The War of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien Read Free Book Online

depart. (7)
 
The account of the treatment of the men of Dunland and the burials (TT p. 150) reaches the final form, (8) but the description of the departure of the trees in the night and of the valley after they had gone, told in almost the same words as in TT, (9) first entered at this point, whereas in TT it is postponed till much later in the chapter (p. 158). The passage of the wood, and Gimli's description to Legolas of the Caves of Helm's Deep, reach in the completed manuscript of the first version almost exactly the form in TT (pp; 152 - 3), but with a slight structural difference, in that here the company had already left the trees and come to the road-parting when this conversation took place:
 
    They passed through the wood and found that they had come to the bottom of the coomb, where the road from Helm's Deep branched, going one way to Eodoras and the other to the fords of the Isen. Legolas looked back with regret.
    'Those are the strangest trees that ever I saw,' he said...
 
Thus at the end of their talk together the old version again differs:
 
    'You have my promise,' said Legolas. 'But now we must leave all that behind. How far is it to Isengard, Gandalf?'

    'It is about twelve [later > fourteen o eleven] leagues from the bottom of Deeping Coomb to the outer wall of Isengard,' (10) said the wizard, turning round.

    'And what shall we see there?' asked Gimli. 'You may know, but I cannot guess.'

    'I do not know myself for certain,' answered Gandalf. 'Things may have changed again, since I was there last night. But we shall all know before long. If we are eager for the answer to riddles, let us quicken the pace!'
    [Added: 'Lead us!' said Théoden. 'But do not let Shadowfax set a pace we cannot keep!'

    The company rode forward now with all the speed they could, over the wide grasses of the Westemnet.]
 
Thus the Caves of Helm's Deep do not receive from Gandalf here the name 'the Glittering Caves of Aglarond', which was only added to the typescript text at a later stage (see p. 77).

The first version of the story now becomes decisively different from that in The Two Towers (pp. 154 ff.).
 
    The sun shone upon the vale about them. After the storm the morning was fresh, and a breeze was now flowing from the west between the mountains. The swelling grass-lands rose and fell, with long ridges and shallow dales like a wide green sea. Upon their left long slopes ran swiftly down to the Isen River, a grey ribbon that bent westward, winding away out of sight through the great Gap of Rohan to the distant shores of Belfalas. (11) Below them now lay the fords of Isen, where the river spread in stony shoals between long grassy terraces. They did not go that way. Gandalf led them due north, and they passed by, riding along the high ground on the east of the river; yet as they rode other eyes were turned towards the stony fords and the battlefield where so many good men of the Mark had fallen. (12)
    They saw crows wheeling and crying in the air, and borne upon the wind they heard the howling of wolves. The carrion-birds were gathered at the fords, and even the bright day had not driven them from their business.

    'Alas!' cried Théoden. 'Shall we leave the steeds and riders of the Mark to be picked and torn by fowl and wolf? Let us turn aside! '

    'There is no need, lord,' said Gandalf. 'The task would take us long, were it still left to do; but it is not. No horse or rider of your folk lies there unburied. Their graves are deep and their mounds are high; and long may they watch the fords! My friends have laboured there. (13) It is with the orcs, their masters, that the wolves and carrion-birds hold their feast: such is the friendship of their kind.'

    'You accomplished much in an evening and a night, Gandalf my friend,' said Théoden.

    'With the help of Shadowfax - and others,' answered Gandalf. 'And this I can report for your comfort: the losses in the battles of the ford were less grievous than we thought at first.