A Perfectionist’s Dream or Nightmare?
The Roles of the Writing Process and Editing in Tolkien’s
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Name: Paul de Graaf Student Number: 1456792 Supervisor: Dr. J. Flood Word Count: 17666
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Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations 2
Introduction 3
Chapter I: Editing and Revising The Hobbit: Motivation and Effects 7
Chapter II: New Editions of The Lord of the Rings;
New Problems and Solutions 21
Chapter III: Characterization Through Rewriting 31
Chapter IV: The Development of Tolkienian Concepts:
Istari, Rings, and the Fellowship 42
Conclusion 51
Bibliography 55
Appendix A: Der Berggeist by Josef Madlener 58
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List of Abbreviations
FR The Fellowship of the Ring
HMERS The History of Middle-earth VI: The Return of the Shadow
HMETI The History of Middle-earth VII: The Treason of Isengard
HMEWR The History of Middle-earth VIII: The War of the Ring
HMESD The History of Middle-earth IX: Sauron Defeated
Letters The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien
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Introduction
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and The Lord of the Rings are the best known novels of
J. R. R. Tolkien. Both became popular shortly after their release in 1937 and 1954, respectively. In recent years, popularity levels rose once more when Peter Jackson produced
The Lord of the Rings trilogy on film between 2001 and 2003, and again in 2012 when he
produced the first part of his The Hobbit adaptation. This caused a surge of new editions and impressions of both novels to be published; now featuring brand new covers related to the films. Throughout the years, many variants of the books have become available to the audience, and one might be surprised to find that not only the covers, but also the textual content (aside from standard typographical corrections) of the books has changed between publications. Perhaps the best indication of this process is the upcoming release of an edition which features a reprint of the first edition of The Hobbit. It is named The Hobbit Facsimile
First Edition, and its publication is motivated by the fact that “the opportunity to read the
4 In order to investigate the growth of the so-called legendarium,1 it is important to realize that Tolkien did not edit his books without reason: as he was writing new material, his setting grew, and this caused him to go back to previous material to adjust it accordingly. Therefore, the writing process is also related to the topic of the evolution of his work, since without the changing directions within the writing process, the editing would not have been necessary to the extent it happened now. The editing and writing processes are in this case thus closely connected, as they work together to improve the continuity of Tolkien’s novels and setting.
I chose The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as primary texts for several reasons. Firstly, maintaining the same setting in two novels while they have different intended audiences is interesting. The Hobbit was published as a children’s book, while The Lord of the
Rings is treated as a fantasy novel for a grown-up audience. The change from children’s
literature to adult literature is intriguing, as it could either have been Tolkien’s intention from the start, or a gradual process. Additionally, the setting likely had to accommodate this change. Personal interest in the setting combined with my field of study proved to be an ideal combination for the topic, as knowledge pertaining to writing process and editing is well-suited for an investigation on the subject. However, availability of secondary material also played a part. Tolkien’s works are, overall, well-documented; in fact, it would not be easy to find another author whose letters, drafts, and notes are as readily available for research as Tolkien’s. Christopher, Tolkien’s son, made these items public with the publishing of The
Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (Letters), and the History of Middle-earth series, which present the
evolution of Tolkien’s legendarium in terms of the writing process. I was able to investigate the editing of the two novels in detail with the help of Hammond’s J. R. R. Tolkien: A
Descriptive Bibliography. Whereas the more common enumerative bibliographies are
1
5 systematic listings of texts, Hammond’s book includes the close physical description of the so-called “ideal copy” of a book (Greetham 153). Additionally, it contains aspects of textual bibliography, which concerns “the relationship between the printed text as we have it before us, and that text as conceived by its author” (Belanger 97-101), allowing me to investigate the changes Tolkien made to editions in terms of content.
Thus, the main point of my thesis is to show how Tolkien used editing and the writing process as tools to continually improve his legendarium, even after his novels had already been published. As to why he did this, I will argue that his perfectionist nature had an influence on his sometimes zealous ways of making the reader view his creations the way he envisioned them himself. Chapter I will investigate the means and reasons editing was used to improve The Hobbit. The post-publication editing process of The Hobbit is interesting, as it actively contributed to improving Tolkien’s setting in preparation for the publication of The
Lord of the Rings. The topics I will investigate in this chapter are character introduction,
Gollum and the Ring, maps and chronology in relation to realism, and the depth of the Elven and Dwarven cultures. In Chapter II, I will handle post-publication editing of The Lord of the
Rings: correcting errors became more important for Tolkien’s particular style; several loose
ends in the narrative were tied up; and appendices were expanded and corrected for a greater sense of realism, in addition to Tolkien’s personal goals. I then turn to the writing process of
The Lord of the Rings in Chapter III, in which I look deeper into how the depth and scale of
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Chapter I:
Editing and Revising The Hobbit: Motivation and Effects
The Hobbit was published in 1937 after encouragement by the publisher Allen & Unwin.
Throughout the years, a plethora of editions of The Hobbit have been published, ranging from the very first edition to annotated editions to deluxe editions, all with their own textual errors, typographical errors, covers, and illustrations. However, what I am mostly interested in are the textual differences between editions that actually change the content of the story, though some of the above items that fall under textual editing are indeed also changed or corrected. For the purpose of investigating textual differences between editions, three editions which differ significantly will be used throughout this chapter on The Hobbit: the very first edition published in 1937, the second edition from 1951, which deserves special mention because it features corrections and alterations in preparation for The Lord of the Rings, and lastly the 1966 Revised Ballantine Books edition (referred to as 1966-Ball), which further attempts to fix errors and introduces several changes to improve sections featuring Thrór, Thráin, and Thrór’s Map (Hammond 4, 21, 28). The following paragraphs feature a description and analysis of changes that impacted the first impression of characters, Gollum and the Ring in preparation for The Lord of the Rings, maps and chronology, and the races of Elves and Dwarves.
8 13) and the cover, it is likely that Tolkien felt compelled to revise certain sections of his book in order to provide a better mental picture for the reader, or perhaps even enforce his own image of a character on the audience. Proof of this can be found in the form of translated versions which featured different covers or additional illustrations, several of which did not quite fit Tolkien’s own vision of his creations. Because of inaccurate illustrations of, for example, Gollum, the reader would be given the wrong mental picture of both the character Gollum as well as the situation Bilbo was in while he interacted with Gollum. In order to avoid these misconceptions, revision was a logical step: in most cases of this kind of revision, passages in which major characters are introduced have been altered to provide a more accurate description, in line with Tolkien’s mental image of the character. This can be seen in Gandalf’s introduction, where in the 1937 version he was introduced as “a little old man with a tall pointed blue hat,” which was changed to “an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat” in the 1966-Ball version, which completely gets rid of any element of smallness of the character: in fact, one might argue that the presence of a staff and a tall pointed blue hat serve to stress the contrast with Bilbo, a small hobbit. Worth noting is that this description shows that the character evolved from its initial concept, a postcard named Der Berggeist,2 by Josef Madlener, yet not to the point of the Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: should this have been the case, the later-occurring phrase “Gandalf had been to a great council of the white wizards, masters of lore and good magic” (Anderson 357) would have been altered to fit The
Lord of the Rings’s Gandalf the Grey and the remainder of the Istari and the White Council.
Anderson notices the same development, surmising that this phrase “probably reflects that at the time of writing Tolkien had not fully developed the idea of how many wizards there were, and what their colours might be” (357).
9 Gollum’s character was similarly re-described: the 1937 version initially introduces him merely as “old Gollum,” whereas the 1966-Ball edition describes him as “old Gollum, a small slimy creature.” This change is explained by Anderson as a direct reaction to faulty illustrations, which is in accordance with the above explanation. He provides a small list of depictions in which Gollum is misrepresented:
In most of these [foreign illustrated] editions, Gollum is depicted as a very large creature. In the 1947 Swedish edition, he is drawn as a large, dark rock about four times the size of Bilbo, and in the 1957 German edition he is several times larger than Bilbo (his legs, dangling over his boat, are themselves longer than Bilbo is tall). In the 1962 Portuguese edition, he appears as a bearded and alarming-looking figure, twice the size of Bilbo, while in the 1965 Japanese edition he is like a large reptile, probably three times Bilbo’s size. (Anderson 118)
Anderson also mentions that Tolkien himself observed that most illustrators failed to properly represent Gollum, as Tolkien states in a letter of December 12, 1963, to Allen & Unwin, his publisher: “Gollum should not be made a monster, as he is by practically all other illustrators in disregard of the text.” Another reason for this particular revision may have been The Lord
of the Rings: in order to make the two stories consistent with one another, Gollum’s
10 First impressions can therefore be said to be of great importance to Tolkien. Not only did he go back to The Hobbit to make descriptions (and illustrations) fit his own mental image of certain characters, but he also adjusted The Hobbit as The Lord of the Rings settled into place. The latter can be explained in light of continuity: Tolkien was very fond of consistency between his novels; a feature which will now be examined more closely.
Chapter V of The Hobbit, “Riddles in the Dark,” deserves special attention, as it is the most heavily edited chapter of the book. The differences between the initial version and the revised version are very significant to reading The Hobbit, and are crucial to the introduction of Gollum as a character in The Lord of the Rings. The reason for the hefty revision of this chapter lies in the way The Lord of the Rings grew. As it was being written, the role the Ring grew exponentially, thereby making the events surrounding the Ring in The Hobbit – such as the finding of it – erroneous. However, Tolkien was not alarmed by this development, as he wrote in a letter to Stanley Unwin: “I don’t feel worried by the discovery that the ring was more serious than appeared,” and later in the same letter proposed a solution: “The proper way to negotiate the difficulty would be slightly to remodel the former story in its chapter V. That is not a practical question; though I certainly hope to leave behind me the whole thing revised and in final form” (Letters 109). The main problem was the way the Ring was handled in combination with Gollum’s character. The original 1937 version will here be compared with the 1951 edition which was published as a direct solution to the continuity problems.
11 innocence of both Gollum and the Ring in the first published version of the story. After meeting, they engage in the riddle competition, and this is where the first change presents itself, since the stakes of winning the competition differ between the original and the revised version. In both versions, Bilbo’s life is put on the line: “If precious asks, and it doesn’t answer, we eats it, my preciousss” (Anderson 121). However, the prize Bilbo would get is different. “If it asks us, and we doesn’t answer, we gives it a present [ed.: the Ring], gollum!”, Gollum promises in the 1937 edition, whereas in the 1951 revision Gollum pledges to “shows it the way out, yes!” (Anderson 121). This change was necessary due to the Ring’s evolved abilities in The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s magical attachment to the Ring would never have let him give it away freely. This problem was recognized by Tolkien, who talked about the subject of linking the two stories together in the same letter that proposed the revision in 1947: “The weakness is Gollum, and his action in offering the ring as a present” (Letters 109).
In editing the structure of the story in the light of Gollum having been corrupted by the Ring, a cascade of other revisions became necessary as well, starting with the character of Gollum himself. In order to reflect Gollum’s corruption, Tolkien made many small but important changes. In the 1937 version, for instance, the description of Gollum’s background contains the phrase “before the goblins came, and he was cut off from his friends far under [sic] the mountains” (Anderson 121), which was changed to “before he lost all his friends and was driven away, alone, and crept down, down, into the dark under the mountains” in the 1951 edition (Anderson 121). Though a minor change at first glance, the implications of this revised fragment include the possibility of Gollum being exiled through his own faults, which turns out to be true when The Fellowship of the Ring reveals a fuller version of Gollum’s background.3 Other changes occur in the narrative voice, as can be seen in the paragraphs on the next page:
12 But funnily enough he need not have been
alarmed. For one thing Gollum had learned long long ago was never, never, to cheat at the riddle-game, which is a sacred one and of immense antiquity. Also there was the sword. He simply sat and whispered. (1937 edition)
He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it. But he felt he could not trust this slimy thing to keep any promise at a pinch. Any excuse would do for him to slide out of it. And after all that last question had not been a genuine riddle according to the ancient laws. (1951 edition)
The original version shows that Gollum is quite honourbound (despite Bilbo’s riddle not truly being one, according to the rules), as opposed to the revised version, which suggests, in a rather negative tone, the possibility that a wicked creature such as Gollum might yet attack Bilbo after having lost the contest. In fact, the revised version continues exactly in that vein: after losing the competition, Gollum is determined to kill Bilbo with help of the Ring, and even more so when he suspects that Bilbo is in possession of the Ring. Events thus differ after Gollum lost the competition, as in the original version, Gollum – without complaining – goes to fetch the Ring in order to give it to Bilbo. This is one of the most significant changes in Gollum’s character: he becomes a threat to Bilbo; truly a dangerous antagonist.
13 diction changes his character, but also takes the analysis one step further, stating that it also anticipates “the altered response he will have to the loss of the ring” (Christensen 17); that is, the nature of Gollum and the story that unfolds around him while following Frodo in The
Lord of the Rings.
These changes all affect Gollum, though in changing the course of the story in this way, Bilbo’s character also had to be adapted and is therefore also affected. Instead of obediently following a strange creature showing him the way out of the caverns, the revised version shows that he is forced to show courage in order to survive: his only hope to get out of this dangerous situation is stealthily following the very threat itself. His new heroic role is further expanded when the exit is practically in sight and Bilbo has the chance to easily kill Gollum. Instead, he shows mercy, which paid off in at least two significant ways. The first is explained early in The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf explains to Frodo that Bilbo was not corrupted in the same way as Gollum because of his act of mercy: “Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity” (FR 78). The second reward comes in the climax of The Lord of the Rings: Bilbo not killing Gollum eventually led to the destruction of the Ring, thereby saving Middle-earth from Sauron’s rule.
14 (Anderson 127; Christensen 15), which is a term used to describe the Rings of Power in The
Lord of the Rings; mention of “the Master who ruled [the Rings]” (Anderson 128; Christensen
15), which refers to the Dark Lord Sauron; and the more sinister nature of the Ring. The latter presents itself in two forms. The first is the newly introduced user’s dependence or addiction to the Ring, as Gollum sometimes put the Ring on when “he could not bear to be parted from it any longer” (Anderson 128). The second is the Ring’s own free will: compare the phrasing of “He slipped [the ring] on his finger” to “The ring felt very cold as it quietly slipped on to his groping forefinger” (Christensen 20), or the less subtle passage when Bilbo finds himself visible when encountering goblin guards in the revised version: “Yes, they saw him. Whether it was an accident, or a last trick of the ring before it took a new master, it was not on his finger” (Anderson 135). Both examples reveal that there is more to the Ring than is exposed here, and they thus fuel the reader’s craving for more information. This improves the link between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, since that information is provided there.
The way Tolkien treated these different accounts of this part of the story is noteworthy. Instead of merely writing the early version off as an error, Tolkien chose to actually implement the change as part of the canon. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the
Rings are treated by Tolkien as historical accounts of certain events (Carpenter 221): Tolkien
is not the actual author, but merely the translator of parts of the Red Book of Westmarch, a fictional book written by Bilbo and Frodo, among others.4 The fictional development of the
Red Book is shown in The Return of the King:
The title page had many titles on it, crossed out one after another, so: My diary. My
Unexpected Journey. There and Back Again. And What Happened After. Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring. Here Bilbo’s hand ended and
4
Other contributors include Samwise Gamgee, who ended the book. It was later edited by various scholars (FR
15 Frodo had written: THE DOWNFALL OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND THE RETURN OF THE KING (as seen by the little people; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise.) Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell. (1344)
As can be seen, this fictional book also underwent editing. It is therefore not impossible for two versions of the story to exist, these being the original “Riddles in the Dark” chapter and the revised version. Tolkien explains in The Fellowship of the Ring introduction that the original version of “Riddles” was Bilbo’s first account; a lie that he told to the Dwarves and Gandalf, essentially showing that Bilbo was an unreliable narrator in The Hobbit. The revised version might therefore be treated as a second “translation” by Tolkien – and therefore still accurate in a sense, as the Red Book of Westmarch was also revised to depict the true history surrounding the Ring.
16 good by children: in the decision of publishing The Hobbit, he let his ten year old son Rayner write a short review. Rayner’s verdict was that “[t]his book, with the help of maps, does not need any illustrations. It is good ...” (Anderson 14).
The importance of maps is also reflected in Tolkien’s way of writing, and later in editing The Hobbit: maps appear to be intricately linked to Bilbo’s journey and the description of landscape in the book. Tolkien was always very precise in describing the geographical lay of the land in his writing. He aimed to be as accurate and realistic as possible, keeping his maps in mind when it came to routes and distances. Bilbo and company’s speed of traveling was important as well, since a time limit was imposed on the company in the form of Durin’s Day. Despite The Hobbit being a children’s book, Tolkien took great care not to make the group skip across the land unrealistically: judging from the many changes made to dates throughout new editions of the novel, this degree of realism meant a great deal to Tolkien. I believe that many of these changes were again made in hindsight with The Lord of the Rings in mind: consistency between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings appears to have played a key role in editing The Hobbit, all in order to make sure the world was realistic and the story was believable despite taking place in a fantasy setting.
17 written. It is likely that in order to keep up with his own massive web of dates, places, and travels of characters, Tolkien felt it necessary to keep track of all of his data in a correct format, or at least felt the need to present it correctly, even in his already published work (Garth 62). As Rateliff puts it in the introduction to The History of the Hobbit: “With as careful and meticulous an author as Tolkien, details matter” (x). It is for this reason that The
Hobbit, being the foundation of The Lord of the Rings, needed to be consistent with The Lord of the Rings for the sake of the completeness and correctness of Tolkien’s unique universe, at
the very least in a technical sense.
Editing also provided a means for Tolkien to give the various races a cultural infusion, by which he showcased his improved setting. Throughout the book, small alterations were made to the race of Elves and the ancestry of Dwarves in order to “update” the book as Tolkien’s ideas evolved, thereby fleshing out these races, or again bolstering the mental image the reader might have of these races to be in accordance with his own. The Lord of the Rings also played a role: changing details concerning Moria was needed for consistency between the two works.
18 [T]he word [Gnomes] was used as a translation of the real name, according to my mythology, of the High-elven people of the West. Pedantically, associating it with Greek gnome “thought, intelligence”. But I have abandoned it, since it is quite impossible to dissociate the name from the popular associations of the Paracelsan
gnomus = pygmaeus” (Letters 239).
This change again reflects that the mental image the reader has is very important to Tolkien, in order for the reader to correctly envision Elves as being different from pygmies, a diminutive people from Greek mythology (Greek Myth Index). A peculiar thing to note is that Tolkien did already use the term “High Elves” in chapter VIII, when the Wood-elves are introduced. Tolkien apparently toyed with the name for the race, though the mention of Light-elves, Deep-Light-elves, and Sea-elves that follows shortly after the High-elves suggests that Tolkien already had advanced ideas regarding the history and division of the Elven race, save for the actual terminology.5 Anderson notes that “over time, Tolkien’s names of the divisions of the Elves went through very complicated changes, with shifting meanings assigned to the same names” (218). The reason why these names were not updated might be related to the fact that The Hobbit is still intended to be a children’s book, and the complexity of the division (not to mention the unfamiliar Elven language) might have confused its intended audience. Posthumous publications, such as The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth, delve deeper into the terminology and the history behind the naming of the Elves.
Tolkien made several changes to the Dwarves’ ancestry in anticipation of The Lord of
the Rings. The race of Dwarves, being prominent in the form of main characters throughout
the entire book as well as being represented by several kingdoms with armies, occasionally reveals glimpses of a culturally rich history, including parts of family trees. By comparing
19 1966-Ball with the original edition, one can quickly see that Tolkien did not have a full background ready for Dwarves at the time of writing The Hobbit. As early as Chapter I, minor yet significant changes can be found. For instance, the growing importance of Dwarven ancestry can be deduced by comparing the following fragments:
Long ago in my grandfather’s time some Dwarves [came] to this mountain .... There they mined ... (1937 version)
Long ago in my grandfather Thrór’s time our family [came back] to this mountain .... It had been discovered by my far ancestor, Thráin the Old, but now they [mined] (1966-Ball version)
These fragments show the attempt to increase the clarity of both the history of the Lonely Mountain and Thorin’s roots. Thrór is once again mentioned by Gandalf as Thorin’s grandfather (in addition to the name being dropped when Thrór’s Map is introduced to the story), followed by the introduction of Thráin the Old, indicating that more than one Thráin existed (meaning that Thorin’s father, also named Thráin, was actually Thráin II). The mention of Thráin the Old is necessary to clear the confusion surrounding Thrór’s Map and Thorin’s ancestry.6
It states “here of old was the land of Thráin King under the Mountain,” which would clash with the knowledge the reader has obtained thus far where Thorin is concerned: at the moment of the introduction of the map, the audience knows that Thorin is son to Thráin, who is son to Thrór. Starting with the 1966-Ball version, both Thrór and Thráin are more often named as Thorin’s grandfather and father respectively, which further shows the need for a clear family tree through which the Dwarves’ culture and history are enhanced. One might argue that the need for a clear structure in family trees is also part of preparing the reader for The Lord of the Rings in order for Moria to have more of a background, thereby
20 strengthening the link between the novels. Most of Thorin’s company consists of Longbeards, descendants of Durin I, who founded Moria. Even though Moria is mentioned several times in
The Hobbit, plans for the role of the ancient Dwarven city in The Lord of the Rings were not
present at the time of writing it. As can be seen by a very minor yet significant alteration to
The Hobbit, Tolkien changed a passage regarding Moria when the storyline of The Lord of the Rings had been completed: the 1937 version states that “the goblins had spread after the sack
21
Chapter II:
New Editions of The Lord of the Rings; New Problems and Solutions
The Hobbit proved successful on the market, and only three months after release in 1937,
Tolkien was urged by his publisher Allen & Unwin to write a sequel to it. Tolkien was reluctant, stating that “I cannot think of anything more to say about hobbits. Mr Baggins seems to have exhibited so fully both the Took and the Baggins side of their nature” (Letters 17). In the same letter, Tolkien hinted at his wish to publish The Silmarillion by stating that he could tell much more about the world The Hobbit takes place in: in fact, a lot of content had been written down at that point in time already. He also conceded, saying
[I]f it is true that The Hobbit has come to stay and more will be wanted, I will start the process of thought, and try to get some idea of a theme drawn from this material for treatment in a similar style and for a similar audience – possibly including actual hobbits. (Letters 17)
Nonetheless, Tolkien submitted The Silmarillion to his publisher, to which Stanley Unwin replied with a letter of rejection, explaining that it was more suitable as “a mine to be explored in writing further books like The Hobbit” (Hammond 86). Tolkien finished chapter I of The Lord of the Rings a mere three days later; the start of a work that would still be faced with many complications.
22 [T]he impertinent compositors have taken it upon themselves to correct, as they suppose, my spelling and grammar: altering throughout dwarves to dwarfs; elvish to
elfish; further to farther; and worst of all, elven – to elfin (Letters 138)
The printers’ defence was that they adhered to the Oxford Dictionary for style, despite having been told that the author’s style should be followed (Hammond 89). Tolkien, being a perfectionist, was very keen on keeping his own style: he likely knew about spelling regulations, but adding unique touches to the style would set the world he built apart from others, if not by story alone. In hindsight, this event foreshadowed a long process of continuous improvement on his own work, both in correcting the errors of others as well as his own.
The Lord of the Rings was eventually published in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring (published on 29 July 1954), The Two Towers (11 November 1954), and The Return of the King (20 October 1955, delayed due to the promise of the addition of several
23 Tolkien’s efforts of correcting his own work, faults in texts can still exist, as they sometimes cannot be attributed to the author.
24 Tolkien took this opportunity to solidify the setting. The improved edition featured many alterations to the text, some involving minor errors (either corrected or newly introduced), and some introducing new content. Compare the following passages:
[B]ut they [ed: Elves] shook their heads and went away singing sadly to themselves. There were, however, Dwarves in unusual numbers. The great West Road, of course, ran through the Shire over the Brandywine Bridge, and Dwarves had always used it from time to time. (Hammond 108; FR, impressions before 1965)
[B]ut they were leaving Middle-earth and were no longer concerned with its troubles. There were, however, Dwarves on the road in unusual numbers. The ancient East-West Road ran through the Shire to its end at the Grey Havens and Dwarves had always used it on their way to their mines in the Blue Mountains. (Hammond 108; 1965 FR 72)
This change, much like alterations to The Hobbit, shows the growth of the background of the setting. Changes like the above clearly show that Tolkien had developed a more “textured” image of the culture and history of the Elves and Dwarves. The addition of the Elves leaving for Valinor and the Dwarves travelling to the Blue Mountains leave little to the imagination: this indicates that these habits had become normal practices in Middle-earth. Comparing alterations to those of The Hobbit also shows that Tolkien was better prepared for The Lord of
the Rings in terms of genealogy: he only took the opportunity to insert “Folcwine” into the
family tree of the Kings of Rohan (Hammond 115, A5a.iii7 255, RK A5d.iii 315), as he had initially forgotten it while naming all the previous Kings of the Mark at Théoden’s funeral in
7
25
The Return of the King (HMESD 68).8 This indicates that Tolkien had become more familiar in his writing style (as family trees are well-established in works after The Hobbit), and also that the setting was firmly in place.
Many other alterations in the 1965 edition are similar to the quoted passages above, yet these other changes can be categorized as being purely geographical, leaving out the culture of the various races. Again, this category of modification is in line with changes made to The Hobbit, though this time around they appear to be deepening the sense of the lay of the land rather than making seemingly meticulous corrections to it. Comparing the passages on the next page will show that the complexity of the geographical region of the setting has increased through the insertion of many specific details and place names.
8 This can actually be regarded as a correction rather than a new insertion: in the narrative, the number of Kings of the Mark should have corresponded with the number of burial mounds presented in the text. Additionally,
26 [T]hey came to the end of the long level
over which the road ran straight. At that point it bent somewhat southward, and began to wind again, as it entered a wood of ancient oak-trees. Not far for the edge of the road they came ... (Hammond 108; pre-1965 FR editions, A5a.i 86)
[T]hey came back to the road at the end of the long level over which it had run straight for some miles. At that point it bent left and went down into the Lowlands of the Yale, making for Stock; but a lane branched right, winding through a wood of ancient oak-trees on its way to Woodhall. “That is the way for us,” said Frodo. Not far from the road-meeting they came ... (Hammond 108; FR 1965 edition, A5d.i 114)
At other times, however, passages were rephrased slightly to make the text correspond with the geography. As can be seen below, the paragraph has been entirely rephrased, yet the only effective change lies in the “mile or two further”: the revised version corrects the earlier version in that these miles had to be travelled before arriving in Tookland.
They were now in Tookland, and going southwards, but a mile or two further on they crossed the main road from Michel Delving to Bywater and Brandywine Bridge. Then they struck south-east and began to climb into the Green Hill Country south of Hobbiton. They could see the village twinkling (Hammond 108; pre-1965 FR editions, A5a.i 80)
27 Thus, changes like the above can be categorized into two groups: ones that serve to improve the realism of the geography, and others which improve consistency. Both types can be attributed to Tolkien’s perfectionist nature, and both ultimately strengthen the depth and consistency of the setting.
28 (Hammond 115, A5d.iii 284). Both events are emotionally charged: the embodiments of hope return to the hobbits under happy circumstances, and Frodo’s reluctance of wearing a necessary “evil” shows that he has suffered through the quest and wants it to end.
The appendices of the revised 1965 edition were subject to extensive change. As the new footnote of Appendix A states: “In this edition dates have been revised, and some errors emended: most of these were accidents occurring in the course of typing and marking” (Hammond 116, A5d.iii 387). As we have seen before, details such as dates and distances were thoroughly examined in order to create a realistic continuity for Tolkien’s world. In this respect, the correctness of the Appendices is perhaps even more important than the correctness and detail of the main body of text: the Appendices serve as a work of reference to the reader, and any notable error would therefore actively undermine the sense of realism. The simple fact that appendices even existed for a work of fiction is a clear indication of how Tolkien treated his work, effectively bringing it to a deeper level of detail and realism. As described in the previous chapter, Tolkien regarded himself as a translator of an historical account of events surrounding the Ring. The appendices, very much like content from a real history book, could and probably should therefore be regarded as factual information. Any irregularities in these sections would push Tolkien’s work towards the inaccurate; the “lighter” fairy tales; the unbelievable. The accuracy of details such as dates, both in the main text as well as the appendices, therefore serves as part of a counterweight to the entire work: on one hand, there is the extraordinary story set in a world full of magic and supernatural beings; on the other hand there is the realism of this same world, presented to the reader as fact shaped by many detailed descriptions and very accurate supplementary appendices.
29 passing, but that plenty of content had already been created for most of these characters. To the reader, these are merely vague historical figures at the time of reading The Lord of the
Rings, and I believe that the hinting at this new content very much served as an appetizer to
Tolkien’s long-awaited publication of The Silmarillion. Among others, names that are mentioned more in the appendices are Fëanor, Celebrimbor, Thingol, and Finrod Felagund.
No changes that are significant to this thesis were made to the text after the 1965 and 1966 revisions. Most changes to later editions, if any at all, were made in terms of correcting the spelling or capitalization. One thing of note, however, is the general map of Middle-earth: starting in circa 1983 (Hammond 113), it was replaced by a map drawn by Christopher Tolkien, who redrew it for Unfinished Tales, which was released in 1980.
30 send her some of his own early drafts, just to show that with a map as a companion, the books would be easier to read. Moreover, he also comments that “I wisely started with a map [for
The Hobbit], and made the story fit (generally with meticulous care for distances). The other
31
Chapter III:
Characterization Through Rewriting
Thus far, differences between published editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been examined in order to see the effect of editing on the content of the story and the shaping of Tolkien’s world. Noting how early Tolkien started writing The Lord of the Rings after The Hobbit, one cannot help but wonder why seventeen years passed between the publications of these books. The answer lies in Tolkien’s creative process and how he wrote: his way of writing relied heavily on many different outlines, drafts, versions, notes, and corrections to all of these items. Tolkien’s writing process therefore involved editing his own work, which means it is of importance for the present topic. Christopher Tolkien attempted to give a full account of the history of writing The Lord of the Rings in volumes VI-IX of the
History of Middle-earth series. Since it spans four full books of well over 400 pages,
providing a coherent summary of this project would be impractical. Instead, I will demonstrate the effectiveness and, indeed, importance of editing and rewriting texts by giving a short summary of Tolkien’s writing process in general, and by examining a selection of topics that are of interest from volumes VI-IX of The History of Middle-earth.
32 addition, Tolkien had a habit of taking notes while writing manuscripts,9 thus documenting all the concepts that developed during writing. He did this in the margins, on the back of the paper, and occasionally on separate notes. Only rarely did he create outlines of the plot to come, but it is at these times that the direction of the still-evolving plot can be seen, and concepts that would still be subject to change can be made out. Most of the paperwork survived, yet most of it was disorganized and not dated (HMERS preface). Needless to say, Christopher Tolkien faced a tremendous project in presenting all of this material in The
History of Middle-earth. However, the final result provides the clearest overview available on
the forming of The Lord of the Rings, and it will help in clarifying the role and effects of editing and rewriting in Tolkien’s writing process. The importance of this particular writing process is that most of the related documents have been preserved, thus providing us with a unique insight into the creative process of an author which can show how a story evolved from another children’s story like The Hobbit into a new, more epic work such as The Lord of
the Rings.
Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin were all significantly altered throughout the writing of
The Lord of the Rings, thereby developing their characters, altering the storyline, as well as
changing the atmosphere surrounding these characters. As mentioned, Tolkien often wrote many different versions of a chapter, and this sometimes had a severe impact on the characters, the effects of which would last until the end of the book. To name a few fundamental changes, Frodo was named Bingo, and in the earliest versions of Chapter I he was Bilbo’s son, after which he eventually became his adopted cousin Bingo Bolger-Baggins. Tolkien also played with the idea of Bilbo once more taking up the role of protagonist, but this idea did not evolve past Bilbo leaving the Shire in collaboration with Gandalf, effectively opening the way for Bingo and friends to become heroes of their own account. Some of the
33 more complex changes will be described here, along with their effects on the characters and story.
While rewriting, Tolkien made many changes to the chapters in which the traveling party only consisted of hobbits, effectively moving away from using stock characters and allowing the race of hobbits to become more important to the story, yet be fewer in number. In the early stages of writing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote several chapters on how Bingo traveled east towards Rivendell with his companions Drogo, Frodo, and Odo, and the goal of this journey was at the time unknown. The initial companions did not only change names, but the hobbits’ numbers receded and grew at various points in the writing. Describing this in full would take up too much space, as the process spans across many chapters of The
History of Middle-earth – volumes, in fact. However, the process itself should be mentioned
for its importance, since it shows the transformation of certain characters into their next stage. More specifically, Tolkien’s way of removing characters should be described, as he does not merely scrap characters: as the company changed, some personality traits or events would be inherited by another hobbit, effectively adding to the final version of a character. For example, Frodo Took’s meeting with a Black Rider in Hobbiton is the forerunner of The
Fellowship’s Gaffer Gamgee’s meeting with a Black Rider inquiring after Frodo Baggins.
34 hidden courage and loyalty to Frodo allowed him to follow Frodo all the way to Mount Doom, and Pippin’s curiosity caused him to gaze into the Palantir, drawing Sauron’s eye away from Frodo and Sam, who were slowly working their way towards the Ring’s destruction.
It was only when Tolkien reached the Council of Elrond that he noted there were “too many hobbits” (HMERS 221) on what can be called a page of possible alterations he might want to make to the story thus far. The reasons are not stated, though immediate effects at the time of changing can be analyzed. 10 As stated earlier, Allen & Unwin’s wish for more hobbits caused Tolkien to start writing The Lord of the Rings in this manner: practically all characters in content that was written thus far were hobbits, including Bingo’s early companions, the inhabitants of the town of Bree, and even Aragorn. One of the most notable effects of the changes to the number of hobbits is the complexity of the group. In changing the hobbits in personality (as shown in the previous paragraph) and especially in number, Tolkien focuses the reader’s attention on the main hobbits, namely Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. In accordance with the above description of trait inheritance, their characters were deepened and more pronounced in terms of personality, effectively making them more memorable and distinguishable. In fact, by focusing their personalities, Tolkien also developed familial traits, such as the Tooks being more adventurous than most other hobbits. These distinguishing features of both characters and families help the reader remain focused on the story by removing the threat of becoming lost in hobbit genealogy. Lastly, the formation of the Fellowship, something Tolkien was already experimenting with at the time of the “too many hobbits” note, might also have played a role. As will be explained in the section on the Fellowship, the balance of different races was formed over time. Having too many hobbits in Rivendell would have meant leaving several hobbits behind, as they would have unbalanced
10
35 the Fellowship in terms of racial representation. This was a concept that Tolkien clearly moved towards, as he quite clearly added a member of every good race to be involved in the quest for the destruction of the Ring, which had grown be of great importance to all races of Middle-earth as opposed to a small group of hobbits.
Once the four main hobbits were firmly in place, rewriting drafts did not stop influencing character growth and plot development. There are several passages which were rewritten in such a way that it allowed for great leaps in terms of character progression. For example, Merry’s character was enriched through Tolkien’s rewriting of drafts, in which he made changes to the narrative that influenced his persona in the long run. One of the more notable changes can be found in the initial version of the chapter “The Ride of the Rohirrim,” in which Merry is actually allowed to join the host of Rohan as they ride out to help Gondor in the war. Merry “wonders why” (HMEWR 347) and indeed, there is no actual explanation: Théoden’s decision to allow him to ride hardly makes sense compared to Théoden’s denial in
The Return of the King. This issue was quickly amended in the second version of the opening
of the chapter, in which he denies Merry, approaching The Return of the King more closely. This version tells how after Théoden’s denial, Merry was secretly taken along by Grimhelm, an early version of Éowyn’s alias Dernhelm.11 The narrative was thus improved in that the king’s decision-making is sounder, and it also allows the slaying of the Witch-King to be more climactic: the fact that he is slain by Merry and Éowyn is unexpected, and eventually became one of the most distinguishing events during the siege of Minas Tirith. Thus, the alteration of the passage of Merry joining the Rohirrim in secret directly influences the story of the Witch-King’s demise, not only giving it a surprising twist but also making Merry more important by giving him an active role in the battle. Further proof of this direct link can be
36 found in the different drafts surrounding the prophecy of the killing of the Witch-King, which was altered as the events around the war developed (that is, Merry and Éowyn’s growing roles), showing that the prophecy was adjusted in such a way that it would fit Merry and Éowyn. The first version of this prophecy exists in an early outline, written right after Tolkien wrote about Pippin joining the service of Denethor: “Yet it was foretold that he should be overthrown, in the end, by one young and gallant. But maybe that lies far in the future” (HMEWR 326). The use of singular “one” disallows the possibility that both Merry and Éowyn were the Witch-King’s undoing. Later, in the third version of this particular chapter, the prophecy was phrased thus: “... And if words spoken of old come true, he is not doomed to fall before warrior or wise [>men of war or wisdom]; but in the hour of his victory to be overthrown by one who has never slain a man [>by one who has slain no living thing]. ...” (HMEWR 334-335), eventually to become “not by the hand of man shall he fall, and hidden from the Wise is the doom that awaits him” in The Return of the King (1071). The bracketed changes (in-text alterations) here were probably discarded for the following reasons: “men” fits neither Merry nor Éowyn and might therefore have been too predictable, and “one” disallows for two characters to slay the Witch-King, thus excluding Merry and Éowyn as a duo.
37 role in the battle does not become nearly as important as Merry’s in his battle, Pippin’s gaining actual combat experience is relevant to his character progression, as both he and Merry step up in “The Scouring of the Shire.” Their character development, realized through the alterations described above, is very similar: by participating in their respective battles, they both learn how to fight on their own. Additionally, despite being surrounded by allies, they have to stand by themselves as the lone hobbit for the first time. This results in their becoming confident as Rohirric and Gondorian soldiers, allowing them to become active leading figures in “The Scouring of the Shire.”
38 them. Thus, Frodo’s threatening phrase of “we are not used to footpads in this country, but we know how to deal with them” (HMESD 82) is removed completely in The Return of the King, and he starts stating his reluctance at the prospect of fighting in the Shire: “there is to be no killing of hobbits, ... and nobody is to be killed at all, if it can be helped” (RK 1317). As a contrast, killing is something which the Frodo in the first version of the chapter is all too ready to do and take part in: in a rejected passage that takes place in Farmer Cotton’s house, Frodo and companions slay several men without showing any mercy or remorse (HMESD 86). By changing Frodo in this way, Tolkien showcases the growth of Merry, Pippin, and Sam as they save the Shire as more mature hobbits. He also effectively sets up the stage for Frodo to become the tragic hero, as he states in the last chapter “The Grey Havens”: “I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me” (RK 1346), a statement which would have less of an impact if Frodo had been the ice-cold killer he used to be in the early version of the Scouring. In changing events in “The Scouring,” Frodo becomes more of a real character, since this is a more natural way for a “small” hero to cope with events that were too big for him (Flieger 42). In this way, Tolkien allows the story to end on a melancholy note despite Middle-earth having been saved.
Rewriting proved crucial in the conception of Aragorn, as changes made to his character allowed the story to evolve into different directions. Many a reader of The Lord of
the Rings will be surprised at the origins of Aragorn: his roots lie in a hobbit named Trotter.
Tolkien spent quite some time working with Trotter instead of Aragorn: the first concept of Aragorn being a man instead of a hobbit was only realized in the “fourth phase”.12 Nonetheless, the shaping and revision of Trotter was crucial to Aragorn’s character, as many elements of that persona were conceived in Trotter. The main storyline was also affected, as
39 Trotter being changed into a man allowed Tolkien to explore the lineage of that race, effectively moving the story forward and increasing its scale.
Aragorn’s personality did not change dramatically when the change from hobbit to man occurred. In early drafts, when the hobbit companions first arrived in Bree, they were approached by a mysterious hobbit instead of a mysterious man. It is instantly striking how similar the descriptions of these characters are: both are sitting in the shadows, have a tall mug in front of them, look weather-beaten, are smoking, and are wearing a hood despite the warmth. What follows is also similar: Trotter takes on the task of guiding the hobbits through the wild towards Rivendell, and he is revealed to be an acquaintance of Gandalf’s. Trotter is not fully trusted from the start, as is Aragorn, yet he proves an invaluable ally, since his ranger skills and combat experience help with the survival of the group. Therefore, as far as his character and behaviour are concerned, Trotter was not all that different from Aragorn. The four hobbits trusting a man, however, does have implications. Even though Trotter is not fully trusted from the start, he remains a hobbit, which somewhat puts him into familiar territory in the eyes of Bingo and company. By changing him into a man, the hobbits are forced to take more of a risk: they have not had many dealings with men, and thus expose themselves to potential danger. The fact that a man gets involved in the quest is also one of the first signs that the adventure will branch outwards towards a more grand design, as the quest now apparently involves different races. This theme is expanded as Tolkien was forming the Fellowship, which will be handled in the next chapter.
40 Trotter’s speech is different from other Rangers and Bree-folk, and Trotter also seems to remind him of someone (HMERS 154). The latter was inserted to allow Tolkien to play with the idea that Trotter was actually known to Bingo: there are drafts and notes available in which the true identity of Trotter is Peregrin Boffin, a long-lost acquaintance, and even Bilbo was considered as his true identity at several points. None of these ideas were fully exploited, however, as remarks by Tolkien made in the margins include “Trotter had better not be a hobbit – but a ranger, remainder of Western men, as originally planned” (HMERS 393). The “original planning” refers to the third phase, “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony,” in which rangers “were said to be the last remnant of the kingly people from beyond the Seas” (HMERS 331). This quote thus becomes foreshadowing, as it survives into The Fellowship of
the Ring: it foreshadows Aragorn’s lineage and his return as king. Trotter’s transformation to
man is finally realized in the fourth phase when the hobbits first encounter him in the Prancing Pony. By making Trotter into a “true” ranger (a man as opposed to a unique hobbit ranger), Tolkien approached a new aspect of his world that he wished to explore: he now had an important character that was deeply involved in the story, thus giving him a reason to more fully define the lineage of men. Aragorn’s true name, at the time still “Aragorn son of Aramir,” is first given in an undated scrap in which Tolkien described him as a “descendant of the ancient men of the North,” followed by a summary of his role in the story from meeting him up until Rivendell (HMETI 6).13 Another note, dated October 8 1939, adds “descendant
of Elendil” to Aragorn’s biography (HMETI 8). This small addition in pencil proves the importance of Tolkien’s notes, as it eventually allowed the storyline surrounding Aragorn to snowball into its final version; setting up Aragorn to return as king. Aragorn’s ancestry is expanded upon in the fourth phase during the revision of “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony,” a chapter that would later be split into two: The Fellowship’s “Strider” was first a subchapter
13
41 of “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony.” There, he is named “Aragorn son of Celegorn, of the line of Isildur Elendil’s son” (HMETI 50), again an important new element since it makes Frodo realize Aragorn’s connection to the Ring, as Gandalf mentioned the name while explaining about the Ring. This exchange was eventually used in “The Council of Elrond” (HMETI 105).
42
Chapter IV:
The Development of Tolkienian Concepts: Istari, Rings, and the Fellowship
Gandalf was subject to many seemingly minor alterations in early drafts of The Fellowship of
the Ring, which subsequently had positive effects on the story as well as the setting of
Middle-earth. One of the greater movements Gandalf is subject to is the change from being an instigator to guide. This movement is most noticeable once one has read the essay on the Istari14 from circa 1954 in Unfinished Tales. In it, Tolkien described the role of the Istari, who were supposed to inspire men and Elves to do good and work against Sauron through counselling, and not by show of force (Tolkien, Unfinished Tales 503). Not showing force is especially important, as they were all Maiar15 and thus very powerful. The concept of the Istari can be summarized as having been sent by the Valar in order to teach the Free Peoples that they can stand against evil on their own, without interference of Valar or Maiar. It is in this light that several small changes to Gandalf’s character become noticeable, which turn him into more of an advisor than the initiator of the adventure that led to Sauron’s downfall.16
As the concept of the Istari grew into that described in Tolkien’s essay, so too can be seen that Gandalf was shifting into his proper role. The following paragraphs highlight some of the changes, the effects of which will be shown to enhance story, character, and setting.
Firstly, in notes from phase 1 concerning “A Long-expected Party” (HMERS 46) and notes written in phase 2 (HMERS 234), it is Gandalf who suggested, or “encouraged” the
14 “Istar” is Quenya for “one of the members of an order”; in this case “wizards” who are associated with possessing wisdom (Tolkien, Unfinished Tales 502). The Istari are Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Alatar, and Pallando.
15
Divine beings that helped shape the earth together with the Valar (Foster 312). Maiar are practically demigods
or angels, while Valar might be considered gods.
43 disappearing act, thus setting the entire adventure in motion. This was later changed to merely assisting during the act: the idea became Bilbo’s, and Gandalf’s flash of light merely added an extra effect to the event. Gandalf is still the main reason the quest was taken up, though, as he was (even in early versions) the main supplier of information regarding the Ring. Yet, in no version did he force Bingo/Frodo to leave the Shire, and it is slight manipulation and well-intended advice that cause the protagonist to do so. In making this change, Tolkien enhances Bingo’s will to do good: whereas Gandalf jumpstarting the adventure would merely send the hobbits on the wizard’s errand, their goodwill is now established early on, as Bingo wishes to save the Shire by removing the dangerous Ring from it.
44 A third detail that changed further reduces Gandalf’s open displays of power, and in return directed attention at other powerful entities in Middle-earth. In an early draft of “Many Meetings,” it said it was Gandalf who calls forth the river Bruinen at Rivendell to fend off the Black Riders (HMERS 206); arguably a powerful magical feat that directly opposes some of Sauron’s mightiest minions. In The Fellowship, on the other hand, Gandalf states that he “added a few touches of [his] own” (FR 292), realized by horse shapes in the water, as well as rolling boulders. In doing this, Gandalf hints that his role was minimal and that the mightiest source of power in Rivendell are the Elves, thus averting attention from his true identity and power. The change thus has a double effect: the Elves become more important as a force of good, and attention is diverted from the fact that Gandalf is secretly one of the mightiest beings in Middle-earth, which is a characteristic of the Istari (even though Tolkien had not fully conceived it at the time). Small alterations such as this one shape Gandalf’s character and purpose throughout the story. Only through subtle rewriting could Gandalf’s true identity and role be kept a secret throughout the entire story, or at the very least be shrouded in mystery until he returned as Gandalf the White after his fight with the Balrog.
45 of this idea has taken the following shape, and is directly in line with the description of Istari in the essay:
... I am not coming to the Shire. You must settle its affairs yourselves; that is what you have been trained for. Do you not yet understand? My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so. And as for you, my dear friends, you will need no help. You are grown up now. (1304)
The last change to the story emphasizes implicitly how Gandalf was successful as an Istar, as opposed to the others: Saruman undeniably failed by becoming corrupted; Radagast became distracted from his mission, and the fate of Alatar and Pallando remained unknown even to Tolkien himself.17 This shows that, near the end of the writing of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien had fully developed the concept of the Istari, and that rewriting has indeed played a pivotal role in defining the Wizards’ intended behaviour, slowly but surely shaping them into the Istari described in the later essay.
The main objective of The Lord of the Rings, the destruction of the Ring, was only able to arise through rewriting and use of notes. Tolkien did not think of the Ring as important until he wrote the fourth version of chapter 1, “A Long-expected Party,” in which he added a note saying “make return of Ring a motive.” Granted, this was still fairly early during the conception of the book: before advancing the story, Tolkien indeed wrote four versions of the first chapter. Nonetheless, from here onward there is a clear trend in the main motive for the new adventure shifting from the need for new dragon-gold to destroying the Ring and the evil that is connected to it. As the Ring’s role expanded, it needed new properties and a background. Tolkien had a fairly clear idea of the effects of the Ring, as can be seen in a note on a rejected draft: “The Ring: whence its origin. Necromancer?18 Not very dangerous, when
17
As Tolkien writes in Letters 211: “What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and ‘magic’ traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.”
46 used for good purpose. But it exacts its penalty. You must either lose it, or yourself” (HMERS 42).
The evolution of the Ring-lore can be tracked quite easily by reading through early drafts, along with its implications. Notes and drafts can be shown to be of the utmost importance in this step-by-step writing process, since in many subsequent versions, new ideas concerning the Rings of Power would be introduced and expanded upon. In The History of
Middle-earth VI: The Return of the Shadow chapter 3, Christopher Tolkien describes how
Tolkien first wrote down the term “Lord of the Ring” and “Ring-wraith.” This already hints at the concept of a Dark Lord controlling the wearers of the Ring: indeed, Tolkien’s drafts show that he thought of an early version of this concept, though the exact numbers of the Rings and the role of the One Ring were at the time unknown to him. He describes how the Ring-lord “sent [Rings] to all sorts of folk” (HMERS 75), including many Elves, goblins, men, Dwarves, and other creatures, and that wearers turned into wraiths, excepting Dwarves. Already, it seems that Rings would have different powers over different people, since Dwarves “are too solid” (HMERS 75), perhaps showing that the seed of the various effects of the Rings of Power’s final versions had been planted. Already, the general effect of the expanded concept can be observed: not only is the Ring now dangerous (be it in unknown ways), but the scale of the Ring is no longer limited to one person only, and multiple races from Middle-earth are now involved.
