text of Maeglin there is also much further material from the same time. These writings are primarily concerned with the geography, times, and distances of the journeys on horseback, but they are complicated and confused, often repeating themselves with slight differences of calculation, and in part virtually illegible. They contain however many curious details about the geography and the ways taken by travellers in those regions.

To set out this material in ordered form, treating it page by page and attempting to trace the development in sequence, is not possible, and if it were possible unnecessary. My father himself noted: 'These calcula-tions of times in Eol's journeys though interesting (and sufficient to establish their possibility) are not really necessary in the narrative -

which seems credible as it stands even when faced by a map.' What follows is a discussion with some citation of what can be learned (and still more, of what can not be learned) of the roads in East Beleriand.

The numbered notes are found on pp. 338-9.

Associated with this material are rather pale photocopies of the North-east and South-east sections of the map. These photocopies were taken when the map had received almost all the alterations that were ever made to it,(1) and my father used the copies, not the original, to indicate features arising from his reconsideration and development of the story of Maeglin c.1970. Since the tracks are far more readily understood visually than by description, the redrawing of the North-east section (p. 183) is reproduced again on p. 331 with the alterations shown; the markings on the South-east section are few and easily understood from a description, and for these reference is made to the redrawing on p. 185.

My father had stated in a note on the back of the original 'second map' (see V.272) that the scale is 50 miles to 3-2 cm, which is the length of the sides of the squares. On the back of one of these photocopies, however, he wrote: 'The centimetre reckoning on the original map is unnecessary, clumsy, and inaccurate. Actually 2 squares of 1 25

[inches] each = 100 miles.... The scale is therefore 40 miles to an inch. 50 miles to 1 25 inches = one square.' Although he did not precisely say so here, it looks to me as if he made the original grid on the basis of inches, but subsequently interpreted it as if it were in centimetres.

The East Road. In the original text of Maeglin (p. 319, $5) the march-wardens of Doriath said to Isfin that 'the speediest way is by the East Road from Brithiach through eastern Brethil, and so along the north-march of this Kingdom, until you pass Esgalduin and Aros, and so come to the woods behind the Hill of Himring', which was not altered when the corrections were made to the text long afterwards, except by changing 'Esgalduin and Aros' to 'the Bridge of Esgalduin and the Ford of Aros' on one copy. In $6, she 'sought' the 'road'

between the Mountains of Terror and the north fences of Doriath, and in $7 'she held to the East Road, and crossed Esgalduin and Aros', changed on one copy to 'At last she found the East Road again...' In one of the rejected passages in the manuscript A given under $$14 ff on p. 324 it is said that 'Morleg [Maeglin] went not at once by the East Road, but rode first to Celegorm', while in the second rejected passage (ibid.) '[Eol's] servants reported to him that they had fled to the fords of the East Road over Aros and Esgalduin'; in the third form (p. 325)

'his servants reported to him that they had ridden to the East Road and the ford over Aros.'

From all these passages it is clear that when he wrote the original text of Maeglin in 1951 my father conceived of an East - West road running from the ford of Brithiach between the Mountains of Terror and the northern borders of Doriath, and across the rivers Esgalduin and Aros; and the fact that the first of these passages was allowed to stand in both typescripts seems to show that he still retained this conception in 1970. The only difference seems to be the introduction of a bridge, rather than a ford, over Esgalduin. That this was certainly the case is seen from the following passage: