The End of the Third Age

[ArcusCalion]

This is the first draft of the chapter The End of the Third Age.

This chapter is a thoroughly mixed bag of sources, and so there is no base text. Because of this, I have marked every instance of any text used, so as to be easy to follow.

The markings are:
FY-HL-xx for all the headlines for the Fading Years.
ETA-SL-xx for all expansions and changes to the narrative.

Some conventions of my writing:

Bold Text = source information, comments and remarks
{example} = text that should be deleted
[example] = normalized text, normally only used for general changes, as well as changes which are a part of replacement that is not grammatical.
Underlined Text = text changed for grammatical reasons in the process of combining and inserting and removing.
<source example> = additions with source information
...... = This section of the paragraph is unchanged from the source.

FY-HL-22 < THE END OF THE THIRD AGE>

ETA-SL-01 <ORP Now all these things were achieved for the most part .... for he knew whence he came and whither at last he would return ETA-SL-02 <Appendix B {For}, for Círdan saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth>.
‘Take now this Ring,’ he said; 'for thy labors and thy cares .... valor of old in a world that grows chill. ETA-SL-03 <The Istari It was entrusted to me only to keep secret, and here upon the West-shores it is idle; but I deem that in days ere long to come it should be in nobler hands than mine.> But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails. Then I shall await thee.’
White was that ship and long was it a-building, ...... And latest of all the Keepers of the Three Rings rode to the Sea.>
ETA-SL-04 <Letter to Milton Waldman Frodo {cannot}could not be healed. For the preservation of the Shire he {has}had sacrificed himself, even in health, and {has}had no heart to enjoy it. Sam {has}had to choose between love of master and of wife. In the end he {goes}went with Frodo on a last journey. At night in the woods, where Sam first met Elves on the outward journey, they {meet the}met a twilit cavalcade from Rivendell. The Elves and the Three Rings, and Gandalf (Guardian of the Third Age) {are}were going to the Grey Havens, to set sail for the West, never to return. Bilbo {is}was with them. To Bilbo and Frodo the special grace {is}was granted to go with the Elves they loved ETA-SL-05 {- an Arthurian ending, in which it is, of course, not made explicit whether this is an 'allegory' of death, or a mode of healing and restoration leading to a return}. They {ride}rode to the Grey Havens, and {take}took the Ship ETA-SL-06 <ORP that Círdan had made ready>: Gandalf with the Red Ring, Elrond (with the Blue) and the greater part of his household, and Galadriel of Lórien with the White Ring, and with them {depart}departed Bilbo and Frodo.>
ETA-SL-07 <ORP In the twilight of autumn {it}the ship sailed out of Mithlond, until the seas of the Bent World fell away beneath it, and the winds of the round sky troubled it no more, and borne upon the high airs above the mists of the world it passed into the Ancient West, and an end was come for the Eldar of story and of song.>

ETA-SL-08 <Appendix A Théoden {He} is called Théoden Ednew in the lore of Rohan, .... Then a new line was begun.>
ETA-SL-09 <HoME 12: TY4 {It is said also that in}In 3020 Éowyn Éomund's daughter wedded Faramir, last Steward of Gondor and first Prince of Ithilien, in the king's house of Rohan. ETA-SL-10 <Appendix A In the War of the Ring Théodred fell in battle with Saruman at the Crossings of Isen. Therefore before ...... and of Imrahil of Dol Amroth; and he rode often to Gondor.> {Éomer her brother received the kingship upon the field of battle from Théoden ere he died.} In ETA-SL-11 {3022}[3021] (or Fourth Age 1) he wedded Lothíriel daughter of Imrahil of Dol Amroth, and his reign over Rohan was long and blessed, and he was known as Éomer Éadig. ETA-SL-12 <Appendix A Their son Elfwine the Fair ruled after him.
In Éomer's day in the Mark men ..... flew in many winds until Éomer grew old.>
King Elessar and Queen Arwen reigned long and in great blessedness.> ETA-SL-13 <Appendix B Samwise {is}was elected Mayor of the Shire.> ETA-SL-14 <Appendix B King Elessar {issues}issued an edict that Men {are}were not to enter the Shire, and he {makes}made it a Free Land under the protection of the Northern Scepter.> ETA-SL-15 <Appendix A Our King, we {call}called him; and when he {comes}came north to his house in Annúminas restored and {stays}stayed for a while by Lake Evendim, then everyone in the Shire {is}was glad. But he {does}did not enter this land and {binds}bound himself by the law that he {has}had made, that none of the Big People shall pass its borders. But he {rides}rode often with many fair people to the Great Bridge, and there he {welcomes}welcomed his friends, and any others who {wish}wished to see him; and some {ride}rode away with him and {stay}stayed in his house as long as they {have}had a mind. Thain Peregrin {has}had been there many times; and so {has}had Master Samwise the Mayor. ETA-SL-16 <Appendix B He {gives}gave the Star of the Dúnedain to Master Samwise, and> {His}his daughter Elanor the Fair {is}was made one of the maids of Queen Evenstar.> ETA-SL-17 <Appendix B Meriadoc, called the Magnificent, {becomes}became Master of Buckland. Great gifts {are}were sent to him by King Éomer and the Lady Éowyn of Ithilien. Peregrin {becomes}became the Took and Thain. King Elessar {makes}made the Thain, the Master, and the Mayor Counsellors of the North-kingdom.>
ETA-SL-18 <Appendix B On September 22 of Shire Reckoning 1482, Master Samwise {rides}rode out from Bag End. He {comes}came to the Tower Hills, and {is}was last seen by Elanor, to whom he {gives}gave the Red Book afterwards kept by the Fairbairns. Among them the tradition is handed down from Elanor that Samwise passed the Towers, and went to the Grey Havens. and passed over Sea, last of the Ring-bearers.>
ETA-SL-19 <Appendix B In the spring of the year 1484 a message came from Rohan to Buckland that King Éomer .... laid in Rath Dínen among the great of Gondor.>
ETA-SL-20 <Appendix A: Tale of Aragorn and Arwen The Third Age ended thus .... all that she had gained was lost.
As Queen of Elves and Men ..... Then Aragorn said to Arwen:
‘At last, Lady Evenstar, fairest .... time of payment draws near.’
Arwen knew well what he intended, ..... people that live by your word?’ she said.
‘Not before my time,’ ..... son is a man full-ripe for kingship.’
Then going to the House of the Kings ..... that she had taken upon her.
‘Lady Undómiel,’ said Aragorn, ‘the hour ...... Now, therefore, I will sleep.
‘I speak no comfort to you, for there ...... or else to abide the Doom of Men.’
‘Nay, dear lord,’ she said, ‘that choice ..... One to Men, it is bitter to receive.’
‘So it seems,’ he said. ‘But let us ..... and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!’
‘Estel, Estel!’ she cried, and with that even ..... in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world. ETA-SL-21 <Appendix B It is said that the beds of Meriadoc and Peregrin were set beside the bed of the great king.>
But Arwen went forth from the House, ..... also was gone, and the land was silent.
There at last when the mallorn-leaves ..... bloom no more east of the Sea.>
ETA-SL-22 <TY 4 Of Eldarion son of Elessar it was foretold that he should rule a great realm, and that it should endure for a hundred generations of Men after him, that is until a new age brought in again new things; and from him should come the kings of many realms in long days after. But if this foretelling spoke truly, none now can say, for Gondor and Arnor are no more; and even the chronicles of the House of Elessar and all their deeds and glory are lost.>
ETA-SL-23 <Appendix A But when King Elessar gave up his life Legolas {followed at last the desire of his heart and sailed over Sea.} ETA-SL-24 <Appendix B built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down Anduin and so over Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli the Dwarf. And when that ship passed an end was come in the Middle-earth of the Fellowship of the Ring.>

ETA-SL-25 <Appendix A Here follows one of the last notes in the Red Book

We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli ...... More cannot be said of this matter.>

FY-HL-22: I know we rejected the subheading for last chapter, but since it was still used in a draft, I did not reuse FY-HL-21, and decided to give this one a new number. The title is, I think, self explanatory, and comes from the rejected LotR book titles.

ETA-SL-01: Here we finally give the story of Gandalf's arrival at the Havens as told in retrospect, which I think we should keep in this location, since this is when Tolkien intended to give it. I have taken it from Of the Rings of Power.

ETA-SL-02: This sentence from the version of the event given in Appendix B is not found in the ORP version, so I brought it in.

ETA-SL-03: This sentence from the version of the event given in The Istari from UT is not found in the ORP version, so I brought it in.

ETA-SL-04: We turn to the Waldman Letter in order to close out the story of Frodo and Bilbo. I did not include the last scene of Sam returning home since I thought it was too personal for the overarching narrative, but I suppose it could be included if that is deemed better.

ETA-SL-05: I removed the comments of Tolkien.

ETA-SL-06: This detail is worth bringing in, so that we keep the symmetry with the ORP version.

ETA-SL-07: Here we give the last portion of Of the Rings of Power, and conclude the narrative of the Eldar in Middle-earth: a bittersweet moment to be sure!

ETA-SL-08: Here we return to the story of Men, with the addition from the Kings of Rohan about Theoden, which was removed from the chapter which was then called The Stewards but is now called The Quest for Erebor. I think it works well here.

ETA-SL-09: Here I switch to the text in the Tale of Years draft from HoME 12. This is a shorter account than that of Appendix A, but it contains some relevant details.

ETA-SL-19: Here we insert the bit from Eomer's entry in the Kings of Rohan dealing with ascendance to Kingship and Eowyn's prowess.

ETA-SL-11: This was the date in the earlier draft, but in the final version it was changed slightly, so I updated it. This detail is not given explicitly in the text of Appendix A, so I thought it was worth including.

ETA-SL-12: Here we switch back to Appendix A. It describes the reign of Eomer in Rohan, and then transitions back to the Tale of Years text briefly as a segue into the Aragorn and Arwen narrative.

ETA-SL-13: This detail needs to be given before the end of the next few, since it references Aragorn making 'The Mayor, the Thain, and the Master' into counsellors of the North Kingdom. By that point we are supposed to know that The Mayor is Sam, so we need to give it before that point. Here seems as good a place as any.

ETA-SL-14: This detail is also needed before the next additon, which references this decree.

ETA-SL-15: Here we give the last bit from the North Kingdom narrative in Appendix A, which deals with Aragorn's reign. I changed the tense to past tense, since right after this we recount the death of Aragorn, so he cannot be referenced in the present tense.

ETA-SL-16: This detail from Appendix B is worth giving.

ETA-SL-17: This piece of info from Appendix B is also worth giving for its own sake.

ETA-SL-18: Here we relate the passing of Sam over the sea, as well as the transmission of the Red Book, taken from Appendix B and edited for proper tenses.

ETA-SL-19: Here we relate the deaths of Merry and Pippin and Eomer, and set the stage for Aragorn's death.

ETA-SL-20: Here we give the last portion of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen. (Sidenote: this scene is one of my favorite moments in the legendarium; it's so sad!)

ETA-SL-21: I thought this detail worth giving, but I did not want to give it before Aragorn's death was related. This placing feels somewhat awkward, but I could find no better spot.

ETA-SL-22: This portion of the Tale of Years draft contains info not given elsewhere, briefly mentioning the reign of Eldarion, and setting the stage for The New Shadow (which will follow this chapter).

ETA-SL-23: Here we return to the text of Appendix A briefly as the best means of transitioning from the Aragorn info to this new info about Legolas and Gimli.

ETA-SL-24: The account in Appendix B is much fuller and more detailed, so I used that one.

ETA-SL-25: This note from Durin's Folk belongs here, as the last chronological event, as well as 'one of the last notes in the Red Book.' With that, we come to an end of our single, unified tale of the History of Middle Earth, except for the fragment of The New Shadow which follows this.