The Third Phase text began with the creation of the First Typescript, when Tolkien returned to the beginning of the story and produced a legible, polished version of almost all the material he had written so far, incorporating into earlier chapters changes made necessary by developments in later chapters, such as the changes in names of some characters, and inserting the chapter breaks for the first time into the hitherto continuous text. This typescript reached as far as typescript page 129, the page describing the death of Smaug (Marq. 1/1/64:3; the third page in Chapter XIII [> XIV]). Tolkien then created the ‘fair copy’ version of the chapter describing Bilbo and the dwarves’ adventures inside the mountain (Chapter XIV [> XIII]; Marq. 1/1/14), carefully written on good paper, numbering the pages a-m to show that they formed a separate sequence. We can show that this ‘fair copy’ text of what is now Chapter XIII is later than the first few pages of the typescript of what is now Chapter XIV by the pagination of the latter: the First Typescript has sequential page numbers neatly typed in the upper left corner of each page from Chapter I through the third page of Chapter XIII [> XIV]. When Chapter XIII (The Death of Smaug) became Chapter XIV (‘Fire and Water’) and later a typed version of the new Chapter XIII (‘Not at Home’; Marq. 1/1/63) was inserted in place of the ‘fair copy’ text, the new typed pages lacked any typed page numbers and are instead numbered 127–34 in black ink, while the first three pages of ‘Fire and Water’ were re-numbered in the same ink: 127 > 135, 128 > 136, and 129 > 137, followed by page 1 of the Third Phase manuscript. Similarly, we know the next typescript page in ‘Fire and Water’ (Marq. 1/1/64:4) is later than the new typescript of the transposed chapter because it lacks any typed page number and instead is numbered in ink ‘138’; close comparison of the text also confirms that it derives from the Third Phase manuscript, not the earlier Second Phase version of this passage. In short, it was here that the ‘beautifully typed copy’ Elaine Griffiths recalled borrowing (Ann Bonsor radio interview; see also DAA.12) ended and the ‘rather roughly done’ ending chapters described by thirteen-year-old Christopher (see page xvii) began.
Thus, the circulating copy of Bilbo’s adventures which Tolkien loaned to Lewis, Griffiths, the Reverend Mother, the thirteen-year-old girl, and possibly others, which he called the ‘home manuscript’ in a later letter to Allen & Unwin, was a composite of typescript and fair copy manuscript:
• typescript pages I through 126 (Chapters I through XII)
• fair copy pages ‘a’ through ‘m’ (Chapter XIV > XIII)
• typescript pages 127 through 129 plus Third Phase manuscript pages I through 45 (Chapters XIII > XIV through XIX/end).
The First Typescript carried the story up to the words ‘And in the very midst of their talk a tall figure stepped from the shadows. He was drenched’ at the bottom of typescript page 129 (Marq. 1/1/64:3). The Third Phase manuscript begins in mid-sentence with the next word on page 1 ‘with water’ (the Second Phase text has a pencilled mark at this exact point indicating where the First Typescript ceased and the Third Phase manuscript took its place; see page 551 and Text Note 12 following Chapter XIII on page 554).
Like the first half of the Second Phase manuscript (manuscript pages 13–117), the Third Phase manuscript is written on good-quality ‘foolscap’ paper, unlike the larger pages (lined on one side and torn from student exam books) which had supplied the paper for the latter half of the Second Phase (i.e., manuscript pages 118–67 and the ‘little bird’ fragment).
The first seven pages of this new manuscript present a new draft of material which has already appeared in Chapters XIII and XVa of this book, but I include the overlap and give the entire Third Phase manuscript here for purposes of comparison to show how Tolkien expanded and polished the material in the course of making a fresh draft.
As with so many of Tolkien’s manuscripts, the Third Phase text began as fair copy, very neatly and legibly written in Tolkien’s best script on good paper. And as is also typical with Tolkien’s fair copies, the handwriting begins to deteriorate (in this case, after the first twenty pages or so), but even so this text remains much more legible than most.
Finally, the Third Phase manuscript includes a number of cancelled pages; those that survive after they had been superseded by replacement text do so because after he struck through the rejected text Tolkien re-used the verso for a later page. Thus, for example, what seem to be the original second, third, and fourth pages of the Third Phase were all cancelled but survive because they form the versos of pages 14, 9, and 8, respectively. See Text Notes 3, 4, and 7 for the cancelled texts. There is evidence that other cancelled pages once existed but did not survive.
with water, his black hair hung wet over his face and shoulders, and a fierce light was in his eyes.
‘Bard is not lost!’ he cried. ‘I am Bard, slayer of the dragon. I dived from Esgaroth only when no one else was left, and only when the enemy was slain. I am of the race of Girion, Lord of Dale. I will be your king!’
‘King Bard! King Bard!’ they shouted; and the Master ground his chattering teeth, as he sat upon the earth.
‘Girion was Lord of Dale, not king of Esgaroth’, he said. ‘In this lake-town we have always elected masters from the old and wise, and have not endured the rule of mere fighting men. Let King Bard go back to his own kingdom; and anyone go with him that wish to. Dale is [added: now] free; and he has slain the slayer of his fathers; nothing hinders his return. But the wise will stay here and rebuild our town, and hope to enjoy again in time its riches and its peace, any that prefer the mountain-shadowed valley to this water-side can go with him!’TN1
‘We will have King Bard!’ the people clamoured. ‘We have had enough of the old men and money-counters’.
‘I am the last man to undervalue Bard the bowman’ said the Master warily (for Bard had come & stood now close beside him). ‘He has tonight earned a chief place in the list of our benefactors, and is worthy of many imperishable songs. But, why, O people?’ – and here the Master rose and spoke very loud and clear – ‘why do I get all your blame? Who aroused the dragon from his <illegible> slumber,TN2 I might ask?TN3 Who obtained of us rich gifts and ample help, and led us to believe that old songs could come true? Who played on our soft hearts and pleasant fancies? What sort of gold have they sent down the river to reward us? Fire and ruin! From whom shall we claim the recompense of our damage, and aid for our widows and orphans?’
As you see the Master had not earned his position for nothing. For the moment the people quite forgot the idea of a new king, and turned their angry thoughts towards Thorin and his company. Wild and bitter words were shouted from many sides; and some of those who before had sung the old songs loudest, were now heard as loudly crying that the dwarves had stirred the Dragon up against them deliberately!
‘Fools!’ said Bard. ‘Why waste words and wrath on those unhappy creatures? Doubtless they perished first in fire, before Smaug came to us.’ Then even as he was speaking, the thought of the fabled treasure of the Mountain came [suddenly >] into his heart, and he fell suddenly silent; and he thought of the Master’s words, and of Dale rebuilt, and filled with golden bells, if he could but find the men.
At last he spoke again: ‘This is no time Master for angry words, or for considering weighty plans and great changes. There is work to do. I serve you still – though after a while, I may think again of your words, and go North with any that will follow me’.TN4 Then he strode off to help in the ordering of the camps and in the care of the sick and wounded. But the Master scowled at his back as he went, and remained sitting on the ground. He thought much, but he said little, unless it was to call loudly for men to bring him fire and food.
Now everywhere Bard went he found talk running like fire among the people concerning the vast treasure that was now without a guard. Men spoke of the recompense for all their harm that they would soon get from it, and wealth over and to spare wherewith to buy rich things from the South;TN5 and it cheered them greatly in their plight. That was fortunate, for their night was bitter and miserable. Shelters could be contrived for few, and there was little food. Many took ill of wet and cold and anguish [> sorrow] that night, and afterwards died, who had escaped uninjured from the town; and in the days that followed there was much sickness and great hunger. Meanwhile Bard took the lead, and ordered things as he wished, though always in the Master’s name; but he had a hard task to govern the people, and to arrange [> direct] the preparations for their protection and recovery. Probably most of them would have perished in the winter that now hurried [onwards >] after autumn, if help had not been to hand.TN6
But help came swiftly; for Bard had at once had [swift >] speedy messengers sent up the river to the Forest to ask help of the King of the Elves, and these messengers had found a host already on the move, although it was only the second day after the fall of Smaug.TN7
The Elven king had received news of what passed from his scouts and from the birds that loved his folk. Very great indeed was the commotion among all things with wings that dwelt on the borders of the desolation of the dragon. The air was filled with circling flocks, and swift-flying messengers sped here and there across the sky. Above the borders of the forest the air was filled with the noise of birds whistling, crying and piping. Far over Mirkwood the tidings spread: [added: ‘Smaug is dead’] Leaves rustled and startled ears were lifted. Even before the Elvenking rode [from his <?halls> >] forth the news had passed west even to the pinewoods of the Misty Mountains, and the Goblins were at council in their halls.
[But >] ‘That will be the last we shall hear of Thorin Oakenshield, [added: I fear]’ said the king. ‘He would have done better to remain my guest. It is an ill wind all the same’ he added ‘that blows no one good’, for he too had not forgotten the legend of the wealth of Thror. So it was that Bard’s men found him now riding [> marching] with all the spearmen and bowmen he could muster; and all the crows were gathered above him, for they thought they saw signs of <?battle and> wars awakening again, such as had not been for a long time. [cancelled: But some of the woodelves were gone <a route> direct towards the Mountain:]
Now the king when he received the prayers of the Bard because of his old friendship with the men of the lake; and because he was a lord of good and kindly race turned his marchTN8 which had been purposed to go direct toward the mountain, and turned [> went] along the river towards Lake-Town [> the Long lake]. He had not boats or rafts enough for all his host and they had [> were forced] to go the slower road [> way] by foot, but great store of goods he sent ahead by water. Still elves are light-footed, and though [they] were not much used to the marshes and treacherous lands between the Forest and the Lake, their going was swift; and but four days from the fall of Smaug the[y] came upon the shores of the Lake, and looked on the burnt ruins of the town. Their welcome was good, as may be expected, and the men & their Master were ready to make any bargain for the future in return for the Elvenking’s aid.
Their [<?dangers> were s[oon] >] plans were soon made. With the women and children, the old and the unfit the Master remained behind, & with him were some men of crafts and many skilled elves; and they busied themselves felling trees and with these and such timber as was sent from the Forest they set about the raising of many huts by the shore against the oncoming winter; also under the Master’s direction [farther >] they began the planning of a new town, designed more fairly and more large even than before, but in a place removed somewhat [> a little] northward, for they liked not the water where the body of the dragon lay.
A rider (1/1/15:11), written in pencil on a loose, unnumbered sheet of lined student notepaper, was clearly meant to be inserted at this spot, although there is no indication of its existence or exact placement on the page it supplements:
He would never again to his golden bed, but was lying cold [added: as stone, his bones > twisted] upon the floor of the shallows of the Lake – where forever after his great bones could be seen in calm weather amid the ruined pile<s> of the old town if any dared to cross the accursed spot. But [<?men> >] they rebuilt the town in a different place and none ever <dared> afterwards to gather the precious stones that were [<?fallen> >] fell out from his rotting carcass – not even the Master
A second rider (1/1/15:12), more carefully written in ink on a small piece of good paper, replaces this with a more polished form of the same passage:
He would never again return to his golden bed but was lying cold as stone, twisted upon the floor of the shallows of the lake, where for ever after his great bones could be seen in calm weather amid the ruined piles of the old town, if any one dared to cross the accursed spot.TN9
At the bottom of this text appear the penciled words ‘new p. 4.’, indicating that this rider is meant to go with Third Phase page 4 (1/1/16:1), which began with the words ‘four days from the fall of Smaug’ a paragraph and a half earlier.
But all the men of arms who were still able, and the most of the host of the king, got ready to march north to the Mountain. It was thus that in seven days from the death of Smaug that the head of their host passed the rock-gates at the end of the lake and came to the desolate lands.
At this point, Tolkien later began a new chapter (Chapter XV: ‘The Gathering of the Clouds’). On the manuscript page itself, in the middle of Third Phase manuscript page 4 (1/1/16:1), only a double skipped line between the third and fourth paragraphs marks the shift in scene. There is some evidence that Tolkien did not intend a chapter break to come here in the ‘home manuscript’; see page 666 below.
Now we will return to Bilbo and the Dwarves. All night one of them in turn had watched, but when morning came no sign of danger had been seen. But still yet more thickly the birds were gathering. Their companies came flying from the south, and the crows that still lived about the mountain were wheeling <&> crying unceasingly [added: above].TN10
‘Something strange is happening’ said Thorin. ‘The time has gone for the autumn wanderings; and there are birds that dwell ever in the land, starlings and flocks of finches – and there are many crows [> carrion birds far off] as if a battle were afoot.’
Suddenly Bilbo pointed: ‘There is that old thrush again’ he cried. ‘He seems to have escaped when Smaug smashed the mountain-side; but I don’t suppose the snails have!’
Sure enough the old thrush was there, and as Bilbo pointed he flew towards them and perched on a stone nearby. Then he fluttered his wings and sang; then he cocked his head as if to listen; and again he sang and again he listened.
‘I believe he is trying to tell us something’ said Balin; ‘but I don’t understand the tongue of small [> such] birds, it is very quick and difficult. Do you, Mr Baggins?’
‘Not very well’ said Bilbo (he did not know anything about it as a matter of fact),TN11 ‘but this old fellow seems very excited.’
‘I only wish he was a raven’ said Balin.
‘I thought you did not like them’ said Bilbo. You seemed to be very nervous [> shy] of them when we came this way before.’
‘Those were crows! And nasty suspicious-looking creatures at that, & rude as well. You must have heard the ugly names they were calling after us. But the ravens are different. There used to be a [added: great] friendship between them and the people of Thror, and they were often our scouts and news-bringers [> bringers of secret news to us]. [There are some that still linger here, I know, for I have seen > But I do not suppose there > any of that wise race that linger here now. >] They live many a year and their memories are long, and they hand [on] their wisdom to their children. I had many friends [> knew many] among the ravens of the rocks when I was a dwarf-lad. This very ridge we are on was once named ‘Ravenhill’ for there was a wise and famous pair [added: old Kark and his wife] that dwelt here above the guard-chamber. But I do not suppose that any of that ancient race linger here now.’TN12
No sooner had he finished speaking than the old thrush gave a loud call, and immediately flew away.
‘[That old bird >] We may not understand him, but that old bird understood [> understands] us, I am sure’ said Thorin. ‘Keep watch now, & see what happens!’
Before long there was a fluttering of wings, and back came the Thrush; but with him came another most decrepit old bird. He was getting blind, he could hardly fly, and the top of his head was bald. He was an aged raven of great size. He alighted stiffly on the ground before them, slowly flapped his wings and bobbed towards Thorin.
‘O Thorin, Thrain’s son, Thror’s son, & Balin son of Fundin’ he croaked, and Bilbo found he could understand what he said. ‘I am Roäc son of Carc. Carc is dead, but he was well-known to you once. It is a hundred years and three and fifty since I came out of the egg, but I do not forget what my father told me. [Now] I am the chief of the great Ravens of the Mountain. We are few [and we >] but we remember still the King that was of old. The others are mostly gone south, where there are great tidings – some are tidings of joy to you, and some you will not think so good. Behold! the birds are gathering back again to the Mountain from South and East and West, for word has gone forth that Smaug is dead!’
‘Dead?’ shouted the dwarves. ‘Dead! Then we have been in needless fear – and the treasure is ours!’ They sprang up and began to caper about for joy.
‘Yes, dead’ said Roäc. ‘The thrush, may his feathers never fail, has seen it [> saw him die], and we may trust his words. He saw him fall in battle with the men of Esgaroth the third night back from now, at the rising of the moon. So much for joy, Thorin Oakenshield. You may go back to your halls in safety; all the treasure is yours – for the moment. But many are gathering hither other than [> besides] the birds. The news of the death of the guardian has gone far and wide, & many are eager for a share of the spoil. Already an army is on the way, and carrion birds are with them, hoping for battle and slaughter. The Elvenking is coming hither; and by the Lake men murmur that their sorrows are due to you; For they are homeless and many are dead, & Smaug has destroyed their town. They purpose too to find amends from your treasure, whether you are alive or dead (as they expect). [I have sp[oken] > I have <nought> >] Your own wisdom must decide your course; but thirteen is small remnant of the great folk of Durin that now is scattered far. If you will hearken to my advice you will trust [rather Bard the bow-man; for he it was that shot >] not the Master of the lake-men, but rather him that shot the dragon with his bow. Bard is he, of the race of Dale, of the line of Girion; he is a grim man but true. We would see peace once more among dwarves and men and elves after the long desolation; but it may cost you dear in gold. I have spoken.’
Then Thorin burst forth in wrath [> anger]: ‘our thanks Roäc Carc’s son. You and your people shall not be forgotten. But none of our gold shall thieves or the violent have while we are still alive. If you would earn our thanks still more bring us news of any approach [> that draw near]. Also I would beg you, if any of you are yet young and strong of wing, that you would send messengers to our kin in the mountains of the North, both west from here and East, and tell them of our plight. But go specially to my cousin Dain at [> in] the Iron hills, for he has many people well armed and bid him hasten [> and dwells nearest to this place; and bid him hasten].’TN13
‘I will not say if this plan be good or bad’ [said >] croaked Roäc; but I will [cancelled: try to] do what can be done,’ and off he slowly flew.
‘Back now to the mountain’ said Thorin. ‘We have little time to lose.’
‘And little food to use!’ cried Bilbo, always practical on such points. In any case he felt that the adventure was properly speaking over with the death of Smaug – in which he was muchTN14 mistaken – and would have given much of his share of the profits for a peaceful winding-up of these affairs.
‘Back to the mountain’ cried the dwarves, as if they had not heard; so back with them he had to go.
As you have heard some of the events that were going on about already you will see that the dwarves still had some days before them. They laboured hard, for tools were still to be found in plenty in their old halls [added: and at such work they were greatly skilled] and [added: as they worked] the ravens brought them constant tidings.
This last sentence was cancelled and replaced by an expanded passage crowded into the left margin:
They explored the halls once more, & found as they had expected that, but the main Gate remained open. All the others save the more [> smaller] secret door, had long ago been broken and blocked by smaug. So now they laboured hard in fortifying the Eastern Gate. Tools were to still be had in plenty that the miners and quarriers and builders of old had used, and at such work they were greatly skilled. As they worked the Ravens brought them constant tidings.
Thus they learned [after four days’ toil that the joined host of the elves >] that the Elvenking had turned aside to [the] Lake, and they still had breathing space. Better still they heard that three of their ponies were wandering wild far down upon the river banks, not far from where their stores had been left. So while the others went on with their chief task of fortifying the gate, Fili and Kili were sent guided by a raven to [bring in such suppl[ies] >] find the ponies and bring back all they could.
[It was four days >] They were four days gone, and by that time they knew that the joined armies of the lake-men and Elves were hastening towards them. But now their hopes were more high, for they had food for some weeks with care, and the gate was block[ed] with a wall of squared stones laid dry but very thick and high across the opening. There were holes in it [for see >] from which they could see or shoot, but no entrance. They climbed in and out by ladders, or hauled stuff up with ropes. For the issuing of the river [> stream] they had contrived an arch [> a small arch], [but they so altered its bed near the entrance that >] under the new wall, but near the entrance they so altered its [narrow] bed that a wide pool [stood >] stretched from the mountain wall to the head of the falls over which it went on towards Dale, and approach to the Gate was only by a narrow path that wound close to the high [bank >] cliff southward. [There was no pasture for the ponies, so these they took >] The ponies they had brought only to the head of the steps above the old bridgeTN15 and unloading them had bidden return to their mortal masters,TN16 and sent them back riderless to the south.
The[re] came an evening [> a night] when suddenly there were many lights as of fires and torches away East [<out> the >] in Dale before them. ‘They have come,’ called Balin ‘and their camp is great. They must have come into the valley under the covering of dusk; and most are on the north side of the River.’
That night they [> the dwarves] slept little. The morning was still pale when they saw a company approaching. From behind their wall they watch[ed] them come up the valley’s head and climb [<the rock> >] slowly up. Soon they saw that both men of the lake armed as for war, and elvish bowmen were among them. At last they climbed the rocks and appeared at the fall’s head; and great was their surprise to see the pool before them, and the [blocked gate >] gate blocked with a wall of new-hewn stone.
Then Thorin hailed them: ‘Who are you’ he called in a loud voice ‘that come as if to war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, king under the Mountain, and what do you desire?’
But they answered nothing; some turned swiftly back and [the] others after gazing long at the gate and its defences soon followed them. That day the camp was moved, and came right between the arms of the mountain. The rocks echoed then with voices and with song, as they had not done for many a day. There was sound [too] of elven-harps and sweet music; and Bilbo longed to escape and go forth and join in the feasting by the fires. Even the dwarves [> Thorin was] moved, & muttered that he would things had fallen out other-wise, and that he might welcome such folk as friends.TN17 But Thorin scowled.
A pencilled addition, scribbled at the end of the paragraph and in the left margin, introduces the idea of dwarven music as a counter to the elven song outside:
But the dwarves themselves brought forth the[ir] harps and <?instruments> regained from the hoard & made music to heart[en] <him> and they sang again songs as they had done in B’s <home>.
There is no indication here that Tolkien intended to include an actual song at this point, but an unnumbered page in pencil on a loose sheet of student paper (1/1/16:12) survives that is clearly the very first rough workings for the poem that was later inserted here (i.e., in the resumed First Typescript). The typescript version of the preceding paragraph notes that ‘their song . . . was much like the song they had sung long before in Bilbo’s little hobbit-hole’ (1/1/65:4), and indeed one stanza of the final poem is identical (the third in the new poem and the second in the old) and another reproduces three lines out of four (the fourth in both poems, differing only in one line and one word), while the other stanzas reuse some of the rhymes and phrasing from the earlier poem (compare DAA.321–2 with DAA.44–5). The two are clearly meant to be companion pieces, depicting the hoped-for goal at the onset of the quest and its apparent achievement at what Bilbo had optimistically hoped would be its end.
Under the Mountain dark and tall
[The King is > returns <to> his ha[ll] >] The King is come
unto his hall
The [<?thane> >] worm of dread
This foe is dead the worm of dread <illegible>
[And so shall his foes >] And ever so his foes shall fall
[The Gate is strong, the >]
The sword is sharp the spear is long
The arrow swift the Gate is strong
The heart is bold that looks on gold TN18
That wrong.TN19
[It <brooks> . >]
It fears not
The <illegible> is swift the [> No more the dwarves]
The king shall suffer <no>TN20 [> shall suffer wrong]
The Dwarves lift up the hearts afar
Where ever folk of Durin are.
Come haste come haste across the waste
The king has need of friend <&> [> friend and k.]TN21
[The dwarves >] The mountain throne once more is freed
O folk of Durin O wandering folk the summons heed
The king of kin and friend hast need.
the melody of harp they wrung
Now call their voices over mountains cold
Come back unto the cavern old
Rejoice where [added: hoarded] silver lies and gold
Here at the gates the king [added: now] awaits
his hands [are <illegible> >] with silver > with gifts of silver
and of gold
Despite its extreme roughness, this first draft is recognizably the same poem as the final piece in the published book, the main differences being the insertion of two stanzas from the companion poem in Chapter I (one of which was slightly altered in the process), thus expanding it from the five stanzas of the draft to the seven of the final poem, the combination of the draft’s third and fourth stanzas into a single stanza (the fifth) in the final, and the addition of a final stanza that recaps the first but with its lines in slightly different order. The poem appears in its final form in the continuation of the First Typescript exactly as in the published book and, like all the other poems in The Hobbit, Tolkien left it unaltered from the first printing onwards.
The next morning a company of spearmen came and they bore amid them the green banner of the Elvenking and the blue banner of the Lake; and they came by the narrow path [and >] until the[y] stood right before the wall at the gate.
Again Thorin asked the same questionTN22 as before, and this time it was answered. A tall man stood forward dark of hair and he cried:
‘Hail Thorin! [We >] Why do you fence yourself like a robber in his hold. We are not [added: yet] foes, and we rejoice that you are alive beyond our hope. [But still > We come hither > we came hither not >] We came expecting to find none living here, yet now that we are met there seems to be much matter for a parley and & a council.’
‘Who are you and of what would you parley’ answered Thorin.
‘I am Bard and by my hand was the Dragon slain and your treasure delivered. Is not that a matter that concerns you? Moreover I am by right descent the heir of Girion of Dale, and in your hoard is mingled much of the wealth of his halls and towers, which of old Smaug stole. Is not that a matter of which we may speak? Further in his last battle Smaug destroyed the town of Esgaroth, and I am yet the servant of its master. I would speak for him and ask whether you have no thought for the sorrow and misery of his people, who aided you in your distress, and on whom you have thus far brought ruin only, if undesigned, in recompense.’
Now these were fair and true words, if [hars[h] >] proudly and grimly spoken, and Bilbo thought that Thorin would admit what justice was in them. But he did not reckon with the power that gold [added: has] upon which a dragon has long brooded, nor with dwarvish hearts.TN23 Long hours in the past days had Thorin spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy upon him. Though he hunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, yet he had an eye for every other thing that here was gathered, and about most were wound old memories of the labours and the sorrows of his race.TN24
‘You put your worst cause in [last >] the chief place he answered.TN25 To the treasure of my people you have no claim because Smaug who stole it from us also robbed you of life and home. The treasure is not Smaug’s that his heirs should pay for his evil deeds with it!TN26 The price of the goods that we had of the lake-men we will fairly pay [and > in due time > hour] – but nothing will we give, not a loaf’s worth, under threat of force. While an armed host lies before our doors, we look on you as thieves and foes.
‘It is in my mind to ask what [recompense you >] share of their inheritance you would have paid to our kindred had you found the hoard unguarded and us dead.’TN27
‘A just question’ replied Bard. ‘Yet you are not dead, and we have no thought at least of robbing you alive. [And still >] Moreover the wealthy may have pity on the needy [added: that helped [> befriended] them when they needed help]. And still my other claims remain unanswered.’TN28
‘I will not parley, as I have said, with armed men at my gate. Nor at all with the people of the Elvenking, whom I remember with small kindness. In this debate they have no place. Begone now ere our arrows fly. And if you would speak with me again, [added: first] dismiss the elvish host [added: to the woods where it belongs] and come [hither >] to my gates and lay down [first >] your arms upon the threshold.’
‘The Elvenking is my friend, and he has succoured the people of Esgaroth in their need, though we have [> they had] no claim but friendship on him,’ answered Bard. ‘We will give you time to repent your words. Gather your wisdom ere we return.’ Then he departed and went back to the camp.TN29
Ere many hours were past, the banner bearers [and trumpeters >] returned and trumpeters stood forth and blew a blast. ‘In the name of Esgaroth and the Elvenking’ one criedTN30 ‘we bid you [> him] consider the claims that have been urged, or be declared our foes [> foe]. At least shall you deliver one twelfth portion of the treasure unto Bard, as the dragon-slayer, and as the heir of Girion. From that he will himself contribute to the aid of Esgaroth; but if you will have the friendship of the lands about you, as your sires of old, then you will add also somewhat of your own beside.’TN31
Then Thorin seized a bow of horn, and shot an arrow at the speaker. It smote in his shield and stuck quivering there.TN32
‘Since such is your answer’ he called in return ‘I [can >] declare this Mountain besieged. You shall not depart from it until you call [> ask] on your side for a truce and a parley. We bear no weapons against you, but we leave you to your gold; and you may eat that, if you will.’
With that the messengers departed swiftly, and the dwarves were left to consider their case. So [fie[rce] >] grim had Thorin become that they did not dare to murmur against him.TN33 Indeed most of them seem to share his mind, except perhaps for old fat Bombur, and Fili and Kili; and of course for Bilbo. He had by now had more than enough of the Mountain, and being besieged in it was not at all to his taste. It still smelt hatefully of dragon anyway; and food was short and poor.
TEXT NOTES
1 The latter half of this paragraph, all the words following ‘his own kingdom’, was cancelled and replaced at once by ‘Dale is now free – but wise men will stay here’ which in turn was changed to ‘ – Dale is now free, and nothing hinders his return. And any that wish can go with him, if they prefer the cold stones under the mountain-shadow to this waterside. The wise will stay here and hope to rebuild our town, and enjoy again in time its peace and riches.’
2 I cannot read the cancelled word preceding ‘slumber’, but it ends in -dable, possibly mendable.
3 A cancelled page (1/1/17:3) survives that represents an earlier draft of the Third Phase text that originally followed this passage. Undoubtedly once the second page in the Third Phase text, it survives because its blank verso was used shortly thereafter to become new page 14 [= 1/1/17:2].
his slumber, I might ask? Who obtained of us rich gifts and ample help, and led us to believe that our old songs would come true? Who played upon our foolish [added: soft hearts] generosity and our pleasant dreams? What sort of gold have they sent down the river to recompense [> reward] us? Dragon-fire and ruin! From whom shall we claim the recompense of our damage, and the help of our widows and orphans?’
[From which >] You can easily see that the Master had not earned his position for nothing. For the moment the people quite forgot their idea of a new king, and turned their angry thoughts towards Thorin and his company. Hate flared up against them, and wild and bitter words were shouted. Some of those who had sung the old songs loudest were now heard as loudly crying that the dwarves had sent the dragon down upon them deliberately!
‘Fools!’ said Bard. ‘Why waste words or hate on those unhappy creatures. Doubtless they have perished in fire before Smaug came to us.’ Yet even as he spoke, the thought of the fabled treasure of the mountain came into his heart, and he fell suddenly silent; and he thought of the Master’s words, and of Dale rebuilt and filled with golden bells, if he could but find the men.
At last he spoke again. ‘This is no time, Master, he said for [<illegible> >] counsels of change. There is work to do. I serve you yet; though after a while I may think again of your words and go north with such folk
This passage marks the point at which the detail of Dale’s ‘golden bells’ enter the story, although the destroyed city had been linked with bells as far back as the first poem (Bladorthin Typescript, page 37; DAA.45), all accounts of Smaug’s attack (page 72; DAA.56), and Balin’s sad memories upon seeing the ruins (where the mention of bells first appears in the typescript, contrast page 472 with DAA.258). The contrast between alarm bells and these golden bells recalls Edgar Poe’s poem ‘The Bells’ [1849], which successively contrasts the sounds and associations of silver, golden, brass, and iron bells (delight, happiness, alarm, and melancholy, respectively); the juxtaposition of golden bells ringing on happy occasions immediately followed by brazen alarm bells sounding warning at times of sudden danger/disaster is particularly suggestive.
4 A cancelled page (1/1/16:10) survives that represents an earlier draft of the Third Phase text that originally followed this passage. Originally the third page in the Third Phase text, as with the text given in Text Note 3 above it survives because its blank verso was used shortly thereafter (in this case, to become page 9 [= 1/1/16:6]).
as will follow me.’ Then he strode off to help in the ordering of the camps, and in the helping of the injured; [added, then cancelled: but first he sent messengers as swift as <illegible> find to ask for the help of the king of the Elves] But the Master scowled at his back, and sat still upon the ground. If he thought much, he said little save to call loudly for men to bring him fire and food.
But now the talk ran ever among the people of the fabled hoard of the mountain that lay now without a guardian. And men spoke of [the] recompense and to spare for all their harm that they should get from it; and it cheered them much in their plight. And that was fortunate, for their night was bitter and miserable. Shelters could be contrived for few, and there was little food. Many took ill then and afterwards died, who had escaped unhurt from the town. In the days that followed there was much sickness and hunger, and even Bard would have had a hard task to order the people, for now he took the lead [> . . . and hunger. Bard now took the lead] and ordered things as he wished, though always in the Master’s name. But he had a hard task to govern the people and direct the preparations for [the] rebuilding of their town. Probably the most of them would have perished in the winter, if other help had not been to hand <in> <this/their> <illegible> the help of the Elves. [Added, in smaller letters at the end of the paragraph and continued in the bottom margin: It was not long before the wood-elves came. Swift messengers were sent > But help soon came, for Bard had at once had swift messages sent to the Forest to ask help of the King of the Elves.]
The spies of the wood elves [> Their spies] had sent news of the dwarves’ northward journey to their King; and he was as astonished as the Master of the town had been to learn of it, but he expected no other ending than their death in the jaws of the dragon.
5 The image of rich, warm lands to the South, the source of unimagined luxuries, that underlies The Hobbit (and to a lesser extent some passages in the early legendarium) is very much in keeping with the Old English, Gothic, and Scandinavian view of the Mediterranean. Cf. my commentary on the trade in the wine of Dorwinion (Chapter IX) and also the reference in Chapter X to ‘the trade that came up the great river from the south’.
6 ‘the winter that now hurried after autumn’: This reference, which survives into the published book (DAA.311), shows that this scene is set in the days immediately before the onset of winter, in keeping with the shift of Durin’s Day to the last full moon of autumn. For the problems this creates in the story’s chronology, see Text Note 13 following Chapter XI.
7 Again the text that follows was preceded by a cancelled page (1/1/16:11), now the verso of new page 8 [= 1/1/16:5]; this earlier draft was once the fourth page of the Third Phase text, following immediately the text given in Text Note 4 above.
When news reached him of the rousing of the dragon and of fire upon the mountain-top, he became alarmed, and fear for his woods fell on him; but he thought at least he had heard the last of Thorin Oakenshield.
But soon other messengers came in rowing madly up the Forest River, and they told of the fall of Esgaroth and the death of Smaug. Then he thought the time had come to move. ‘It is an ill wind that blows no one any good’ he said; for he too had not forgotten the legend of the wealth of Thror.
So now he led forth all the host he could muster, or that would follow him beyond the eaves of their beloved forest. It was a great army of bowmen and spearmen, and they were robed in green and brown, and their going was exceedingly swift. Some were sent with speed North towards the Mountain; some he led bearing great store of goods down the river towards the lake. These had a long march for they were not used to the marshes and the lands beyond the forest, and they had not boats or rafts enough to carry them. Yet elves are quick and light-footed, and [in] but four days from the fall of Smaug he reached the lake-shores, and the unhappy men were glad indeed to welcome him; and ready (as he had expected) to make any bargain for the future in return for his help.
[So >] This is how it came about that while many, both men and skilful elves, were left behind upon the [<?lake> >] shores, with the women and children, busily felling trees [and gathering >] for the making of huts against the winter, and beginning under the direction of the Master to re-plan and re-fashion a town like the one destroyed, yet in a place removed further north, and planned [> designed] even more fairly and more large
While this corresponds in general to the more polished text that replaced it, some interesting details are worth noting. The inelegant detail of elves frantically rowing up-river was dropped, replaced by swift-footed messengers and, more significantly, birds ‘that loved his folk’, a parallel to the ravens and thrush who are shortly thereafter telling Thorin & Company the same news, and more. The statement that he brings ‘all . . . that would follow him beyond the eaves of their beloved forest’ suggests for the first and only time that he is not an absolute monarch; there are commands he could give that at least some of his people would not obey. This assumes, of course, that all the elves who march under his banner belong to his kingdom: the description that ‘they were robed in green and brown’ recalls the ‘elfin folk all clad in green and brown’ (BLT II.234) that Beren summoned to lead against the dwarven host in ‘The Nauglafring’, ambushing them and taking away all the treasure those dwarves had just claimed. It seems possible, even likely, that ‘the brown Elves and the green’, a phrase used three times in ‘The Nauglafring’ (BLT II.237, 240, & 242), distinguishes between the elves who dwelt in the caves of Artanor (Doriath) with King Tinwelint/Thingol (= the brown elves or wood-elves) and those wanderers who live in the woods (later in revisions to the 1930 Quenta specifically identified as the Green Elves of Ossiriand, wandering the woods in the southeast corner of Beleriand just as the wood-elves of The Hobbit live in the northeast corner of the area shown on the Wilderland map). The dichotomy is maintained in the 1926 ‘Sketch’ (‘the brown and green Elves of the wood’, HME IV.33) but vanishes thereafter. Finally, the mercenary aspect of the elvenking’s charity, explicit in this draft, was still present but de-emphasized in the main Third Phase manuscript that replaced it and in the published book (DAA.312–13). Indeed, the replacement text goes out of its way to stress that he diverted his host from marching straight to the mountain to instead helping the lake-men ‘because he was a lord of good and kindly race’ – a statement not in harmony with his role as projected in the Plot Notes associated with the end of the Second Phase and the first indicator that Tolkien has shifted the book’s attitude towards the wood-elves to something much more favorable than their depiction in the Second Phase texts.
8 This passage initially read ‘Now the king divided his forces because of his old friendship with the men of the lake; some he sent westward to skirt the marshes and come more direct upon the Mountain and because he was a lord of good and kindly race turned his march and went so[uth]’.
9 Although this more nearly approaches the text of the published book (DAA.313), that familiar text is not achieved until the continuation of the First Typescript (compiled when Tolkien was preparing the book for submission to Allen & Unwin in summer-autumn 1936), where it appears as first typed exactly as in the printed book (1/1/64:6, revised typescript pagination page ‘140’).
10 The following was written neatly in the left margin in black ink, but it was neither completed nor was the specific point at which it was to be inserted indicated; presumably it would have replaced part of the paragraph just given, probably the second sentence: ‘Three nights and days they dwelt in the watch-chamber, and did not dare to go far afield. Ever they grew more puzzled, and though they debated ever the matter of’.
11 Compare the equivocation of the Parson in Farmer Giles of Ham, when faced with an inscription on a sword he cannot make out: the reader is told ‘he could not make head or tail of them’, but rather than admit this, ‘to gain time’ he tells the sword’s owner that ‘[t]he characters are archaic and the language barbaric . . . [a] little closer inspection will be required’ (FGH 32). In the Second Phase version of this passage (page 618), there was no hint of Bilbo’s deliberate evasiveness on this point.
The idea that different animals all have their own individual languages harkens back to the Dr. Dolittle books, which were favorites of the Tolkien children; see page 266ff.
12 This variant spelling of the more usual Carc appears only this once. The first typescript, which also gives this line as a later (ink) addition, has the more usual ‘old Carc and his wife’ (1/1/65:1). The second typescript (1/1/46:1) includes ‘old Carc and his wife’ (who never receives a name in any version of the tale) as first typed.
13 This sentence marks the first mention of Dain Ironfoot; for more on this remarkable figure, see page 702ff.
The statement that Thorin has kin in the mountains of the north first appears here, and remains unchanged into the published text (cf. DAA.318). The later account in The Lord of the Rings, however, seems to contradict this by stating that after the great cold-drake killed Thror’s father and brother ‘most of Durin’s Folk abandoned the Grey Mountains’ for the Lonely Mountain and Iron Hills, an event that the Tale of Years states took place some one hundred and eighty years before Smaug overthrew the Kingdom Under the Mountain, or some three hundred and fifty years before Thorin’s return (LotR.1124–26).
14 Tolkien inserted an end-bracket in the text at this point; the only significance I can see for this is that this marks the end of later typescript page ‘142’ (1/1/65:2) and was, of course, very near the point at which the Second Phase manuscript had broken off. It thus presumably marks a pause in the creation of the later typescript in summer-autumn 1936.
15 There is no mention of this bridge in their first view of the ruined valley in Chapter XI (page 472), but Thorin mentions it near the end of (original) Chapter XIV and they ford the spot where it once stood on their way to Ravenhill; see page 583. The support-stones for this bridge are also visible in several pictures Tolkien drew of the Lonely Mountain, such as ‘The Front Door’ (plate X [top]), but not in the black and white drawing ‘The Front Gate’ which appeared in the published book (this picture’s point of view being from the valley floor, where the bridge would be behind the viewer).
16 This phrase, reminiscent of the ‘mortal men, doomed to die’ in the Ring-verse of the sequel, suggests that the dwarves are not mortal in the same sense. This agrees with what is said of the dwarves in The Book of Lost Tales (‘. . . a strange race and none know surely whence they be . . . Old are they, and never comes a child among them’ – BLT II.223–4). See ‘The Halls of Waiting’ starting on page 720.
17 Changed by later ink to ‘Some of the younger dwarves also were moved, & muttered that they would things had fallen out otherwise . . .’
18 ‘The heart is bold that looks on gold’: cf. Text Note 14 following Chapter XIV on page 588.
19 Tolkien wrote only the first and last (rhyming) word on this line, leaving the space between them blank. Similarly, the next two lines were left incomplete.
20 These two half-lines were replaced by
No more the dwarves
shall suffer wrong.
21 I.e., ‘friend and k[in]’.
In the right margin above this point, Tolkien has jotted down several rhyming words as an aid to composition: bar, car, <?char>, far, jar, shar, scar, tar. He was apparently unable to come up with a suitable third line with this rhyme (to match with afar and are) and so dropped both of the earlier lines from the final poem.
22 Tolkien underlined the words same question in pencil and wrote ‘repeat’ above them, indicating that Thorin’s actual words were to be given here, as indeed they are in the typescript that followed (1/1/65:5), although not phrased exactly the same as on the previous day; compare DAA.320 and 322.
23 As the reference to ‘dwarvish hearts’ shows, Tolkien has now reversed his original idea about dwarves and dragon-gold; instead of being at least partially immune to the dragon-sickness, he now sees dwarves as particularly susceptible to it. See the commentary (‘Dragon-sickness’) following Chapter XIV, starting on page 595.
24 This passage was slightly revised to read ‘he had an eye for many another thing . . . and about each were wound . . .’. Tolkien also added at the end of the paragraph ‘Also he remembered the Elvenking with small kindness and was little pleased to see the elves among’ but cancelled this, no doubt when he incorporated it into the discussion that followed. Finally, Tolkien seems to have originally begun to write ‘the sorrows of his people’ before changing this to ‘of his race’.
25 Thorin’s rejection of charity, which should be a legitimate concern whatever the legitimacy or otherwise of all the other claims, is a warning sign of just how deeply sunk in dragon-sickness he has fallen. The Elvenking’s delaying his expedition to seize the treasure in order to help the victims of the disaster at Lake-town gives him the high moral ground in the Third Phase text over Thorin, who will not even repay the charity he received a few weeks earlier when he was similarly cold, hungry, destitute, and homeless. Note also that in contrast to the final Second Phase Plot Notes, here the Elvenking makes no claim but merely supports the claims of Bard and the lake-men.
26 This sentence was revised several times, probably to eliminate the problematic concept of ‘Smaug’s heirs’:
To the treasure of my people no one has a claim because Smaug who stole it from us also robbed him of life or home. The treasure is not Smaug’s that from it his evil deeds should be paid for
This second sentence was then cancelled in its entirety and replaced with the following in the left margin:
The treasure [is not >] was never [Smaug’s >] his that his evil deeds should be amended with [> his evil deeds should be atoned for with] a share of it.
27 Tolkien later answered this question for us with the story of Scatha the Worm, which can be found in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings. After Fram of the Éothéod [Horse-folk], one of the ancestors of Eorl the Young, kills ‘the great dragon of Ered Mithrin’ [Grey Mountains], the dwarves claim his hoard, which had been stolen from them by the dragon (as evidence of which, note that Merry’s horn, which came from that hoard, ‘was made by the Dwarves’; LotR.1014). Fram ‘would not yield them a penny, and sent to them instead the teeth of Scatha made into a necklace, saying “Jewels such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by.” Some say that the Dwarves slew Fram for this insult. There was no great love between Éothéod and the Dwarves’ – LotR.1102. Note that this incident probably did not involve Durin’s folk, since these events took place more than a century before Thorin I removed from Erebor to the Grey Mountains.
28 Thorin’s rejection of the appeal to pity, especially on those in desperate need who had aided him when his folk were in similar straits, is a second warning sign of his moral corruption.
29 This paragraph replaced Bard’s original, much simpler, response:
‘We will give you time to repent your words’ said Bard and then he departed.
This type of expansion in the course of writing is typical of the Third Phase manuscript.
30 Added in the bottom margin, and marked for insertion at this point: ‘We speak unto Thorin Thrain’s son calling himself King under the Mountain.’
31 Changed to ‘but if you would have friendship and honour in the lands about you, as your sires had of old, then you will give also somewhat of your own beside.’ The detail that Bard and his allies requested one-twelfth of the treasure remained constant through the typescripts and various editions of the published book, but there is no indication how they determined that this figure would represent the proportion of Girion’s wealth to Thror’s hoard.
32 Attacking a herald, even symbolically like this, was of course a gross violation of the heroic code and hence significant. It shows that even if Thorin is within his rights to withhold charity and not to negotiate under threat, and quite justified in his resentment of the Elvenking, he is still, in Gandalf’s words, ‘not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain’ (see page 668).
This point also marks a slight pause in composition; the next paragraph is more neatly written and in darker ink.
33 This sentence was changed several times in the course of writing it: ‘murmur against him > offer him other counsel, and indeed > that had they wished they would not have dared to grumble at > find fault with him.’ That Thorin’s most trusted companions dare not speak their mind is of course another sign that Thorin is no longer the person he was, and sets the stage for his threats against them in the next chapter and his assault on Bilbo in the chapter after that. It is rather surprising that Balin, the most reasonable of all the dwarves, is not listed as having mental reservations à la Bilbo, Bombur, Fili, and Kili; perhaps his disdain for the Elvenking (made plain in his bluntness before him back in Chapter IX) affected his judgment here.