The Novel Free

The Book of Lost Tales 2



The only actual difference of structure, however, is that whereas in AElfwine II AElfwine finds again his seven companions in the land of the Ythlings, and sails west with them, together with -Bior of the Ythlings, in AElfwine I they were indeed drowned, and he got seven companions from among the Ythlings (among whom Bior is not named).



The plot-outline AElfwine A tells the story from the point where AElfwine and his seven companions were cast on the Isle of the Man of the Sea (thus differing from AElfwine I and II, where he came there alone) thus: They wander about the island upon which they have been cast and come upon many decaying wrecks -- often of mighty ships, some treasure-laden. They find a solitary cabin beside a lonely sea, built of old ship-wood, where dwells a solitary and strange old mariner of dread aspect. He tells them these are the Harbour- less Isles whose enchanted rocks draw all ships thither, lest men fare over far upon Garsedge [see note l9] -- and they were devised at the Hiding of Valinor. Here, he says, the trees are magical. They learn many strange things about the western world of him and their desire is whetted for adventure. He aids them to cut holy trees in the island groves and to build a wonderful vessel, and shows them how to provision it against a long voyage (that water that drieth not save when heart fails, &c.).



This he blesses with a spell of adventure and discovery, and then dives from a cliff-top. They suspect it was Neorth Lord of Waters. They journey many years among strange western islands hear- ing often many strange reports -- of the belt of Magic Isles which few have passed; of the trackless sea beyond where the wind bloweth almost always from the West; of the edge of the twilight and the far-glimpsed isle there standing, and its glimmering haven. They reach the magic island [read islands?] and three are enchanted and fall asleep on the shore. The others beat about the waters beyond and are in despair -- for as often as they make headway west the wind changes and bears them back. At last they tryst to return on the morrow if nought other happens. The day breaks chill and dull, and they lie becalmed looking in vain through the pouring rain. This narrative differs from both AElfwine I and II in that here there is no mention of the Ythlings; and AElfwine and his seven companions depart on their long western voyage from the Harbour- less Isle of the ancient mariner. It agrees with AElfwine I in the name Neorth; but it foreshadows II in the cutting of sacred trees to build a ship.40. In AElfwine I AElfheah does not appear, and his two speeches in this passage are there given to one Gelimer.



Gelimer (Geilamir) was the name of a king of the Vandals in the sixth century.41. In AElfwine I Bior's speech is given to Gelimer (see note 40).42. AElfine I ends in almost the same words as AElfwine II, but with a most extraordinary difference; AElfwine does not leap overboard, but returns with his companions to Belerion, and so never comes to Tol Eressea! 'Very empty thereafter were the places of Men for AElfwine and his mariners, and of their seed have been many restless and wistful folk since they were dead...' Moreover my father seems clearly to have been going to say the same in AElfwine II, but stopped, struck out what he had written, and introduced the sentence in which AElfwine leapt into the sea. I cannot see any way to explain this. AElfwine A ends in much the same way as AElfwine II: As night comes on a little breath springs up and the clouds lift. They hoist sail to return -- when suddenly low down in the dusk they see the many lights of the Haven of Many Hues twinkle forth. They row thither, and hear sweet music. Then the mist wraps all away and the others rousing themselves say it is a mirage born of hunger, and with heavy hearts prepare to go back, but AElfwine plunges overboard and swims into the dark until he is overcome in the waters, and him seems death envelops him. The others sail away home and are out of the tale. 43 Literally, as he maintained: 'From that (grief) one moved on; from this in the same way one can move on.' There are long roots beneath the words of The Fellowship of the Ring (I. z): 'Elves... could now be seen passing westward through the moods in the evening, passing and not returning; but they were leaving Middle-earth and were no longer concerned with its troubles.'



'"That isn't anything new, if you believe the old tales,"' said Ted Sandyman, when Sam Gamgee spoke of the matter. I append here a synopsis of the structural differences between the three versions of AElfwine of England. A AE. sails from Belerion and sees 'islands in the dawn'. AE. sails again with 7 mariners of England. They are shipwrecked on the isle of the Man of the Sea but all survive. The Man of the Sea helps them to build a ship but does not go with them. 1 As in A AE. has only 3 companions, and he alone survives the shipwreck. The Man of the Sea helps AE. to build a boat and goes with him.. As in A, but his companion AElfheah is named. AE. has 7 companions, and is alone on the isle of the Man of the Sea, believing them drowned. AE. and the Man of the Sea find a stranded Viking ship and sail away in it together.



A. The Man of the Sea dives into the sea from a cliff-top of his isle. On their voyages 3 of AE.'s companions are enchanted in the Magic Isles. They are blown away from Tol Eressea after sighting it; AE. leaps overboard, and the others return home.



They come to the Isle of the Ythlings. The Man of the Sea dives from a cliff-top. AE. gets 7 companions from the Ythlings. As in A, but in this case they are Ythlings. They are blown away from Tol Eressea, and all, including AE., return home.



As in I, but AE. finds his 7 companions from England, who were not drowned; to them is added Bior of the Ythlings. As in A As in A Changes made to names, and differences in names, in the texts of AElfwine of England. Luthien The name of the land in I and II; in A Luthany (see note 20). Deor At the first occurrence only in I Deor < Heorrenda, subse- quently Deor; A Deor. Evadrien In I < Erenol. Erenol = 'Iron Cliff'; see I. 252, entry Eriol. Forodwaith II has Forodwaith < Forwaith < Gwasgonin; I has Gwasgonin or the Winged Helms; A has the Winged Helms. Outer Land < Outer Lands at both occurrences in II (pp. 316 -- 17). AEfheah I has Gelimer (at the first occurrence only < Helgor). Shipmen of the West In II < Eneathrim. APPENDIX. NAMES IN THE LOST TALES -- PART II. This appendix is designed only as an adjunct and extension to that in Part One. Names that have already been studied in Part One are not given entries in the following notes, if there are entries under that name in Part One, e.g. Melko, Valinor; but if, as is often the case, the etymological information in Part One is contained in an entry under some other name, this is shown, e.g. 'Gilim See I.z6o (Melko)'. Linguistic information from the Name-list to The Fall of Condolin (see p. 148) incorporated in these notes is referred to 'NFG'. 'GL' and 'QL' refer to the Gnomish and Qenya dictionaries (see I. 246ff.). Qenya is the term used in both these books and is strictly the name of the language spoken in Tol Eressea; it does not appear elsewhere in the early writings, where the distinction is between 'Gnomish' on the one hand and 'Elfin', 'Eldar', or 'Eldarissa' on the other.



Alqarame For the first element Qenya alqa 'swan' see I. 249 (Alqalunte). Under root RAHA QL gives ra 'arm', rakta 'stretch out, reach', rama 'wing', ramavoite' 'having wings'; GL has ram 'wing, pinion', and it is noted that Qenya rama is a confusion of this and a word roma 'shoulder'. Amon Gwareth Under root AM(U) 'up(wards)' QL gives amu 'up(wards)', amu- 'raise', amunte' 'sunrise', amun(d) 'hill'; GL has am 'up(wards)', amon 'hill, mount', adverb 'uphill'. GL gives the name as Amon 'Wareth 'Hill of Ward', also gwareth 'watch, guard, ward', from the stem gwar- 'watch' seen also in the name of Tinfang Warble (Gwarbilin 'Birdward', I. 268). See Glamhoth, Gwarestrin. Angorodin See I. 249 (Angamandi) and I. 156 (Kalonne'). Arlisgion GL gives Carlisgion (see I.265 (Sirion)), as also does NFG, which has entries 'Garlisgion was our name, saith Elfrith, for the Place of Reeds which is its interpretation', and 'lisg is a reed (liske')'. GL has lisg, lisc 'reed, sedge', and QL liske with the same meaning. For gar see I. 251 (Dor Faidwen). Artanor GL has athra 'across, athwart', athron adverb 'further, beyond', athrod 'crossing, ford' (changed later to adr(a), adron, adros). With athra, adr(a) is compared Qenya arta. Cf. also the name Dor Athro (p. 41). It is clear that both Artanor and Dor Athro meant 'the Land Beyond'. Cf. Sarnathrod.



Asgon An entry in NFG says. "Asgon A lake in the "Land of Shadows" Dor Lomin, by the Elves named Aksan.' Ausir GL gives avos 'fortune, wealth, prosperity,' avosir, Ausir 'the same (personified)', also ausin 'rich', aus(s)aith or avosaith 'avarice'. Under root AWA in QL are aute 'prosperity, wealth; rich', ausie'wealth'. Bablon See p. 214. Bad Uthwen Gnomish uthmen 'way out, exit, escape', see I.251 (Dor Faidwen). The entry in NFG says: 'Bad Uthwen [emended from Uswen] meaneth but "way of escape" and is in Eldarissa Uswevande'.' For vande see I. 264 (Qalvanda). Balcmeg In NFG it is said that Balcmeg 'was a great fighter among the Orclim (Orqui say the Elves) who fell to the axe of Tuor -- 'tis in meaning "heart of evil".' (For -lim in Orclim see Condothlim.) The entry for Balrog in NFG says: 'Bal meaneth evilness, and Balc evil, and Balrog meaneth evil demon.' GL has balc 'cruel'. see I. 250 (Balrog). Bansil For the entry in NFG, where this name is translated 'Fair- gleam', see p. 214; and for the elements of the name see I.272 (Vana) and I. 265 (Sil). Belaurin See I. 264 (Palurien). Belcha See I. 260 (Melko). NFG has an entry: 'Belca Though here [i.e. in the Tale] of overwhelming custom did Bronweg use the elfin names, this was the name aforetime of that evil Ainu.' Beleg See I. 254 (Haloisi Velike). Belegost For the first element see Beleg. GL gives ost 'enclosure, yard -- town', also oss 'outer wall, town wall', osta- 'surround with walls, fortify', ostor 'enclosure, circuit of walls'. QL under root oso has os(t) 'house, cottage', osta 'homestead', ostar 'township', ossa 'wall and moat'. bo- A late entry in GL: 'bo (bon) (cf. Qenya vo, vondo "son") as patronymic prefix, bo- bon- "son of"'; as an example is given Tuor bo-Beleg. There is also a word bor 'descendant'. See go-, Indorion. Bodruith In association with bod- 'back, again' GL has the words bodruith 'revenge', bodruithol 'vengeful (by nature)', bodruithog 'thirsting for vengeance', but these were struck out.



There is also gruith 'deed of horror, violent act, vengeance'. -- It may be that Bodruith Lord of Belegost was supposed to have received his name from the events of the Tale of the Nauglafring. Copas Alqalunten See I. 254 (Kopas) and I. 249 (Alqalunte). Cris Ilbranteloth GL gives the group crisc 'sharp', criss 'cleft, gash, gully', crist 'knife', crista- 'slash, cut, slice', NFG: 'Cris meaneth much as doth falc, a cleft, ravine, or narrow way of waters with high walls'. QL under root KIRI 'cut, split' has kiris 'cleft, crack' and other words. For ilbrant 'rainbow' see I. 256 (Ilweran). The final element is teloth 'roofing, canopy': see I. 267 -- 8 (Teleri). Cristhorn For Cris see Cris Ilbranteloth, and for thorn see I. 266 (Sorontur). In NFG is the entry: 'Cris Thorn is Eagles' Cleft or Sornekiris. ' Cuilwarthon For cuil see I. 257 (Koivie-neni); the second element is not explained. Cum an-Idrisaith For cum 'mound' see I. 250 (Cum a Gumlaith). Idrisaith is thus defined in GL: 'cf. avosaith, but that means avarice, money-greed, but idrisaith = excessive love of gold and gems and beautiful and costly things' (for avosaith see Ausir). Related words are idra 'dear, precious', idra 'to value, prize', idri (id) 'a treasure, s jewel', idril 'sweetheart' (see Idril). Curufin presumably contains curu 'magic'; see I. 269 (Tolli Kuruvar). Dairon GL includes this name but without etymological explanation: 'Dairon the fluter (Qenya Sairon).' See Mar Vanwa Tyalieva below. Danigwiel In GL the Gnomish form is Danigwethil; see I.266 (Taniquetil).



NFG has an entry: 'Danigwethil do the Gnomes call Taniquetil; but seek for tales concerning that mountain rather in the elfin name.' (bo-)Dhrauthodavros '(Son of) the weary forest'. Gnomish drauth 'weary, toilworn', drauthos 'toil, weariness', drautha- 'to be weary'; for the second element tavros see I. 267 (Tavari). Dor Athro See Artanor, Sarnathrod. Dor-na-Dhaideloth For Gnomish dai 'sky' see I. 268 (Telimektar), and for teloth 'roofing, canopy' see ibid. (Teleri); cf. Cris Ilbran- teloth. Dramborleg NFG has the following entry: 'Dramborleg (or as it may be named Drambor) meaneth in its full form Thudder-sharp, and was the axe of Tuor that smote both a heavy dint as of a club and cleft as a sword; and the Eldar say Tarambor or Tarambolaika.' QL gives Tarambor, Tarambolaike 'Tuor's axe' under root TARA, TARAMA'batter, thud, beat', with taran, tarambo 'buffet', and taru 'horn' (included here with a query: see Taruithorn). No Gnomish equivalents are cited in GL. The second element is Gnomish leg, leg 'keen, piercing', Qenya laika; cf. Legolast 'keen-sight', I. 267 (Tari-Laisi). Duilin NFG has the following entry: 'Duilin whose name meaneth Swallow was the lord of that house of the Gondothlim whose sign was the swallow and was surest of the archers of the Eldalie, but fell in the fall of Gondolin. Now the names of those champions appear but in Noldorissa, seeing that Gnomes they were, but his name would be in Eldarissa Tuilindo, and that of his house (which the Gnomes called Nos Duilin) Nosse Tuilinda.' Tuilindo '(spring- singer), swallow' is given in QL, see I.269 (Tuilere); GL has duilin(g) 'swallow', with duil, duilir 'Spring', but these last were struck through and in another part of the book appear tuil, tuilir 'Spring' (see I. 269). For nosse' kin, people see I. 272 (Valinor)-, GL does not give nos in this sense, but has nosta- 'be born', nost 'birth; blood, high birth; birthday', and noss (changed to nos) 'birthday'. Cf. Nost- na-Lothion 'the Birth of Flowers', Nos Galdon, Nos nan Alwen. Earame For ea 'eagle' see I.251 (Eerendel), and for rame see Alqarame. GL has an entry Iotothram, -um '= Qenya Earame or Eaglepinion, a name of one of Earendel's boats'. For Gnomish ior, ioroth 'eagle' see I. 251 (Earendel), and cf. the forms Earam, Earum as the name of the ship (pp. 260, 276). Earendel See pp. 266 -- 7 and 1. 25 I. Earendilyon See I.251 (Earendel), and Indorion.Ec thelion Both GL and NFG derive this name from ecthel 'fountain', to which corresponds Qenya ektele'.



(This latter survived: cf. the entry kel- in the Appendix to The Silmarillion: 'from et-kele "issue of water, spring" was derived, with trans- position of the consonants, Quenya ehtele, Sindarin eithel'. A later entry in GL gives aithil (( ektl) 'a spring'.) -- A form kektele' is also found in Qenya from root KELE, KELU: see I. 257 (Kelusindi). Egalmoth NFG has the following entry: 'Egalmoth is a great name, yet none know clearly its meaning -- some have said its bearer was so named in that he was worth a thousand Elves (but Rumil says nay) and others that it signifies the mighty shoulders of that Gnome, and so saith Rumil, but perchance it was woven of a secret tongue of the Gondothlim' (for the remainder of this entry see p. 215). For Gnomish moth '1000' see I. 270 (Uin). GL interprets the name as Rumil did, deriving it from alm ((
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