The Book of Lost Tales, Part 1 - J. R. R. Tolkien [93]
NOTES
1 See p. 117.
2 Lirillo appears in the list of secondary names of the Valar referred to on p. 93 as a name of Salmar-Noldorin.
3 ‘father of Fëanor’ is the final reading after a prolonged hesitation between ‘son of Fëanor’ and ‘brother of Fëanor’.
4 For the story of the taking of rock and stone from Arvalin (Eruman) for the raising of the Mountains of Valinor see p. 70.
5 ‘sire of Fëanor’ is an emendation from ‘son of Fëanor’ see note 3.
6 After the word ‘fabrics’ there stood the following sentence, which was struck through: ‘which the Gods could an they listed have created in an hour’—a sentence notable in itself and also for its excision.
7 The MS page beginning with the words ‘before the gates of Valmar’ and ending with ‘unabashed uttered his message, saying’ is written round the little world-map reproduced and described on pp. 81 ff.
8 In this part of the tale the manuscript consists of detached passages, with directions from one to another; the place of this sentence is not perfectly clear, but seems most probably to belong here.
9 The dots are in the original.
10 ‘afterward’ is an emendation from ‘of old’. A question mark is written in the margin against this sentence.
Changes made to names in
The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor
Ellu Melemno < Melemno (in Chapter V, p. 120, in an added sentence, the leader of the Solosimpi is Ellu).
Sirnúmen < Numessir (at the first two occurrences; subsequently Sirnúmen was the form first written).
Eruman < Harmalin (pp. 145, 152), < Habbanan (p. 151).
Arvalin < Harvalien < Habbanan (p. 145), < Harvalien < Harmalin (p. 147); Arvalien thus first written p. 148.
Bruithwir replaces an earlier name, probably Maron.
Bruithwir go-Maidros < Bruithwir go-Fëanor. go- is a patronymic, ‘son of’. See notes 3 and 5 above.
Móru This name could equally well be read, as also at its occasional occurrences elsewhere, as Morn (see the Appendix on Names). It replaces here another name, probably Mordi.
Ungoliont < Gungliont.
Daurin (Tórin) The original reading at the first occurence was Fëanor, changed to (?)Daurlas…akin to Fëanor, and then to a Gnome called Daurin (Tórin). The subsequent occurrences of Daurin are emendations of Fëanor.
Commentary on
The Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor
The story of the corruption of the Noldoli by Melko was ultimately told quite differently; for there entered the matter of the strife between Finwë’s sons Fëanor and Fingolfin (The Silmarillion p. 69), of which in the tale there is no trace, and where in any case Fëanor is not the son of Finwë Nólemë but of one Bruithwir. The primary motive in the later story of Melkor’s desire for the Silmarils (ibid. p. 67) is here represented only by a lust for the gems of the Noldoli in general: it is indeed a remarkable feature of the original mythology that though the Silmarils were present they were of such relatively small importance. There is essential agreement with the later story in its being the Noldoli at whom Melko aimed his attack, and there is a quite close, if limited, similarity in the arguments he used: the confinement of the Elves in Valinor by the Valar, and the broad realms in the East that were rightly theirs—but notably absent from Melko’s words is any reference to the coming of Men: this element is in the tale introduced later and quite differently, by Manwë himself (p. 150). Moreover the particular association of the Noldoli with the evil Vala arises from his desire for their gems: in The Silmarillion (p. 66) the Noldor turned to him for the instruction he could give, while the other kindreds held aloof.
From this point the narratives diverge altogether; for the secret evil of Melkor was in The Silmarillion laid bare as a result of the enquiry held into the quarrel of the Noldorin princes, whereas here its revelation came about more simply from the anxiety of Finwë Nólemë about the unrest of his people. The later story is of course far superior, in that Melkor was sought by the Valar as a known enemy as soon as his