The Book Of Lost Tales: Part I Part 15

Loud then was the murmur about the streets of Valmar, and folk sped thronging over the plain, and when they beheld Vna beneath the Tree and the new shoot of gold then suddenly did a song of very mighty praise and joy burst forth on every tongue; and Tulkas said: "Lo, mightier have the spells of Yavanna proved than her foretelling!" But Yavanna gazing upon Vna's face said: "Alas, 'tis not so, for in this have my spells played but a lesser part, and more potent has the gentle love of Vna been and her falling tears a dew more healing and more tender than all the radiance of old: yet as for my foretelling, soon wilt thou see, O Tulkas, if thou dost but watch."

Then did all the folk gaze on Laurelin, and behold, those buds opened and put forth leaves, and these were of finest gold and of other kind to those of old, and even as they watched the branch bore golden blossom, and it was thronged with flowers. Now as swiftly as its blossoms opened full it seemed a gust of wind came suddenly and shook them from their slender stems, blowing them about the heads of those that watched like jets of fire, and folk thought there was evil in that; but many of the Eldar chased those s.h.i.+ning petals far and wide and gathered them in baskets, yet save such as were of golden threads or of other metals these might not contain those ardent blooms and were all consumed and burnt, that the petals were lost again.

One flower there was however greater than the others, more s.h.i.+ning, and more richly golden, and it swayed to the winds but fell not; and it grew, and as it grew of its own radiant warmth it fructified. Then as its petals fell and were treasured a fruit there was of great beauty hanging from that bough of Laurelin, but the leaves of the bough grew sere and they shrivelled and shone no more. Even as they dropped to earth the fruit waxed wonderfully, for all the sap and radiance of the dying Tree were in it, and the juices of that fruit were like quivering flames of amber and of red and its pips like s.h.i.+ning gold, but its rind was of a perfect lucency smooth as a gla.s.s whose nature is transfused with gold and therethrough the moving of its juices could be seen within like throbbing furnace-fires. So great became the light and richness of that growth and the weight of its fruitfulness that the bough bent thereunder, and it hung as a globe of fires before their eyes.

Then said Yavanna to Aul: "Bear thou up the branch, my lord, lest it snap and the fruit of wonder be dashed rudely to the ground; and the greatest ruth would that be, for know ye all that this is the last flame of life that Laurelin shall show." But Aul had stood by as one lost in sudden thought since first that fruit came to ripening, and he answered now saying: "Very long indeed did Varda and I seek through the desolate homes and gardens for materials of our craft. Now do I know that Ilvatar has brought my desire into my hand." Then calling to Tulkas to aid him he severed the stem of that fruit, and they that behold gasped and were astonied at his ruthlessness.

Loudly they murmured, and some cried: "Woe to him that ravishes anew our Tree," and Vna was in great ire. Yet did none dare to draw nigh, for those twain Aul and Tulkas might scarcely bear up even upon their G.o.dlike shoulders that great globe of flame and were tottering beneath it. Hearing their anger indeed Aul stayed, saying: "Cease ye of little wisdom and have a patience," but even with those words his foot went astray and he stumbled, and even Tulkas might not bear that fruit alone, so that it fell, and striking stony ground burst asunder. Straightway such a blinding radiance leapt forth as even the full bloom of Laurelin had not yielded of old, and the darkened eyes of the Vali were dazzled so that they fell back stunned; but a pillar of light rose from that place smiting the heavens that the stars paled above it and the face of Taniquetil went red afar off, and Aul alone of all those there was unmoved by sorrow. Then said Aul: "Of this can I make a s.h.i.+p of light-surpa.s.sing even the desire of Manw," and now Varda and many others, even Vna, understood his purpose and were glad. But they made a mighty corbel of twisted gold, and strewing it with ardent petals of its own bloom they laid therein the halves of the fruit of noon and uplifting it with many hands bore it away with much singing and great hope. Then coming to the courts of Aul they set it down, and thereupon began the great smithying of the Sun; and this was the most cunning-marvellous of all the works of Aul Talkamarda, whose works are legion. Of that perfect rind a vessel did he make, diaphanous and s.h.i.+ning, yet of a tempered strength, for with spells of his own he overcame its brittleness, nor in any way was its subtle delicacy thereby diminished.

Now the most ardent radiance poured therein neither spilled nor dimmed, nor did that vessel receive any injury therefrom, yet would it swim the airs more lightly than a bird; and Aul was overjoyed, and he fas.h.i.+oned that vessel like a great s.h.i.+p broad of beam, laying one half of the rind within the other so that its strength might not be broken.

There follows an account of how Vna, repenting of her past murmurings, cut short her golden hair and gave it to the G.o.ds, and from her hair they wove sails and ropes 'more strong than any mariner hath seen, yet of the slenderness of gossamer'. The masts and spars of the s.h.i.+p were all of gold.

Then that the s.h.i.+p of the Heavens might be made ready unto the last, the unfading petals of the latest flower of Laurelin were gathered like a star at her prow, and ta.s.sels and streamers of glancing light were hung about her bulwarks, and a flash of lightning was caught in her mast to be a pennant; but all that vessel was filled to the brim with the blazing radiance of gold Kulullin and mingled therein drops of the juices of the fruit of noon, and these were very hot, and thereafter scarcely might the bosom of the Earth withhold her, and she leapt at her cords like a captive bird that listeth for the airs.

Then did the G.o.ds name that s.h.i.+p, and they called her Sri which is the Sun, but the Elves r which is fire;12 but many other names does she bear in legend and in poesy. The Lamp of Vna is she named among the G.o.ds in memory of Vna's tears and her sweet tresses that she gave; and the Gnomes call her Galmir the goldgleamer13 and Glorvent the s.h.i.+p of gold, and Brglorin the blazing vessel, and many a name beside; and her names among Men no man has counted them.

Behold now it is to be told how while that galleon was a-building others nigh to where the Two Trees once grew fas.h.i.+oned a great bason and folk laboured mightily at it. Its floor they made of gold and its walls of polished bronze, and an arcade of golden pillars topped with fires engirdled it, save only on the East; but Yavanna set a great and nameless spell around it, so that therein was poured the most of the waters of the fruit of noon and it became a bath of fire. Indeed is it not called Tanyasalp, the bowl of fire, even Faskalanmen, the Bath of the Setting Sun, for here when Urwendi after returned from the East and the first sunset came on Valinor the s.h.i.+p was drawn down and its radiance refreshed against new voyagings on the morrow while the Moon held High Heaven.

Now the making of this place of fire is more wondrous than seems, for so subtle were those radiances that set in the air they spilled not nor sank, nay rather they rose and floated away far above Vilna, being of the utmost buoyancy and lightness; yet now did nought escape from Faskalan which burnt amid the plain, and light came to Valinor therefrom, yet by reason of the deepness of the bason it fared not far abroad and the ring of shadows stood close in.

Then said Manw, looking upon the glory of that s.h.i.+p as it strained to be away: "Who shall steer us this boat and guide its course above the realms of Earth, for even the holy bodies of the Valar, meseems, may not for long endure to bathe in this great light."

But a great thought came into the heart of Urwendi, and she said that she was not adread, and begged leave to become the mistress of the Sun and to make herself ready for that office as Ilvatar set it in her heart to do. Then did she bid a many of her maidens follow her, even of those who had aforetime watered the roots of Laurelin with light, and casting aside their raiment they went down into that pool Faskalan as bathers into the sea, and its golden foams went over their bodies, and the G.o.ds saw them not and were afraid. But after a while they came again to the brazen sh.o.r.es and were not as before, for their bodies were grown lucent and shone as with an ardour within, and light flashed from their limbs as they moved, nor might any raiment endure to cover their glorious bodies any more. Like air were they, and they trod as lightly as does sunlight on the earth, and saying no word they climbed upon the s.h.i.+p, and that vessel heaved against its great cords and all the folk of Valinor might scarce restrain it.

Now at last by Manw's command do they climb the long slopes of Taniquetil and draw iKalavent the s.h.i.+p of Light along with them, nor is that any great task; and now do they stand on the wide s.p.a.ce before great Manw's doors, and the s.h.i.+p is on the western slope of the mountain trembling and tugging at its bonds, and already so great is its glory become that sunbeams pour out over the shoulders of Taniquetil and a new light is in the sky, and the waters of the Shadowy Seas beyond are touched with such fire as they never yet had seen. In that hour 'tis said that all creatures that wandered in the world stood still and wondered, even as Manw going spake to Urwendi and said: "Go now, most wondrous maiden washed in fire, and steer the s.h.i.+p of divine light above the world, that joy may search out its narrowest crannies and all the things that sleep within its bosom may awake"14 but Urwendi answered not, looking only eagerly to the East, and Manw bade cast the ropes that held her, and straightway the s.h.i.+p of the Morning arose above Taniquetil and the bosom of the air received it.

Ever as it rose it burned the brighter and the purer till all Valinor was filled with radiance, and the vales of Ermni and the Shadowy Seas were bathed in light, and suns.h.i.+ne was spilled on the dark plain of Arvalin, save only where Ungweliant's clinging webs and darkest fumes still lay too thick for any radiance to filter through.

Then all looking up saw that heaven was blue, and very bright and beautiful, but the stars fled as that great dawn came upon the world; and a gentle wind blew from the cold lands to meet the vessel and filled its gleaming sails, and white vapours mounted from off the misty seas below toward her, that her prow seemed to cleave a white and airy foam. Yet did she waver not, for the Mnir that fared about her drew her by golden cords, and higher and higher the Sun's great galleon arose, until even to the sight of Manw it was but a disc of fire wreathed in veils of splendour that slowly and majestically wandered from the West.

Now ever as it drew further on its way so grew the light in Valinor more mellow, and the shadows of the houses of the G.o.ds grew long, slanting away towards the waters of the Outer Seas, but Taniquetil threw a great westering shadow that waxed ever longer and deeper, and it was afternoon in Valinor.'

Then said Gilfanon laughing: 'Nay, but, good sir, you lengthen the tale mightily, for methinks you love to dwell upon the works and deeds of the great G.o.ds, but an you set not a measure to your words our stranger here will live not to hear of those things that happened in the world when at length the G.o.ds gave to it the light they so long had withholden-and such tales, methinks, were a variety pleasing to hear.'

But Eriol had of a sooth been listening very eagerly to the sweet voice of Lindo, and he said: 'But a little while agone, a day perchance the Eldar would esteem it, did I come hither, yet no longer do I love the name of stranger, neither will Lindo ever lengthen the tale beyond my liking, whatsoever he tells, but behold this history is all to my heart.'

But Lindo said: 'Nay, nay, I have indeed more to tell; yet, O Eriol, the things that Gilfanon hath upon his lips are well worth the hearing-indeed never have I nor any here heard a full count of these matters. As soon therefore as may be will I wind up my tale and make an end, but three nights hence let us have another tale-telling, and it shall be one of greater ceremony, and musics there shall be, and all the children of the House of Lost Play shall here be gathered together at his feet to hear Gilfanon relate the travail of the Noldoli and the coming of Mankind.'

Now these words mightily pleased Gilfanon and Eriol, and many beside were glad, but now doth Lindo proceed: 'Know then that to such vast heights did the Suns.h.i.+p climb, and climbing blazed ever hotter and brighter, that ere long its glory was wider than ever the G.o.ds conceived of when that vessel was still harboured in their midst. Everywhere did its great light pierce and all the vales and darkling woods, the bleak slopes and rocky streams, lay dazzled by it, and the G.o.ds were amazed. Great was the magic and wonder of the Sun in those days of bright Urwendi, yet not so tender and so delicately fair as had the sweet Tree Laurelin once been; and thus whisper of new discontent awoke in Valinor, and words ran among the children of the G.o.ds, for Mandos and Fui were wroth, saying that Aul and Varda would for ever be meddling with the due order of the world, making it a place where no quiet or peaceful shadow could remain; but Lrien sat and wept in a grove of trees beneath the shade of Taniquetil and looked upon his gardens stretching beneath, still disordered by the great hunt of the G.o.ds, for he had not had the heart for their mending. There the nightingales were silent for the heat danced above the trees, and his poppies were withered, and his evening flowers drooped and gave no scent; and Silmo stood sadly by Telimp that gleamed wanly as still waters rather than the s.h.i.+ning dew of Silpion, so overmastering was the great light of day. Then Lrien arose and said to Manw: "Call back your glittering s.h.i.+p, O Lord of the Heavens, for the eyes of us ache by reason of its flaming, and beauty and soft sleep is driven far away. Rather the darkness and our memories than this, for this is not the old loveliness of Laurelin, and Silpion is no more." Nor were any of the G.o.ds utterly content, knowing in their hearts that they had done a greater thing than they at first knew, and never again would Valinor see such ages as had pa.s.sed; and Vna said that Kulullin's fount was dulled and her garden wilted in the heat, and her roses lost their hues and fragrance, for the Sun then sailed nearer to the Earth than it now does.

Then Manw chid them for their fickleness and discontent, but they were not appeased; and suddenly spake Ulmo, coming from outer Vai: "Lord Manw, neither are their counsels nor thine to be despised. Have ye then not yet understood, O Valar, wherein lay much of the great beauty of the Trees of old?-In change, and in slow alternation of fair things, the pa.s.sing blending sweetly with that which was to come."

But Lrien said suddenly: "O Valatru, the Lord of Vai speaketh words wiser than ever before, and they fill me with a great longing," and he left them thereupon and went out upon the plain, and it was then three daytimes, which is the length of three blossomings of Laurelin of old, since the s.h.i.+p of Morning was unmoored. Then for four daytimes more sate Lrien beside the stock of Silpion and the shadows gathered shyly round him, for the Sun was far to the East, beating about the heavens where it listed, since Manw had not as yet ruled its course and Urwendi was bidden fare as seemed good to her. Yet even so Lrien is not appeased, not though the darkness of the mountains creep across the plain, and a mist bloweth in from off the sea and a vague and flitting twilight gathers once more in Valinor, but long he sits pondering why the spells of Yavanna wrought only upon Laurelin.

Then Lrien sang to Silpion, saying that the Valar were lost 'in a wilderness of gold and heat, or else in shadows full of death and unkindly glooms,' and he touched the wound in the bole of the Tree.

Lo, even as he touched that cruel hurt, a light glowed faintly there as if radiant sap still stirred within, but a low branch above Lrien's bowed head burgeoned suddenly, and leaves of a very dark green, long and oval, budded and unfolded upon it, yet was all the Tree beside bare and dead and has ever been so since. Now it was at that time seven times seven days since the fruit of noon was born upon Laurelin, and many of the Eldar and of the sprites and of the G.o.ds were drawn nigh, listening to Lrien's song; but he heeded them not, gazing upon the Tree.

Lo, its new leaves were crusted with a silver moisture, and their undersides were white and set with pale gleaming filaments. Buds there were of flowers also upon the bough, and they opened, but a dark mist of the sea gathered about the tree, and the air grew bitterly cold as it never before had been in Valinor, and those blossoms faded and fell and none heeded them. One only was there at the branch's end that opening shone of its own light and no mist or cold harmed it, but indeed waxing it seemed to suck the very vapours and transform them subtly to the silver substance of its body; and it grew to be a very pale and wondrous glistering flower, nor did even the purest snow upon Taniquetil gleaming in the light of Silpion out-rival it, and its heart was of white flame and it throbbed, waxing and waning marvellously. Then said Lrien for the joy of his heart: "Behold the Rose of Silpion", and that rose grew till the fruit of Laurelin had been but little greater, and ten thousand crystal petals were in that flower, and it was drenched in a fragrant dew like honey and this dew was light. Now Lrien would suffer none to draw near, and this will he rue for ever: for the branch upon which the Rose hung yielded all its sap and withered, nor even yet would he suffer that blossom to be plucked gently down, being enamoured of its loveliness and l.u.s.ting to see it grow mightier than the fruit of noon, more glorious than the Sun.

Then snapped the withered bough and the Rose of Silpion fell, and some of its dewy light was roughly shaken from it, and here and there a petal was crushed and tarnished, and Lrien cried aloud and sought to lift it gently up, but it was too great. Therefore did the G.o.ds let send to Aul's halls, for there was a great silver charger, like to a table of the giants, and they set the latest bloom of Silpion upon it, and despite its hurts its glory and fragrance and pale magic were very great indeed.

Now when Lrien had mastered his grief and ruth he spake the counsel that Ulmo's words had called to his heart: that the G.o.ds build another vessel to match the galleon of the Sun, "and it shall be made from the Rose of Silpion," said he, "and in memory of the waxing and waning of these Trees for twelve hours shall the Suns.h.i.+p sail the heavens and leave Valinor, and for twelve shall Silpion's pale bark mount the skies, and there shall be rest for tired eyes and weary hearts."

This then was the manner of the shaping of the Moon, for Aul would not dismember the loveliness of the Rose of Silver, and he called rather to him certain of those Eldar of his household who were of the Noldoli of old15 and had consorted with the jewel-makers. Now these revealed to him much store of crystals and delicate gla.s.ses that Fanor and his sons16 had laid up in secret places in Sirnmen, and with the aid of those Elves and of Varda of the stars, who gave even of the light of those frail boats of hers to give limpid clearness to their fas.h.i.+oning, he brought to being a substance thin as a petal of a rose, clear as the most transparent elfin gla.s.s, and very smooth, yet might Aul of his skill bend it and fas.h.i.+on it, and naming it he called it vrin. Of vrin now he built a marvellous vessel, and often have men spoken of the s.h.i.+p of the Moon, yet is it scarce like to any bark that sailed or sea or air. Rather was it like an island of pure gla.s.s, albeit not very great, and tiny lakes there were bordered with snowy flowers that shone, for the water of those pools that gave them sap was the radiance of Telimp. Midmost of that s.h.i.+mmering isle was wrought a cup of that crystalline stuff that Aul made and therein the magic Rose was set, and the gla.s.sy body of the vessel sparkled wonderfully as it gleamed therein. Rods there were and perchance they were of ice, and they rose upon it like ary masts, and sails were caught to them by slender threads, and Uinen wove them of white mists and foam, and some were sprent with glinting scales of silver fish, some threaded with tiniest stars like points of light-sparks caught in snow when Nielluin was s.h.i.+ning.

Thus was the s.h.i.+p of the Moon, the crystal island of the Rose, and the G.o.ds named it Rna, the Moon, but the fairies Sil, the Rose,17 and many a sweet name beside. Ilsalunt or the silver shallop has it been called, and thereto the Gnomes have called it Minethlos or the argent isle and Crithosceleg the disc of gla.s.s.

Now Silmo begged to sail upon the oceans of the firmament therein, but he might not, for neither was he of the children of the air nor might he find a way to cleanse his being of its earthwardness as had Urwendi18 done, and little would it have availed to enter Faskalan had he dared essay it, for then would Rna have shrivelled before him. Manw bade therefore Ilinsor, a spirit of the Sruli who loved the snows and the starlight and aided Varda in many of her works, to pilot this strange-gleaming boat, and with him went many another spirit of the air arrayed in robes of silver and white, or else of palest gold; but an aged Elf with h.o.a.ry locks stepped upon the Moon unseen and hid him in the Rose, and there dwells he ever since and tends that flower, and a little white turret has he builded on the Moon where often he climbs and watches the heavens, or the world beneath, and that is Uol Kvion who sleepeth never. Some indeed have named him the Man in the Moon, but Ilinsor is it rather who hunts the stars.

Now is to tell how the plan that Lrien devised was changed, for the white radiance of Silpion is by no means so buoyant and ethereal as is the flame of Laurelin, nor virin so little weighty as the rind of the bright fruit of noon; and when the G.o.ds laded the white s.h.i.+p with light and would launch it upon the heavens, behold, it would not rise above their heads. Moreover, behold, that living Rose continued to give forth a honey as of light that distills upon the isle of gla.s.s, and a dew of moonbeams glistens there, yet rather does this weigh the vessel than buoy it as did the increase of the Suns.h.i.+p's flames. So is it that Ilinsor must return at times, and that overflowing radiance of the Rose is stored in Valinor against dark days-and it is to tell that such days come ever and anon, for then the white flower of the isle wanes and scarcely s.h.i.+nes, and then must it be refreshed and watered with its silver dew, much as Silpion was wont of old to be.

Hence was it that a pool was builded hard by the dark southern wall of Valmar, and of silver and white marbles were its walls, but dark yews shut it in, being planted in a maze most intricate about it. There Lrien h.o.a.rded the pale dewy light of that fair Rose, and he named it the Lake Irtinsa.

So comes it that for fourteen nights men may see Rna's bark float upon the airs, and for other fourteen the heavens know it not; while even on those fair nights when Rna fares abroad it showeth not ever the same aspect as doth Sri the glorious, for whereas that bright galleon voyageth even above Ilw and beyond the stars and cleaveth a dazzling way blinding the heavens, highest of all things recking little of winds or motions of the airs, yet Ilinsor's bark is heavier and less filled with magic and with power, and fareth never above the skies but saileth in the lower folds of Ilw threading a white swathe among the stars. For this reason the high winds trouble it at times, tugging at its misty shrouds; and often are these torn and scattered, and the G.o.ds renew them. At times too are the petals of the Rose ruffled, and its white flames blown hither and thither like a silver candle guttering in the wind. Then doth Rna heave and toss about the air, as often you may see him, and mark the slender curve of his bright keel, his prow now dipping, now his stern; and whiles again he sails serenely to the West, and up through the pure lucency of his frame the wide Rose of Silpion is seen, and some say the aged form of Uol Kvion beside.

Then indeed is the s.h.i.+p of the Moon very fair to look upon, and the Earth is filled with slender lights and deep quick-moving shadows, and radiant dreams go with cool wings about the world, but Lrien has ruth amid his gladness, because his flower bears yet, and will for ever, the faint marks of its bruising and its fall; and all men can see them clearly.

But19 lo,' saith Lindo, 'I run on ahead, for yet have I only told that the silver s.h.i.+p is newly built, and Ilinsor yet but first stepped aboard-and now do the G.o.ds draw that vessel once again up the steep sides of old Taniquetil singing as they go songs of Lrien's folk that long have been dumb in Valinor. Slower was that wayfaring than the lifting of the s.h.i.+p of Morn, and all the folk strain l.u.s.tily at the ropes, until Orom coming harnesses thereto a herd of wild white horses, and thus comes the vessel to the topmost place.

Then behold, the galleon of the Sun is seen afar beating golden from the East, and the Valar marvel to descry the glowing peaks of many a mountain far away, and isles glimmering green in seas once dark. Then cried Oss: "Look, O Manw, but the sea is blue, as blue wellnigh as Ilw that thou lovest!" and "Nay," said Manw, "envy we not Ilw, for the sea is not blue alone, but grey and green and purple, and most beauteous-flowered with foaming white. Nor jade nor amethyst nor porphyry set with diamonds and with pearls outrival the waters of the Great and little seas when the sunlight drenches them."

So saying Manw sent Fionw his son, swiftest of all to move about the airs, and bade him say to Urwendi that the bark of the Sun come back awhile to Valinor, for the G.o.ds have counsels for her ear; and Fionw fled most readily, for he had conceived a great love for that bright maiden long ago, and her loveliness now, when bathed in fire she sate as the radiant mistress of the Sun, set him aflame with the eagerness of the G.o.ds. So was it that Urwendi brought her s.h.i.+p unwilling above Valinor, and Orom cast a noose of gold about it, and it was drawn slowly down upon the Earth, and behold, the woods upon Taniquetil glowed once more in the mingled light of silver and of gold, and all were minded of the ancient blending of the Trees; but Ilsalunt paled before the galleon of the Sun till almost it seemed to burn no more. So ended the first day upon the world, and it was very long and full of many marvellous deeds that Gilfanon may tell; but now the G.o.ds beheld the evening deepen over the world as the Suns.h.i.+p was drawn down and the glow upon the mountains faded, and the sparkle of the seas went out. Then the primeval darkness crept out again once more from many stealthy lairs, but Varda was glad to see the steady s.h.i.+ning of the stars. Far upon the plain was Sri drawn, and when she was gone Ilsalunt was haled upon the topmost peak so that his white lucency fell out thence over the wide world and the first night was come. Indeed in these days darkness is no more within the borders of the world, but only night, and night is another and a different thing, by reason of the Rose of Silpion.

Now however does Aul fill the br.i.m.m.i.n.g vessel of that flower with white radiance, and many of the Sruli white-winged glide beneath and bear it slowly up and set it among the company of the stars. There does it swim slowly, a pale and glorious thing, and Ilinsor and his comrades sit them upon its rim and with s.h.i.+mmering oars urge it bravely through the sky; and Manw breathed upon its bellying sails till it was wafted far away, and the beat of the unseen oars against the winds of night faded and grew faint.

Of this manner was the first rising of the Moon above Taniquetil, and Lrien rejoiced, but Ilinsor was jealous of the supremacy of the Sun, and he bade the starry mariners flee before him and the constellate lamps go out, but many would not, and often he set sail in chase of them, and the little s.h.i.+ps of Varda fled before the huntsman of the firmament, and were not caught:-and that, said Lindo, 'is all, methinks, I know to tell of the building of those marvellous s.h.i.+ps and their launching on the air.'20 'But,' said Eriol, 'nay, surely that is not so, for at the tale's beginning methought you promised us words concerning the present courses of the Sun and Moon and their rising in the East, and I for one, by the leave of the others here present am not minded to release you of your word.'

Then quoth Lindo laughing, 'Nay, I remember not the promise, and did I make it then it was rash indeed, for the things you ask are nowise easy to relate, and many matters concerning the deeds in those days in Valinor are hidden from all save only the Valar. Now however am I fain rather to listen, and thou Vair perchance will take up the burden of the tale.'

Thereat did all rejoice, and the children clapped their hands, for dearly did they love those times when Vair was the teller of the tale; but Vair said: 'Lo, tales I tell of the deep days, and the first is called The Hiding of Valinor.'

NOTES.

1 The ma.n.u.script has here Gilfan a Davrobel, but in the rejected earlier version of this pa.s.sage the reading is Gilfanon a Davrobel, suggesting that Gilfan was not intentional.

2 See p. 245 on the relation of Tavrobel to the Staffords.h.i.+re village of Great Haywood. At Great Haywood the river Sow joins the Trent.

3 In the rejected version of this 'interlude' Gilfanon's history is differently recounted: 'he was long before an Ilkorin and had dwelt ages back in Hisilm' 'he came to Tol Eressa after the great march [i.e. Inw's 'march into the world', the great expedition from Kr, see p. 26], for he had adopted blood-kins.h.i.+p with the Noldoli.'-This is the first occurrence of the term Ilkorin, which refers to Elves who were 'not of Kr' (cf. the later term manyar, Elves 'not of Aman'). Artanor is the precursor of Doriath.

4 Gilfanon, a Gnome, is here called the oldest of the fairies; see p. 51.

5 No explanation of 'the House of the Hundred Chimneys', near the bridge of Tavrobel, is known to me, but I have never visited Great Haywood, and it may be that there was (or is) a house there that gave rise to it.

6 The rejected form of the 'interlude' is quite different in its latter part:

Therefore said Lindo in answer to Eriol: 'Behold, Gilfanon here can tell you much of such matters, but first of all must you be told of the deeds that were done in Valinor when Melko slew the Trees and the Gnomes marched away into the darkness. 'Tis a long tale but well worth the hearkening.' For Lindo loved to tell such tales and sought often an occasion for recalling them; but Gilfanon said: 'Speak on, my Lindo, but methinks the tale will not be told tonight or for many a night after, and I shall have fared long back to Tavrobel.' 'Nay,' said Lindo, 'I will not make the tale overlong, and tomorrow shall be all your own.' And so saying Gilfanon sighed, but Lindo lifted up his voice...

7 'lest it be': this curious expression is clear in the ma.n.u.script; the usage seems wholly unrecorded, but the meaning intended must be 'unless it be', i.e. 'to him alone, unless also to Varda...'

8 On Telimp as the name of the 'Moon-cauldron', rather than Silindrin, see p. 79 and 129 note 2.

9 See p. 73, 88. At previous occurrences the name is Urwen, not Urwendi.

10 'twixt Erumni and the Sea': i.e., the Outer Sea, Vai, the western bound of Valinor.

11 The pa.s.sage beginning 'For behold, he desired in this manner...' on p. 182 and continuing to this point was added on a detached sheet and replaced a very much shorter pa.s.sage in which Manw briefly declared his plan, and nothing was said about the powers of the Valar. But I do not think that the replacement was composed significantly later than the body of the text.

12 The earlier reading here was: 'Then did the G.o.ds name that s.h.i.+p, and they called her Or which is the Sun', etc.

13 The earlier reading here was: 'and the Gnomes call her Aur the Sun, and Galmir the goldgleamer', etc.

14 An isolated note refers to the coming forth of more wholesome creatures when the Sun arose (i.e. over the Great Lands), and says that 'all the birds sang in the first dawn'.

15 The Aulenoss: see p. 176.

16 This is the first appearance of the Sons of Fanor.

17 Earlier reading: 'the silver rose'.

18 Urwendi: ma.n.u.script Urwandi, but I think that this was probably unintended.

19 From this point the text of the Tale of the Sun and Moon ceases to be written over an erased pencilled original, and from the same point the original text is extant in another book. In fact, to the end of the Tale of the Sun and Moon the differences are slight, no more than alterations of wording; but the original text does explain the fact that at the first occurrence of the name Gilfanon on p. 189 the original reading was Ailios. One would guess in any case that this was a slip, a reversion to an earlier name, and that this is so is shown by the first version, which has, for 'many marvellous deeds that Gilfanon may tell' (p. 194), 'many marvellous deeds as Ailios shall tell'.

20 From this point the second version diverges sharply from the first. The first reads as follows:

And that is all, methinks,' said Lindo, 'that I know to tell of those fairest works of the G.o.ds' but Ailios said: 'Little doth it cost thee to spin the tale, an it be of Valinor; it is a while since ye offered us a.....tale concerning the rising of the Sun and Moon in the East, and a flow of speech has poured from thee since then, but now art thou minded to [?tease], and no word of that promise.' Of a truth Ailios beneath his roughness liked the words of Lindo as well as any, and he was eager to learn of the matter.

'That is easy told,' said Lindo...

What follows in the original version relates to the matter of the next chapter (see p. 220 note 2).

Ailios here claims that a promise made by Lindo has not been fulfilled, just as does Eriol, more politely, in the second version. The beginning of the tale in the first version is not extant, and perhaps as it was originally written Lindo did make this promise; but in the second he says no such thing (indeed Eriol's question was 'Whence be the Sun and Moon?'), and at the end of his tale denies that he had done so, when Eriol a.s.serts it.

Changes made to names in

The Tale of the Sun and Moon

Amnor < amnos="" (amnos="" is="" the="" form="" in="" the="" flight="" of="" the="" noldoli,="">< emnon;="" the="" form="" amnon="" also="" occurs,="" see="" p.="">

For changes in the pa.s.sage on the names of the Sun see notes 12 and 13.

Gilfanon < ailios="" (p.="" 189,="" at="" the="" first="" occurrence="" only,="" see="" note="">

Minethlos <>

Uol Kvion < uol="" mikmi,="" only="" at="" the="" second="" occurrence="" on="" p.="" 193;="" at="" the="" first="" occurrence,="" uol="" mikmi="" was="" left="" unchanged,="" though="" i="" have="" given="" uol="" kvion="" in="" the="">

s.h.i.+p of Morning < kalavent="" (p.="" 190;="" i="" kalavent="" 'the="" s.h.i.+p="" of="" light'="" occurs="" unemended="" in="" the="" text="" on="" p.="">

the Suns.h.i.+p's flames < the="" flames="" of="" kalavent="" (p.="">

Sri < kalaven="" (p.="" 193,="" 195.="" kalaven="" is="" the="" form="" in="" the="" original="" version,="" see="" note="">