** Revising The Voyage of Earendil

[Antoine]

It looks like our next project will be the revising of "The Voyage of Earendil"

Not so easy project ...

First we need to built the last version of the last chapter of The Silmarillion that Tolkien wrote.
Unfortunately we don't have this version but Christopher Tolkien explained all the changes from the QN text and after all the changes from the QS text ... etc ... to have the Later Quenta Silmarillion version.

On this document protected against coping but readable and printable freely you will find all the evolution of the texts.

Our working text will be in 2 parts.

From QS :

Yet by Sirion and the sea there grew up an elven folk
[...]
and they came into the Shadowy Seas and passed their shadows.

Plus from LQ :

And they looked upon the Lonely Isle and there they tarried not
[...]
and he alone returned and brought tidings of Cortirion to the Hither Lands.

Now I proposed some changes mostly based on our work in the rejected part of Fall of Gondolin.

Regards
Antoine

[Aiwendil]

Are the changes you made to the Earendil text all directly from our work on the last section of FoG? I see that they are all labeled with "FG-E" but they extend beyond the place where we ended our changes.

I think that any new changes should be posted in accordance with the format decided upon in the Format/Notation Issues thread (also with the base texts clearly indicated).

[Antoine]

my mistake ...

It will be correct in the next version of the document.

I think we can use :
VE-xx

[Aiwendil]

I don't mean to be too picky - but I think it would be best if the proposed changes are posted here in the forum instead of simply given in the PDF.

[Maédhros]

I just wanted to post some comments and observations regarding Antoine's draft text:

1. I don't think that we should use right not the change of Orodreth to Arothir until we have discussed the issue further.

2. In FG-E-03, you have HoME 13 referring to the Peoples of Middle-earth. It should be HoMe 12.

3. Elfinesse should be Elvenesse as per change FG-04.

4. We should update the names of Damrod and Díriel too.

5. I think that this draft has a problem with the Gil-Galad situation. We have earlier that Gil-Galad is the King of the Ñoldor in Sirion's Mouth and that Eärendil is the lord of the folk of Sirion. Hmmmm. I can live with that because in the map of Beleriand in HoME 11, we can see that the place where Eärendil dwelt and Sirion's mouth are not exactly the same. (Eärendil's place is a little to the west of the Mouth of Sirion). My problem is that when the Fëanorians attack the settlement of Eärendil, we don't hear nothing from Gil-Galad. I would propose this emendation:

<QSThough some of their folk stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion of the hearts of {Elfinesse}[Elvenesse] in those days), yet {Maidros}[Maedhros] and Maglor won the day. Alone they now remained of the sons of Fëanor, for in that battle Damrod and Díriel were slain[.]{; but the folk of Sirion perished or fled away, or departed of need to join the people of Maidros,} <QS77 Too late the ships of Círdan and Gil-galad the High King came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons. Then such few of that people as did not perish in the assault joined themselves to Gil-galad, and went with him to Balar; and they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive{,}>[.] Maedhros now claimed{who claimed now} the lordship of all the Elves of the {Outer} [Hither] Lands {A}[a]nd yet {Maidros}[he] gained not the Silmaril, for Elwing seeing that all was lost and her child[ren] Elrond and Elros were taken captive, eluded the host of {Maidros} [Maedhros], and with the {Nauglafring} [Nauglamír] upon her breast she cast herself into the sea, and perished as folk thought.>

Perhaps someone else can do it better.

6. There are several instances when the word Gods can be changed to Valar.

7. In the parragraph

And that was the voice of Eönwë herald of Manwë of Manwë

there is a repetition of the phrase of Manwë.

8. There is a part where Finwë's name is missing the dieresis in the e.

9. In this parragraph:

<QSYet it is said that Morgoth looked not for the assault that came upon him from the West. So great was his pride become that he deemed that none would ever again come up with open war against him. Moreover he thought that he had for ever estranged the {Gnomes}[Noldor] from the {Gods}[Valar] and from their kin; and that content in their blissful Realm the Valar would heed no more his kingdom in the world without. For to him that is pitiless the deeds of pity are ever strange and beyond reckoning.>

I would change Gnomes to Noldor as does CT does in the Published Silmarillion, rather than Elves as proposed in the draft. The estrangement was between the Ñoldor and the Valar not all of the Elves of Beleriand.

10. In the parragraph:

<QS Of the march of the host of {Fionwë}[Eönwë] to the North little is said in any tale; for in his armies went none of those Elves who had dwelt and suffered in the Hither Lands, and who made the histories of those days that still are known; and tidings of these things they learned long afterward from their kinsfolk, the Light-elves {of}[in] Valinor. But at the last {Fionwë}[Eönwë] came up out of the West, and the challenge of his trumpets filled the sky; and he summoned unto him all Elves and Men from Hithlum unto the East; and Beleriand was ablaze with the glory of his arms, for the {sons}[host] of the {Gods}[Valar] were {young and fair and terrible}[arrayed in the forms of Valinor], and the mountains rang beneath their feet.

I would replace Gods with Valar in this parragraph.

11. In the parragraph:

<QS But {Fionwë}[Eönwë] marched through the western lands summoning the remnant of the Noldor, and the Dark-elves that had not yet looked on Valinor, to join with the thralls released and to depart from Middle-earth. But {Maidros}[Maedhros and Maglor] would not harken, and {he}[they] prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of {his}[their] oath. For {Maidros}[Maedhros] would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, even against the victorious host of Valinor and the might and splendour of the {sons of the Gods}[West]: even though he stood alone in all the world. And he sent a message unto {Fionwë}[Eönwë], bidding him yield up now those jewels which of old Fëanor made and Morgoth stole from him.

I would replace sons of the Gods with West, instead of Maiar.

12. In the parragraph:

<QSAnd it is told of Maglor that he could not endure the pain with which the Silmaril tormented him; and he cast it at last into the sea, and thereafter he wandered ever upon the shores singing in pain and regret beside the waves. For Maglor was the mightiest of the singers of old save Daeron, but he came never back among the people of the Elves. And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters. >

We have of course to make the clarification that it was Daeron who was the mightiest of the singers of old.

13. In the parragraph:

<QSThis was the doom of the {Gods}[Valar], when {Fionwë}[Eönwë] and {the sons of the Valar} [his host] returned to Valmar and told of all the things that had been done. Thereafter the Hither Lands of Middle-earth should be for Mankind, the younger children of the world; but to the Elves, the Firstborn, alone should the gateways of the West stand ever open. And if the Elves would not come thither and tarried in the lands of Men, then they should slowly fade and fail. This is the most grievous of the fruits of the lies and works that Morgoth wrought, that the Eldalië should be sundered and estranged from Men. For a while other evils that he had devised or nurtured lived on, although he himself was taken away; and Orcs and Dragons, breeding again in dark places, became names of terror, and did evil deeds, as in sundry regions they still do; but ere the End all shall perish. But Morgoth himself <MT was taken as a mere criminal to Aman and delivered to Námo Mandos as judge – and executioner. He was judged, and eventually taken out of the Blessed Realm and executed{:}. When {that} [his] body was destroyed he was weak and utterly 'houseless' > and the {Gods}[Valar] thrust[ed] him through the Door of Night into the Timeless Void, beyond the Walls of the World; and a guard is set for ever on that door, and {Eärendel}[Eärendil] keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky.

I would use and "his host" instead of "and the other Ainur".
I have tried to add the little detail about the fate of Melkor that is found in Myths transformed. What do you think?

14. In the parragraph:

Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that doth not die and cannot by the {Gods}[Valar] be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and [will] bear{s} dark fruit even [unto] {to} these latest days. Some say also that Morgoth himself has at times crept back, secretly as a cloud that cannot be seen, and yet is venomous, surmounting the Walls, and visiting the world to encourage his servants and set on foot evil when all seems fair. But others say that this is the black shadow of Sauron, whom the {Gnomes}[Noldor] named {Gorthu}[Gorthaur], who served Morgoth {even in Valinor}[long ago] and came with him [into the world], and was the greatest and most evil of his underlings; and Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped, and he dwelt in dark places and perverted Men to his dreadful allegiance and his foul worship.

I would use Noldor rather than Sindar because if I'm not mistaken Gorthaur is a sindarin name, and it can be said that the Ñoldor of ME did use Sindarin in their daily speech. The bold part of the text was missing in the draft. It was from the emendations made by JRRT in HoME 11.

Notes:
QS: this refers to the Quenta Silmarillion from HoME 5.
MT: this referst to Myths Transformed from HoME 10.
QS77: this refers to the Published Silmarillion.

[Aiwendil]

Maedhros wrote:

I think that this draft has a problem with the Gil-Galad situation. We have earlier that Gil-Galad is the King of the Ñoldor in Sirion's Mouth and that Eärendil is the lord of the folk of Sirion. Hmmmm. I can live with that because in the map of Beleriand in HoME 11, we can see that the place where Eärendil dwelt and Sirion's mouth are not exactly the same. (Eärendil's place is a little to the west of the Mouth of Sirion). My problem is that when the Fëanorians attack the settlement of Eärendil, we don't hear nothing from Gil-Galad. I would propose this emendation:

I thought that in the Proposed FoG Agenda thread we had decided to take "Sirion's Mouths" less literally and assume that the situation is unchanged from that used in the '77; i.e: Gil-Galad has already gone to Balar with Cirdan by the time Earendil arrives - and when the attack is made on Sirion by the Feanorians, Gil-Galad and Cirdan come too late to be of aid, but take what folk survived the assault with them back to Balar.

[Maédhros]

Aiwendil, my point was that in the draft, there was no reference of Gil-Galad going to the aid of Eärendil's folk.
If we are to take that Gil-Galad is already in the isle of the Balar then there is some further change needed in our draft.

[Antoine]

Follow a copy of the PDF proposal with the corrections of Maédhros


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Before to start with the Voyage of Earendil, we can insert a slightly modified version of the Fragment of the alliterative Lay of Eärendel found in The Lays of Beleriand (HoME 3), II Poems Early Abandoned.
This would appear as a retrospective summary of the story from the actual fall to this point in the tale.


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{But Wade of the Helsings wearyhearted}

Remove line 7a


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{of Cristhorn was cloven, the Cleft of Eagles,} *\ [in the cliffs was cloven, Cirith Thoronath,]


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to the dreadful deep digged by {Thornsir} [Thor’nhir].

Linguistics aside, 'Thornsir' is better. 'Thoronhir' has an additional syllable that spoils the fall of the line : perhaps a poetic abbreviation, e.g. 'Thor'nhir'.


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Of the thirst and hunger of the {thirty moons} [thwarting mazes]

In the later chronology a timing of thirty (or even thirteen) months is utterly impossible.
One could use "three moons" perhaps, but the exact number of months taken to pass from the Cirith Thoronath to finding of Sirion is not stated elsewhere, and we would rather not invent a number here just for the alliteration. But in the ve account is found "wandering in the wastes" and "they journeyed long tangled in the magic of those wastes only to come again upon their own tracks". For this "thwarting mazes" does well.
If the chronology must change in line with later developments, we suggest 'thwarted moons'. We would say 'thirsty moons' but the repetition would be unforgivable.


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was heard in the halls where the high {Gods} [Lords] sate


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veiled in Valinor [past] the Vanished {Isles} [Isle];

Christopher Tolkien could not interpret the word, but "past" is a good guess from sense required, and the word seems to have been a short one.

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veiled in Valinor [past] the Vanished {Isles} [Isle];

The "Vanished Isles", plural, is hard to understand. The Magic Isles are not vanished but accessible, though those who disembark there fall into enchanted sleep. But Eressëa could be entitled "Vanished Isle", singular, as no longer attainable from Middle-earth because of the enchantments placed on the Sea before it during the Hiding of Valinor. Turgon's mariners who sought to reach to Valinor would have been well aware of this. The plural form might be an error by JRRT or a misreading by CT.


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{all this have others in ancient stories
and songs unfolded, but say I further}

Remove of 2 lines


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There sun was softer, [there] the sweet breezes

In defiance of CJRT, 'there' looks more likely. The repetition of this word adds weight and symmetry to the line and fits the sense better than 'then'.
Perhaps "drenched then their feet" - which avoids the repetition "there their".


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and the dew enchanted, [drenched then their feet.]

This completion to the last half-line of the fragment is suggested by line 70 of "The Horns of Ylmir":
Where the long grass stirred beside me, and my feet were drenched with dew.


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[{all} [All] this have others in ancient stories
and songs unfolded, but say I further[.]]

The words in the lay "all this have others in ancient stories / and songs unfolded, but say I further" are a problem in our suggested setting at the festival. If used here, as a sample of festival song, then the final lines, 32-38, should be dropped. Another possiblity is to place it just after the arrival in Nan-tathren (where the fragment ends) without particular explanation. It just appear as a poetic fragment giving a retrospective summary of the parts of the tale previously related.


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Yet by Sirion and the sea there grew up an elven folk, the gleanings of Gondolin and Doriath[.]/*AB2 The Silmaril brought blessing upon them and*\ /*Elessar Idril wore the Elessar upon her breast*\/*AB2 , and they were healed, and they multiplied*\ /*QS77 ; and from Balar the mariners of Círdan came among them*\, and they took to the waves and {to the making of fair ships} /*QS77 the building of ships*\ /*AB2 and built a haven*\, dwelling ever nigh unto the shores /*QS77 of Arvernien*\, /*AB2 upon the delta amid the waters*\ under the shadow of Ulmo's hand. /*AB2 Many fugitives gathered unto them.*\*\

A mixture of sources for the foundation of the new havens.
We do not know the original source of either of the two addition from QS77. The first is too reasonable to reject, and the second is, perhaps, Christopher Tolkien's way of getting the name Arvernien found in Bilbo's "Song of Eärendil" in LR into QS77 text. It otherwise only appears on the QS77 map.


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/*PG {Ereinion} [Rodnor] Gil-galad son of {Orodreth} [Arothir], who had escaped the fall of Nargothrond and come to Sirion's Mouth, was /*QS77 named*\ King of the Noldor there. He was styled Gil-galad, Star of Radiance, because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or mooonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height.*\

Christopher Tolkien adds at this point in Q77 a passage partly editorial:
And when the tidings came to Balar of the fall of Gondolin and the death of Turgon, Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon was named High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth.
The sources of this, so far as we can trace are all in The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME 12):
In an isolated note found with the genealogies dated August 1965, published in PG:
His children were Finduilas and Artanáro = Rodnor later called Gil-galad. (Their mother was a Sindarin lady of the North. She called her son Gil-galad.) Rodnor Gil-galad escaped and eventually came to Sirion's Mouth and was King of the Ñoldor there.
From SF under the note The Names of Finwë's descendants, 5, under the discussion of Galadriel:
Galad also occurs in the epessë of Ereinion ('scion of kings') by which he was chiefly remembered in legend, Gil-galad 'star-of-radiance': he was the last king of the Eldar in Middle-earth, and the last male descendant of Finwë^47 except Elrond Half-elven. The epessë was given to him because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or moonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height. (47 He was the son of Arothir, nephew of Finrod.)
Gil-galad is no longer the son of Fingon sent to Círdan at the Havens, and we expect it was the connection to the Havens which led Christopher Tolkien to introduce Balar here. Details of Gil-galad's mother best belong in the story of Túrin. We suggest the following might be a suitable enhancement/correction of the QS77 sentence.


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/*QS77 And it is said that in that time Ulmo came to Valinor out of the deep waters, and spoke there to*\ {In Valinor Ulmo spoke unto} the Valar of the need of the Elves, and he called on them to forgive and send succour unto them and rescue them from the overmastering might of Morgoth, and win back the Silmarils wherein alone now bloomed the light of the days of bliss when the Two Trees still were shining. Or so it is said, among the {Gnomes} [Noldor], who after had tidings of many things from their kinsfolk the Quendi, the Light-elves beloved of Manwë, who ever knew something of the mind of the Lord of the {Gods} [Valar]. But as yet Manwë moved not, and the counsels of his heart what tale shall tell? The Quendi have said that the hour was not yet come, and that only one speaking in person for the cause of both Elves and Men, pleading for pardon upon their misdeeds and pity on their woes, might move the counsels of the Powers; and the oath of Fëanor perchance even Manwë could not loose, until it found its end, and the sons of Fëanor relinquished the Silmarils, upon which they had laid their ruthless claim. For the light which lit the Silmarils the {Gods} [Valar] had made.


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/*TE-B Then began the love of /*TE-C Elwing*\ and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] as girl and boy. /*TE-E The mermaids*\, the /*TE-D {Oarni} [Earni] *\, /*TE-E {come} [came] to {Eärendel} [Eärendil]*\ and /*TE-N(ii) {give} [gave] to {Eärendel} [him] a wonderful shining silver coat that {wets} [wetted] not. They loved {Eärendel} [Eärendil], in Ossë's despite, and {teach} taught him the lore of boat-building and of swimming, as he {plays} [played] with them about the shores of Sirion.*\ /*TE-D {Eärendel} [Eärendil] grew to be the fairest of all Men that were or are,*\ /*TE-N(iii) smaller than most men but nimbled-footed and a swift swimmer (but Voronwë could not swim).*\ /*TE-C And there was great love between {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and Tuor.*\*\

Mention of the Oarni and mermaids is only found in BoLT material. The Quenya word Oarni appears from the Appendix to BoLT 1 under Ónen to be from the root 'o'o and related to Ô, a poetic word for 'sea'. But this root and everything connected with it disappears in later writings, where the normal word for "sea" in Quenya is ëar from a stem AYAR-, itself explained as an extended stem from GAYA- 'awe, dread'. So it is difficult to even guess what word, if any, Tolkien would have used to replace Oarni. To further confuse the matter in TE N(viii) we find:
'The fiord of the Mermaid: enchantment of his sailors: Mermaids are not Oarni (but are earthlings, or fays? __ or both).'
However in TE D the two are equated, and in other texts it is either the Oarni or the mermaids who are named as Eärendel's friends.
Tolkien may in this note only mean that these particular hostile "mermaids" were not true Oarni but another kind of being. Therefore we keep both words. Since in late writings Tolkien claimed that most names of the Valar were not truly Quenya, but adapted forms from the language of the Valar, that is what we probably should take Oarni to be. In references to the Oarni outside of TE their gender is not given. It may be that Oarni are of both genders.
On mermaids, anything written by Tolkien is not to be disregarded unless contradicted by later ideas or in error, etc. We don't know that he did drop them. The late Eärendil information is so frustratingly sketchy, almost worse than the early material. Any scrap of information is important. And they appear in four separate notes. We don't imagine Tolkien was talking about fish-tailed women if that is what bothers. We see something along the lines of the Nereids and Okeanids of Greek myth. But who knows?


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“Oarni" comes from the stem "Oar" which meant "sea". But that later became "Ear". There's a good case for changing it to "Earni".
Regarding the Oarni:
From the Etymologies:
AYAR-, AIR- sea, only used of the inner seas of Middle-earth. Q ear (earen) and aire (airen); N oear, oer. Cf. Earráme, a Q name = Wings of the Sea, name of Tuor’s ship. Belegoer ‘great sea’, name of Western Ocean between Beleriand and Valinor, Q Alataire (see ÁLAT).
From the Book of Lost Tales I: Appendix
Ónen The root ’O’O in QL has derivatives Ô, a poetic word, 'the sea', oar 'child of the sea, merchild', oaris (-ts), oarwen 'mermaid', and Ossë; the name Ówen (antecedent of Ónen in the text, pp. 59, 80) also appears, and evidently means the same as oarwen (for -wen see Urwen). The later form Uinen in the Tales is apparently Gnomish; GL Únen 'Lady of the Sea', changed later to Uinen. A form Oinen also occurs (p. 238).


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In those days Tuor felt old age creep upon him /*TE-C and Ulmo's conches far out west {over the sea} {call} [called] him louder and louder*\, and ever a longing for the deeps of the sea grew stronger in his heart. Wherefore he built a great ship {Eärrámë} [Eärámë], Sea-wing, /*TE-D with white sails*\. /*TE-E One evening /*TE-D Ulmo beckoned to him*\ [and] he {calls} [called] {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and they {go} [went] to the shore. There {is a skiff} [was Eärámë]. {Tur} [Tuor and Idril] {bids} [bade] farwell to {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and {bids} [bade] him thrust it off /*EL {And} [but] before Idril set sail she said to Eärendil her son: “The Elessar I leave with thee, for there are grievous hurts to Middle-earth which thou maybe shalt heal. But to none other shalt thou deliver it.” *\ {and with Idril he} [They] set sail /*TY [(and some say Voronwë with them)]*\ into the sunset and the West[.] /*TE-E {Eärendel} [Eärendil] {hears} [heard] a great song swelling from the sea as {Tur} [Tuor]'s skiff {dips} [dipped] over the world's rim. {His} [Great was his] passion of tears upon the shore.*\ {, and} [And Tuor] came no more into any tale or song.

Insert from ”The Elessar”
From the Elessar essay in UT is that before Idril sailed she gave the Elessar to Eärendil. That one can reasonably suppose that Idril and Tuor were in the Eärámë.


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But /*QS77 in after days it was sung that*\ Tuor alone of mortal Men was numbered among the elder race, and joined with the {Noldoli} [Noldor] whom he loved, and in after time dwelt still, or so it hath been said, ever upon his ship voyaging the seas of the Elven-lands, or resting a while in the harbours of the {Gnomes} [Elves] of Tol Eressëa; and his fate is sundered from the fate of Men. Bright {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was then lord of the folk of Sirion and their many ships; and he took to wife Elwing the fair, and she bore him Elros and Elrond, who are called the Halfelven. Yet {Eärendel} [Eärendil] could not rest, and his voyages about the shores of the Hither Lands eased not his unquiet. Two purposes grew in his heart, blended as one in longing for the wide sea: he sought to sail thereon, seeking after Tuor and Idril Celebrindal who returned not; and he thought to find perhaps the last shore and bring ere he died the message of Elves and Men unto the Valar of the West, that should move the hearts of Valinor and the Elves of {Tûn} [Tirion] to pity on the world and the sorrows of Mankind.
Vingelot he built, fairest of the ships of song, the Foamflower; white were its timbers as the argent moon, golden were its oars, silver were its shrouds, its masts were crowned with jewels like stars. In the Lay of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] is many a thing sung of his adventures in the deep and in lands untrodden, and in many seas and many isles. Ungoliantë in the South he slew, and her darkness was destroyed, and light came to many regions which had yet long been hid. But Elwing sat sorrowing at home.
{Eärendel} [Eärendil] found not Tuor nor Idril, nor came he ever on that journey to the shores of Valinor, defeated by shadows and enchantment, driven by repelling winds, until in longing for Elwing he turned him homeward toward the East. And his heart bade him haste, for a sudden fear was fallen on him out of dreams, and the winds that before he had striven with might not now bear him back as swift as his desire.


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Upon the havens of Sirion new woe had fallen. The dwelling of Elwing there, where still she possessed the Nauglamír and the glorious Silmaril, became known unto the remaining sons of Fëanor, {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor and {Damrod} [Amrod] {and {Díriel} [Amras]}; and they gathered together from their wandering hunting-paths, and messages of friendship and yet stern demand they sent unto Sirion. But Elwing and the folk of Sirion would not yield that jewel which Beren had won and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the Fair was slain; and least of all while {Eärendel} [Eärendil] their lord was in the sea, for them seemed that in that jewel lay the gift of bliss and healing that had come upon their houses and their ships.

To follow the death of Amras in The Shibboleth of Fëanor


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And so came in the end to pass the last and cruellest of the slayings of Elf by Elf; and that was the third of the great wrongs achieved by the accursed oath. For the sons of Fëanor came down upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath and destroyed them. Though some of their folk stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion of the hearts of {Elfinesse} [Elvenesse] in those days), yet {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor won the day. Alone they now remained of the sons of Fëanor, for in that battle {Damrod} [Amrod] {and {Díriel} [Amras]} were slain[.]{; but the folk of Sirion perished or fled away, or departed of need to join the people of Maidros,} /*QS77 Too late the ships of Círdan and Gil-galad the High King came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons. Then such few of that people as did not perish in the assault joined themselves to Gil-galad, and went with him to Balar; and they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive{,}*\[.]{, who claimed now} [Maedhros now claimed] the lordship of all the Elves of the Hither Lands{. And yet Maidros} [and yet he] gained not the Silmaril, for Elwing seeing that all was lost and her children Elros and Elrond taken captive, eluded the host of {Maidros} [Maedhros], and with the Nauglamír upon her breast she cast herself into the sea, and perished as folk thought.

I think that this draft has a problem with the Gil-Galad situation. We have earlier that Gil-Galad is the King of the Ñoldor in Sirion's Mouth and that Eärendil is the lord of the folk of Sirion. Hmmmm. I can live with that because in the map of Beleriand in HoME 11, we can see that the place where Eärendil dwelt and Sirion's mouth are not exactly the same. (Eärendil's place is a little to the west of the Mouth of Sirion). My problem is that when the Fëanorians attack the settlement of Eärendil, we don't hear nothing from Gil-Galad. I would propose this emendation.


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But Ulmo bore her up and he gave unto her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the shining Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek {Eärendel} [Eärendil] her beloved. And on a time of night {Eärendel} [Eärendil] at the helm saw her come towards him, as a white cloud under moon exceeding swift, as a star over the sea moving in strange course, a pale flame on wings of storm. And it is sung that she fell from the air upon the timbers of Vingelot, in a swoon, nigh unto death for the urgency of her speed, and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] took her unto his bosom. And in the morn with marvelling eyes he beheld his wife in her own form beside him with her hair upon his face; and she slept.
But great was the sorrow of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and Elwing for the ruin of the havens of Sirion, and the captivity of their sons; and they feared that they would be slain But it was not so. For Maglor took: pity on Elros and Elrond, and he cherished them, and love grew after between them, as little might be thought; but Maglor's heart was sick and weary, with the burden of the dreadful oath. Yet {Eärendel} [Eärendil] saw now no hope left in the lands of Sirion, and he turned again in despair and came not home, but sought back once more to Valinor with Elwing at his side. He stood now most oft at the prow, and the Silmaril he bound upon his forehead; and ever its light grew greater as they drew unto the West. Maybe it was due in part to the puissance of that holy jewel that they came in time to the waters that as yet no vessels save those of the Teleri had known; and they came to the Enchanted Isles and escaped their enchantment; and they came into the Shadowy Seas and passed their shadows; and they looked upon the Lonely Isle and there they tarried not; and at the last they cast anchor in the Bay of Elvenhome upon the borders of the world; and the Teleri saw the coming of that ship and were amazed, gazing from afar upon the light of the Silmaril, and it was very great. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil], alone of living Men, landed on the immortal shores; and he said to Elwing and to those that were with him, three mariners who had sailed all the seas beside him, and Falathar, Aerandir, and Erellont were their names: Here shall none but myself set foot, lest you fall under the wrath of the {Gods} [Valar] and the doom of death; for it is forbidden. But that peril I will take on myself for the sake of the Two Kindreds.'
And Elwing answered: 'Then shall our paths be sundered for ever. Nay, all thy perils I will take on myself also! ' And she leaped into the white foam and ran towards him; but {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was sorrowful, for he deemed that they would now both die ere many days were past. And there they bade farewell to their companions and were taken from them for ever.
And {Eärendel} [Eärendil] said to Elwing: 'Await me here; for one only may bear the messages that I am charged with'; and he went up alone into the land, and it seemed to him empty and silent. For even as Morgoth and Ungoliantë came in ages past, so now {Eärendel} [Eärendil] had come at a time of festival, and wellnigh all the Elvenfolk were gone to Valinor, or were gathered in the halls of Manwë upon Taniquetil, and few were left to keep watch upon the walls of Tirion.
These watchers rode therefore in great haste to Valmar; and all the bells in Valmar pealed. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] climbed the great green hill of Túna and found it bare; and he entered into the streets of Tirion and they were empty; and his heart was heavy, for he feared that some evil had come even to the Blessed Realm. He walked now in the deserted ways of Tirion, and the dust upon his raiment and his shoes was a dust of diamonds, and he shone and glistened as he climbed the long white stairs. And he called aloud in many tongues, both of Elves and Men, but there were none to answer him. Therefore he turned back at last towards the shores, thinking to set sail once more upon {Vingelot} [Vingilot] his ship and abandon his errand, and live for ever upon the sea. But even as he took the shoreward road and turned his face away from the towers of Tirion one stood upon the hill and called to him in a great voice, crying: 'Hail {Eärendel} [Eärendil], radiant star, messenger most fair! Hail thou bearer of light before the Sun and Moon, the looked for that comest unawares, the longed for that comest beyond hope! Hail, splendour of the children of the world, slayer of the dark! Star of the sunset, hail! Hail, herald of the morn! '
And that was the voice of Eönwë herald of Manwë; and he came from Valmar and he summoned {Eärendel} [Eärendil] to come before the {Gods} [Valar]. And {Eärendel} [Eärendil] went to Valinor and to the halls of Valmar, and never again set foot upon the lands of Men. There before the faces of the undying {Gods} [Valar] he stood, and delivered the errand of the Two Kindreds. Pardon he asked for the Noldor and pity for their great sorrows, and mercy upon unhappy Men and succour in their need. And his prayers were granted.
Then the host of the Valar prepared for battle, and the captain of their host was Eönwë to whom Manwë gave his sword. Beneath his white banner marched also the Vanyar, the Fair-elves, the people of Ingwë; and among them were also those of the Noldor of old who had never departed from Valinor, and Ingwion son of Ingwë was their chief. But remembering the slaying at the Swan-haven and the rape of their ships, few of the Teleri were willing to go forth to war; but Elwing went among them, and because she was fair and gentle, and was come also upon her father's side from Thingol who was of their own kindred, they harkened to her; and they sent mariners sufficient to man and steer the ships upon which most of that army was borne east oversea; but they stayed aboard their ships and none ever set foot upon the shores of the Hither Lands.
And thus it was that Elwing came among the Teleri. {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was long time gone and she became lonely and afraid; and she wandered along the margin of the sea, singing sadly to herself; and so she came to Alqualondë, the Swan-haven, where lay the Telerian fleets; and there the Teleri befriended her. When therefore {Eärendel} [Eärendil] at last returned, seeking her, he found her among them, and they listened to her tales of Thingol and Melian and the Hidden Kingdom, and of Lúthien the fair, and they were filled with pity and wonder.
Now the {Gods} [Valar] took counsel concerning {Eärendel} [Eärendil], and they summoned Ulmo from the deeps; and when they were gathered together Mandos spoke, saying: 'Now he shall surely die, for he has trodden the forbidden shores.' But Ulmo said. "For this he was born into the world. And say unto me: whether is he {Eärendel} [Eärendil] Tuor's son of the line of Hador, or Idril's son Turgon's daughter of the Elvenhouse of Finwë? Or being half of either kindred, which half shall die?' And Mandos answered: 'Equally was it forbidden to the Noldor that went wilfully into exile to return hither.'
Then Manwë the Elder King gave judgement and he said: 'To {Eärendel} [Eärendil] I remit the ban, and the peril that he took upon himself out of love for the Two Kindreds shall not fall on him; neither shall it fall upon Elwing who entered into peril for love of {Eärendel} [Eärendil]: save only in this: they shall not ever walk again among Elves or Men in the {Outer} [Hither] Lands. Now all those who have the blood of mortal Men, in whatever part, great or small, are mortal, unless other doom be granted to them; but in this matter the power of doom is given to me. This is my decree: to {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and to Elwing and to their sons shall be given leave each to choose freely under which kindred they shall be judged.'
Then {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and Elwing were summoned, and this decree was declared to them. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] said to Elwing: 'Choose thou, for now I am weary of the world.' And she chose to be judged among the Firstborn, because of Lúthien, and for the sake of Elwing {Eärendel} [Eärendil] chose alike, though his heart was rather with the kindred of Men and the people of his father.
The {Gods} [Valar] then sent Eönwë, and he came to the shore where the companions of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] still remained, awaiting tidings. And Eönwë took a boat and set therein the three mariners, and the {Gods} [Valar] drove them away East with a great wind. But they took Vingilot, and they hallowed it, and they bore it away through Valinor to the uttermost rim of the world, and there it passed through the Door of Night and was lifted up even into the oceans of heaven. Now fair and marvellous was that vessel made, and it was filled with a wavering flame, pure and bright; and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] the mariner sat at the helm, glistening with dust of elven-gems; and the Silmaril was bound upon his brow. Far he journeyed in that ship, even into the starless voids; but most often was he seen at morning or at eve, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from voyages beyond the confines of the world.
On those journeys Elwing did not go, for she had not the strength to endure the cold and pathless voids, and she loved rather the earth and the sweet winds that blow on sea and hill. Therefore there was built for her a white tower upon the borders of the outer world, in the northern region of the Sundering Seas; and thither all the sea-birds of the earth at times repaired. And it is said that Elwing learned the tongues and lore of birds, who had herself once worn their shape; and she devised wings for herself of white and silver-grey, and they taught her the craft of flight. And at whiles, when {Eärendel} [Eärendil] returning drew near again to earth, she would fly to meet him, even as she had flown long ago, when she was rescued from the sea. Then the farsighted among the Elves that dwelt most westerly in the Lonely Isle would see her like a white bird, shining, rose-stained in the sunset, as she soared in joy to greet the coming of {Vingelot} [Vingilot] to haven.
Now when first {Vingelot} [Vingilot] was set to sail on the seas of heaven, it rose unlooked-for, glittering and bright; and the folk of earth beheld it from afar and wondered, and they took it for a sign, and they called it Gil-Estel, the Star of high hope. And when this new star arose in the West, {Maidros} [Maedhros] said unto Maglor: 'Surely that is a Silmaril that shineth in the sky?' And Maglor said: If it be verily that Silmaril that we saw cast into the sea that riseth again by the power of the {Gods} [Valar], then let us be glad; for its glory is seen now by many, and is yet secure from all evil.' Then the Elves looked up, and despaired no longer; but Morgoth was filled with doubt.


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Yet it is said that Morgoth looked not for the assault that came upon him from the West. So great was his pride become that he deemed that none would ever again come up with open war against him. Moreover he thought that he had for ever estranged the {Gnomes} [Noldor] from the {Gods} [Valar] and from their kin; and that content in their blissful Realm the Valar would heed no more his kingdom in the world without. For to him that is pitiless the deeds of pity are ever strange and beyond reckoning.

We would change Gnomes to Noldor rather than Elves as does CT does in the Published Silmarillion. The estrangement was between the Ñoldor and the Valar not all of the Elves of Beleriand.


VE-13
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{Of the Great Battle and the War of Wrath}
Of the march of the host of Eönwë to the North little is said in any tale; for in his armies went none of those Elves who had dwelt and suffered in the Hither Lands, and who made the histories of those days that still are known; and tidings of these things they learned long afterward from their kinsfolk, the Light-elves in Valinor. But at the last Eönwë came up out of the West, and the challenge of his trumpets filled the sky; and he summoned unto him all Elves and Men from Hithlum unto the East; and Beleriand was ablaze with the glory of his arms, for the host of the {Gods} [Valar] were arrayed in forms of Valinor, and the mountains rang beneath their feet.
The meeting of the hosts of the West and of the North is named the Great Battle, the Battle Terrible, and the War of Wrath. There was marshalled the whole power of the Throne of Morgoth, and it had become great beyond count, so that Dor-na-Fauglith could not contain it, and all the North was aflame with war. But it availed not. The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth. The uncounted legions of the Orcs perished like straw in a great fire, or were swept like shrivelled leaves before a burning wind. Few remained to trouble the world for long years after. And it is said that all that were left of the three Houses of the Elf-friends, Fathers of Men, fought for Eönwë; and they were avenged upon the Orcs in those days for Baragund and Barahir, Galion and Gundor, Huor and Húrin, and many others of their lords; and so were fulfilled in part the words of Ulmo, for by {Eärendel} [Eärendil] son of Tuor help was brought unto the Elves, and by the swords of Men they were strengthened on the fields of war. But a great part of the sons of Men, whether of the people of Uldor or others newcome out of the East, marched with the Enemy; and the Elves do not forget it.
Then, seeing that his hosts were overthrown and his power dispersed, Morgoth quailed, and he dared not to come forth himself. But he loosed upon his foes the last desperate assault that he had prepared, and out of the pits of Angband there issued the winged dragons, that had not before been seen; for until that day no creatures of his cruel thought had yet assailed the air. So sudden and ruinous was the onset of that dreadful fleet that Eönwë was driven back; for the coming of the dragons was with a great thunder, and lightning, and a tempest of fire, and their wings were of steel.


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Then {Eärendel} [Eärendil] came, shining with white flame, and about {Vingelot} [Vingilot] were gathered all the great birds of heaven, and Thorondor was their captain, and there was battle in the air all the day and through a dark night of doubt. And ere the rising of the sun {Eärendel} [Eärendil] slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragon-host, and he cast him from the sky, and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim and they were broken and thrown down. Then the sun rose, and the {Children of the Valar} [host of the Valar] prevailed, and all the dragons were destroyed, save two alone; and they fled into the East. Then all the pits of Morgoth were broken and unroofed, and the might of Eönwë descended into the deeps of the earth. And there Morgoth stood at last at bay, and yet unvaliant. He fled into the deepest of his mines and sued for peace and pardon; but his feet were hewn from under him and he was hurled upon his face. Then he was bound with the chain Angainor, which he had worn aforetime; and his iron crown they beat into a collar for his neck, and his head was bowed upon his knees. But Eönwë took the two Silmarils which remained and guarded them.
Thus an end was made of the power of Angband in the North, and the evil realm was brought to nought; and out of the pits and deep prisons a multitude of thralls came forth beyond all hope into the light of day, and they looked upon a world all changed. For so great was the fury of those adversaries that the northern regions of the western world were rent asunder, and the sea roared in through many chasms, and there was confusion and great noise; and rivers perished or found new paths, and the valleys were upheaved and the hills trod down; and Sirion was no more. Then Men, such as had not perished in the ruin of those days, fled far away, and it was long ere any came back over Eredlindon to the places where Beleriand had been.


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{Of the Last End of the Oath of Fëanor and his Sons}
But Eönwë marched through the western lands summoning the remnant of the Noldor, and the Dark-elves that had not yet looked on Valinor, to join with the thralls released and to depart from Middle-earth. But {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor would not harken, and they prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of their oath. For {Maidros} [Maedhros] would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, ever. against the victorious host of Valinor and the might and splendour of the {sons of the Gods} [West]: even though he stood alone in all the world. And he sent a message unto Eönwë, bidding him yield up now those jewels which of old Fëanor made and Morgoth stole from him.

I would replace sons of the Gods with West, instead of Maiar.


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But Eönwë said that the right to the work of their hands, which Fëanor and his sons formerly possessed, had now perished, because of their many and merciless deeds, being blinded by their oath, and most of all because of the slaying of Dior and the assault upon Elwing. The light of the Silmarils should go now to the {Gods} [Valar], whence it came in the beginning; and to Valinor must {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor return and there abide the judgement of the Valar, by whose decree alone would Eönwë yield the jewels from his charge.
Maglor desired indeed to submit, for his heart was sorrowful, and he said: 'The oath says not that we may not bide our time, and maybe in Valinor all shall be forgiven and forgot, and we shall come into our own in peace.' But {Maidros} [Maedhros] said that, if once they returned and the favour of the {Gods} [Valar] were withheld from them, then their oath would still remain, but its fulfilment be beyond all hope. 'And who can tell to what dreadful doom we shall come, if we disobey the Powers in their own land, or purpose ever to bring war again into their holy realm? ' And Maglor said: 'Yet if Manwë and Varda themselves deny the fulfilment of an oath to which we named them in witness, is it not made void?' And {Maidros} [Maedhros] answered: 'But how shall our voices reach to Ilúvatar beyond the circles of the World? And by Him we swore in our madness, and called the Everlasting Darkness upon us, if we kept not our word. Who shall release us?' 'If none can release us,' said Maglor, 'then indeed the Everlasting Darkness shall be our lot, whether we keep our oath or break it; but less evil shall we do in the breaking.' Yet he yielded to the will of {Maidros} [Maedhros], and they took counsel together how they should lay hands on the Silmarils.
And so it came to pass that they came in disguise to the camps of Eönwë, and at night they crept in to the places where the Silmarils were guarded, and they slew the guards, and laid hands upon the jewels; and then, since all the camp was roused against them, they prepared to die, defending themselves until the last. But Eönwë restrained his folk, and the brethren departed unfought, and fled far away. Each took a single Silmaril, for they said: Since one is lost to us, and but two remain, and two brethren, so is it plain that fate would have us share the heirlooms of our father.'
But the jewel burned the hand of {Maidros} [Maedhros] in pain unbearable (and he had but one hand, as has before been told); and he perceived that it was as Eönwë had said, and that his right thereto had become void, and that the oath was vain. And being in anguish and despair he cast himself into a gaping chasm filled with fire, and so ended; and the Silmaril that he bore was taken into the bosom of Earth.
And it is told of Maglor that he could not endure the pain with which the Silmaril tormented him; and he cast it at last into the sea, and thereafter he wandered ever upon the shores singing in pain and regret beside the waves. For Maglor was the mightiest of the singers of old [save Daeron], but he came never back among the people of the Elves. And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters.

We have of course to make the clarification that it was Daeron who was the mightiest of the singers of old.


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{Of the Passing of the Elves}
In those days there was a great building of ships upon the shores of the Western Sea, and upon the great isles which, in the disruption of the northern world, were fashioned of ancient Beleriand. Thence in many a fleet the survivors of the {Gnomes} [Noldor], and of the companies of the Dark-elves of Doriath and Ossiriand, set sail into the West and came never again into the lands of weeping and of war. But the Vanyar the Light-elves, marched back beneath the banners of their king, and they were borne in triumph unto Valinor. Yet their joy in victory was diminished, for they returned without the Silmarils {and the light before the Sun and Moon}, and they knew that those jewels could not be found or brought together again until the world was broken , and re-made anew.


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And when they came into the West the {Gnomes} [Elves of Beleriand] for the most part rehabited the Lonely Isle, that looks both West and East; and that land became very fair, and so remains. But some returned even to Valinor, as all were free to do who willed; and there the {Gnomes} [Teleri] were admitted again to the love of Manwë and the pardon of the Valar; and the Teleri forgave their ancient grief, and the curse was laid to rest.

Here we follow CRT in QS77


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Yet not all the Eldalië were willing to forsake the Hither Lands where they had long suffered and long dwelt; and some lingered many an age in the West and North, and especially in the western isles and in the Land of Leithien. And among these were Maglor, as hath been told; and with him for a while was Elrond Halfelven, who chose, as was granted to him, to be among the Elf-kindred; but Elros his brother chose to abide with Men. And from these brethren alone the blood of the Firstborn and the seed divine of Valinor have come among Mankind: for they were the sons of Elwing, Dior's daughter, Lúthien's son, child of Thingol and Melian; and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] their sire was Idril's son Celebrindal, the fair maid of Gondolin. But ever as the ages drew on and the Elf-folk faded upon earth, they would set sail at eve from the western shores of this world, as still they do, until now there linger few anywhere of their lonely companies.


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This was the doom of the {Gods} [Valar], when Eönwë {and the sons of the Valar} [and his host] returned to Valmar and told of all the things that had been done. Thereafter the Hither Lands of Middle-earth should be for Mankind, the younger children of the world; but to the Elves, the Firstborn, alone should the gateways of the West stand ever open. And if the Elves would not come thither and tarried in the lands of Men, then they should slowly fade and fail. This is the most grievous of the fruits of the lies and works that Morgoth wrought, that the Eldalië should be sundered and estranged from Men. For a while other evils that he had devised or nurtured lived on, although he himself was taken away; and Orcs and Dragons, breeding again in dark places, became names of terror, and did evil deeds, as in sundry regions they still do; but ere the End all shall perish. But Morgoth himself /*MT [was] taken as a mere criminal to Aman and delivered to Námo Mandos as judge – and executioner. He was judged, and eventually taken out of the Blessed Realm and executed{:}[.]*\ /*MT When {that} [his] body was destroyed he was weak and utterly 'houseless' *\ [and] the {Gods} [Valar] {thrust} [thrusted him] through the Door of Night into the Timeless Void, beyond the Walls of the World; and a guard is set for ever on that door, and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky.
Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that doth not die and cannot by the {Gods} [Valar] be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. Some say also that Morgoth himself has at times crept back, secretly as a cloud that cannot be seen, and yet is venomous, surmounting the Walls, and visiting the world to encourage his servants and set on foot evil when all seems fair. But others say that this is the black shadow of Sauron, whom the {Gnomes} [Sindar] named Gorthaur, who served Morgoth long ago and came with him into the world, and was the greatest and most evil of his underlings; and Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped, and he dwelt in dark places and perverted Men to his dreadful allegiance and his foul worship.

I have tried to add the little detail about the fate of Melkor that is found in Myths transformed.

when Eönwë {and the sons of the Valar} [and his host]

I would use and his host instead of and the other Ainur.

the {Gnomes} [Sindar] named Gorthaur

Like in Of the rings of power in QS77


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{The Second Prophecy of Mandos
Thus spake Mandos in prophecy, when the Gods sat in judgement in Valinor, and the rumour of his words was whispered among all the Elves of the West. When the world is old and the Powers grow weary, then Morgoth, seeing that the guard sleepeth, shall come back through the Door of Night out of the Timeless Void; and he shall destroy the Sun and Moon. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend upon him as a white and searing flame and drive him from the airs. Then shall the Last Battle be gathered on the fields of Valinor. In that day Tulkas shall strive with Morgoth, and on his right hand shall be Eönwë, and on his left Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, returning from the Doom of Men at the ending of the world; and the black sword of Túrin shall deal unto Morgoth his death and final end; and so shall the children of Húrin and all Men be avenged.
Thereafter shall Earth be broken and re-made, and the Silmarils shall be recovered out of Air and Earth and Sea; for {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend and surrender that flame which he hath had in keeping. Then Fëanor shall take the Three Jewels and bear them to Yavanna Kementári; and he will break them and with their fire Yavanna will rekindle the Two Trees, and a great light shall come forth. And the Mountains of Valinor shall be levelled, so that the Light shall go out over all the world. In that light the Gods will grow young again, and the Elves awake and all their dead arise, and the purpose of Ilúvatar be fulfilled concerning them. But of Men in that day the prophecy of Mandos doth not speak, and no Man it names, save Túrin only, and to him a place is given among the {sons of the Valar} [Ainur].}


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/*Vala {Here ends The Valaquenta.} If it has passed from the high and beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos.*\


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Here endeth The Silmarillion[.] /*Vala {Here ends The Valaquenta.} If it has passed from the high and beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos.*\ {: which is drawn out in brief from those songs and histories which are yet sung and told by the fading Elves, and (more clearly and fully) by the vanished Elves that dwell now upon the Lonely Isle, {Tol Eressëa,} whither few mariners of Men have ever come, save once or twice in a long age when some man of {Eärendel} [Eärendil]'s race hath passed beyond the lands of mortal sight and seen the glimmer of the lamps upon the quays of {Avallon} [Tol Eressëa], and smelt afar the undying flowers in the meads of Dorwinion. Of whom was {Ereol} [Eriol] one, that men named Ælfwine, and he alone returned and brought tidings of Cortirion to the Hither Lands.}


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Appendice A
/*The Second Prophecy of Mandos
Thus spake Mandos in prophecy, when the Gods sat in judgement in Valinor, and the rumour of his words was whispered among all the Elves of the West. When the world is old and the Powers grow weary, then Morgoth, seeing that the guard sleepeth, shall come back through the Door of Night out of the Timeless Void; and he shall destroy the Sun and Moon. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend upon him as a white and searing flame and drive him from the airs. Then shall the Last Battle be gathered on the fields of Valinor. In that day Tulkas shall strive with Morgoth, and on his right hand shall be Eönwë, and on his left Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, returning from the Doom of Men at the ending of the world; and the black sword of Túrin shall deal unto Morgoth his death and final end; and so shall the children of Húrin and all Men be avenged.
Thereafter shall Earth be broken and re-made, and the Silmarils shall be recovered out of Air and Earth and Sea; for {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend and surrender that flame which he hath had in keeping. Then Fëanor shall take the Three Jewels and bear them to Yavanna Kementári; and he will break them and with their fire Yavanna will rekindle the Two Trees, and a great light shall come forth. And the Mountains of Valinor shall be levelled, so that the Light shall go out over all the world. In that light the Gods will grow young again, and the Elves awake and all their dead arise, and the purpose of Ilúvatar be fulfilled concerning them. But of Men in that day the prophecy of Mandos doth not speak, and no Man it names, save Túrin only, and to him a place is given among the {sons of the Valar} [Ainur].*\

[Maédhros]

VE-03

<PG {Ereinion} [Rodnor] Gil-galad son of {Orodreth} [Arothir], who had escaped the fall of Nargothrond and come to Sirion's Mouth yet he then joined Círdan in the Isle of Balar and, was <QS77 named> King of the Noldor there. He was styled Gil-galad, Star of Radiance, because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or mooonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height.>

Explanation of the change:

Christopher Tolkien adds at this point in Q77 a passage partly editorial:
And when the tidings came to Balar of the fall of Gondolin and the death of Turgon, Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon was named High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth.
The sources of this, so far as we can trace are all in The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME 12):
In an isolated note found with the genealogies dated August 1965, published in PG:
His children were Finduilas and Artanáro = Rodnor later called Gil-galad. (Their mother was a Sindarin lady of the North. She called her son Gil-galad.) Rodnor Gil-galad escaped and eventually came to Sirion's Mouth and was King of the Ñoldor there.
From SF under the note The Names of Finwë's descendants, 5, under the discussion of Galadriel:
Galad also occurs in the epessë of Ereinion ('scion of kings') by which he was chiefly remembered in legend, Gil-galad 'star-of-radiance': he was the last king of the Eldar in Middle-earth, and the last male descendant of Finwë^47 except Elrond Half-elven. The epessë was given to him because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or moonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height. (47 He was the son of Arothir, nephew of Finrod.)
Gil-galad is no longer the son of Fingon sent to Círdan at the Havens, and we expect it was the connection to the Havens which led Christopher Tolkien to introduce Balar here. Details of Gil-galad's mother best belong in the story of Túrin. We suggest the following might be a suitable enhancement/correction of the QS77 sentence.

After revising the changes of Gil-Galad, now I'm not so sure about using the Havens/Balar location.
Look at the last part of that note:

There can be no doubt that this was my father's last word on this subject; but nothing of this late and radically altered conception even touched the existing narratives, and it was obviously impossible to introduce it into the published Silmarillion. It would nonetheless have been very much better to have left Gil-galad's parentage obscure.

If this was JRRT last word on the subject, then why do we choose only the parentage part of it (that he was the son of [Orodreth]) and not that he dwelled in Sirion's Mouth. It doesn't seem right.

Originally posted by Aiwendil
The issue of Gil-Galad in general needs some thought. As for his presence at the mouths of Sirion: the note from "The Parentage of Gil-Galad" used in FG-C-27 is a bit tricky. I'm not sure whether it constitutes a change from the older story (wherein he and Cirdan leave the havens and take up residence on Balar) or not. I am inclined to think that it does not, and that Gil-Galad still ends up on Balar with Cirdan - and the story proceeds as in Q30 and QS77. If that's so, then FG-C-27 may need to change.

From The Later Quenta 2

Later evidence makes it certain that the notes on the QS manuscript represent a rejected idea for the incorporation of Gil-galad into the traditions of the Elder Days; and the passage just cited from the Grey Annals is to be taken as showing that it had been abandoned. That Gil-galad was the son of Fingon (The Silmarillion p. 154) derives from the late note pencilled on the manuscript of GA (§157), stating that when Fingon became King of the Noldor on the death of Fingolfin 'his young son (?Findor) [sic] Gilgalad he sent to the Havens.' But this, adopted after much hesitation, was not in fact by any means the last of my father's speculations on this question.

Again, if we accept that Gil-Galad is not the son of Fingon, then we do not need to accept that he was sent to the Havens. I think that we should have a look at that and try to figure out if there is a way to deal with Gil-Galad going to Sirion's Mouth.

Note: I would have dropped the usage of the name [Arothir] to replace [Orodreth].

After re-reading our previous discussion:

Originally posted by Findegil
Than we must take the note about Gil-Galad in The Shiboleth less literarily to mean the area of Sirions mouth since the most of the People (Sindar under Círdan and Noldor under Gil-Galad after he came there) dwelt upon the isle of Balar, with Gil-Galad joining Círdan upon the isle.
It is to be mentioned that at the time of the Fall of Gondolin most Noldor that had fled to the south were probably people of the house of Finarfin (e.g. Arminas and Gelmir that brought the message of Ulmo to Nargothrond). The people of Fingon would have been in a big part rescued by Turgon when he withdrew from the Nirneath, or could we imagine the rest of host of Fingon taken refuge in Gondolin when the women and children were left behind in Hithlum? (The people of Annael lived fare to the west and so were not "rescued".) And the Fëanorians were gathered in East Beleriand even after Himring had fallen. So only the Elves of Dorthonion and Nargothrond would have taken refuge with Círdan whom they knew as a friend of their former Lords (Finrod and Orordreth).

I wonder if my emendation is ok.

Note:
PG: Refers to the Parentage of Gil-Galad in HoME 12.

[Maédhros]

From VE-15

But Eönwë marched through the western lands summoning the remnant of the Noldor, and the Dark-elves that had not yet looked on Valinor, to join with the thralls released and to depart from Middle-earth. But {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor would not harken, and they prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of their oath. For {Maidros} [Maedhros] would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, ever. against the victorious host of Valinor and the might and splendour of the {sons of the Gods} [West]: even though he stood alone in all the world. And he sent a message unto Eönwë, bidding him yield up now those jewels which of old Fëanor made and Morgoth stole from him.

The part in bold should be even not ever.

[Petty Dwarf]

Before to start with the Voyage of Earendil, we can insert a slightly modified version of the Fragment of the alliterative Lay of Eärendel found in The Lays of Beleriand (HoME 3), II Poems Early Abandoned.

How can that happen? It exists as a separate work since The Lay of Eärendil is alluded to in the chapter.

VE-4:

Or so it is said, among the {Gnomes} [Noldor], who after had tidings of many things from their kinsfolk the Quendi, the Light-elves beloved of Manwë, who ever knew something of the mind of the Lord of the {Gods} [Valar].

Quendi should be Vanyar, or the more expansive Calaquendi.

VE-11:

Then the host of the Valar prepared for battle, and the captain of their host was Eönwë to whom Manwë gave his sword. Beneath his white banner marched also the Vanyar, the Fair-elves, the people of Ingwë; and among them were also those of the Noldor of old who had never departed from Valinor, and Ingwion son of Ingwë was their chief. But remembering the slaying at the Swan-haven and the rape of their ships, few of the Teleri were willing to go forth to war; but Elwing went among them, and because she was fair and gentle, and was come also upon her father's side from Thingol who was of their own kindred, they harkened to her; and they sent mariners sufficient to man and steer the ships upon which most of that army was borne east oversea; but they stayed aboard their ships and none ever set foot upon the shores of the Hither Lands.

Am I alone in thinking that CT was correct in placing this entire paragraph within VE-12? Left as it is here the action of Eärendil before the Valar gets broken up, and we hear about Elwing influencing the Teleri before we know how she meets them. I have to defer to Q77 here.

Also, on the whole Gil-Galad issue. I've never supported his penciled origin and neat disposing on Balar. Maédhros is right, the two go hand in hand. If we regect the Fingon parentage why not the Balar drop-off? Placing him at the Havens the entire time makes much more sense: his role in the story becomes more active, it doesn't conflict the later note, and at least there he's placed among other Noldor while the people on Balar were probably Falathrim Sindar. I also don't think Arothir should replace Orodreth as the most common name.

[Maédhros]

How can that happen? It exists as a separate work since The Lay of Eärendil is alluded to in the chapter.

That is a very good point. But remember that the Lay of Eärendel that we used in the beginning of the Chapter was not finished. In our text, the mention of the Lay goes like this:

In the Lay of Eärendel is many a thing sung of his adventures in the deep and in lands untrodden, and in many seas and many isles.

The attribution made to the Lay was not made. There is no adventures in the deep, etc. Perhaps we can justify its use with that. Or perhaps we might delete that line althogether.

Quendi should be Vanyar, or the more expansive Calaquendi.

It should be Vanyar.

Am I alone in thinking that CT was correct in placing this entire paragraph within VE-12? Left as it is here the action of Eärendil before the Valar gets broken up, and we hear about Elwing influencing the Teleri before we know how she meets them. I have to defer to Q77 here.

To me it seems that it does indeed reads better with the placing that CT did to it. But I wonder if JRRT did indeed put that parragraph in that location, then he must have had a reason to do so. Remember that he even made some subtitles to go along with the story. I would be very hesitant to move the order of the parragraph.

I have seen that we are using the Ungoliantë instead of Ungoliant as we did in our Fall of Gondolin. We should standarize which name we are going to use.

I think that it is important now that we come to some sort of agreement in the Fëanor's twins matter. Are we going to follow the Shibboleth narrative where one of the twins die aboard the ship? (And I don't see any reason as to why we shouldn't). The outcome of that decision will determine the use of one or both twins in this and other sections.

I think that we should also change all of the references of Light-elves to Fair-elves

[Findegil]

About Gil-Galad: May be Petty Dwarfe is right and we should try to work out a text were Gil-Galad stayed at the havens of Sirions mouth. But howe can we then work out the attack of the Feanorians? Let'stry that at once:
VE-10:

And so came in the end to pass the last and cruellest of the slayings of Elf by Elf; and that was the third of the great wrongs achieved by the accursed oath. For the sons of Fëanor came down upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath and destroyed them. Though some of their folk stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion of the hearts of {Elfinesse} [Elvenesse] in those days), yet {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor won the day. Alone they now remained of the sons of Fëanor, for in that battle {Damrod and {Díriel}[Amras] were}[Amrod] was slain; but the folk of Sirion perished or fled away led by Gil-Galad, or departed of need to join the people of Maidros{,}[.] /*QS77 Too late the ships of Círdan{ and Gil-galad the High King} came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons. Then such few of that people as did not perish in the assault led by{joined themselves to} Gil-galad{, and} went with him to Balar; and they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive{,}*\[.]{, who claimed now} [Maedhros now claimed] the lordship of all the Elves of the Hither Lands{. And yet Maidros} [and yet he] gained not the Silmaril, for Elwing seeing that all was lost and her children Elros and Elrond taken captive, eluded the host of {Maidros} [Maedhros], and with the Nauglamír upon her breast she cast herself into the sea, and perished as folk thought.

In addition we must make clear that there were groups of poeple at the Havens all of which had their owne leader, but that Gil-Galad was their oferlord as King of the Noldor in exil.
VE-02/03:

Yet by Sirion and the sea there grew up an elven folk, the gleanings of Gondolin and Doriath[.]<PG {Ereinion} [Rodnor] Gil-galad son of Orodreth, who had escaped the fall of Nargothrond and come to Sirion's Mouth, was <QS77 named> King of the Noldor there.> The Silmaril brought blessing upon them and Idril wore the Elessar upon her breast and they were healed, and they multiplied; and from Balar the mariners of Círdan came among them, and they took to the waves and {the making of fair ships}the building of ships and built a haven, dwelling ever nigh unto the shores of Arvernien, upon the delta amid the waters under the shadow of Ulmo's hand. Many fugitives gathered unto them.

I skipt the passage of Gil-Galads apperence. If we will use the information about his mother somewere else (the Chapter of Túrin in Nargothrond was suggested and I like to suggest "Of Beleriand and its Realms"), we should also introduce his apperence there.
Two further passages come to my mind:
VE-08:

Bright Earendel was then lord of the {folk of Sirion}Lothrim and their many ships; and he took to wife Elwing the fair, and she bore him Elros and Elrond, who are called the Halfelven.

That makes him only the lord of the remants of Gondolin and Doriath that had taken this name a few lines before. It leaves room fro Gil-Galad being King.
VE-09:

Upon the havens of Sirion new woe had fallen. The dwelling of Elwing there, where still she possessed the Nauglamír and the glorious Silmaril, became known unto the remaining sons of Fëanor, {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor and {Damrod} [Amrod] {and {Díriel} [Amras]}; and they gathered together from their wandering hunting-paths, and messages of friendship and yet stern demand they sent unto Sirion. But Elwing and the {folk of Sirion}Lothrim would not yield that jewel which Beren had won and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the Fair was slain; and least of all while {Eärendel} [Eärendil] their lord was in the sea, for them seemed that in that jewel lay the gift of bliss and healing that had come upon their houses and their ships.

Maybe this all is a bit artifical, but it works out. The addition in VE-10 is risky, since we know nothing about what Gil-Galad did during the attack. But if we are going to introduce him at the havens that was the least risky way I could think of.


About Amras: I think we should burn him with the ship (so to say).

About the Lay as intro: It works fine for me and I can't see any problem with the further mention of it in the text. May be we should add some words after it to show that we have quoted a part of the lay. That would allow for further mentions even more natrual of it.

Stated by Maedhros:

I think that we should also change all of the references of Light-elves to Fair-elves

I don't think so. Light-elves was used in [k]The Hobbit[/k] and we can not chang it there. So, why not use it here? Also I don't think Quendi had to go. If we change that, we can only do so for clarification, but that we have allway aviode so fare.

Respectfully
Findegil

Edited to change "were" to "was" in VE-10 because Amrod alone is singular, and reetsablish "and" between Gondolin and Doriath in VE-02/03 - the deletion was an artefact of my editing.

[Petty Dwarf]

Now that I think about it, if we want to be all inclusive, maybe the Lay introduction works well. But not without mention, and certainly there's no need to delete the mention of the Lay later on. A good example for what we're suggesting to do is CT's excerpt from The Lay of Leithian in Q77. But then again there's no precedent for this in JRRT's version of the chapter.

Beneath his white banner marched also the Vanyar, the Fair-elves, the people of Ingwë; and among them were also those of the Noldor of old who had never departed from Valinor, and Ingwion son of Ingwë was their chief.

Is it impossible to salvage the revised addition of Finarfin son of Finwë leading the Noldor? For example:

Beneath his white banner marched also the Vanyar, the Fair-elves, the people of Ingwë [, and Ingwion son of Ingwë was their chief]; and among them were also those of the Noldor of old who had never departed from Valinor, {and Ingwion son of Ingwë}[and Finarfin son of Finwë was their chief].

[Maédhros]

Is it impossible to salvage the revised addition of Finarfin son of Finwë leading the Noldor? For example:

I'm not sure about that. From the Later Quentas

§6 'Ingwiel son of Ingwë was their chief': observing the apparent error, in that Ingwiel appears to be named the leader of the Noldor (see V.334, §6), my father changed this to 'Finarphin son of Finwë': see IV.196, second footnote. In the typescript he let the passage stand, but changed Ingwiel to Ingwion (and also 'Light-elves' to 'Fair-elves', see X.168, 180).

This is why I would be against such a change. It may have been a slip by JRRT but if he let that passage stand, I think that it should stay.
This change was the reason that I proposed that we should change all of the references of the Light-elves to Fair elves but I missed something that comes next:

Later Quentas
§15 'the Light-elves of Valinor' > 'the Light-elves in Valinor'

Since JRRT left the references to the Light-elves they should definitely stay. Regarding the Quendi, I think that Findegil is probably correct is stating that if we changed it it would only be for clarification.

Maybe this all is a bit artifical, but it works out. The addition in VE-10 is risky, since we know nothing about what Gil-Galad did during the attack. But if we are going to introduce him at the havens that was the least risky way I could think of.

I don't see it as that risky. If we are to accept that Gil-Galad was in the Mouths of Sirion and not in Valar, it sounds very plausible. The Havens thing with Gil-Galad was introduced because of a previous note by JRRT that was discarded, so essentially we don't have hard facts about his status during the attacks of the Fëanorians.

In addition we must make clear that there were groups of people at the Havens all of which had their own leader, but that Gil-Galad was their overlord as King of the Noldor in exile.

I like that additon of Lothrim in there.

I skipt the passage of Gil-Galads apperence. If we will use the information about his mother somewere else (the Chapter of Túrin in Nargothrond was suggested and I like to suggest "Of Beleriand and its Realms"), we should also introduce his apperence there.

Merging both parragraphs seems fine to me. The Gil-Galad parragraph in itself was fine but with the rest of the text it looked odd to me. Moving the part of Gil-Galad being king in there seems much better and skipping the description of his appearance to an earlier chapter is ok to me.

[Aiwendil]

I am far from convinced that Gil-Galad must never go to Balar until after the attack of the Feanorians.

There are two things to consider: the fact of the change in his parentage and the note that makes him "king of the Noldor at the mouths of Sirion".

Does the change in parentage necessitate that he remained on the mainland until the third Kin-slaying? No. Certainly it makes obselete the passage where Fingon's "young son Gilgalad he sent to the Havens", but it clearly does not invalidate the story that he ended up at the havens somehow.

The note where he is the son of Fingon has him sent in 456, after the Dagor Bragollach. The question arises: if he is the son of Orodreth, when and how did he come to the havens? Was it still in 456? Was it later? Somehow he escaped the Battle of Tumhalad - and unless we intend to embark on some major creative rewriting of the Narn, he was not there at all during Turin's stay. That puts the date at 490 at the very latest. Of course, we will have to say at some point in the narrative that Gil-Galad was sent to the havens, so we will apparently have to decide upon some definite date - but there is nothing to suggest any specific time, with the only precedent the old date of 456.

But Cirdan went to Balar in 473, following an attack by Morgoth not long after the Nirnaeth. If Gil-Galad was with him at the havens before that time, he surely would have gone withe Cirdan to Balar. If he was not, then it's hard to imagine why Orodreth should send him to the havens later on, and not to join Cirdan on Balar.

Then there is the reference to his "eventually" becoming "King of the Noldor at the mouths of Sirion". Note first of all that this is in a note that is primarily concerned with his parentage and name, not with the specifics of his movements. In such a context "the Mouths of Sirion" could easily be a loose way of referring to the whole of the havens, the delta, and the Isle of Balar. Keep in mind that Cirdan is said to have maintained a foothold on the mainland even after removing to Balar. "King of the Noldor" could then be taken at face value - he inherited the title that had passed from Fingolfin to Fingon to Turgon.

I think that the whole argument for moving Gil-Galad from Balar to the mainland during the early parts of the story of Earendil rests on a very strict interpretation of "King of the Noldor at the mouths of Sirion", and I'm not convinced that that's enough.

How would we arrange it that Gil-Galad was not on Balar yet? We would have to invent some story whereby he either came to the havens after 473 or for some reason remained there after Cirdan. Either way, we would seem to have to take too much liberty.

I think it's safer to interpret the note more broadly, and retain both 456 as the date of his departure for the havens and the story that he went to Balar with Cirdan in 473.

Findegil wrote:

About Amras: I think we should burn him with the ship (so to say).

I agree.

About the light-elves and the Quendi: I think that both should definitely stay.

About the Ingwiel/Ingwion/Finarfin passage: I don't think that there's any matter of the story in doubt here. As I understand it, the situation is this: in QS, it is said that Ingwiel was the chief of the host, but the wording was such that it appears that he is named the chief of the Noldor. In LQ, he corrected this by changing Ingwiel to Finarfin, so that it correctly names the chief of the Noldor. In the typescript, he apparently did not observe the error in wording, but made the unrelated correction Ingwiel > Ingwion. "Light-elves" was changed to "Fair-elves here because it refers specifically to the Vanyar.

So the story is the same in all versions: the overall leader of the host is the son of Ingwe, and the leader of the Noldorin troops is Finarfin.

I am not inclined to go with the typescript of LQ as the final version, since there is clearly an error there whereby Ingwion appears to become a Noldo. I am rather sympathetic to Petty Dwarf's inclination to include mention of both Ingwion and Finarfin - but unfortunately this results in awkward wording.

[Maédhros]

The note where he is the son of Fingon has him sent in 456, after the Dagor Bragollach. The question arises: if he is the son of Orodreth, when and how did he come to the havens? Was it still in 456? Was it later? Somehow he escaped the Battle of Tumhalad - and unless we intend to embark on some major creative rewriting of the Narn, he was not there at all during Turin's stay. That puts the date at 490 at the very latest. Of course, we will have to say at some point in the narrative that Gil-Galad was sent to the havens, so we will apparently have to decide upon some definite date - but there is nothing to suggest any specific time, with the only precedent the old date of 456.

I don't see a contradiction or a the need for a rewrite of the Narn with the fact that Gil-Galad being in Nargothrond when Túrin arrives. If Gil-Galad were not to be mentioned in the Narn, it does not means that he was not there and that he didn't escaped as the note in the Parentage of Gil-Galad suggests. The date could well be 495.
The note states:

Finrod left his wife in Valinor and had no children in exile. Angrod's son was Artaresto, who was beloved by Finrod and escaped when Angrod was slain, and dwelt with Finrod. Finrod made him his 'steward' and he succeeded him in Nargothrond. His Sindarin name was Rodreth (altered to Orodreth because of his love of the mountains .. ..... His children were Finduilas and Artanáro = Rodnor later called Gil-galad. (Their mother was a Sindarin lady of the North. She called her son Gil-galad.) Rodnor Gil-galad escaped and eventually came to Sirion's Mouth and was King of the Ñoldor there.

I think that the notes seems to imply that Gil-Galad would have escaped the Fall of Nargothrond and eventually came to the Mouths of Sirion.

But Círdan went to Balar in 473, following an attack by Morgoth not long after the Nirnaeth. If Gil-Galad was with him at the havens before that time, he surely would have gone withe Círdan to Balar. If he was not, then it's hard to imagine why Orodreth should send him to the havens later on, and not to join Círdan on Balar.

If we follow the note of the Parentage that Gil-Galad escaped the Fall of Nargothrond, this is not a problem.

Then there is the reference to his "eventually" becoming "King of the Noldor at the mouths of Sirion". Note first of all that this is in a note that is primarily concerned with his parentage and name, not with the speficics of his movements. In such a context "the Mouths of Sirion" could easily be a loose way of referring to the whole of the havens, the delta, and the Isle of Balar. Keep in mind that Círdan is said to have maintained a foothold on the mainland even after removing to Balar. "King of the Noldor" could then be taken at face value - he inherited the title that had passed from Fingolfin to Fingon to Turgon.

The fact that Círdan had kept a foothold in the mainland can and does indeed explain how they were able to send their help (late) against the sons of Fëanor.

How would we arrange it that Gil-Galad was not on Balar yet? We would have to invent some story whereby he either came to the havens after 473 or for some reason remained there after Cirdan. Either way, we would seem to have to take too much liberty.

I really don't see the liberty that you are talking about Aiwendil. We have the fact that the 456 travel of Gil-Galad to the Havens was rejected and we have a note by JRRT stating that Gil-Galad escaped and went to the Havens. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that when JRRT says escaped, he means after the Fall of Nargothrond. Why is it a liberty if we are following a note by JRRT?
Also we have to remember that the Narn was written ca. 1950, while the Shibboleth was written ca. 1968.

I think it's safer to interpret the note more broadly, and retain both 456 as the date of his departure for the havens and the story that he went to Balar with Cirdan in 473.

I have to disagree with this. We can of course use more broadly the Sirions Mouth statement but what about the escaped part. Are we simply going to ignore that fact?
Is there is a principle that goes against using the late not of JRRT?

About the Ingwiel/Ingwion/Finarfin passage: I don't think that there's any matter of the story in doubt here. As I understand it, the situation is this: in QS, it is said that Ingwiel was the chief of the host, but the wording was such that it appears that he is named the chief of the Noldor. In LQ, he corrected this by changing Ingwiel to Finarfin, so that it correctly names the chief of the Noldor. In the typescript, he apparently did not observe the error in wording, but made the unrelated correction Ingwiel > Ingwion. "Light-elves" was changed to "Fair-elves here because it refers specifically to the Vanyar.

I'm not sure. While it is most probable that it was a slip, we have to see that the typescript is certainly the later version of it. If JRRT did indeed read that part and did not add Finarfin as the leader of the host of the Noldor, then it could be that he could have changed his mind.

[Petty Dwarf]

This Gil-Galad thing is Yavanna-tree of VoE.

I am not inclined to go with the typescript of LQ as the final version, since there is clearly an error there whereby Ingwion appears to become a Noldo. I am rather sympathetic to Petty Dwarf's inclination to include mention of both Ingwion and Finarfin - but unfortunately this results in awkward wording

I think my wording was awkward...but it was purely for example. Here's another, again, excuse shoddy notation:

Beneath his white banner marched also the Vanyar, the Fair-elves, the people of Ingwë [, and Ingwion his son {of Ingwë} was their chief]{;} [A]mong them were also those of the Noldor of old who had never departed from Valinor, {and Ingwion son of Ingwë}[and Finarfin son of Finwë was their chief].

Are you sure with keeping the mention of "Quendi" in VE-4:

Or so it is said, among the {Gnomes} [Noldor], who after had tidings of many things from their kinsfolk the Quendi, the Light-elves beloved of Manwë, who ever knew something of the mind of the Lord of the {Gods} [Valar].

I always accepted the latter meaning of the term Quendi "The Speakers" as all elvenfolk, including the Avari, as per Quendi and Eldar. I understood the significence of "the Quendi" here to mean "the Vanyar".

[Aiwendil]

Maedhros wrote:

I don't see a contradiction or a the need for a rewrite of the Narn with the fact that Gil-Galad being in Nargothrond when Túrin arrives. If Gil-Galad were not to be mentioned in the Narn, it does not means that he was not there and that he didn't escaped as the note in the Parentage of Gil-Galad suggests. The date could well be 495.

I have a very hard time believing that Gil-Galad could have been at Nargothrond during Turin's stay and not even be mentioned in the Narn. It would be like saying that Turgon had a son who was simply not mentioned during the Fall of Gondolin.

And how would you alter the narrative concerning the Battle of Tumhalad so that Gil-Galad could escape?

Then, how would you explain the fact that he went to the havens, which were now deserted save for Cirdan's "foothold" there (whatever that may be), and took up residence there, apparently alone?

It just seems to me that the proposal wherein Gil-Galad is in Nargothrond until 495, then goes to the havens and remains there until the attack of the Feanorians, requires too much justification and invention.

I think that the notes seems to imply that Gil-Galad would have escaped the Fall of Nargothrond and eventually came to the Mouths of Sirion.

Certainly, the word "escaped" can be interpreted as referring to the Fall of Nargothrond. But need it be taken that specifically? Surely it could simply mean that it so happened that Gil-Galad was no longer in Nargothrond when it was attacked, and thus escaped the sack.

We have the fact that the 456 travel of Gil-Galad to the Havens was rejected

It's not quite that simple. We have a reference to Gil-Galad, son of Fingon, being sent to the havens in 456. We have the later rejection of Fingon as his father. Does this amount to a rejection of 456? Certainly it casts that date in doubt. But it is not at all equivelant to a note that states "Gil-Galad was not sent to the havens in 456".

Also we have to remember that the Narn was written ca. 1950, while the Shibboleth was written ca. 1968

Yes, but the Narn (and associated GA material) is the latest narrative we have for Turin, so if some proposed changes cannot be made to fit into it then they must be rejected.

Is there is a principle that goes against using the late not of JRRT?

I think that there are really two questions here. One regards the interpretation of the note. Both the "escaped" and "Mouths of Sirion" bits are vague - they can each be interpreted either strictly (he was at Nargothrond in 495 and escaped; he actually dwelt on the mainland) or loosely (events contrived it such that he was not in Nargothrond when it was attacked; he was with Cirdan on Balar but with a "foothold" on the mainland, etc.).

The other question revolves around principle 2b. Even if it were clearly said in the note that Gil-Galad remained in Nargothrond until 495, then escaped the sack, and then lived at the mouths of Sirion but not on Balar until the Feanorian attack, is that a change that can actually be implemented, or is it merely a proposed change that cannot be fit with the existing narratives? I have given the reasons for which I think that it would pose a serious problem for the Narn and that it would leave a crucial plot point (Gil-Galad's dwelling at the havens) unexplained. I also think that the emendations to the Earendil story that Findegil has proposed are quite risky.

Petty Dwarf wrote:

I always accepted the latter meaning of the term Quendi "The Speakers" as all elvenfolk, including the Avari, as per Quendi and Eldar. I understood the significence of "the Quendi" here to mean "the Vanyar".

I had misunderstood this point. You are right. "Quendi" from QS refers to the first kindred of the Elves. It should be changed to "Vanyar".

I'm not sure. While it is most probable that it was a slip, we have to see that the typescript is certainly the later version of it. If JRRT did indeed read that part and did not add Finarfin as the leader of the host of the Noldor, then it could be that he could have changed his mind.

But we are dealing with the last parts of LQ2, where his corrections were fairly erratic and cursory. Remember, he let such things as the founding of Gondolin after the Nirnaeth stand in this typescript.

And there is no reason at all to think that he had the manuscript (on which he had made the correction to "Finarfin") in front of him when he made the cursory corrections to the typescript.

I think these corrections ought to be taken at face value: in one place, he notices the error and corrects it by changing "Ingwiel" to "Finarfin". In another place, he fails to notice the error but makes the unrelated correction of the name "Ingwiel" to "Ingwion".

[Findegil]

First the simple things:
About Ingwiel/Ingwion/Finarfin: I agree with Aiwendil, that Ingwion son of Ingwe was the chief of the Vanyar and that Finarfin led the Nodor of Valinor. Petty Dwarf’s second edition of the text seems good to me. If we are going to take the emendation to the typescript as the only valid story, then this must mean that Ingwion was the leader of all the Elves of Valinor, or so I think.

Posted by Aiwendil:

"Quendi" from QS refers to the first kindred of the Elves. It should be changed to "Vanyar".

Did I understand you right that in QS "Quendi" always referred to the first kindred of the Elves? I really don't know it is some time since I have read in QS. If so, than you are clearly right and it should be changed to Vanyar.

Gil-galad situation: I have interpreted the note about Gil-galads parentage strictly when I made my proposed changes. But Aiwendil has a point at least with the "escaped". It does not provide the way in which he was spared from death in the fall of Nargothrond. And since I also see some difficulties in the fact that he was not mentioned at all during Túrins stay in Nargothrond, I suppose we should really send him to the Havens of the Falas in 456. If I think about it Orodreth had any reason to do so. He was still the Lord of Tol Sirion in that year and since the defeat at the Bargollach things looked really dangerous for him (as they became the year after with Sauron taking the Isle). So to send his son for his safekeeping and for adduction to a befriended lord, in this case Círdan, is very probable.
But the interpretation of Sirions mouth as the complete region is less likely for me (even so I suggested that myself).
So in my mind the story seems to be that he was send to the havens of the Falas and fled with Círdan to the Isle of Balar. Círdan's foothold at the mouth of Sirion is for me the first beginning of what would become the Havens of Sirion. When Gil-galad learned of the death of Turgon and took up the title of the King of the Noldor in Middle-Earth, he moved to the Haven of Sirion were the most of his people lived. Thus we have avoided the fanfic to introduce Gil-Galad in the Narn by holding the Note about him being send to Círdan and we have taken the not about his parentage and his being "at the mouth of Sirion" in to account.
That would produce:
VE-02/03:

Yet by Sirion and the sea there grew up an elven folk, the gleanings of Gondolin and Doriath[.] The Silmaril brought blessing upon them and Idril wore the Elessar upon her breast and they were healed, and they multiplied; and from Balar the mariners of Círdan came among them. And<PG {Ereinion} [Rodnor] Gil-galad son of Orodreth, who had escaped the fall of Nargothrond {and come}came to Sirion's Mouth{,}and was <QS77 named> King of the Noldor there.>{, and}And they took to the waves and {the making of fair ships}the building of ships and built a haven, dwelling ever nigh unto the shores of Arvernien, upon the delta amid the waters under the shadow of Ulmo's hand. Many fugitives gathered unto them.

The problem with that is that we have know no groups left. Gil-Galad is King of the Noldor and Eärendil cannot be Lord of Lothrim because there are no other Noldor save the Lothrim.
So we must change VE-08:

Bright {Earendel}[Eärendil] was then a lord of the folk of Sirion and their many ships; and he took to wife Elwing the fair, and she bore him Elros and Elrond, who are called the Halfelven.

He is now just one of the Lords of the peoples and to give some examples for Person that qualify for being also lords, I will name Galdor and Egalmoth.
And also we have to find a new solution for VE-09:

Upon the havens of Sirion new woe had fallen. The dwelling of Elwing there, where still she possessed the Nauglamír and the glorious Silmaril, became known unto the remaining sons of Fëanor, {Maidros}[Maedhros] and Maglor and {Damrod}[Amrod]{ and {Díriel} [Amras]}; and they gathered together from their wandering hunting-paths, and messages of friendship and yet stern demand they sent unto Sirion. But Elwing and the folk of Sirion would not yield that jewel which Beren had won and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the Fair was slain; and least of all while {Eärendel their lord}[Eärendil] was in the sea, for them seemed that in that jewel lay the gift of bliss and healing that had come upon their houses and their ships.

I simply skipped his lordship and find it works very well.
Also I like to amend again VE-10:

And so came in the end to pass the last and cruellest of the slayings of Elf by Elf; and that was the third of the great wrongs achieved by the accursed oath. For the sons of Fëanor came down upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath and destroyed them. Though some of their folk stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion of the hearts of {Elfinesse}[Elvenesse] in those days), yet {Maidros}[Maedhros] and Maglor won the day. Alone they now remained of the sons of Fëanor, for in that battle {Damrod and {Díriel}[Amras] were}[Amrod was] slain; but the folk of Sirion perished or fled away, or departed of need to join the people of {Maidros,}[Maedhros.]/*<FG Egalmoth was the lord of the house of the Heavenly Arch, and got even out of the burning of Gondolin, and dwelt after at the mouth of Sirion, but was slain in {a}[that] dire battle{ there when Melko seized Elwing}.>*\{, who claimed now}[ Maedhros now claimed] the lordship of all the Elves of the Hither Lands{. And yet Maidros}[ and yet he] gained not the Silmaril, for Elwing seeing that all was lost and her children Elros and Elrond taken captive, eluded the host of {Maidros}[Maedhros], and with the Nauglamír upon her breast she cast herself into the sea, and perished as folk thought.<QS77 Too late the ships of Círdan{ and Gil-galad the High King} came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons. Then such few of that people as did not perish in the assault led by{joined themselves to} Gil-galad{,} and<FG Galdor{ was} that valiant {Gnome}[Noldor] who led the men of the Tree in many a charge and yet won out of Gondolin and even the onslaught{ of Melko} upon the dwellers at Sirion's mouth {and went back to the ruins with Earendel.} went with {him}[Círdan] to Balar; and they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive{,}[.]

I changed the order of the inserted passages to bring it more in its natural order. I skipped my first addition of Gil-galad, because it is not necessary at all. Also I added the fates of Egalmoth and Galdor since that added some info to the battle. At least Galdor should be named since he is possibly the later Galdor of the Havens in the council of Elrond.

Respectfully
Findegil

[Maédhros]

I changed the order of the inserted passages to bring it more in its natural order. I skipped my first addition of Gil-galad, because it is not necessary at all. Also I added the fates of Egalmoth and Galdor since that added some info to the battle. At least Galdor should be named since he is possibly the later Galdor of the Havens in the council of Elrond.

I really do not like at all, this addition. It seems to much of a liberty for us to take in this.
Also, I don't think that it is mutually exclusive for us to have Gil-Galad, regardless of whether he left to go with Círdan, for him not to be at Sirions Mouth in the time of the attack of the Fëanorians.
I rather liked Findegil use of the Lothrim in there. Also, if we follow the idea that Sirions Mouth refers to the area in general and not exaclty to the Mouths of Sirion it can work, now that we know that Círdan kept a foothold in the Mouths of Sirion.

[Antoine]

The file Earendil-TT.pdf was deleted as not being in compliance with the copyright law.

I ask everybody who has downloaded this file to permanently delete all electronic versions or hard copies of this file.

Antoine

[lindil]

Chapter Sub-Divisions
I suggest the following subdivisions of the Earedil material, by Q and QS sourcetexts, and with BoLT II'sEarendil/Poetic Lay material a seperate subsection and then following the LQ in XIp.247,

I - VoE I [Q source text, and 77/99],'Of the Exiles and the Assault on the Havens of Sirion'[?]
II- VoE II BoLT II'sEarendil/Poetic Lay , his 'voyage' [without the silmaril ]proper.*
III- VoEIII QS text from V The Lost Road [the Voyages of Elwing and Earendil and Earendil's prayer before the Valar]
~ further subdivisions according to the LQ chapters in XI p.247:~
IV - Of the Great Battle and the War of the Wrath
V- The Last End of the Oath of Feanor and his Sons
VI- Of the Passing of the Elves [Ed. Note]do we want to add(and the Edain?)

So for now VoE I, II, and III would be seperate, but as II is sorted out, it would incorporated into I.


I rather doubt we need a 2nd Prophecy of Mandos, but if some one has something we missed in the 2nd prophecy thread...

*However, a note on II, requires I think, it's own question:
On Bilbo and his Lay of Earendil

It is possibly the supreme irony of the Legendarium that we never hear an even compressed version of the actual Voyage of Earendil other than Bilbo's Criticized version [by Aragorn no less] . To me it begs the question, 'Why would Bilbo write a poorly informed Lay of Earendil?' because no official One existed, [probably fragments as messy as what we have!] and thus, Bilbo had a big whole in his book, it, like the full tale of the ending of Beren and Luthien, was as far as mortals like Bilbo and Aragorn were concerned, werer locked in Elrond's [and maybe other's] head.

So perhaps it was all done as a prod to get the real version out of someone in Rivendell.

We do not know how such a ploy, if it ever happened, would have succeeded, but we do know that Bilbo' was the final choice of JRRT as redactor, so possible inclusion of part or some of his obviously late Earendil material [or at least Aragorn's bit about the Ellesar[?!] does not seem so far fetched, as it might.

On Gil-Galad son of_________
I think we might want to at least look seriously as Fingon as sire of Gil-Galad, and retaining the earlier note re: Fingon's sending him, in it's functional entirety:

- XI p. 177 (LQ2 ch.10 - The Siege of Angband) reads

“ ‘…(as Mandos foretold) because the overlordship passed from it, the elder to the House of Fingolfin, both in Elende and in Beleriand, …

I am not sure on the dating, but the point could be made, regardless, that the passing of the Overlordship to another house [i.e. Fingolfin, Fingon, Turgon and then Gil-Galad son of Fingon] would require an alteration of a Doom of Mandos. That is I think, a more serious issue than any one choice in the thicket that is Gil-Galad's family tree.

I think the passing of the Overlordship to a specifically named 2nd branch, would in turn require the passing to the 3rd branch in M-E to also have it's declared statment.

What to make of the "both in Elende" line? It was that Fingolfin did in fact rule in Tuna for some years. And in suport of my point, we have a specific statment of Finarfin being given the Rule of the Noldor when their pardon was received.

So what we do not have, and it would take the same sort of FF as the Gil-Galad in Nargothrond, is any text or line that the ruling-house in M-E would pass to the Finarfinian line.

The Mouths of Sirion

Also though I have not yet grasped all of the threads of the Mouth's of Sirion and Lordship of the Elves there, I did note on the Later Silm Map[ XI p. 184], placing 'ship havens ' close to the tip of Cape Balar, with the name Earendil off a bit to the rigth, leaving a further question, of course. The Accompanying note on p. 190 tells us only that Earendil probably belongs to the ship Havens, placed exactly by a circled dot at the back of a small bay at the base of the Cape of Balar.

A further possibility, not spelled out, but possibly implied, is that the Sindar from Doriath [and any possible sindar from Gondolin] did not want a purely Noldorin Ruler [Gil-Galad son of ... ] The 2 parties, and any Edain that are said to have wandered south [see the Aelfwine and Dirhaval I think].

Anyway, this could well be a reason, to keep the possibility of 2 settelemnts [one reallty Cirdan's mainland outpost.

Also, the reality is being Lord of a people implies some responsibility for defense of the people, and Gil-Galad and Cirdan, for whatever reason [space?] did not have them brought to Balar.

So keeping Earendil [however rarely he may have been around] as Lord [not anykind of King] of a mostly non-Noldorin people does not at all interfere with King Gil-Galad on Balar with Cirdan.

We are in no place I can recall, given info on the relationship between Cirdan and Gil-Galad. Probably the longest alliance between Sindarin and Noldorin Lords.

Who is leading the hosts of the West Findegil posted:

About Ingwiel/Ingwion/Finarfin: I agree with Aiwendil, that Ingwion son of Ingwe was the chief of the Vanyar and that Finarfin led the Nodor of Valinor. Petty Dwarf’s second edition of the text seems good to me. If we are going to take the emendation to the typescript as the only valid story, then this must mean that Ingwion was the leader of all the Elves of Valinor, or so I think.

I agree as this goes with our principle of , 'when in doubt -add whatever is not contradictory with the main body of the story. Both Ingwion and Finarfin should be mentioned.



A note on Principles
This area is clearly a weak point of our principles [and if anyone wishes to go in this direction of a further addition- do it on the **Principles**thread itself], and indeed something of an Achilles heel for us.

We have multiple conflicting versions, with no real method of evaluating which bit of it can claim priority, once the dating has been given obviating factors, such as well, 'he might have been getting soft', or 'the crazy LQ texts that were derived from older photocopies of Q, and only randomly corrected, leaving sever and bizarre anachronisms.


This is a situation, we are likely to see again, and again, as we enter the tangled notes and outlines and semi-corrected LQ texts. The Legendarium could be seen as a gem, and it's brilliance is partly a product of the interconnection and relationship of the facets. Change one thing, and it often , as we all know, leads to several other ramifications.

As a side thought, I think perhaps we should consider a hierarchical list of peoples, titles, qualities, etc to rank, and as best we can, view things like the Parentage of Gil-Galad and all it entails, and the location/lordship of Earendil more objectively than at present.

Exactly how this would be worked out I won’t spend time on here or now, but it might take some of the personal element out of our tangles.

Although such decisions will always come down to the Human level at some point, or else we will have a painfully dry ‘abstraction’ of Tolkien, not anything that could really be called his.

Many of the currently 'neutral' changes made to our FoG are of this type, and inevitably so for a text that specifically eschewed [so far] an element of revision, that focused on stylistic harmonization of the differing strata of texts.



Anyway, just thought I should stir the pot a bit, with what little I could come up with.

I hope to comment on the other 3 projects soon.

[Aiwendil]

Lindil wrote:

I rather doubt we need a 2nd Prophecy of Mandos, but if some one has something we missed in the 2nd prophecy thread...

Actually, I think that the discussion in that thread was far from resolved. I am still rather undecided on the matter of the second prophecy of Mandos. We should probably resume discussion in that thread, though.

So perhaps it was all done as a prod to get the real version out of someone in Rivendell.

A colorful theory, and very Bilbo-ish! But I cannot quite convince myself that no one had ever taken the time to write a full Lay of Earendil. And it is spoken of with regard to the Atanatarion in MT as if the whole thing was quite complete.

The question, of course, for us is whether to make use of the poem in any way.

After some hesitation, I'd have to say that I lean toward "no" - if what we were doing was writing a fan-fictionalized Silmarillion, then it would be a valuable resource in constructing a full tale of Earendil. But of course we are not, and I see neither a pressing need to add details from it, nor sufficient assurance of its validity.

I think we might want to at least look seriously as Fingon as sire of Gil-Galad, and retaining the earlier note re: Fingon's sending him, in it's functional entirety

This has occurred to me as well. But in the end I must come out against it. I do not think that the Gil-Galad related problems are insurmountable. And the Fingon idea was, as Christopher stressed, a very transitory idea.

I am not sure on the dating, but the point could be made, regardless, that the passing of the Overlordship to another house [i.e. Fingolfin, Fingon, Turgon and then Gil-Galad son of Fingon] would require an alteration of a Doom of Mandos.

I disagree. First of all, and least important, the Fingon parentage would actually re-introduce what I see as a great difficulty with the matter of the Kingship as presented in the '77. That is: why should the kingship pass from Fingon to Turgon rather than from Fingon to Gil-Galad?

With regard to the Doom of Mandos in particular, two points ought to be made:

1. The words of Mandos do not at all necessitate that the Kingship never left the house of Fingolfin. They say only that it passed from the house of Feanor to the house of Fingolfin - which it did, in any case. If Gil-Galad then became the King, it later and separately passed from the house of Fingolfin to the house of Finarfin.

Note that this is actually what happens "in Elende": first the lordship of Tirion goes to Fingolfin while Feanor is at Formenos; then, after the flight of the Noldor it goes to Finarfin. And clearly the text ought not to be so interpreted as to invalidate this.

2. In any case, both QS and LQ date from before the Gil-Galad/Orodreth note, so the latter would take precedence.

Regarding Gil-Galad's Kingship vs. Earendil's lordship: I really don't think that there is any need for concern, whether Gil-Galad is at Balar or on the mainland at this point. Gil-Galad is the King of the Noldor - that is, the overlord of all the Noldor. Earendil is the lord of the people at the havens (and Lindil is quite right in pointing out that he is a lord, not a king). There is no contradiction here.

Although such decisions will always come down to the Human level at some point, or else we will have a painfully dry ‘abstraction’ of Tolkien, not anything that could really be called his.

Exactly. I don't think that there is a defficiency in our principles in this regard. As you foresaw at the beginning of the whole principles discussion, we cannot simply lay down a set of laws and turn the whole project into a big algebra problem. Note that I don't say that we ought not but rather that we cannot - or at least, we cannot do so without creating a list of principles as long as the Silmarillion itself. The best we can do, and what we have done, is to lay out general rules that must then be interpreted in actual practice. I don't think that our principles are at fault when we find ourselves entrenched in one of these difficult issues; I think that is exactly how they are supposed to work.

This leaves us with the question of whether Gil-Galad was at the havens or on Balar at the time of the Earendil story. I still can't understand why he should have remained on the mainland when Cirdan went to Balar.

[Maédhros]

This has occurred to me as well. But in the end I must come out against it. I do not think that the Gil-Galad related problems are insurmountable. And the Fingon idea was, as Christopher stressed, a very transitory idea.

I agree with this.

I disagree. First of all, and least important, the Fingon parentage would actually re-introduce what I see as a great difficulty with the matter of the Kingship as presented in the '77. That is: why should the kingship pass from Fingon to Turgon rather than from Fingon to Gil-Galad?

An excellent point Aiwendil. I have no troubles with the updated parentage of Gil-Galad.

Regarding Gil-Galad's Kingship vs. Earendil's lordship: I really don't think that there is any need for concern, whether Gil-Galad is at Balar or on the mainland at this point. Gil-Galad is the King of the Noldor - that is, the overlord of all the Noldor. Earendil is the lord of the people at the havens (and Lindil is quite right in pointing out that he is a lord, not a king). There is no contradiction here.

Very good point by lindil.

This leaves us with the question of whether Gil-Galad was at the havens or on Balar at the time of the Earendil story. I still can't understand why he should have remained on the mainland when Cirdan went to Balar.

If I recall correctly, the people of Círdan kept a foothold on the mainland too. I don't think it would be impossible for him to have returned to the mainland in a period before the attack of the Fëanorians. If I recall correctly, we don't have any hard facts about Gil-Galad's momements at that time in the FA. The only thing as I recall that comes from Tolkien is that note in the Parentage of Gil-Galad that states that he escaped the Fall of Nargothrond and came to Sirions Mouth. I think that Aiwendil made a fine point in explaining how could we support the escaped part but I don't see the great problem in having Gil-Galad in the mainland.

[lindil]

why should the kingship pass from Fingon to Turgon rather than from Fingon to Gil-Galad?

Well, for one Maedhros established a custom of it passing to the eldest male of the house of Finwe [outside of the Feanorians - it seems, though that detail may well not have been Maedhros' intent or understanding!]. So going to Turgon before going down a generation.



Re:The Second Prophecy, hmm, OK, I will go back and refresh that thread, if no one beats me to it. And speaking of old threads, where is the Orcish Fe:ar thread [started by H I or maybe Mithadan waaaay back?]

Re: Fingon as Dadddy - The big difference, which I tried to point out, is that with Finarfin being made ruler of the Noldor in Aman, there is an official notification from the Valar. With a change from Fingolfin's House to that of Finarfin's we have no text ever doing it [obviously not from the Valar, but within the Noldor themselves, as with Maedhros earlier], so while a concern over Gil-Galad as possibly being in Nargothrond during Turin's sojourn there is understandable, as there is no text or hint as to how JRRT would have handled it, why is that less toubling than a similarly textless shifting of the High Kingship from the second house to the third?

I just read the Second Prophecy from the 99 and I do not see that it needs to adress the possibility of the rulership passing to the 3rd House. With great gravity it dispossesses the House of Feanor, you are right A. that it does not in and of it self specify the 2nd House.

What is not silent I would argue, is the seriousness and gravity with which in the few occasions we see it, of the High-Kingship passing from anyone other than a son or nephew, is always noted, usually with great gravity and with some kind of council.

We see this in Valinor [twice with Fingolfin receiving 'rulership' when Finwe and Feanor where in Exile] and then again when the Valar 'set' Finarfin to Rule over the Noldor, and then finallly we see it in the council wherein Maedhros waives his claim.

So we can gloss over it, but if we do, we should not trouble too much over Gil-Galad somehow 'escaping' from the Sack of Nargothrond [though previously unmentioned there].

I really see the changing of houses as a big thing and a fully undocumented one that despite all of the time Gil-Galad may have spent as some descendant of Finarfin in JRRT's unfinished revisions and notes, the story is not set up to support it, or Gil-Galad in Nargothrond.

Of course, I seem to have something of a knack for minority positions so I will not try and hold things up.

A. glad you at least got a kick out of my Lay of Earendil theory. I thought it fit his character rather well...

Forgot about the X/MT reference.

Any other thoughts on possible inclusion of the fragments of the Lay of Earendil from II or LotR ?

I thought that would end up being a real brair patch, but maybe not...

The surrounding storyline might have a hard time adapting to much expansion, sense it is along with RoD, all very compressed and swift moving.

Still the troubles we run into here especially cause me to favor my 'Annotated Silmarillion' format more and more.

[Maédhros]

Re: Fingon as Dadddy - The big difference, which I tried to point out, is that with Finarfin being made ruler of the Noldor in Aman, there is an official notification from the Valar. With a change from Fingolfin's House to that of Finarfin's we have no text ever doing it [obviously not from the Valar, but within the Noldor themselves, as with Maedhros earlier], so while a concern over Gil-Galad as possibly being in Nargothrond during Turin's sojourn there is understandable, as there is no text or hint as to how JRRT would have handled it, why is that less toubling than a similarly textless shifting of the High Kingship from the second house to the third?

This thing about the notification of the Valar brings up to me the little dialogue in the Shibboleth of Fëanor

As he said with some justice: 'My brother's claim rests only upon a decree of the Valar; but of what force is that for those who have rejected them and seek to escape from their prison-land?' But Fingolfin answered: 'I have not rejected the Valar, nor their authority in all matters where it is just for them to use it. But if the Eldar were given free choice to leave Middle-earth and go to Aman, and accepted it because of the loveliness and bliss of that land, their free choice to leave it and return to Middle-earth, when it has become dark and desecrated, cannot be taken away. Moreover I have an errand in Middle-earth, the avenging of the blood of my father upon Morgoth, whom the Valar let loose among us. Fëanor seeks first his stolen treasures.'

I really must be missing something but I really don't see a problem with Gil-Galad being the High King and of the House of Finarfin. The House of Fëanor was dispossed of it (although Maedhros claimed the lordship of all the Elves of the Hither Lands), there were no male survivors of the House of Fingolfin in ME (both Fingon and Turgon were dead), and the only male survivor of the House of Finwë was Gil-Galad.
Am I missing something?

[lindil]

Am I missing something?

We all through a variety of mostly subjective associations, put differing weights on differing facts in these matters.

The Kingship silently passing to the third house is for me unprecedneted [ in the Noldor at least] and I am leery of it.

For others, other concerns will weigh higher.

I was also a lone voice re: Rog not being acceptable.

[Maédhros]

lindil, what do you and the others think about the other proposed changes? The addition of Morgoth's Ring in one of the last parragraphs?
Is the only sticking point in here is the Sirions Mouth of the later note found in The Parentage of Gil-Galad?

[lindil]

With the other changes, I was either fine or did not have the time to do the back researching I did on the others.

Mrs. lindil gets home tonight after an absence that has given me time for such things, but perhaps I can slide another session of review in.

If so I will specifically look at the X addition.

Are you also wanting to leave all bits of Lay out?

[Petty Dwarf]

Any other thoughts on possible inclusion of the fragments of the Lay of Earendil from II or LotR ?

I've always been partial to something like this (since last year in The Lay of Earendil). And now that I've sat on it, the preamble from the LoE seems like a nice touch, even though without precedent.

I don't think Bilbo's Eärendillinwë was trying to wring details out of Elrond, but more of Bilbo trying to adapt a Hobbit poem and style ("Errantry" in AoTB) to something more high-minded. In that case his concern was more metrical and less factual, hence the harsh critique. But there's more about Eärendil's journey in there than there is in any of the "Silmarillions".

The only way to squeeze in material would be to add it somewhere in this:

VE-08
----------------
But /*QS77 in after days it was sung that*\ Tuor alone of mortal Men was numbered among the elder race, and joined with the {Noldoli} [Noldor] whom he loved, and in after time dwelt still, or so it hath been said, ever upon his ship voyaging the seas of the Elven-lands, or resting a while in the harbours of the {Gnomes} [Elves] of Tol Eressëa; and his fate is sundered from the fate of Men. Bright {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was then lord of the folk of Sirion and their many ships; and he took to wife Elwing the fair, and she bore him Elros and Elrond, who are called the Halfelven. Yet {Eärendel} [Eärendil] could not rest, and his voyages about the shores of the Hither Lands eased not his unquiet. Two purposes grew in his heart, blended as one in longing for the wide sea: he sought to sail thereon, seeking after Tuor and Idril Celebrindal who returned not; and he thought to find perhaps the last shore and bring ere he died the message of Elves and Men unto the Valar of the West, that should move the hearts of Valinor and the Elves of {Tûn} [Tirion] to pity on the world and the sorrows of Mankind.
Vingelot he built, fairest of the ships of song, the Foamflower; white were its timbers as the argent moon, golden were its oars, silver were its shrouds, its masts were crowned with jewels like stars. In the Lay of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] is many a thing sung of his adventures in the deep and in lands untrodden, and in many seas and many isles. Ungoliantë in the South he slew, and her darkness was destroyed, and light came to many regions which had yet long been hid. But Elwing sat sorrowing at home.
{Eärendel} [Eärendil] found not Tuor nor Idril, nor came he ever on that journey to the shores of Valinor, defeated by shadows and enchantment, driven by repelling winds, until in longing for Elwing he turned him homeward toward the East. And his heart bade him haste, for a sudden fear was fallen on him out of dreams, and the winds that before he had striven with might not now bear him back as swift as his desire.

What BoLT material we could use:

Driven south. Dark regions. Fire mountains. Tree-men. Pygmies. Sarqindi or cannibal-ogres.

which is tempting because it seems like a presage of LotR stuff: Orodruin, Ents, and Hobbits. And there's also

Driven east --- the deserts and red palaces where dwells the Sun.

It requires some contrived phrasing, but they'd be nice additions.

[Findegil]

Asked by Maédhros

lindil, what do you and the others think about the other proposed changes? The addition of Morgoth's Ring in one of the last parragraphs?

Well, yes I'm at least happy with them.
But I am not sure if we should not search for more material to insert. Even if we do not use Errantry, we have to think of some other add's from HoME II may be.

About Gil-galad again: I must addmit that my additions in VE-10 are a bit "blocky". But I would like to add the informations about Egalmoth and Galdor. May be we could collect them together as a kind of retrospect?
But I did more than only add these two heros from FoG. I did skipt Gil-galad from any action in the battle. I only in re-reading understood that these could solve our problem with the meaning of "Sirions mouth" in the Gil-galad note. As the § stands now, Gil-galad is only mentioned as leading the survivors of the thrid kinslaying to the Isle of Balar. Thus the text as I posted it is open for any interpretation that is wanted by the read. Gil-galad could have been in the fight or he could have come with Círdan. It has worked well in FoG to be ambigous when we could not decide.

Respectfully
Findegil

[Maédhros]

About Gil-galad again: I must addmit that my additions in VE-10 are a bit "blocky". But I would like to add the informations about Egalmoth and Galdor. May be we could collect them together as a kind of retrospect?
But I did more than only add these two heros from FoG. I did skipt Gil-galad from any action in the battle. I only in re-reading understood that these could solve our problem with the meaning of "Sirions mouth" in the Gil-galad note. As the § stands now, Gil-galad is only mentioned as leading the survivors of the thrid kinslaying to the Isle of Balar. Thus the text as I posted it is open for any interpretation that is wanted by the read. Gil-galad could have been in the fight or he could have come with Círdan. It has worked well in FoG to be ambigous when we could not decide.

My problem with using especifically the name of Galdor and Egalmoth is that I think that it would be too much of a liberty from my point of view. If you can use the principles to convince me that it is ok, I might change my mind.

[Petty Dwarf]

We should solve one problem at a time, because it seems like we all have various directions we want to take certain parts of the story.

So far we have (in order of relative importance):

*Gil-galad's parentage and position at the time of the attack
*Incorporation of Lay of Eärendil & BoLT II materials
*Egalmoth and Galdor's inclusion in the attack
*Second Prophecy of Mandos

I didn't include the Ingwion & Finarfin discussion since it seems resolved.

So...Gil-galad.
I went back and closely considered the material.
Obscure as it is, the precedent Tolkien himself seems to have set out was a Gil-galad from the House of Finarfin (regardless of his generation) such as the geneologies, Aldarion and Erendis, The Shibboleth, the second text The Fall of Númenor, the unedited Of the Rings of Power, the Tale of Years, and additions to the . Most of these occurances make him son of Finrod Felagund, one says son of Orodreth, and once ambiguously "of the House of Finarfin". It did not seem to Tolkien a matter of much concern that the kingship would pass to Finarfin's folk. The hurdle was getting the kingship recognized from Serindë's descendants to Indis'.

Contrast the one time Gil-galad was placed as son of Fingon.
But even more surprising is the fact that his mother was to be Sindarin! That makes him a king of High Elves, without being one himself. The conclusion is he wasn't that kind of king, but "the last king of the Eldar in Middle-Earth".

The first additions of Gil-galad to the "Silmarillion" tradition were dealing with getting him out of the "Silmarillion" so to speak. From LQ:

But fearing now that all strong places were doomed to fall at last before the might of Morgoth, he sent away his wife Meril to her own folk in Eglorest, and with her went their son, yet an elvenchild, and Gilgalad Starlight he was called for the brightness of his eye.

But foreseeing evil he commanded Orodreth to send away his son Gilgalad, and wife. [Struck out.]

But the Lady ____ wife of Inglor forsook the folk of Nargothrond and went with her son Gilgalad to the Havens of the Falas.

In the note on the geneologies the mother of Gil-galad and Finduilas "was a Sindarin lady of the North". This hardly seems that far from the origins speculated above. Though the Sindarin lady is now married to Orodreth, her son still finds safety among her people.

Why not adopt the name Meril for the Sindarin lady, and establish it for the story for when we get to Beren and Luthien . I'll lay something out (with notation only for additions/substitutions):

But fearing now that all strong places were doomed to fall at last before the might of Morgoth, the Lady [Meril] wife of {Inglor}[Orodreth] forsook the folk of Nargothrond and went to her own folk in Eglorest, to the Havens of the Falas, and with her went their son, yet an elvenchild, and Gilgalad {Starlight}[Star of Radiance] he was called.

[Maédhros]

In the note on the geneologies the mother of Gil-galad and Finduilas "was a Sindarin lady of the North". This hardly seems that far from the origins speculated above. Though the Sindarin lady is now married to Orodreth, her son still finds safety among her people.

I would have to think more about that assumption in that chapter but for me it would be a no-no to use the name Meril. I would rather leave her name obscure.

[Maédhros]

I wanted to propose a new change:

But some returned even to Valinor, as all were free to do who willed; and there the {Gnomes}[Noldor] were admitted again to the love of Manwë and the pardon of the Valar; and the Teleri forgave their ancient grief, and the curse was laid to rest. <RGEO Yet in the case of Galadriel a ban was set upon her return, and she had replied proudly that she had no wish to do so. She passed over the Mountains of Eredluin with her husband Celeborn (one of the Sindar) and went to Eregion.>

I always thought that it would be very nice to introduce the case of Galadriel that although she was a ñoldor, she had a restriction upon her to return to Valinórë.

[Petty Dwarf]

But some returned even to Valinor, as all were free to do who willed; and there the {Gnomes}[Noldor] were admitted again to the love of Manwë and the pardon of the Valar; and the Teleri forgave their ancient grief, and the curse was laid to rest. <RGEO Yet in the case of Galadriel a ban was set upon her return, and she had replied proudly that she had no wish to do so. She passed over the Mountains of Eredluin with her husband Celeborn (one of the Sindar) and went to Eregion.>

It seems like the perfect place to put it. The only other possible place would be in The History of Galadriel and Celeborn. Of course the Celeborn origin is another Gil-galadesque situation.

VE-01
/*Lay Lo! the flame of fire and fierce hatred
engulfed Gondolin and its glory fell,
its tapering towers and its tall rooftops
were laid all low, and its leaping fountains
made no music more on the mount of Gwareth,
and its whitehewn walls were whispering ash.
{But Wade of the Helsings wearyhearted}
{Tûr} [Tuor] the earthborn was tried in battle
from the wrack and ruin a remnant led
women and children and wailing maidens
and wounded men of the withered folk
down the path unproven that pierced the hillside,
neath {Tumladin} [Tumladen] he led them to the leaguer of hills
that rose up rugged as ranged pinnacles
to the north of the vale. There the narrow way
{of Cristhorn was cloven, the Cleft of Eagles,}
[in the cliffs was cloven, Cirith Thoronath,]
through the midmost mountains. And more is told
in lays and in legend and lore of others
of that weary way of the wandering folk;
how the waifs of Gondolin outwitted {Melko} [Morgoth],
vanished o'er the vale and vanquished the hills,
how Glorfindel the golden in the gap of the Eagles
battled with the Balrog and both were slain:
one like flash of fire from fangéd rock,
one like bolted thunder black was smitten
to the dreadful deep digged by {Thornsir} [Thor’nhir].
Of the thirst and hunger of the {thirty moons} [thwarting mazes]
when they sought for Sirion and were sore bestead
by plague and peril; of the Pools of Twilight
and Land of Willows; when their lamentation
was heard in the halls where the high {Gods} [Lords] sate
veiled in Valinor [past] the Vanished {Isles} [Isle];
{all this have others in ancient stories
and songs unfolded, but say I further}
how their lot was lightened, how they laid them down
in long grasses of the Land of Willows.
There sun was softer, [there] the sweet breezes
and whispering winds, there wells of slumber
and the dew enchanted, [drenched then their feet.]
[{all} [All] this have others in ancient stories
and songs unfolded, but say I further[.]]

Here might be inserted a slightly modified version of the Fragment of the alliterative Lay of Eärendel found in The Lays of Beleriand (HoME 3), II Poems Early Abandoned.
This would appear as a retrospective summary of the story from the actual fall to this point in the tale.

Line 7
Remove line 7a

Line 27
Linguistics aside, 'Thornsir' is better. 'Thoronhir' has an additional syllable that spoils the fall of the line : perhaps a poetic abbreviation, e.g. 'Thor'nhir'.

Line 28
In the later chronology a timing of thirty (or even thirteen) months is utterly impossible.
One could use "three moons" perhaps, but the exact number of months taken to pass from the Cirith Thoronath to finding of Sirion is not stated elsewhere, and we would rather not invent a number here just for the alliteration. But in the VE account is found "wandering in the wastes" and "they journeyed long tangled in the magic of those wastes only to come again upon their own tracks". For this "thwarting mazes" does well.
If the chronology must change in line with later developments, we suggest 'thwarted moons'. We would say 'thirsty moons' but the repetition would be unforgivable.

Line 32
Cf previously in TY

Line 33
Christopher Tolkien could not interpret the word, but "past" is a good guess from sense required, and the word seems to have been a short one.
The "Vanished Isles", plural, is hard to understand. The Magic Isles are not vanished but accessible, though those who disembark there fall into enchanted sleep. But Eressëa could be entitled "Vanished Isle", singular, as no longer attainable from Middle-earth because of the enchantments placed on the Sea before it during the Hiding of Valinor. Turgon's mariners who sought to reach to Valinor would have been well aware of this. The plural form might be an error by JRRT or a misreading by CT.

Line 34-35
Remove of 2 lines

Line 38
In defiance of CJRT, 'there' looks more likely. The repetition of this word adds weight and symmetry to the line and fits the sense better than 'then'.
Perhaps "drenched then their feet" - which avoids the repetition "there their".

Line 40
This completion to the last half-line of the fragment is suggested by line 70 of "The Horns of Ylmir":
Where the long grass stirred beside me, and my feet were drenched with dew.

Line 42
The words in the lay "all this have others in ancient stories / and songs unfolded, but say I further" are a problem in our suggested setting at the festival. If used here, as a sample of festival song, then the final lines, 32-38, should be dropped. Another possiblity is to place it just after the arrival in Nan-tathren (where the fragment ends) without particular explanation. It just appear as a poetic fragment giving a retrospective summary of the parts of the tale previously related.


VE-02
Yet by Sirion and the sea there grew up an elven folk, the gleanings of Gondolin and Doriath[.] /*AB2 The Silmaril brought blessing upon them and*\ /*Elessar Idril wore the Elessar upon her breast*\/*AB2 , and they were healed, and they multiplied*\ /*QS77 ; and from Balar the mariners of Círdan came among them*\ [. And] /*PG {Ereinion} [Rodnor] Gil-galad son of {Orodreth} [Arothir], who had escaped the fall of Nargothrond {and come} [came] to Sirion's Mouth{,} [and] was /*QS77 named*\ King of the Noldor there. {He was styled Gil-galad, Star of Radiance, because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or mooonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height.}*\ {, and} [. And] they took to the waves and {to the making of fair ships} /*QS77 the building of ships*\/*AB2 and built a haven*\, dwelling ever nigh unto the shores /*QS77 of Arvernien*\, /*AB2 upon the delta amid the waters*\ under the shadow of Ulmo's hand. /*AB2 Many fugitives gathered unto them.*\*\

“Gil-galad son of {Orodreth} [Arothir]” need to be discuss …

I skipt the passage of Gil-Galads apperence. If we will use the information about his mother somewere else (the Chapter of Túrin in Nargothrond was suggested and I like to suggest "Of Beleriand and its Realms"), we should also introduce his apperence there.

Christopher Tolkien adds at this point in Q77 a passage partly editorial:
And when the tidings came to Balar of the fall of Gondolin and the death of Turgon, Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon was named High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth.
The sources of this, so far as we can trace are all in The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME 12):
In an isolated note found with the genealogies dated August 1965, published in PG:
His children were Finduilas and Artanáro = Rodnor later called Gil-galad. (Their mother was a Sindarin lady of the North. She called her son Gil-galad.) Rodnor Gil-galad escaped and eventually came to Sirion's Mouth and was King of the Ñoldor there.
From SF under the note The Names of Finwë's descendants, 5, under the discussion of Galadriel:
Galad also occurs in the epessë of Ereinion ('scion of kings') by which he was chiefly remembered in legend, Gil-galad 'star-of-radiance': he was the last king of the Eldar in Middle-earth, and the last male descendant of Finwë^47 except Elrond Half-elven. The epessë was given to him because his helm and mail, and his shield overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or moonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height. (47 He was the son of Arothir, nephew of Finrod.)
Gil-galad is no longer the son of Fingon sent to Círdan at the Havens, and we expect it was the connection to the Havens which led Christopher Tolkien to introduce Balar here. Details of Gil-galad's mother best belong in the story of Túrin. We suggest the following might be a suitable enhancement/correction of the QS77 sentence.

Gil-galad situation: I have interpreted the note about Gil-galads parentage strictly when I made my proposed changes. But Aiwendil has a point at least with the "escaped". It does not provide the way in which he was spared from death in the fall of Nargothrond. And since I also see some difficulties in the fact that he was not mentioned at all during Túrins stay in Nargothrond, I suppose we should really send him to the Havens of the Falas in 456. If I think about it Orodreth had any reason to do so. He was still the Lord of Tol Sirion in that year and since the defeat at the Bargollach things looked really dangerous for him (as they became the year after with Sauron taking the Isle). So to send his son for his safekeeping and for adduction to a befriended lord, in this case Círdan, is very probable.
But the interpretation of Sirions mouth as the complete region is less likely for me (even so I suggested that myself).
So in my mind the story seems to be that he was send to the havens of the Falas and fled with Círdan to the Isle of Balar. Círdan's foothold at the mouth of Sirion is for me the first beginning of what would become the Havens of Sirion. When Gil-galad learned of the death of Turgon and took up the title of the King of the Noldor in Middle-Earth, he moved to the Haven of Sirion were the most of his people lived. Thus we have avoided the fanfic to introduce Gil-Galad in the Narn by holding the Note about him being send to Círdan and we have taken the not about his parentage and his being "at the mouth of Sirion" in to account.

A mixture of sources for the foundation of the new havens.
We do not know the original source of either of the two addition from QS77. The first is too reasonable to reject, and the second is, perhaps, Christopher Tolkien's way of getting the name Arvernien found in Bilbo's "Song of Eärendil" in LR into QS77 text. It otherwise only appears on the QS77 map.


VE-03
/*QS77 And it is said that in that time Ulmo came to Valinor out of the deep waters, and spoke there to*\ {In Valinor Ulmo spoke unto} the Valar of the need of the Elves, and he called on them to forgive and send succour unto them and rescue them from the overmastering might of Morgoth, and win back the Silmarils wherein alone now bloomed the light of the days of bliss when the Two Trees still were shining. Or so it is said, among the {Gnomes} [Noldor], who after had tidings of many things from their kinsfolk the {Quendi} [Vanyar], the Light-elves beloved of Manwë, who ever knew something of the mind of the Lord of the {Gods} [Valar]. But as yet Manwë moved not, and the counsels of his heart what tale shall tell? The Quendi have said that the hour was not yet come, and that only one speaking in person for the cause of both Elves and Men, pleading for pardon upon their misdeeds and pity on their woes, might move the counsels of the Powers; and the oath of Fëanor perchance even Manwë could not loose, until it found its end, and the sons of Fëanor relinquished the Silmarils, upon which they had laid their ruthless claim. For the light which lit the Silmarils the {Gods} [Valar] had made.

In the pleading of Ulmo there are stylistic differences and certain omissions from the Q30 version to the QS77 version, probably changes made by Christopher Tolkien himself for aesthetic reasons, and to be ignored unless someone can find other sources. Stick to Q30 here.


VE-04
/*TE-B Then began the love of /*TE-C Elwing*\ and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] as girl and boy. /*TE-E The mermaids*\, the /*TE-D {Oarni} [Earni] *\, /*TE-E {come} [came] to {Eärendel} [Eärendil]*\ and /*TE-N(ii) {give} [gave] to {Eärendel} [him] a wonderful shining silver coat that {wets} [wetted] not. They loved {Eärendel} [Eärendil], in Ossë's despite, and {teach} taught him the lore of boat-building and of swimming, as he {plays} [played] with them about the shores of Sirion.*\ /*TE-D {Eärendel} [Eärendil] grew to be the fairest of all Men that were or are,*\ /*TE-N(iii) smaller than most men but nimbled-footed and a swift swimmer (but Voronwë could not swim).*\ /*TE-C And there was great love between {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and Tuor.*\*\

“Oarni" comes from the stem "Oar" which meant "sea". But that later became "Ear". There's a good case for changing it to "Earni".
Regarding the Oarni:
From the Etymologies:
AYAR-, AIR- sea, only used of the inner seas of Middle-earth. Q ear (earen) and aire (airen); N oear, oer. Cf. Earráme, a Q name = Wings of the Sea, name of Tuor’s ship. Belegoer ‘great sea’, name of Western Ocean between Beleriand and Valinor, Q Alataire (see ÁLAT).
From the Book of Lost Tales I: Appendix
Ónen The root ’O’O in QL has derivatives Ô, a poetic word, 'the sea', oar 'child of the sea, merchild', oaris (-ts), oarwen 'mermaid', and Ossë; the name Ówen (antecedent of Ónen in the text, pp. 59, 80) also appears, and evidently means the same as oarwen (for -wen see Urwen). The later form Uinen in the Tales is apparently Gnomish; GL Únen 'Lady of the Sea', changed later to Uinen. A form Oinen also occurs (p. 238).

Mention of the Oarni and mermaids is only found in BoLT material. The Quenya word Oarni appears from the Appendix to BoLT 1 under Ónen to be from the root 'o'o and related to Ô, a poetic word for 'sea'. But this root and everything connected with it disappears in later writings, where the normal word for "sea" in Quenya is ëar from a stem AYAR-, itself explained as an extended stem from GAYA- 'awe, dread'. So it is difficult to even guess what word, if any, Tolkien would have used to replace Oarni. To further confuse the matter in TE N(viii) we find:
'The fiord of the Mermaid: enchantment of his sailors: Mermaids are not Oarni (but are earthlings, or fays? ** or both).'
However in TE D the two are equated, and in other texts it is either the Oarni or the mermaids who are named as Eärendel's friends.
Tolkien may in this note only mean that these particular hostile "mermaids" were not true Oarni but another kind of being. Therefore we keep both words. Since in late writings Tolkien claimed that most names of the Valar were not truly Quenya, but adapted forms from the language of the Valar, that is what we probably should take Oarni to be. In references to the Oarni outside of TE their gender is not given. It may be that Oarni are of both genders.
On mermaids, anything written by Tolkien is not to be disregarded unless contradicted by later ideas or in error, etc. We don't know that he did drop them. The late Eärendil information is so frustratingly sketchy, almost worse than the early material. Any scrap of information is important. And they appear in four separate notes. We don't imagine Tolkien was talking about fish-tailed women if that is what bothers. We see something along the lines of the Nereids and Okeanids of Greek myth. But who knows?


VE-05
In those days Tuor felt old age creep upon him /*TE-C and Ulmo's conches far out west {over the sea} {call} [called] him louder and louder*\, and ever a longing for the deeps of the sea grew stronger in his heart. Wherefore he built a great ship {Eärrámë} [Eärámë], Sea-wing, /*TE-D with white sails*\. /*TE-E One evening /*TE-D Ulmo beckoned to him*\ [and] he {calls} [called] {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and they {go} [went] to the shore. There {is a skiff} [was Eärámë]. {Tur} [Tuor and Idril] {bids} [bade] farwell to {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and {bids} [bade] him thrust it off /*EL {And} [but] before Idril set sail she said to Eärendil her son: “The Elessar I leave with thee, for there are grievous hurts to Middle-earth which thou maybe shalt heal. But to none other shalt thou deliver it.”*\ {and with Idril he} [They] set sail /*TY [(and some say Voronwë with them)]*\ into the sunset and the West[.] /*TE-E {Eärendel} [Eärendil] {hears} [heard] a great song swelling from the sea as {Tur} [Tuor]'s skiff {dips} [dipped] over the world's rim. {His} [Great was his] passion of tears upon the shore.*\ {, and} [And Tuor] came no more into any tale or song.

Insert from ”The Elessar”
From the Elessar essay in UT is that before Idril sailed she gave the Elessar to Eärendil. That one can reasonably suppose that Idril and Tuor were in the Eärámë.


VE-06
But /*QS77 in after days it was sung that*\ Tuor alone of mortal Men was numbered among the elder race, and joined with the {Noldoli} [Noldor] whom he loved, and in after time dwelt still, or so it hath been said, ever upon his ship voyaging the seas of the Elven-lands, or resting a while in the harbours of the {Gnomes} [Elves] of Tol Eressëa; and his fate is sundered from the fate of Men. Bright {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was then [a] lord of the {folk of Sirion} [Lothrim] and their many ships; and he took to wife Elwing the fair, and she bore him Elros and Elrond, who are called the Halfelven. Yet {Eärendel} [Eärendil] could not rest, and his voyages about the shores of the Hither Lands eased not his unquiet. Two purposes grew in his heart, blended as one in longing for the wide sea: he sought to sail thereon, seeking after Tuor and Idril Celebrindal who returned not; and he thought to find perhaps the last shore and bring ere he died the message of Elves and Men unto the Valar of the West, that should move the hearts of Valinor and the Elves of {Tûn} [Tirion] to pity on the world and the sorrows of Mankind.

This final paragaph above should probably be in a slightly smaller font. It is found only in a footnote to Q30 but Christopher Tolkien omits part of it in QS77.
In TY final version under 525 is found:
... and departed into the West with Idril (and Voronwë?) and is heard of in no tale since.
We use this Voronwë reference "(Voronwë?)" in expanded form, for Tuor prophecies in "Of the Coming of Tuor to Gondolin: "far from the Shadow your long road shall lead you, and your hope shall return to the Sea." Voronwë had originally been a companion in Eärendil's final successful voyage, but dropped out when the story was changed so that Eärendil no longer returned to Middle-earth to learn from Voronwë that Elwing had vanished, the point at which Voronwë had originally joined him (with his son Littleheart?). The phrase "in after days it was sung that" seems to be an editorial transition by Christopher Tolkien, but something like this is necessary to mark off the more legendary account of Tuor's final fate. Every other account (BoLlT, Silmarillion tradition, annal tradition) says only that nothing more was heard of Tuor after his last voyage.

“{Eärendel} [Eärendil] was then [a] lord of the”
The problem with that is that we have know no groups left. Gil-Galad is King of the Noldor and Eärendil cannot be Lord of Lothrim because there are no other Noldor save the Lothrim.

lord of the {folk of Sirion} [Lothrim]
That makes him only the lord of the remants of Gondolin and Doriath that had taken this name a few lines before. It leaves room fro Gil-Galad being King.


VE-07
Vingelot he built, fairest of the ships of song, the Foamflower; white were its timbers as the argent moon, golden were its oars, silver were its shrouds, its masts were crowned with jewels like stars. In the Lay of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] is many a thing sung of his adventures in the deep and in lands untrodden, and in many seas and many isles. Ungoliantë in the South he slew, and her darkness was destroyed, and light came to many regions which had yet long been hid. But Elwing sat sorrowing at home.


VE-08
{Eärendel} [Eärendil] found not Tuor nor Idril, nor came he ever on that journey to the shores of Valinor, defeated by shadows and enchantment, driven by repelling winds, until in longing for Elwing he turned him homeward toward the East. And his heart bade him haste, for a sudden fear was fallen on him out of dreams, and the winds that before he had striven with might not now bear him back as swift as his desire.


VE-09
Upon the havens of Sirion new woe had fallen. The dwelling of Elwing there, where still she possessed the Nauglamír and the glorious Silmaril, became known unto the remaining sons of Fëanor, {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor and {Damrod} [Amrod] {and {Díriel} [Amras]}; and they gathered together from their wandering hunting-paths, and messages of friendship and yet stern demand they sent unto Sirion. But Elwing and the {folk of Sirion} [Lothrim] would not yield that jewel which Beren had won and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the Fair was slain; and least of all while {Eärendel} [Eärendil] {their lord} was in the sea, for them seemed that in that jewel lay the gift of bliss and healing that had come upon their houses and their ships.

“{Damrod} [Amrod] {and {Díriel} [Amras]}”
To follow the death of Amras in The Shibboleth of Fëanor

“and the {folk of Sirion} [Lothrim] would”
Maybe this all is a bit artifical, but it works out. The addition in VE-10 is risky, since we know nothing about what Gil-Galad did during the attack. But if we are going to introduce him at the havens that was the least risky way I could think of.

“{Eärendel} [Eärendil] {their lord} was”
He is now just one of the Lords of the peoples and to give some examples for Person that qualify for being also lords, I will name Galdor and Egalmoth.


VE-10
And so came in the end to pass the last and cruellest of the slayings of Elf by Elf; and that was the third of the great wrongs achieved by the accursed oath. For the sons of Fëanor came down upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath and destroyed them. Though some of their folk stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion of the hearts of {Elfinesse} [Elvenesse] in those days), yet {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor won the day. Alone they now remained of the sons of Fëanor, for in that battle {Damrod} [Amrod] {and {Díriel} [Amras]} {were} [was] slain; but the folk of Sirion perished or fled away [led by Gil-Galad], or departed of need to join the people of {Maidros} [Maedhros][.] /*FG Egalmoth was [the] {‘}lord of the house of the Heavenly Arch{‘}, and got even out of the burning of Gondolin, and dwelt after at the mouth of Sirion, but was slain in {a} [that] dire battle {there when Melko seized Elwing}.*\ {, who claimed now} [Maedhros now claimed] the lordship of all the Elves of the Hither Lands{. And yet Maidros} [and yet he] gained not the Silmaril, for Elwing seeing that all was lost and her children Elros and Elrond taken captive, eluded the host of {Maidros} [Maedhros], and with the Nauglamír upon her breast she cast herself into the sea, and perished as folk thought. /*QS77 Too late the ships of Círdan {and Gil-galad the High King} came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons. Then such few of that people as did not perish in the assault {joined themselves to} [led by] Gil-galad{,} and /*FG Galdor {'was} that valiant {Gnome} [Noldor] who led the men of the Tree in many a charge and yet won out of Gondolin and even the onslaught {of Melko} upon the dwellers at Sirion's mouth {and went back to the ruins with Eärendel}.*\ went with {him} [Círdan] to Balar; and they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive{, but Elwing with the Silmaril upon her breast had cast herself into the sea}.*\

“folk of Sirion perished or fled away [led by Gil-Galad]“
In addition we must make clear that there were groups of poeple at the Havens all of which had their owne leader, but that Gil-Galad was their oferlord as King of the Noldor in exil.

Also I added the fates of Egalmoth and Galdor since that added some info to the battle. At least Galdor should be named since he is possibly the later Galdor of the Havens in the council of Elrond.

“{. And yet Maidros} [and yet he] gained not the Silmaril"
I think that this draft has a problem with the Gil-Galad situation. We have earlier that Gil-Galad is the King of the Ñoldor in Sirion's Mouth and that Eärendil is the lord of the folk of Sirion. Hmmmm. I can live with that because in the map of Beleriand in HoME 11, we can see that the place where Eärendil dwelt and Sirion's mouth are not exactly the same. (Eärendil's place is a little to the west of the Mouth of Sirion). My problem is that when the Fëanorians attack the settlement of Eärendil, we don't hear nothing from Gil-Galad. I would propose this emendation.


VE-11
But Ulmo bore her up and he gave unto her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the shining Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek {Eärendel} [Eärendil] her beloved. And on a time of night {Eärendel} [Eärendil] at the helm saw her come towards him, as a white cloud under moon exceeding swift, as a star over the sea moving in strange course, a pale flame on wings of storm. And it is sung that she fell from the air upon the timbers of Vingelot, in a swoon, nigh unto death for the urgency of her speed, and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] took her unto his bosom. And in the morn with marvelling eyes he beheld his wife in her own form beside him with her hair upon his face; and she slept.


VE-12
But great was the sorrow of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and Elwing for the ruin of the havens of Sirion, and the captivity of their sons; and they feared that they would be slain But it was not so. For Maglor took: pity on Elros and Elrond, and he cherished them, and love grew after between them, as little might be thought; but Maglor's heart was sick and weary, with the burden of the dreadful oath. Yet {Eärendel} [Eärendil] saw now no hope left in the lands of Sirion, and he turned again in despair and came not home, but sought back once more to Valinor with Elwing at his side. He stood now most oft at the prow, and the Silmaril he bound upon his forehead; and ever its light grew greater as they drew unto the West. Maybe it was due in part to the puissance of that holy jewel that they came in time to the waters that as yet no vessels save those of the Teleri had known; and they came to the Enchanted Isles and escaped their enchantment; and they came into the Shadowy Seas and passed their shadows; and they looked upon the Lonely Isle and there they tarried not; and at the last they cast anchor in the Bay of Elvenhome upon the borders of the world; and the Teleri saw the coming of that ship and were amazed, gazing from afar upon the light of the Silmaril, and it was very great. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil], alone of living Men, landed on the immortal shores; and he said to Elwing and to those that were with him, three mariners who had sailed all the seas beside him, and Falathar, Aerandir, and Erellont were their names: Here shall none but myself set foot, lest you fall under the wrath of the {Gods} [Valar] and the doom of death; for it is forbidden. But that peril I will take on myself for the sake of the Two Kindreds.'


VE-13
And Elwing answered: 'Then shall our paths be sundered for ever. Nay, all thy perils I will take on myself also! ' And she leaped into the white foam and ran towards him; but {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was sorrowful, for he deemed that they would now both die ere many days were past. And there they bade farewell to their companions and were taken from them for ever.


VE-14
And {Eärendel} [Eärendil] said to Elwing: 'Await me here; for one only may bear the messages that I am charged with'; and he went up alone into the land, and it seemed to him empty and silent. For even as Morgoth and Ungoliantë came in ages past, so now {Eärendel} [Eärendil] had come at a time of festival, and wellnigh all the Elvenfolk were gone to Valinor, or were gathered in the halls of Manwë upon Taniquetil, and few were left to keep watch upon the walls of Tirion.


VE-15
These watchers rode therefore in great haste to Valmar; and all the bells in Valmar pealed. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] climbed the great green hill of Túna and found it bare; and he entered into the streets of Tirion and they were empty; and his heart was heavy, for he feared that some evil had come even to the Blessed Realm. He walked now in the deserted ways of Tirion, and the dust upon his raiment and his shoes was a dust of diamonds, and he shone and glistened as he climbed the long white stairs. And he called aloud in many tongues, both of Elves and Men, but there were none to answer him. Therefore he turned back at last towards the shores, thinking to set sail once more upon {Vingelot} [Vingilot] his ship and abandon his errand, and live for ever upon the sea. But even as he took the shoreward road and turned his face away from the towers of Tirion one stood upon the hill and called to him in a great voice, crying: 'Hail {Eärendel} [Eärendil], radiant star, messenger most fair! Hail thou bearer of light before the Sun and Moon, the looked for that comest unawares, the longed for that comest beyond hope! Hail, splendour of the children of the world, slayer of the dark! Star of the sunset, hail! Hail, herald of the morn!'


VE-16
And that was the voice of Eönwë herald of Manwë; and he came from Valmar and he summoned {Eärendel} [Eärendil] to come before the {Gods} [Valar]. And {Eärendel} [Eärendil] went to Valinor and to the halls of Valmar, and never again set foot upon the lands of Men. There before the faces of the undying {Gods} [Valar] he stood, and delivered the errand of the Two Kindreds. Pardon he asked for the Noldor and pity for their great sorrows, and mercy upon unhappy Men and succour in their need. And his prayers were granted.


VE-17
Then the host of the Valar prepared for battle, and the captain of their host was Eönwë to whom Manwë gave his sword. Beneath his white banner marched also the Vanyar, the Fair-elves, the people of Ingwë /*Ccl , and Ingwion [his] son {of Ingwë} was their chief.*\ {; and among} [Among] and among them were also those of the Noldor of old who had never departed from Valinor{, and Ingwion son of Ingwë was their chief}. But remembering the slaying at the Swan-haven and the rape of their ships, few of the Teleri were willing to go forth to war; but Elwing went among them, and because she was fair and gentle, and was come also upon her father's side from Thingol who was of their own kindred, they harkened to her; and they sent mariners sufficient to man and steer the ships upon which most of that army was borne east oversea; but they stayed aboard their ships and none ever set foot upon the shores of the Hither Lands.


VE-18
And thus it was that Elwing came among the Teleri. {Eärendel} [Eärendil] was long time gone and she became lonely and afraid; and she wandered along the margin of the sea, singing sadly to herself; and so she came to Alqualondë, the Swan-haven, where lay the Telerian fleets; and there the Teleri befriended her. When therefore {Eärendel} [Eärendil] at last returned, seeking her, he found her among them, and they listened to her tales of Thingol and Melian and the Hidden Kingdom, and of Lúthien the fair, and they were filled with pity and wonder.


VE-19
Now the {Gods} [Valar] took counsel concerning {Eärendel} [Eärendil], and they summoned Ulmo from the deeps; and when they were gathered together Mandos spoke, saying: 'Now he shall surely die, for he has trodden the forbidden shores.' But Ulmo said. "For this he was born into the world. And say unto me: whether is he {Eärendel} [Eärendil] Tuor's son of the line of Hador, or Idril's son Turgon's daughter of the Elvenhouse of Finwë? Or being half of either kindred, which half shall die?' And Mandos answered: 'Equally was it forbidden to the Noldor that went wilfully into exile to return hither.'


VE-20
Then Manwë the Elder King gave judgement and he said: 'To {Eärendel} [Eärendil] I remit the ban, and the peril that he took upon himself out of love for the Two Kindreds shall not fall on him; neither shall it fall upon Elwing who entered into peril for love of {Eärendel} [Eärendil]: save only in this: they shall not ever walk again among Elves or Men in the {Outer} [Hither] Lands. Now all those who have the blood of mortal Men, in whatever part, great or small, are mortal, unless other doom be granted to them; but in this matter the power of doom is given to me. This is my decree: to {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and to Elwing and to their sons shall be given leave each to choose freely under which kindred they shall be judged.'


VE-21
Then {Eärendel} [Eärendil] and Elwing were summoned, and this decree was declared to them. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] said to Elwing: 'Choose thou, for now I am weary of the world.' And she chose to be judged among the Firstborn, because of Lúthien, and for the sake of Elwing {Eärendel} [Eärendil] chose alike, though his heart was rather with the kindred of Men and the people of his father.


VE-22
The {Gods} [Valar] then sent Eönwë, and he came to the shore where the companions of {Eärendel} [Eärendil] still remained, awaiting tidings. And Eönwë took a boat and set therein the three mariners, and the {Gods} [Valar] drove them away East with a great wind. But they took Vingilot, and they hallowed it, and they bore it away through Valinor to the uttermost rim of the world, and there it passed through the Door of Night and was lifted up even into the oceans of heaven. Now fair and marvellous was that vessel made, and it was filled with a wavering flame, pure and bright; and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] the mariner sat at the helm, glistening with dust of elven-gems; and the Silmaril was bound upon his brow. Far he journeyed in that ship, even into the starless voids; but most often was he seen at morning or at eve, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from voyages beyond the confines of the world.


VE-23
On those journeys Elwing did not go, for she had not the strength to endure the cold and pathless voids, and she loved rather the earth and the sweet winds that blow on sea and hill. Therefore there was built for her a white tower upon the borders of the outer world, in the northern region of the Sundering Seas; and thither all the sea-birds of the earth at times repaired. And it is said that Elwing learned the tongues and lore of birds, who had herself once worn their shape; and she devised wings for herself of white and silver-grey, and they taught her the craft of flight. And at whiles, when {Eärendel} [Eärendil] returning drew near again to earth, she would fly to meet him, even as she had flown long ago, when she was rescued from the sea. Then the farsighted among the Elves that dwelt most westerly in the Lonely Isle would see her like a white bird, shining, rose-stained in the sunset, as she soared in joy to greet the coming of {Vingelot} [Vingilot] to haven.


VE-24
Now when first {Vingelot} [Vingilot] was set to sail on the seas of heaven, it rose unlooked-for, glittering and bright; and the folk of earth beheld it from afar and wondered, and they took it for a sign, and they called it Gil-Estel, the Star of high hope. And when this new star arose in the West, {Maidros} [Maedhros] said unto Maglor: 'Surely that is a Silmaril that shineth in the sky?' And Maglor said: If it be verily that Silmaril that we saw cast into the sea that riseth again by the power of the {Gods} [Valar], then let us be glad; for its glory is seen now by many, and is yet secure from all evil.' Then the Elves looked up, and despaired no longer; but Morgoth was filled with doubt.


VE-25
Yet it is said that Morgoth looked not for the assault that came upon him from the West. So great was his pride become that he deemed that none would ever again come up with open war against him. Moreover he thought that he had for ever estranged the {Gnomes} [Noldor] from the {Gods} [Valar] and from their kin; and that content in their blissful Realm the Valar would heed no more his kingdom in the world without. For to him that is pitiless the deeds of pity are ever strange and beyond reckoning.

We would change Gnomes to Noldor rather than Elves as does CT does in the Published Silmarillion. The estrangement was between the Ñoldor and the Valar not all of the Elves of Beleriand.


VE-26
{Of the Great Battle and the War of Wrath}
Of the march of the host of Eönwë to the North little is said in any tale; for in his armies went none of those Elves who had dwelt and suffered in the Hither Lands, and who made the histories of those days that still are known; and tidings of these things they learned long afterward from their kinsfolk, the Light-elves in Valinor. But at the last Eönwë came up out of the West, and the challenge of his trumpets filled the sky; and he summoned unto him all Elves and Men from Hithlum unto the East; and Beleriand was ablaze with the glory of his arms, for the host of the {Gods} [Valar] were arrayed in forms of Valinor, and the mountains rang beneath their feet.


VE-27
The meeting of the hosts of the West and of the North is named the Great Battle, the Battle Terrible, and the War of Wrath. There was marshalled the whole power of the Throne of Morgoth, and it had become great beyond count, so that Dor-na-Fauglith could not contain it, and all the North was aflame with war. But it availed not. The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth. The uncounted legions of the Orcs perished like straw in a great fire, or were swept like shrivelled leaves before a burning wind. Few remained to trouble the world for long years after. And it is said that all that were left of the three Houses of the Elf-friends, Fathers of Men, fought for Eönwë; and they were avenged upon the Orcs in those days for Baragund and Barahir, Galion and Gundor, Huor and Húrin, and many others of their lords; and so were fulfilled in part the words of Ulmo, for by {Eärendel} [Eärendil] son of Tuor help was brought unto the Elves, and by the swords of Men they were strengthened on the fields of war. But a great part of the sons of Men, whether of the people of Uldor or others newcome out of the East, marched with the Enemy; and the Elves do not forget it.


VE-28
Then, seeing that his hosts were overthrown and his power dispersed, Morgoth quailed, and he dared not to come forth himself. But he loosed upon his foes the last desperate assault that he had prepared, and out of the pits of Angband there issued the winged dragons, that had not before been seen; for until that day no creatures of his cruel thought had yet assailed the air. So sudden and ruinous was the onset of that dreadful fleet that Eönwë was driven back; for the coming of the dragons was with a great thunder, and lightning, and a tempest of fire, and their wings were of steel.


VE-29
Then {Eärendel} [Eärendil] came, shining with white flame, and about {Vingelot} [Vingilot] were gathered all the great birds of heaven, and Thorondor was their captain, and there was battle in the air all the day and through a dark night of doubt. And ere the rising of the sun {Eärendel} [Eärendil] slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragon-host, and he cast him from the sky, and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim and they were broken and thrown down. Then the sun rose, and the {Children of the Valar} [host of the Valar] prevailed, and all the dragons were destroyed, save two alone; and they fled into the East. Then all the pits of Morgoth were broken and unroofed, and the might of Eönwë descended into the deeps of the earth. And there Morgoth stood at last at bay, and yet unvaliant. He fled into the deepest of his mines and sued for peace and pardon; but his feet were hewn from under him and he was hurled upon his face. Then he was bound with the chain Angainor, which he had worn aforetime; and his iron crown they beat into a collar for his neck, and his head was bowed upon his knees. But Eönwë took the two Silmarils which remained and guarded them.


VE-30
Thus an end was made of the power of Angband in the North, and the evil realm was brought to nought; and out of the pits and deep prisons a multitude of thralls came forth beyond all hope into the light of day, and they looked upon a world all changed. For so great was the fury of those adversaries that the northern regions of the western world were rent asunder, and the sea roared in through many chasms, and there was confusion and great noise; and rivers perished or found new paths, and the valleys were upheaved and the hills trod down; and Sirion was no more. Then Men, such as had not perished in the ruin of those days, fled far away, and it was long ere any came back over Eredlindon to the places where Beleriand had been.


VE-31
{Of the Last End of the Oath of Fëanor and his Sons}
But Eönwë marched through the western lands summoning the remnant of the Noldor, and the Dark-elves that had not yet looked on Valinor, to join with the thralls released and to depart from Middle-earth. But {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor would not harken, and they prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of their oath. For {Maidros} [Maedhros] would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, even. against the victorious host of Valinor and the might and splendour of the {sons of the Gods} [West]: even though he stood alone in all the world. And he sent a message unto Eönwë, bidding him yield up now those jewels which of old Fëanor made and Morgoth stole from him.

I would replace sons of the Gods with West, instead of Maiar.


VE-32
But Eönwë said that the right to the work of their hands, which Fëanor and his sons formerly possessed, had now perished, because of their many and merciless deeds, being blinded by their oath, and most of all because of the slaying of Dior and the assault upon Elwing. The light of the Silmarils should go now to the {Gods} [Valar], whence it came in the beginning; and to Valinor must {Maidros} [Maedhros] and Maglor return and there abide the judgement of the Valar, by whose decree alone would Eönwë yield the jewels from his charge.


VE-33
Maglor desired indeed to submit, for his heart was sorrowful, and he said: 'The oath says not that we may not bide our time, and maybe in Valinor all shall be forgiven and forgot, and we shall come into our own in peace.' But {Maidros} [Maedhros] said that, if once they returned and the favour of the {Gods} [Valar] were withheld from them, then their oath would still remain, but its fulfilment be beyond all hope. 'And who can tell to what dreadful doom we shall come, if we disobey the Powers in their own land, or purpose ever to bring war again into their holy realm? ' And Maglor said: 'Yet if Manwë and Varda themselves deny the fulfilment of an oath to which we named them in witness, is it not made void?' And {Maidros} [Maedhros] answered: 'But how shall our voices reach to Ilúvatar beyond the circles of the World? And by Him we swore in our madness, and called the Everlasting Darkness upon us, if we kept not our word. Who shall release us?' 'If none can release us,' said Maglor, 'then indeed the Everlasting Darkness shall be our lot, whether we keep our oath or break it; but less evil shall we do in the breaking.' Yet he yielded to the will of {Maidros} [Maedhros], and they took counsel together how they should lay hands on the Silmarils.


VE-34
And so it came to pass that they came in disguise to the camps of Eönwë, and at night they crept in to the places where the Silmarils were guarded, and they slew the guards, and laid hands upon the jewels; and then, since all the camp was roused against them, they prepared to die, defending themselves until the last. But Eönwë restrained his folk, and the brethren departed unfought, and fled far away. Each took a single Silmaril, for they said: Since one is lost to us, and but two remain, and two brethren, so is it plain that fate would have us share the heirlooms of our father.'


VE-35
But the jewel burned the hand of {Maidros} [Maedhros] in pain unbearable (and he had but one hand, as has before been told); and he perceived that it was as Eönwë had said, and that his right thereto had become void, and that the oath was vain. And being in anguish and despair he cast himself into a gaping chasm filled with fire, and so ended; and the Silmaril that he bore was taken into the bosom of Earth.


VE-36
And it is told of Maglor that he could not endure the pain with which the Silmaril tormented him; and he cast it at last into the sea, and thereafter he wandered ever upon the shores singing in pain and regret beside the waves. For Maglor was the mightiest of the singers of old [save Daeron], but he came never back among the people of the Elves. And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters.

We have of course to make the clarification that it was Daeron who was the mightiest of the singers of old.


VE-37
{Of the Passing of the Elves}
In those days there was a great building of ships upon the shores of the Western Sea, and upon the great isles which, in the disruption of the northern world, were fashioned of ancient Beleriand. Thence in many a fleet the survivors of the {Gnomes} [Noldor], and of the companies of the Dark-elves of Doriath and Ossiriand, set sail into the West and came never again into the lands of weeping and of war. But the Vanyar the Light-elves, marched back beneath the banners of their king, and they were borne in triumph unto Valinor. Yet their joy in victory was diminished, for they returned without the Silmarils {and the light before the Sun and Moon}, and they knew that those jewels could not be found or brought together again until the world was broken , and re-made anew.


VE-38
And when they came into the West the {Gnomes} [Elves of Beleriand] for the most part rehabited the Lonely Isle, that looks both West and East; and that land became very fair, and so remains. But some returned even to Valinor, as all were free to do who willed; and there the {Gnomes} [Teleri] were admitted again to the love of Manwë and the pardon of the Valar; and the Teleri forgave their ancient grief, and the curse was laid to rest. /*RGEO Yet in the case of Galadriel a ban was set upon her return, and she had replied proudly that she had no wish to do so. She passed over the Mountains of Eredluin with her husband Celeborn (one of the Sindar) and went to Eregion.*\

Here we follow CRT in QS77

I always thought that it would be very nice to introduce the case of Galadriel that although she was a ñoldor, she had a restriction upon her to return to Valinórë.


VE-39
Yet not all the Eldalië were willing to forsake the Hither Lands where they had long suffered and long dwelt; and some lingered many an age in the West and North, and especially in the western isles and in the Land of Leithien. And among these were Maglor, as hath been told; and with him for a while was Elrond Halfelven, who chose, as was granted to him, to be among the Elf-kindred; but Elros his brother chose to abide with Men. And from these brethren alone the blood of the Firstborn and the seed divine of Valinor have come among Mankind: for they were the sons of Elwing, Dior's daughter, Lúthien's son, child of Thingol and Melian; and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] their sire was Idril's son Celebrindal, the fair maid of Gondolin. But ever as the ages drew on and the Elf-folk faded upon earth, they would set sail at eve from the western shores of this world, as still they do, until now there linger few anywhere of their lonely companies.


VE-40
This was the doom of the {Gods} [Valar], when Eönwë {and the sons of the Valar} [and his host] returned to Valmar and told of all the things that had been done. Thereafter the Hither Lands of Middle-earth should be for Mankind, the younger children of the world; but to the Elves, the Firstborn, alone should the gateways of the West stand ever open. And if the Elves would not come thither and tarried in the lands of Men, then they should slowly fade and fail. This is the most grievous of the fruits of the lies and works that Morgoth wrought, that the Eldalië should be sundered and estranged from Men. For a while other evils that he had devised or nurtured lived on, although he himself was taken away; and Orcs and Dragons, breeding again in dark places, became names of terror, and did evil deeds, as in sundry regions they still do; but ere the End all shall perish. But Morgoth himself /*MT [was] taken as a mere criminal to Aman and delivered to Námo Mandos as judge – and executioner. He was judged, and eventually taken out of the Blessed Realm and executed{:}[.]*\ /*MT When {that} [his] body was destroyed he was weak and utterly 'houseless' *\ [and] the {Gods} [Valar] {thrust} [thrusted him] through the Door of Night into the Timeless Void, beyond the Walls of the World; and a guard is set for ever on that door, and {Eärendel} [Eärendil] keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky.
Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that doth not die and cannot by the {Gods} [Valar] be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. Some say also that Morgoth himself has at times crept back, secretly as a cloud that cannot be seen, and yet is venomous, surmounting the Walls, and visiting the world to encourage his servants and set on foot evil when all seems fair. But others say that this is the black shadow of Sauron, whom the {Gnomes} [Sindar] named Gorthaur, who served Morgoth long ago and came with him into the world, and was the greatest and most evil of his underlings; and Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped, and he dwelt in dark places and perverted Men to his dreadful allegiance and his foul worship.

I would use and his host instead of and the other Ainur.

I have tried to add the little detail about the fate of Melkor that is found in Myths transformed.

Like in Of the rings of power in QS77


VE-41
{The Second Prophecy of Mandos
Thus spake Mandos in prophecy, when the Gods sat in judgement in Valinor, and the rumour of his words was whispered among all the Elves of the West. When the world is old and the Powers grow weary, then Morgoth, seeing that the guard sleepeth, shall come back through the Door of Night out of the Timeless Void; and he shall destroy the Sun and Moon. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend upon him as a white and searing flame and drive him from the airs. Then shall the Last Battle be gathered on the fields of Valinor. In that day Tulkas shall strive with Morgoth, and on his right hand shall be Eönwë, and on his left Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, returning from the Doom of Men at the ending of the world; and the black sword of Túrin shall deal unto Morgoth his death and final end; and so shall the children of Húrin and all Men be avenged.
Thereafter shall Earth be broken and re-made, and the Silmarils shall be recovered out of Air and Earth and Sea; for {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend and surrender that flame which he hath had in keeping. Then Fëanor shall take the Three Jewels and bear them to Yavanna Kementári; and he will break them and with their fire Yavanna will rekindle the Two Trees, and a great light shall come forth. And the Mountains of Valinor shall be levelled, so that the Light shall go out over all the world. In that light the Gods will grow young again, and the Elves awake and all their dead arise, and the purpose of Ilúvatar be fulfilled concerning them. But of Men in that day the prophecy of Mandos doth not speak, and no Man it names, save Túrin only, and to him a place is given among the {sons of the Valar} [Ainur].}


VE-42
Here endeth The Silmarillion[.] /*Vala {Here ends The Valaquenta.} If it has passed from the high and beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos.*\ {: which is drawn out in brief from those songs and histories which are yet sung and told by the fading Elves, and (more clearly and fully) by the vanished Elves that dwell now upon the Lonely Isle, {Tol Eressëa,} whither few mariners of Men have ever come, save once or twice in a long age when some man of {Eärendel} [Eärendil]'s race hath passed beyond the lands of mortal sight and seen the glimmer of the lamps upon the quays of {Avallon} [Tol Eressëa], and smelt afar the undying flowers in the meads of Dorwinion. Of whom was {Ereol} [Eriol] one, that men named Ælfwine, and he alone returned and brought tidings of Cortirion to the Hither Lands.}


VE-43
Appendice A
/*The Second Prophecy of Mandos
Thus spake Mandos in prophecy, when the Gods sat in judgement in Valinor, and the rumour of his words was whispered among all the Elves of the West. When the world is old and the Powers grow weary, then Morgoth, seeing that the guard sleepeth, shall come back through the Door of Night out of the Timeless Void; and he shall destroy the Sun and Moon. But {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend upon him as a white and searing flame and drive him from the airs. Then shall the Last Battle be gathered on the fields of Valinor. In that day Tulkas shall strive with Morgoth, and on his right hand shall be Eönwë, and on his left Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, returning from the Doom of Men at the ending of the world; and the black sword of Túrin shall deal unto Morgoth his death and final end; and so shall the children of Húrin and all Men be avenged.
Thereafter shall Earth be broken and re-made, and the Silmarils shall be recovered out of Air and Earth and Sea; for {Eärendel} [Eärendil] shall descend and surrender that flame which he hath had in keeping. Then Fëanor shall take the Three Jewels and bear them to Yavanna Kementári; and he will break them and with their fire Yavanna will rekindle the Two Trees, and a great light shall come forth. And the Mountains of Valinor shall be levelled, so that the Light shall go out over all the world. In that light the Gods will grow young again, and the Elves awake and all their dead arise, and the purpose of Ilúvatar be fulfilled concerning them. But of Men in that day the prophecy of Mandos doth not speak, and no Man it names, save Túrin only, and to him a place is given among the {sons of the Valar} [Ainur].*\


VE-44
Appendice B

Eärendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow was fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.

In panoply of ancient kings,
in chainéd rings he armoured him;
his shining shield was scored with runes
to ward all wounds and harm from him;
his bow was made of dragon-horn,
his arrows shorn of ebony,
of silver was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
his sword of steel was valiant,
of adamant his helmet tall,
an eagle-plume upon his crest,
upon his breast an emerald.

Beneath the Moon and under star
he wandered far from northern strands,
bewildered on enchanted ways
beyond the days of mortal lands.
From gnashing of the Narrow Ice
where shadow lies on frozen hills,
from nether heats and burning waste
he turned in haste, and roving still
on starless waters far astray
at last he came to Night of Naught,
and passed, and never sight he saw
of shining shore nor light he sought.

The winds of wrath came driving him,
and blindly in the foam he fled
from west to east and errandless,
unheralded he homeward sped.

There flying Elwing came to him,
and flame was in the darkness lit;
more bright than light of diamond
the fire upon her carcanet.
The Silmaril she bound on him
and crowned him with the living light
and dauntless then with burning brow
he turned his prow; and in the night
from Otherworld beyond the Sea
there strong and free a storm arose,
a wind of power in Tarmenel;
by paths that seldom mortal goes
his boat it bore with biting breath
as might of death across the grey
and long-forsaken seas distressed:
from east to west he passed away.

Through Evernight he back was borne
on black and roaring waves that ran
o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores
that drowned before the Days began,
until he heard on strands of pearl
when ends the world the music long,
where ever foaming billows roll
the yellow gold and jewels wan.
He saw the Mountain silent rise
where twilight lies upon the knees
of Valinor, and Eldamar
beheld afar beyond the seas.
A wanderer escaped from night
to haven white he came at last,
to Elvenhome the green and fair
where keen the air, where pale as glass
beneath the Hill of Ilmarin
a-glimmer in a valley sheer
the lamplit towers of Tirion
are mirrored on the Shadowmere.

He tarried there from errantry,
and melodies they taught to him,
and sages old him marvels told,
and harps of gold they brought to him.
They clothed him then in elven-white,
and seven lights before him sent,
as through the Calacirian
to hidden land forlorn he went.
He came unto the timeless halls
where shining fall the countless years,
and endless reigns the Elder King
in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer;
and words unheard were spoken then
of folk of Men and Elven-kin,
beyond the world were visions showed
forbid to those that dwell therein.

A ship then new they built for him
of mithril and of elven-glass
with shining prow; no shaven oar
nor sail she bore on silver mast:
the Silmaril as lantern light
and banner bright with living flame
to gleam thereon by Elbereth
herself was set, who thither came
and wings immortal made for him,
and laid on him undying doom,
to sail the shoreless skies and come
behind the Sun and light of Moon.

From Evereven's lofty hills
where softly silver fountains fall
his wings him bore, a wandering light,
beyond the mighty Mountain Wall.
From World's End then he turned away
and yearned again to find afar
his home through shadows journeying,
and burning as an island star
on high above the mists he came,
a distant flame before the Sun,
a wonder ere the waking dawn
where grey the Norland waters run.

And over Middle-earth he passed
and heard at last the weeping sore
of women and of elven-maids
in Elder Days, in years of yore.
But on him mighty doom was laid,
till Moon should fade, an orbéd star
to pass, and tarry never more
on Hither Shores where mortals are;
for ever still a herald on
an errand that should never rest
to bear his shining lamp afar,
the Flammifer of Westernesse.

In my last post , you can find all the proposals with the corrections of Maédhros, Fingedil, Lindil, Aiwendil, Petty Dwarf and Antoine ...

[Maédhros]

Why thank you very much Pengoloð, for this nice summary. I believe that there are some changes that need general revision as well as what do we finally agree regarding the Gil-Galad situation, the movement of the parragraphs from the Quenta Silmarillion like CT did in the Published Silmarillion. I think that it was first proposed by Petty Dwarf, for myself after thinking about it, I have to agree with him, it does seems way better, but I wonder if moving them would contradict our principles.

The Oarni/Earni inclusion:
Seeing as we are using the later Ainulindalë and Valaquenta that does not mention them, and the reasons that Findegil gave for not introducing them from the Lost Tales material, makes me think that we should drop them entirely. If I'm not mistaken, then they would only appear in the Chapter of Eärendil.

Welcome to the project Pengoloð, your summary reminds me of those that Antoine made. I think that it is just what the Eärendil discussion needed to get it going again. I think that we are close to finishing it.
If only we could finish the Ainulindalë discussion though.