The Book of Lost Tales, Part 1 - J. R. R. Tolkien [13]
And Vairë said that ’twas like to be that one of his kindred had found the rocks of Eldamar in those old days.
NOTES
1 Gnomes: the Second Kindred, the Noldoli (later Noldor). For the use of the word Gnomes see p. 43; and for the linguistic distinction made here see pp. 50–1.
2 The ‘Great Lands’ are the lands East of the Great Sea. The term ‘Middle-earth’ is never used in the Lost Tales, and in fact does not appear until writings of the 1930s.
3 In both MSS the words ‘of all the Eldar’ are followed by: ‘for of most noble there were none, seeing that to be of the blood of the Eldar is equal and sufficient’ but this was struck out in the second MS.
4 The original reading was ‘the great Tirion’, changed to ‘the great tower’.
5 This sentence, from ‘a son meseems…’, replaced in the original MS an earlier reading: ‘shall it be of Eärendel the wanderer, who alone of the sons of Men has had great traffic with the Valar and Elves, who alone of their kindred has seen beyond Taniquetil, even he who sails for ever in the firmament?’
6 The original reading was ‘before the days of’, changed to ‘in the first days of’, and then to the reading given.
7 This last phrase was an addition to the second MS.
Changes made to names in
The Cottage of Lost Play
The names were at this time in a very fluid state, reflecting in part the rapid development of the languages that was then taking place. Changes were made to the original text, and further changes, at different times, to the second text, but it seems unnecessary in the following notes to go into the detail of when and where the changes were made. The names are given in the order of their occurrence in the tale. The signs > and < are used to mean ‘changed to’ and ‘changed from’.
Dor Faidwen The Gnomish name of Tol Eressëa was changed many times: Gar Eglos > Dor Edloth > Dor Usgwen > Dor Uswen > Dor Faidwen.
Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva In the original text a space was left for the Elvish name, subsequently filled in as Mar Vanwa Taliéva.
Great Lands Throughout the tale Great Lands is an emendation of Outer Lands, when the latter was given a different meaning (lands West of the Great Sea).
Wingilot < Wingelot.
Gar Lossion < Losgar.
Koromas < Kormas.
Meril-i-Turinqi The first text has only Turinqi, with in one place a space left for a personal name.
Inwë < Ing at each occurrence.
Inwithiel < Gim Githil, which was in turn < Githil.
Ingil < Ingilmo.
Valwë < Manwë. It seems possible that Manwë as the name of Lindo’s father was a mere slip.
Noldorin The original reading was Noldorin whom the Gnomes name Goldriel; Goldriel was changed to Golthadriel, and then the reference to the Gnomish name was struck out, leaving only Noldorin.
Tulkastor < Tulkassë < Turenbor.
Solosimpi < Solosimpë at each occurrence.
Lindelos < Lindeloksë < Lindeloktë Singing Cluster (Glingol).
Telelli < Telellë.
Arvalin < Harmalin < Harwalin.
Commentary on
The Cottage of Lost Play
The story of Eriol the mariner was central to my father’s original conception of the mythology. In those days, as he recounted long after in a letter to his friend Milton Waldman,* the primary intention of his work was to satisfy his desire for a specifically and recognizably English literature of ‘faerie’:
I was from early days grieved by the poverty of my own beloved country: it had no stories of its own (bound up with its tongue and soil), not of the quality that I sought, and found (as an ingredient) in legends of other lands. There was Greek, and Celtic, and Romance, Germanic, Scandinavian, and Finnish (which greatly affected me); but nothing English, save impoverished chap-book stuff.
In his earliest writings the mythology was anchored in the ancient legendary history of England; and more than that, it was peculiarly associated with certain places in England.
Eriol, himself close kin of famous figures in the legends of North-western Europe, came at last on a voyage westward over the ocean to Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, where Elves