Текст книги "The Book of Lost Tales, Part One"

Автор книги: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

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Then Manwл was grieved by their request and forbade the Gnomes to utter such words in Kфr if they desired still to dwell there among the other Elves; but then changing from harshness he told them many things concerning the world and its fashion and the dangers that were already there, and the worse that might soon come to be by reason of Melko’s return. “My heart feels, and my wisdom tells me,” said he, “that no great age of time will now elapse ere those other Children of Ilъvatar, the fathers of the fathers of Men, do come into the world—and behold it is of the unalterable Music of the Ainur that the world come in the end for a great while under the sway of Men; yet whether it shall be for happiness or sorrow Ilъvatar has not revealed, and I would not have strife or fear or anger come ever between the different Children of Ilъvatar, and fain would I for many an age yet leave the world empty of beings who might strive against the new-come Men and do hurt to them ere their clans be grown to strength, while the nations and peoples of the Earth are yet infants.” To this he added many words concerning Men and their nature and the things that would befall them, and the Noldoli were amazed, for they had not heard the Valar speak of Men, save very seldom; and had not then heeded overmuch, deeming these creatures weak and blind and clumsy and beset with death, nor in any ways likely to match the glory of the Eldaliл. Now therefore, although Manwл had unburdened his heart in this way hoping that the Noldoli, seeing that he did not labour without a purpose or a reason, would grow calmer and more trustful of his love, rather were they astonished to discover that the Ainur made the thought of Men so great a matter, and Manwл’s words achieved the opposite of his wish; for Fлanor in his misery twisted them into an evil semblance, when standing again before the throng of Kфr he spake these words:

“Lo, now do we know the reason of our transportation hither as it were cargoes of fair slaves! Now at length are we told to what end we are guarded here, robbed of our heritage in the world, ruling not the wide lands, lest perchance we yield them not to a race unborn. To these foresooth—a sad folk, beset with swift mortality, a race of burrowers in the dark, clumsy of hand, untuned to songs or musics, who shall dully labour at the soil with their rude tools, to these whom still he says are of Ilъvatar would Manwл Sъlimo lordling of the Ainur give the world and all the wonders of its land, all its hidden substances—give it to these, that is our inheritance. Or what is this talk of the dangers of the world? A trick to deceive us; a mask of words! O all ye children of the Noldoli, whomso will no longer be house-thralls of the Gods however softly held, arise I bid ye and get you from Valinor, for now is the hour come and the world awaits.”

In sooth it is a matter for great wonder, the subtle cunning of Melko—for in those wild words who shall say that there lurked not a sting of the minutest truth, nor fail to marvel seeing the very words of Melko pouring from Fлanor his foe, who knew not nor remembered whence was the fountain of these thoughts; yet perchance the [?outmost] origin of these sad things was before Melko himself, and such things must be—and the mystery of the jealousy of Elves and Men is an unsolved riddle, one of the sorrows at the world’s dim roots.

Howso these deep things be, the fierce words of Fлanor got him instantly a mighty following, for a veil there seemed before the hearts of the Gnomes—and mayhap even this was not without the knowledge of Ilъvatar. Yet would Melko have been rejoiced to hear it, seeing his evil giving fruit beyond his hopes. Now however that evil one wanders the dark plains of Eruman, and farther south than anyone had yet penetrated he found a region of the deepest gloom, and it seemed to him a good place wherein for the time to hide his stolen treasure.

Therefore he seeks until he finds a dark cavern in the hills, and webs of darkness lie about so that the black air might be felt heavy and choking about one’s face and hands. Very deep and winding were those ways having a subterranean outlet on the sea as the ancient books say, and here on a time were the Moon and Sun imprisoned afterward;¹⁰ for here dwelt the primeval spirit Mуru whom even the Valar know not whence or when she came, and the folk of Earth have given her many names. Mayhap she was bred of mists and darkness on the confines of the Shadowy Seas, in that utter dark that came between the overthrow of the Lamps and the kindling of the Trees, but more like she has always been; and she it is who loveth still to dwell in that black place taking the guise of an unlovely spider, spinning a clinging gossamer of gloom that catches in its mesh stars and moons and all bright things that sail the airs. Indeed it was because of her labours that so little of that overflowing light of the Two Trees flowed ever into the world, for she sucked light greedily, and it fed her, but she brought forth only that darkness that is a denial of all light. Ungwл Lianti the great spider who enmeshes did the Eldar call her, naming her also Wirilуmл or Gloom-weaver, whence still do the Noldoli speak of her as Ungoliont the spider or as Gwerlum the Black.

Now between Melko and Ungwл Lianti was there friendship from the first, when she found him and his comrades straying in her caves, but Gloomweaver was ahungered of the brightness of that hoard of jewels so soon as she saw them.

Now Melko having despoiled the Noldoli and brought sorrow and confusion into the realm of Valinor through less of that hoard than aforetime, having now conceived a darker and deeper plan of aggrandisement; therefore seeing the lust of Ungwл’s eyes he offers her all that hoard, saving only the three Silmarils, if she will abet him in his new design. This she granteth readily, and so came all that treasury of most lovely gems fairer than any others that the world has seen into the foul keeping of Wirilуmл, and was wound in webs of darkness and hidden deep in the caverns of the eastern slopes of the great hills that are the southern boundary of Eruman.

Deeming that now is the time to strike while Valinor is yet in uproar nor waiting for Aulл and Tulkas to block the passage in the hills, Melko and Wirilуmл crept into Valinor and lay hidden in a valley of the foothills until Silpion was in bloom; but all the while was Gloomweaver spinning her most lightless webs and ill-enchanted shades. These she lets float down so that in place of the fair silver light of Silpion all about the western plain of Valinor there creeps now a dim uncertain darkness and faint lights waver in it. Then does she throw a black cloak of invisibility about Melko and herself and they steal across the plain, and the Gods are in wonder and the Elves in Kфr are1 afraid; nonetheless they do not as yet suspect the hand of Melko in this, thinking rather it is some work of Ossл’s, who at times with his storms caused great mists and darkness to be wafted off the Shadowy Seas, encroaching even the bright airs of Valinor; though in this he met the anger both of Ulmo and of Manwл. Then Manwл sent forth a sweet westerly breath wherewith he was accustomed at such times to blow all sea-humours back eastward over the waters, but such gentle breathing availed nothing against the woven night heavy and clinging that Wirilуmл had spread far abroad. Thus was it that unmarked Melko and the Spider of Night reached the roots of Laurelin, and Melko summoning all his godlike might thrust a sword into its beauteous stock, and the fiery radiance that spouted forth assuredly had consumed him even as it did his sword, had not Gloomweaver cast herself down and lapped it thirstily, plying even her lips to the wound in the tree’s bark and sucking away its life and strength.

By accursed fortune this deed was not straightway marked, for it was the time of Laurelin’s accustomed deepest repose; and now behold, never more would it wake to glory, scattering beauty and joy upon the faces of the Gods. Because of that great draught of light suddenly pride surged in Gwerlum’s heart, and she heeded not Melko’s warnings, but sate herself now nigh to the roots of Silpion and spouted forth evil fumes of night that flowed like rivers of blackness even to the gates of Valmar. Now Melko takes the weapon that remains to him, a knife, and will injure the bole of Silpion as much as time will allow; but a Gnome called Daurin (Tуrin) wandering from Sirnъmen in great boding of ill sees him and makes for him, crying aloud. So great was the onrush of that impetuous Gnome that ere Melko is aware he has hewn at Wirilуmл where in the likeness of a spider she sprawls upon the ground. Now the slender blade that Daurin wielded came from the forge of Aulл and was steeped in miruvor, or never had he done harm to that secret [?being], but now he cleaves one of her great legs, and his blade is stained with her black gore, a poison to all [?things] whose life is light. Then Wirilуmл writhing throws a thread about him and he may not get free, and Melko ruthless stabs him. Then wresting that bright slender blade from his dying grasp he thrusts it deep into Silpion’s trunk, and the poison of Gwerlum black upon it dried the very sap and essence of the tree, and its light died suddenly to a dismal glow lost in impenetrable dusk.

Then did Melko and Wirilуmл turn in flight, nor is it too soon, for some that were behind Daurin seeing his fate fled in terror both to Kфr and Valmar, stumbling madly in the darkness, but indeed already the Valar are riding forth upon the plain speeding as fast as may be yet too late to defend the Trees which they now know to be in danger.

Now do those Noldoli confirm their fears, saying how Melko is indeed the author of the mischief, and they have but one desire and that is to lay hands upon him and his accomplices ere they can escape beyond the mountains.

Tulkas is in the van of that great hunt leaping surefooted in the dimness, and Oromл may not keep up with him, for even his divine steed cannot rush as headlong in the gathering night as does Poldуrлa in the fire of his wrath. Ulmo hears the shouting in his house in Vai, and Ossл [?thrusteth] his head above the Shadowy Seas and seeing no longer any light come down the valley of Kфr he leaps upon the beach of Eldamar and runs in haste to join the Ainur in their hunt. Now is the only light place left in Valinor that garden where the golden fountain sprang from Kulullin, and then were Vбna and Nessa and Urwen and many maids and ladies of the Valar in tears, but Palъrien girds her lord as he stands impatiently, and Varda has ridden forth from Tani1quetil by her lord’s side bearing a blazing star before him as a torch.

Telimektar son of Tulkas is with those noble ones, and his face and weapons gleam as silver in the dark, but now all the Gods and all their folk ride this way and that, and some have [?hasty] torches in their hands, so that the plain is full of pale wandering lights and the sound of voices hallooing in the dusk.

Even as Melko speeds away a vanguard of the chase sweeps by the Trees, and well nigh the Vali faint for anguish at the ruin they see there; but now Melko and certain of his comrades, aforetime children of Mandos, are separated from Ungwл, who wrapped in night gets her gone southward and over the mountains to her home, nor does that chase ever draw nigh to her; but the others flee northward with great speed, for Melko’s comrades have knowledge of the mountains there, and hope to get [?him] through. There came a place at length where the shadow-veils were thin and they were viewed by a scattered band of the Vali, and Tulkas was amongst them; who now with a great roar leaps at them. Indeed it might have come to battle upon the plain betwixt Tulkas and Melko had not the distance been overgreat, so that even as Tulkas gained to within spearcast of Melko a belt of mist took the fugitives again and the mocking laugh of Melko seems to come first from one side and then from the other, now from his elbow almost, now from far ahead, and Tulkas turns wildly about and Melko slips away.

Then Makar and Meбssл rode in all haste north with their folk, arousing Mandos and ordering the guarding of the mountain paths, but either Makar was too late or Melko’s cunning defeated him—and the mind of Makar was not oversubtle, for no glimpse of that Ainu did they see, though assuredly he did escape that way, and worked much evil after in the world, yet none are there whom I have heard tell ever of the manner of his perilous flight back to the ice-kingdoms of the North.’

NOTES

1 See p. 117.

2 Lirillo appears in the list of secondary names of the Valar referred to on p. 93 as a name of Salmar-Noldorin.

3 ‘father of Fлanor’ is the final reading after a prolonged hesitation between ‘son of Fлanor’ and ‘brother of Fлanor’.

4 For the story of the taking of rock and stone from Arvalin (Eruman) for the raising of the Mountains of Valinor see p. 70.

5 ‘sire of Fлanor’ is an emendation from ‘son of Fлanor’ see note 3.

6 After the word ‘fabrics’ there stood the following sentence, which was struck through: ‘which the Gods could an they listed have created in an hour’—a sentence notable in itself and also for its excision.

7 The MS page beginning with the words ‘before the gates of Valmar’ and ending with ‘unabashed uttered his message, saying’ is written round the little world-map reproduced and described on pp. 81 ff.

8 In this part of the tale the manuscript consists of detached passages, with directions from one to another; the place of this sentence is not perfectly clear, but seems most probably to belong here.

9 The dots are in the original.

10 ‘afterward’ is an emendation from ‘of old’. A question mark is written in the margin against this sentence.

Changes made to names in

The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor

Ellu Melemno < Melemno (in Chapter V, p. 120, in an added sentence, the leader of the Solosimpi is Ellu).

Sirnъmen < Numessir (at the first two occurrences; subsequently Sirnъmen was the form first written).

Eruman < Harmalin (pp. 145, 152), < Habbanan (p. 151).

Arvalin < Harvalien < Habbanan (p. 145), < Harvalien < Harmalin (p. 147); Arvalien thus first written p. 148.

Bruithwir replaces an earlier name, probably Maron.

Bruithwir go-Maidros < Bruithwir go-Fлanor. go- is a patronymic, ‘son of’. See notes 3 and 5 above.

Mуru This name could equally well be read, as also at its occasional occurrences elsewhere, as Morn (see the Appendix on Names). It replaces here another name, probably Mordi.

Ungoliont < Gungliont.

Daurin (Tуrin) The original reading at the first occurence was Fлanor, changed to (?)Daurlas…akin to Fлanor, and then to a Gnome called Daurin (Tуrin). The subsequent occurrences of Daurin are emendations of Fлanor.

Commentary on

The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor

The story of the corruption of the Noldoli by Melko was ultimately told quite differently; for there entered the matter of the strife between Finwл’s sons Fлanor and Fingolfin (The Silmarillion p. 69), of w1hich in the tale there is no trace, and where in any case Fлanor is not the son of Finwл Nуlemл but of one Bruithwir. The primary motive in the later story of Melkor’s desire for the Silmarils (ibid. p. 67) is here represented only by a lust for the gems of the Noldoli in general: it is indeed a remarkable feature of the original mythology that though the Silmarils were present they were of such relatively small importance. There is essential agreement with the later story in its being the Noldoli at whom Melko aimed his attack, and there is a quite close, if limited, similarity in the arguments he used: the confinement of the Elves in Valinor by the Valar, and the broad realms in the East that were rightly theirs—but notably absent from Melko’s words is any reference to the coming of Men: this element is in the tale introduced later and quite differently, by Manwл himself (p. 150). Moreover the particular association of the Noldoli with the evil Vala arises from his desire for their gems: in The Silmarillion (p. 66) the Noldor turned to him for the instruction he could give, while the other kindreds held aloof.

From this point the narratives diverge altogether; for the secret evil of Melkor was in The Silmarillion laid bare as a result of the enquiry held into the quarrel of the Noldorin princes, whereas here its revelation came about more simply from the anxiety of Finwл Nуlemл about the unrest of his people. The later story is of course far superior, in that Melkor was sought by the Valar as a known enemy as soon as his machinations were uncovered (though he escaped), whereas in the tale, despite there being now every evidence that he was by no means reformed, he was merely told to go and think things over in Mandos. The germ of the story in The Silmarillion of Fлanor’s banishment to Formenos, where he was accompanied by Finwл, is present, though here the entire people of the Noldoli are ordered to leave Kфr for the rugged dale northwards where the stream Hнri plunged underground, and the command to do so seems to have been less a punishment meted out to them by Manwл than a precaution and a safeguard.

In connection with the place of the banishment of the Noldoli, here called Sirnъmen (‘Western Stream’), it may be mentioned that in an isolated note found in the little book referred to on p. 23 it is stated: ‘The river of the second rocky dwelling of the Gnomes in Valinor was kelusindi and the spring at its source kapalinda.’

Very remarkable is the passage (p. 142) where Manwл is said to know that ‘the Elves were children of the world and must one day return to her bosom’. As I have noticed earlier (p. 82) ‘the world’ is often equated with the Great Lands, and this usage occurs repeatedly in the present tale, but it is not clear to me whether this sense is intended here. I incline to think that the meaning of the phrase is that at ‘the Great End’ the Eldar, being bound to the Earth, cannot return with the Valar and spirits that were ‘before the world’ (p. 66) to the regions whence they came (cf. the conclusion of the original Music of the Ainur, p. 60).

Coming to the account of the theft of the jewels, the structure of the narrative is again radically different from the later story, in that there Melko1r’s attack on the Noldor of Formenos, the theft of the Silmarils and the slaying of Finwл, was accomplished after his meeting with Ungoliant in the South and the destruction of the Two Trees; Ungoliant was with him at Formenos. Nor in the earliest version is there any mention of Melko’s previous visit to Formenos (The Silmarillion pp. 71–2), after which he passed through the Calacirya and went northwards up the coast, returning later in secret to Avathar (Arvalin, Eruman) to seek out Ungoliant.

On the other hand the great festival was already the occasion for Melko’s theft of the Silmarils from the dwelling of the Noldoli, though the festival was wholly different in having a purely commemorative purpose (see The Silmarillion pp. 74–5), and it was a necessary part of that purpose that the Solosimpi should be present (in The Silmarillion ‘Only the Teleri beyond the mountains still sang upon the shores of the sea; for they recked little of seasons or times…’).

Of Melko’s dark accomplices out of Mandos (some of them said to be ‘aforetime children of Mandos’, p. 154) there is no trace later, nor of his theft of Oromл’s horses; and while Melko is here said to have wished to leave Valinor by passes over the northern mountains, but to have thought better of it (leading to a reflection on what might have been the fate of Valinor had he not), in the later story his movement northwards was a feint. But it is interesting to observe the germ of the one in the other, the underlying idea never lost of a northward and then a southward movement, even though it takes place at a different point in the narrative and has a different motivation.

Interesting also is the emergence of the idea that a close kinsman of Fлanor’s—only after much hesitation between brother and son becoming fixed on the father—was slain by Melkor in the dwelling of the Noldoli, Sirnъmen, precursor of Formenos; but the father had yet to be identified with the lord of the Noldoli.

In this passage there are some slight further geographical indications. The Two Trees stood to the north of the city of Valmar (p. 143), as they are shown on the map (see pp. 81–2); and, again in agreement with the map, the Great Lands and the Outer Lands came very close together in the far North (p. 146). Most notably, the gap in the Mountains of Valinor shown on the map and which I marked with the letter e is now explained: ‘the low place in the hills’ by which Melko and his following passed out of Valinor into Arvalin-Eruman, a gap left by Tulkas and Aulл for their own entry into Valinor at the time of the raising of the mountains (p. 145).

Of the next part of this tale (pp. 146–9) almost nothing survived. Manwл’s lecture to the Noldoli disappeared (but some of its content is briefly expressed at another place in the narrative of The Silmarillion, p. 68: ‘The Noldor began to murmur against [the Valar], and many became filled with pride, forgetting how much of what they had and knew came to them in gift from the Valar’). Manwл’s naming of Fлanor’s father Bruithwir by the patronymic go-Maidros is notable: though the name Maidros was subsequently to be that of Fлanor’s eldest son, not of his grandfather, it was from the outset associated with the ‘Fлanorians’. There is no trace later of1 the strange story of the renegade servant of Mandos, who brought Melko’s outrageous message to the Valar, and who was hurled to his death from Taniquetil by the irrepressible Tulkas in direct disobedience to Manwл nor of the sending of Sorontur to Melko as the messenger of the Gods (it is not explained how Sorontur knew where to find him). It is said here that afterwards ‘Sorontur and his folk fared to the Iron Mountains and there abode, watching all that Melko did’. I have noticed in commenting (pp. 111–12) on The Chaining of Melko that the Iron Mountains, said to be south of Hisilуmл (pp. 101, 118), there correspond to the later Mountains of Shadow (Ered Wethrin). On the other hand, in the Tale of the Sun and Moon (p. 176) Melko after his escape from Valinor makes himself ‘new dwellings in that region of the North where stand the Iron Mountains very high and terrible to see’ and in the original Tale of Turambar* it is said that Angband lay beneath the roots of the northernmost fastnesses of the Iron Mountains, and that these mountains were so named from ‘the Hells of Iron’ beneath them. The statement in the present tale that Sorontur ‘watched all that Melko did’ from his abode in the Iron Mountains obviously implies likewise that Angband was beneath them; and the story that Sorontur (Thorondor) had his eyries on Thangorodrim before he removed them to Gondolin survived long in the ‘Silmarillion’ tradition (see Unfinished Tales p. 43 and note 25). There is thus, apparently, a contradictory usage of the term ‘Iron Mountains’ within the Lost Tales; unless it can be supposed that these mountains were conceived as a continuous range, the southerly extension (the later Mountains of Shadow) forming the southern fence of Hisilуmл, while the northern peaks, being above Angband, gave the range its name. Evidence that this is so will appear later.

In the original story the Noldoli of Sirnъmen were given permission (through the intercession of Aulл) to return to Kфr, but Fлanor remained there in bitterness with a few others; and thus the situation of the later narrative—the Noldor in Tirion, but Fлanor at Formenos—is achieved, with the element absent of Fлanor’s banishment and unlawful return to the city of the Elves. An underlying difference to be noted is that in The Silmarillion (pp. 61–2) the Vanyar had long since departed from Tirion and gone to dwell on Taniquetil or in Valinor: of this there is no suggestion in the old tale; and of course there is the central structural difference between the early and late narratives—when Fлanor raises his standard of rebellion the Trees are still shining in Valinor.

In the tale, a good while seems to elapse after the loss of the treasures of the Noldoli, during which they set to work again with lessened joy and Fлanor sought in vain to remake the Silmarils: this element must of course disappear in the later, much tauter structure, where Fлanor (refusing to hand over the Silmarils to the Valar for the healing of the Trees and not yet knowing that Melko has taken them) knows without attempting it that he cannot remake them any more than Yavanna can remake the Trees.

The embassage of Fлanor and other Noldoli to Manwл, demanding that the Gods ferry them back to the Great Lands, was exci1sed, and with it Manwл’s remarkable instruction to them concerning the coming of Men—and his expressed reluctance to have the Eldar return to ‘the world’ while Men were still in their infancy. No such idea is represented in The Silmarillion as being in Manwл’s mind (nor is there any suggestion that Manwл’s knowledge was so great); and indeed, where in the old story it was Manwл’s very description of Men and account of his policy with regard to them that gave rise to Fлanor’s rhetoric against them, and which gave strong colour to his assertion of the Valar’s true motive for bringing the Eldar to Valinor, in The Silmarillion (p. 68) these ideas are a part of the lies of Melkor (I have noticed above that in Melko’s persuasions of the Noldoli in the tale there is no reference to the coming of Men).

An otherwise unknown element in the Music of the Ainur is revealed in Manwл’s words: that the world shall come in the end for a great while under the sway of Men. In the original version there are several suggestions in reflective asides that all was fated: so here ‘the jealousy of Elves and Men’ is seen as perhaps a necessary part of the unfolding of the history of the world, and earlier in the tale (p. 142) it is asked: ‘Who shall say but that all these deeds, even the seeming needless evil of Melko, were but a portion of the destiny of old?’

But for all the radical changes in the narrative the characteristic note of Fлanor’s rhetoric remained; his speech to the Noldoli of Kфr rises in the same rhythms as his speech by torchlight to the Noldor of Tirion (The Silmarillion pp. 82–3).

In the story of Melko and Ungoliont it is seen that essential elements were present ab initio: the doubt as to her origin, her dwelling in the desolate regions in the south of the Outer Lands, her sucking in of light to bring forth webs of darkness; her alliance with Melko, his rewarding her with the gems stolen from the Noldoli (though this was differently treated later), the piercing of the Trees by Melko and Ungoliont’s sucking up the light; and the great hunt mounted by the Valar, which failed of its object through darkness and mist, allowing Melko to escape out of Valinor by the northward ways.

Within this structure there are as almost always a great many points of difference between the first story and the later versions. In The Silmarillion (p. 73) Melkor went to Avathar because he knew of Ungoliant’s dwelling there, whereas in the tale she found him wandering there seeking a way of escape. In the tale her origin is unknown, and though this element may be said to have remained in The Silmarillion (‘The Eldar know not whence she came’, ibid.), by the device of ‘Some have said…’ a clear explanation is in fact given: she was a being from ‘before the world’, perverted by Melkor, who had been her lord, though she denied him. The original idea of ‘the primeval spirit Mуru’ (p. 151) is made explicit in an entry in the early word-list of the Gnomish language, where the name Muru is defined as ‘a name of the Primeval Night personified as Gwerlum or Gungliont’.*

The old story markedly lacks the quality of the description in The Silmarillion of the descent of Melkor and Ungoliant from Mount Hyarmentir into the plain of Valinor; and there too the great festival of the Valar and Eldar was in progress at the time: here it is long since over. In The Silmarillion the assault on the Trees came at the time of the mingling of the lights1 (p. 75), while here Silpion was in full bloom; and the detail of the account of the destruction of the Trees is rendered quite different through the presence of the Gnome Daurin, afterwards abandoned without trace. Thus in the old story it is not actually said that Ungoliont drank the light of Silpion, but only that the tree died from her poison on Daurin’s blade, with which Melko stabbed its trunk; and in The Silmarillion Ungoliant went to ‘the Wells of Varda’ and drank them dry also. It is puzzling that the Gnome was first named Fлanor, since he was slain by Melko. It would seem that my father was at least momentarily entertaining the idea that Fлanor would play no part in the story of the Noldoli in the Great Lands; but in outlines for a later tale (pp. 238–9) he died in Mithrim. In this passage is the first appearance of miruvor, defined in the early Qenya word-list as ‘nectar, drink of the Valar’ with this cf. The Road Goes Ever On, p. 61, where my father stated that it was the name given by the Valar to the drink poured at their festivals, and compared it to the nectar of the Olympian Gods (in the translation of Namбriл he rendered miruvуrл ‘nectar’, ibid. p. 58).

Most important of the differences in the tale is the immediate return of Ungoliont to her lair in the south, so that all the story in The Silmarillion (pp. 80–1) of ‘the Thieves’ Quarrel’, the rescue of Melkor by the Balrogs, and Ungoliant’s coming into Nan Dungortheb, is absent from the narrative in the Lost Tales; the surrender of the gems of the Noldoli to Ungoliont takes place in the early version at the time of her first meeting with Melko—in The Silmarillion he did not then possess them, for the attack on Formenos had not yet taken place.