The Return Of The Shadow Part 9

Tom Bombadil's names for the ponies go back to the beginning, with the exception of 'Sharp-ears', who was first called 'Four-foot'! When he bade the treasures lying in the sun on the top of the mound lie there 'free to all finders, bird, beast, elves or men and all kind creatures', he added: 'For the makers and owners of these things are not here, and their day is long past, and the makers cannot claim them again until the world is mended." And when he took the brooch for Goldberry he said: 'Fair was she who long ago wore this on her shoulder, and Goldberry shall wear it now, and we shall not forget them, the vanished folk, the old kings, the children and the maidens, and all those who walked the earth when the world was younger.'

While in the outline given on p. 125 the hobbits refuse to take anything from the treasure in the mound, in the first text the story is that Tom chose for them 'bronze swords, short, leaf-shaped and keen', but nothing further is said in description of them (cf. FR p. 157), though the following was added in pencil and perhaps belongs to the time of the writing of the ma.n.u.script: 'These, he said, were made many ages ago by men out of the West. They were foes of the Ring-lord.' The ma.n.u.script continues: and they hung them from the leather belts beneath their jackets; though they did not yet see the purpose of them. Fighting had not occurred to any of them as among the possible adventures that their flight might bring them to. As far as Bingo could remember even the great and heroic Bilbo had somehow avoided using his small sword even on goblins - and then he remembered the spiders of Mirkwood and tightened his belt.

Of the hints in Tom's words in FR concerning the history of Angmar and the coming of Aragorn there is of course no suggestion.

As already noted, the end of the chapter is roughly pencilled and here and there overwritten in ink. The crossing of the d.y.k.e - boundary of an old kingdom, about which 'Tom seemed to remember something unhappy and would not say much' - and their coming at last to the Road is much as in FR (p. 158), but the remainder is best given in full, as originally pencilled, so far as that can be made out.

Bingo rode down onto the track and looked both ways. There was no one in sight. 'Well, here we are again at last!' he said. 'I suppose we haven't lost more than a day by Merry's short cut. We had better stick to the beaten way after this.'

'You had better,' said Tom, 'and ride fast.'

Bingo looked at him. Black riders came back into his thought. He looked a little anxiously back towards the setting sun, but the road was brown and empty. 'Do you think,' he asked hesitatingly, 'do you think we shall be - er, pursued tonight?'

'Not tonight,' said Tom. 'No, not tonight. Not perhaps the next day. Not perhaps for days to come.

The next pa.s.sage is very confused and little can be made out (of the first pencilled text); as overwritten in ink it reads: But I cannot say for certain. Tom is not master of the Riders that come out of the Black Land far beyond his country.' All the same the hobbits wished that Tom was coming with them. They felt that he would know how to deal with them - if anyone did. They were now at last going forward into lands wholly strange to them, and beyond all but the most distant legends of the s.h.i.+re, and they began to feel really lonely, exiled, and rather helpless. But Tom was now wis.h.i.+ng them a final farewell, bidding them have good heart, and ride till dark without halting.

The pencilled text continues: But he encouraged them - a little - by telling them that he guessed the Riders- (or some of them) were seeking now among the mounds. For he seemed to think that the Riders and Barrow- wights had some kind of kins.h.i.+p or understanding. If that were so, it might prove in the end well that they had been captured. They learned from him that some miles away along the road was the old village of Bree, on the west side of Bree-hill.(6) It had an inn that could be trusted: the White Horse [written above: Prancing Pony). The keeper was a good man and not unknown to Tom. 'Just you mention my name and he will treat you fairly. There you can sleep sound, and after that the morning will speed you well upon your way. Go now with my blessing.' They begged him to come as far as the inn and drink once more with them. But he laughed and refused, saying: 'Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting.' Then he turned, tossed up his hat, leaped on Lumpkin's back, and rode over the bank and away singing into the gathering dusk.

This pa.s.sage, as far as 'Go now with my blessing', was rejected, and a new version written in ink on a separate sheet; this second text is the same as Tom's farewell speech in FR p. 159 ('Tom will give you good advice...'), but it is here written out in verse-lines, and with these differences: the 'worthy keeper' is Barnabas b.u.t.terbur, not Barliman, and the reference to him is followed by: He knows Tom Bombadil, and Tom's name will help you.

Say 'Tom sent us here ' and he will treat you kindly.

There you can sleep sound, and afterwards the morning Will speed you upon your way. Co now with my blessing!

Keep up your merry hearts, and ride to meet your fortune!

That these revisions are later than the first pencilled draft of the next chapter is seen from the fact that throughout that draft the innkeeper's name was Timothy t.i.tus, not yet Barnabas b.u.t.terbur (p. 140 note 3). The end of this chapter is again overwritten in ink, but so far as I can make out this was only to clarify the almost illegible pencilled text: The hobbits stood and watched him out of sight. Then, feeling heavy at heart (in spite of his encouragement), they mounted their ponies, not without some glances back along the Road, and went off slowly into the evening. They did not sing, or talk, or discuss the events of the night before, but plodded silently along. Bingo and Merry rode in front, Odo and Frodo, leading the spare pony, were behind.

It was quite dark before they saw lights twinkling some distance ahead. Before them rose Bree Hill, barring the way, a dark slope against the misty stars, and under it and on its western side nestled the little village.

NOTES.

1. This draft is in fact continuous with that for the Bombadil chapter (p. 123 note 3), but my father soon after drew a line on the pencilled text between 'and led them with candles back to their bedroom' and 'That night they heard no noises', entering the chapter-number 'VI?'.

2. The illegible word begins Expl but the remainder does not seem to be (Expl) anatton.

3. Cf. the outline given on p. 112: 'two Barrow-wights come [?galloping] after them, but stop every time Tom Bombadil turns and looks at them.'

4. In a very early form of the chapter 'Many Meetings' (a pa.s.sage retained word for word in FR, pp. 231 - 2) Bingo says to Gandalf at Rivendell: 'You seem to know a great deal already. I have not spoken to the others about the Barrow. At first it was too horrible, and afterwards there were other things to think about. How did you know about it?' And Gandalf replies: 'You have talked long in your sleep, Bingo.' But I doubt that this is relevant.

5. The 'dark tower' of the Necromancer is referred to by Gandalf in the text given in Chapter III (p. 81), and indeed goes back to The Hobbit, where at the end of Chapter VII 'Queer Lodgings' Gandalf speaks of the 'dark tower' of the Necromancer, in the south of Mirkwood. But it is difficult to feel sure where at this stage my father imagined the Dark Tower to stand. Tom Bombadil says (p. 129) that he 'is not master of the Riders that come out of the Black Land far beyond his country', and the name Mordor had certainly arisen: cf. the second version of The Fall of Numenor (V.29, 31), 'And they came at last even to Mordor the Black Country, where Sauron, that is in the Gnomish tongue named Thu, has rebuilt his fortresses.' See further p. 218 note 17.

6. My father first put 'an old village which had an inn', but the change to 'the old village of Bree, on the west side of Bree-hill. It had an inn' was almost certainly made as he wrote (and 'Prancing Pony' above 'White Horse' likewise). This is where the name first appears, based on Brill in Buckinghams.h.i.+re, a place which he knew well, for it sits on a hill in the Little Kingdom of Farmer Giles of Ham (see Carpenter, Biography, p. 160). The name Brill is derived from the old British word bre 'hill', to which the English added their own word hyll; cf. LR Appendix F (p. 414), and the Guide to the Names in The Lard of the Rings (in Lobdell, A Tolkien Compa.s.s, 1975), entry Archet.

VIII. ARRIVAL AT BREE.

My father continued on into a description of the Breelanders without a break. Subsequently he wrote over the original pencilled text in ink, and in that form, necessarily, I give it here.(1) Little in a sense - it had perhaps some 50 houses on the hillside, and a large inn because of the goings and comings on the Road (though those were now less than they had once been). But it was actually a village built by Big People - mainly (the nearest settled habitation of that large and mysterious race to the s.h.i.+re). Not many lived as far West as that in those days, and the Bree-folk (together with the neighbouring villages of Staddle and Crick) were an odd and rather isolated community, belonging to n.o.body but themselves (and more accustomed to dealing with hobbits, dwarves, and the other odd inhabitants of the world than Big People were or are). They were brown-faced, dark-haired, broad, shortish, cheerful and independent. They nor any one else knew why or when they had settled where they were. The land thereabouts and for many miles eastward was pretty empty in those days. There were hobbits about, of course - some higher up on the slopes of Bree-hill itself, and many in the valley of Combe on the east side. For not all hobbits lived in the s.h.i.+re by any means. But the Outsiders were a rustic, not to say (though in the s.h.i.+re it was often said) uncivilized sort. Some were in fact no better than tramps and wanderers, ready to dig a hole in any bank, and to stay there just as long or short a time as it suited them. So the folk of Bree were, you see, familiar enough with hobbits, civilized or otherwise - for Brandywine Bridge was not so far off. But our hobbits were not familiar with Bree-folk, and the houses seemed strange, large and tall (almost hillocks), as they trotted in on their ponies.

My father then struck this out, and began again. He was still numbering the pages continuously from the beginning of Chapter VI (the story of the Barrow-wight), but when he reached Bingo's song at the inn he realised that he was well into a new chapter, and wrote in 'VII' at this point, i.e. at the beginning of this new account of the people of Bree. Once again there is no t.i.tle.

The ma.n.u.script of this chapter is an exceedingly complicated doc.u.ment: pencil overlaid with ink (sometimes remaining partly legible, sometimes not at all), pencil not overlaid but struck through, pencil allowed to stand, and fresh composition in ink, together with riders on slips and complex directions for insertions. There is no reason to suppose that the 'layers' are significantly separated in time, but the story was evolving as my father wrote: and the only way to present a coherent text is to give the ma.n.u.script in its last form. The chapter is given almost in full, since although much was retained it can only be seen clearly from a complete text just what the story was; but for convenience I divide it into two chapters in this book, breaking the narrative at the point where FR Chapter 9 'At the Sign of The Prancing Potty' ends and 10 'Strider' begins.

The interrelations of chapter-structure in the following part of the story are inevitably complex, and can best be seen from a table: It will be seen at the beginning of this text that the presence of Men at Bree had been temporarily abandoned, and the description of their appearance in the rejected pa.s.sage just given is now applied to the hobbits of the Bree-land; the innkeeper is a hobbit, and the Prancing Pony has a round front door leading into the side of Bree-hill.

They were hobbit-folk of course that lived in Bree (and the neighbouring villages of Combe and Archet).(2) Not all the hobbits lived in the s.h.i.+re by any means, but the Outsiders were a rustic, not to say (though in the s.h.i.+re it was often said) uncivilized lot, and not held in much account. There were probably a good many more of them scattered about in the West of the world in those days than people in the s.h.i.+re imagined, though many were indeed no better than tramps and wanderers, ready to dig a rough hole in any bank, and stay only as long as it suited them. The villagers of Bree, Combe, and Archet, however, were settled folk (in reality not more rustic than most of their distant relations in Hobbiton) - but they were rather odd and independent, and belonged to n.o.body but themselves. They were browner-skinned, darker- haired, slightly stouter, a good deal broader (and perhaps a trifle tougher) than the average hobbit of the s.h.i.+re. Neither they nor anyone else knew why or when they had settled just there; but there they were, moderately prosperous and content. The land all round about was very empty for leagues and leagues in those days, and few folk (Big or Little) would be seen in a day's march. Owing to the Road the inn at Bree was fairly large; but the comings and goings, East or West, were less than they had been, and the inn was now chiefly used as a meeting-place for the idle, talkative, sociable or inquisitive inhabitants of the villages and the odd inhabitants of the wilder country round about.

When our four hobbits at last rode into Bree they were very glad. The inn door was open. It was a large round door leading into the side of Bree-hill, at which the road turned, looping to the right, and disappeared in the darkness. Light streamed into the road from the door, over which there was a lamp swinging and beneath that a sign - a fat white pony standing on his hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: The Prancing Pony by Barnabas b.u.t.terbur.(3) Someone was singing a song inside.

As the hobbits got off their ponies the song ended and there was a burst of laughter. Bingo stepped inside, and nearly b.u.mped into the largest and fattest hobbit that he had ever set eyes on in all his days in the well-fed s.h.i.+re. It was obviously Mr b.u.t.terbur himself. He had on a white ap.r.o.n and was scuttling out of one door and in through another with a tray full of full mugs. 'Can we... ?' said Bingo.

'Half a moment if you please,' the landlord shouted over his shoulder, and vanished into a babel of voices and a cloud of smoke beyond the door. In a moment he was out again wiping his hands on his ap.r.o.n. 'Good evening, master,' he said. 'What may you be wanting? '

'Beds for four and stabling for five ponies,' said Bingo, 'if that can be managed. We have come far today. Are you Mr b.u.t.terbur, perhaps? '

'That's right,' he answered, 'Barnabas is my name, Barnabas b.u.t.terbur at your service - if it is possible. But the house is nearly full, and so are the stables.'

'I was afraid it might be,' said Bingo. 'I hear it is an excellent house. We were specially recommended to stop here by our friend Tom Bombadil.'

'In that case anything can be managed!' said Mr b.u.t.terbur, slapping his thighs and beaming. 'Come right inside! And how is the old fellow? Mad and merry, but merrier than mad, I'll be bound! Why didn't he come along too, and then we should have had some fun! Hi! n.o.b!(4) Come here! Where are you, you woolly- footed slow-coach? Take the guests' bags! Where's Bob? You don't know? Well, find out! Double sharp. I haven't got six legs, nor six arms, nor six eyes either. Tell Bob.there's five ponies that have to be stabled. And well, mind you. Well, you must make room then, if they have to go in bedrooms!(5) Come right inside, sirs, all of you. Pleased to meet you! What names did you say? Mr Hill, Mr Rivers, Mr Green, and Mr Brown.(6) Can't say I have heard those names before, but I am pleased to meet you and hear them now.' Bingo had made them up, of course, on the spur of the moment, suddenly feeling that it would not be at all wise to publish their real names in a hobbit-inn on the high road. Hill, Rivers, Green, Brown sounded much stranger as names to hobbits than they do to us, and Mr b.u.t.terbur had his own reasons for thinking them unlikely. However, he said nothing about that yet. 'But there,' he went on, 'I dare say there are lots of queer names and queer folk that we never hear of in these parts. We don't see so many s.h.i.+re-folk in these days. Time was when the Tooks, now, often came along to have a crack with me or my old dad. Rare good people were the Tooks. They say they had Bree blood in 'em, and were not quite like other s.h.i.+re-folk, but I don't know the rights of it. But there! I must be running off. But wait a minute now! Four riders and five ponies? Let me see, what does that remind me of? Never mind, it will come back. All in good time. One thing drives out another, as they say. I am a bit busy tonight. Lots of folk have dropped in, unexpected. Hi, n.o.b! Take these bags to the guests' rooms. That's right. Seven to ten down the west pa.s.sage. Be quick now! And will you be wanting supper? You will. I thought so. Soon, I shouldn't wonder. Very well, masters, soon it shall be. This way now! Here's a room will suit you nicely, I hope. Excuse me, now. I must be trotting. 'Tis hard work for two legs, but I don't get thinner. I'll look in again later. If you want anything, ring the hand-bell, and n.o.b will come. If he don't, shout!

Off he went, leaving them feeling a little breathless. He had not stopped talking to them (mixed with the giving of orders and instructions to other scuttling hobbits in the pa.s.sages) from the time that he welcomed Bingo, until he ushered them into a small but cosy private parlour. There was a bit of bright fire burning; there were some very comfortable chairs, and there was a round table, already spread with a white cloth. On it was a large hand- bell. But n.o.b, a small round curly-haired red-faced hobbit, came bustling back long before they thought of using it.

'Will you be wanting anything to drink, masters?' he asked. 'Or shall I show you your rooms, while supper is making?'

They were washed, and in the middle of a good deep mug of beer each, before Mr b.u.t.terbur came trotting in again, followed by n.o.b. A fine smell came with them. In a twinkling the table was laid. Hot soup, cold meats, new loaves, mounds of b.u.t.ter, cheese and fresh fruits, all the good solid plain food dear to hobbit-hearts, was set before them in plenty. They went at it with a will - not without a pa.s.sing thought (in Bingo's mind especially) that it had to be paid for, and that they had no endless store of money. The time would come all too soon when they would have to pa.s.s good inns (even if they could find them).(7) Mr b.u.t.terbur hovered round for a bit, and then prepared to leave. 'I don't know whether you would care to join the company after supper,' he said, standing in the door. 'But perhaps you would rather find your beds. Still, the company would be pleased to welcome you, if you had a mind. We don't get travellers from the s.h.i.+re - outsiders we call 'em, begging your pardon - too often in these days; and we like to hear the news, or any new song you may have in mind. But as you like, sirs. Ring the bell, if you wish for anything.'

There was nothing omitted that they could wish for, so they did not need to ring the bell. So refreshed and encouraged did they feel at the end of their supper (about 55 minutes steady going, not hindered by unnecessary talk) that they decided to join the company. At least Odo, Frodo, and Bingo did. Merry said he thought it would be too stuffy. 'I shall either sit here quietly by the fire, or else go out for a snuff of the air outside. Mind your Ps and Qs, and don't forget that you are supposed to be escaping in secret, and are Mr Hill, Mr Green, and Mr Brown."All right,' they said. 'Mind yourself! Don't get lost, and don't forget that it is safest indoors.' Then they went and joined the company in the big meeting-room of the inn. The gathering was large, as they discovered as soon as their eyes became used to the light. This came chiefly from a large fire on a wide hearth, for the rather dim rays of three lamps hanging from the roof were clouded with smoke. Barnabas b.u.t.terbur was standing near the fire. He introduced them, so quickly that they did not catch half the names he mentioned, nor discover to whom the names they caught belonged. There seemed to be several Mugworts (an odd name to their way of thinking), and also other rather botanical names like Rushlight, Heathertoes, Ferny, and Appledore (not to mention b.u.t.terbur)(8); there were also some (to hobbits) natural names like Banks, Longholes, Brockhouse, Sandheaver, and Tunnelly, which were not unknown among the more rustic inhabitants of the s.h.i.+re.

But they got on well enough without surnames (which were very little used in that company). On the other side the company, as soon as they discovered that the strangers were from the s.h.i.+re, were disposed to be friendly, and curious. Bingo had not attempted to conceal where they came from, knowing that their clothes and talk would give them away at once. But he gave out that he was interested in history and geography, at which there was much wagging of heads (although neither of these words were familiar in Bree-dialect); and that he was writing a book (at which there was silent astonishment); and that he and his friends were going to try and find out something about the various scattered eastern hobbits. At this a regular chorus of voices broke out, and if Bingo had really been going to write such a book (and had had many ears and sufficient patience) he would have learned a good deal in a few minutes, and also obtained lots of advice on who to apply to for more and profounder information.

But after a time, as Bingo did not show any sign of writing a book on the spot, the company returned to more recent and engaging topics, and Bingo sat in a corner, listening and looking round. Odo and Frodo made themselves very quickly at home, and were soon (rather to Bingo's disquiet) giving lively accounts of recent events in the s.h.i.+re. There was some laughter and wagging of heads, and some questions. Suddenly Bingo noticed that a queer-looking, brown-faced hobbit, sitting in the shadows behind the others, was also listening intently. He had an enormous mug (more like a jug) in front of him, and was smoking a broken- stemmed pipe right under his rather long nose. He was dressed in dark rough brown cloth, and had a hood on, in spite of the warmth, - and, very remarkably, he had wooden shoes! Bingo could see them sticking out under the table in front of him.

'Who is that over there?' said Bingo, when he got a chance to whisper to Mr b.u.t.terbur. 'I don't think you introduced him.' 'Him?' said Barnabas, c.o.c.king an eye without turning his head. 'O! that is one of the wild folk - rangers we call 'em. He has been coming in now and again (in autumn and winter mostly) the last few years; but he seldom talks. Not but what he can tell some rare tales when he has a mind, you take my word. What his right name is I never heard, but he's known round here as Trotter. You can hear him coming along the road in those shoes: c.l.i.tter-clap - when he walks on a path, which isn't often. Why does he wear 'em? Well, that I can't say. But there ain't no accounting for East or West, as we say here, meaning the Rangers and the s.h.i.+re-folk, begging your pardon.' Mr b.u.t.terbur was called away at that moment, or he might have whispered on in that fas.h.i.+on indefinitely.

Bingo found Trotter looking at him, as if he had heard or guessed all that was said. Presently the Ranger, with a click and a jerk of his hand, invited Bingo to come over to him; and as Bingo sat down beside him he threw back his hood, showing a long s.h.a.ggy head of hair, some of which hung over his forehead. But it did not hide a pair of keen dark eyes. 'I'm Trotter,' he said in a low voice. 'I am very pleased to meet you, Mr - Hill, if old Barnabas had your name right?'(9) 'He had,' said Bingo, rather stiffly: he was feeling far from comfortable under the stare of those dark eyes.

'Well, Mr Hill,' said Trotter, 'if I were you, I should stop your young friends from talking too much. Drink, fire, and chance meetings are well enough, but - well, this is not the s.h.i.+re. There are queer folk about - though I say it as shouldn't,' he added with a grin, seeing Bingo's look. 'And there have been queer travellers through Bree not long back,' he went on, peering at Bingo's face. Bingo peered back, but Trotter made no further sign. He seemed suddenly to be listening to Odo. Odo was now giving a comic account of the Farewell Party, and was just reaching Bingo's disappearing act. There was a hush of expectation. Bingo felt seriously annoyed. What was the good of vanis.h.i.+ng out of the s.h.i.+re, if the a.s.s went away and gave their. names to a mixed crowd in an inn on the highway! Even now Odo had said enough to set shrewd wits (Trotter's for instance) guessing; and it would soon become obvious that 'Hill' was no other than Bolger-Baggins (of Bag-end Underhill). And Bingo somehow felt that it would be dangerous, even disastrous, if Odo mentioned the Ring.

'You had better do something quick! ' said Trotter in his ear. Bingo jumped on the table, and began to talk. The attention was s.h.i.+fted from Odo at once, and several of the hobbits laughed and clapped (thinking possibly that Mr Hill had been taking as much ale as was good for him). Bingo suddenly felt very nervous, and found himself, as was his habit when making a speech, fingering the things in his pocket. Vaguely he felt the chain and the Ring there, and jingled it against a few copper coins; but this did not help him much, and after a few suitable words, as they would have said in the s.h.i.+re (such as 'We are all very much gratified by the kindness of your reception', and things of that sort), he stopped and coughed. 'A song! A song!' they shouted. 'Come on now, Master, sing us something.' In desperation Bingo began an absurd song, which Bilbo had been fond of (he probably wrote it).(10) [Song].(11) There was loud applause. Bingo had a good voice, and the company was not over particular. 'Where's old Barney?' they cried. 'He ought to hear this. He ought to larn his cat the fiddle, and then we'd have a dance. Bring in some more ale, and let's have it again! ' They made Bingo have another drink and then sing the song once more, while many of them joined in; for the tune was well-known and they were quick at picking up words.

Much encouraged Bingo capered about on the table; and when he came a second time to 'the cow jumped over the moon', he jumped in the air. Much too vigorously:(12) for he came down bang into a tray full of mugs, and then slipped and rolled off the table with a crash, clatter, and b.u.mp. But what interested the company far more and stopped their cheers and laughter dead was his vanis.h.i.+ng. As Bingo rolled off the table he simply disappeared with a crash as if he had thudded through the floor without making a hole.

The local hobbits sprang to their feet and shouted for Barnabas. They drew away from Odo and Frodo, who found themselves left alone in a corner and eyed darkly and doubtfully from a distance, as if they were the companions of a travelling wizard of dubious origin and unknown powers and purpose. There was one swarthy- faced fellow who stood looking at them with a knowing sort of look that made them feel uncomfortable. Very soon he slipped out of the door followed by one of his friends: not a well-favoured pair.(13) Bingo in the meanwhile feeling a fool (quite rightly) and not knowing what else to do crawled away under the tables to the corner by Trotter, who was sitting still quite unconcerned. He then sat back against the wall, and took off the Ring. By bad luck he had been fingering it in his pocket just at the fatal moment, and had slipped it on in his sudden surprise at falling.

'Hullo! ' said Trotter. 'What did you mean by that? Worse than anything your friends could have said. You've fair put your foot and finger in it, haven't you?'

'I don't know what you mean,' said Bingo (annoyed and alarmed).

'O yes you do,' said Trotter. 'But we had better wait till the uproar has died down. Then, if you don't mind, Mr Bolger- Baggins, I should like a quiet word with you.'

'What about?' said Bingo, pretending not to notice the sudden use of his proper name. 'O, wizards, and that sort of thing,' said Trotter with a grin. 'You'll hear something to your advantage.' 'Very well,' said Bingo. 'I'll see you later.'

In the meantime argument in a chorus of voices had been going on by the fireplace. Mr b.u.t.terbur had come trotting in, and was trying to listen to many conflicting accounts at the same time.

The next part of the text, as far as the end of Chapter 9 in FR, is almost word for word the same as in the final version, with only such differences as are to be expected: 'Mr Underhill' of FR is 'Mr Hill', 'There's Mr Took, now: he's not vanished' is 'There's Mr Green and Mr Brown, now: they've not vanished', and there is no mention of the Men of Bree, of the Dwarves, or of the strange Men - it is simply 'the company' that went off in a huff. But at the end, when Bingo said to the landlord: 'Will you see that our ponies are ready?', the old narrative differs: 'There now!' said the landlord, snapping his fingers. 'Half a moment. It's come back to me, as I said it would. Bless me! Four hobbits and five ponies! '

As already explained, though I end this chapter here the earliest version goes on into what was afterwards Chapter 10 'Strider' without a break; see the table on p. 133.

NOTES.

1. Bits of the underlying text can in fact be made out: enough to show that the conception of Bree as a village of Men, though with 'hobbits about', was present.

2. Crick (p. 132) has disappeared for good (but cf. 'Crickhollow'); Staddle also, but only temporarily.

3. Barnabas b.u.t.terbur is written in ink over the original name in pencil: Timothy t.i.tus. Timothy t.i.tus was the name of the innkeeper in the underlying pencilled text throughout the chapter. This was a name that survived from an old story of my father's, of which only a couple of pages exist (no doubt all that was ever written down); but that Timothy t.i.tus bore no resemblance whatsoever to Mr b.u.t.terbur.

4. n.o.b was at first called Lob; this survived into the inked ma.n.u.script stage and was then changed.

5. The original pencilled text went on from here: Come right inside. Pleased to meet you. Mr Took, did you say? Lor now, I remember that name. Time was when Tooks would think nothing of riding out here just to have a crack with my old dad or me. Mr Odo Took, Mr Frodo Took, Mr Merry Brandybuck, Mr Bingo Baggins. Lemme see, what does that remind me of? Never mind, it will come back. One thing drives out another. Bit busy tonight. Lots of folk dropped in. Hi, n.o.b! Take these bags (etc.) My father struck this out, noting 'hobbits must hide their names', and wrote these two pa.s.sages on an added slip in pencil: Mr Frodo Walker, Mr Odo Walker - can't say I have met that name before. (Bingo had made it up on the spur of the moment, suddenly realizing that it would not be wise to publish their real names in a hobbit-inn on the high road).

What name did you say - all Walkers, Mr Ben Walker and three nephews. Can't say I have met that name before, but I'm pleased to meet you.

These also were struck out, and the pa.s.sage that follows in the text ('Come right inside, sirs, all of you...'), in pencil overwritten in ink, was adopted.

6. In the underlying pencilled text of this pa.s.sage my father wrote Ferny but at once changed it to Hill; and in the text in ink he wrote Fellowes but changed it to Green. Later on, in rejected pencilled drafting, Mr b.u.t.terbur says: 'You don't say, Mr Mugwort. Well, as long as Mr Rivers and the two Mr Fellowes don't vanish too (without paying the bill) he is welcome' (i.e. to vanish into thin air, as Mugwort has a.s.serted that he did: FR p. 173).

7. Cf. Bingo's words to Gildor, p. 62: 'I had come to the end of my treasure.' The present pa.s.sage was rejected and does not appear in FR: but cf. p. 172 note 3.

8. Appledore. 'apple-tree' (Old English apuldor). -In FR (p. 167) these 'botanical' names are primarily names of families of Men in Bree.

9. The underlying pencilled text still had here: 'I am very pleased to meet Mr Bingo Baggins', and Trotter's next words began. "Well, Mr Bingo...' See note 5.

10. Here follows: 'It went to a well-known tune, and the company joined in the chorus', referring to the song which was originally given to Bingo here (see note 11), where there is a chorus; the sentence was struck out when 'The Cat and the Fiddle' was chosen instead.

11. My father first wrote here 'Troll Song', and a rough and unfinished version of it is found in the ma.n.u.script at this point. He apparently decided almost at once to subst.i.tute 'The Cat and the Fiddle', and there are also two texts of that song included in the ma.n.u.script, each preceded by the words (as in FR p. 170): It was about an Inn, and I suppose that is what brought it to Bingo's mind. Here it is in full, though only a few words of it are now generally remembered.

For the history and early forms of these songs see the Note on the Songs at the Prancing Pony that follows. - That there was to be a song at Bree is already foreseen in the primitive outline given on p. 126: 'They sleep at the inn and hear news of Gandalf. Jolly landlord. Drinking song.'

12. In the original text, where the song was to be the Troll Song, the comments of the audience on the cat and the fiddle are of course absent. Instead, after 'the company was not over particular', there followed: They made him have a drink and then sing it all over again. Much encouraged Bingo capered about on the table, and when he came a second time to 'his boot to bear where needed' he kicked in the air. Much too realistically: he overbalanced and fell...

The line His boot to bear where needed is found in the version of the Troll Song written for this episode.

13. As the people of Bree were conceived at this stage, the ill-favoured pair would presumably be hobbits; and indeed in the next chapter Bill Ferny is explicitly so (p. 165). His companion here is the origin of the 'squint-eyed Southerner' who had come up the Greenway (FR p. 168); but there is no suggestion as yet of that element in what was still a very limited canvas.

Note on the Songs at the Prancing Pony.

(i) The Troll Song.

When my father came to the scene where Bingo sings a song in The Prancing Pony he first used the 'Troll Song' (note 11 above). The original version of this, called The Root of the Boot, goes back to his time at the University of Leeds; it was privately printed in a booklet with the t.i.tle Songs for the Philologists, University College, London, 1936 (for the history of this publication see pp.144-5). My father was extremely fond of this song, which went to the tune of The fox went out on a minter's night, and my delight in the line If bonfire there be, 'tis underneath is among my very early recollections. Two copies of this booklet came into my father's possession later (in 1940-1), and at some time undeterminable he corrected the text, removing some minor errors that had crept in. I give the text here as printed in Songs for the Philologists, with these corrections: A troll sat alone on his seat of stone, And munched and mumbled a bare old bone; And long and long he had sat there lone And seen no man nor mortal - Ortal! Portal!

And long and long he had sat there lone And seen no man nor mortal.

Up came Tom with his big boots on; 'Hallo!'says he, 'pray what is yon?

It looks like the leg o'me nuncle John As should be a-lyin ' in churchyard.

Searchyard, Birchyard! etc.

'Young man,' says the troll, 'that bone I stole; But what be bones, when mayhap the soul In heaven on high hath an aureole As big and as bright as a bonfire?

On fire, yon fire!'

Says Tom: 'Oddsteeth! 'tis my belief, If bonfire there be, 'tis underneath; For old man John was as proper a thief As ever more black on a Sunday - Grundy, Monday!

But still I doan 't see what is that to thee, Wi'me kith and me kin a-makin'free: So get to h.e.l.l and ax leave o'he, Afore thou gnaws me nuncle!

Uncle, Bunck!'

In the proper place upon the base Tom boots him right - but, alas! that race Hath a stonier seat than its stony face; So he rued that net on the rumpo, Lumpo, b.u.mpo!

Now Tom goes lame since home he came, And his bootless foot is grievous game; But troll's old seat is much the same, And the bone he boned * from its owner!

Donor, b.o.n.e.r!

(* bone: steal, make off with.) In addition to correcting errors in the text printed in Songs for the Philologists my father also changed the third line in verse 3 to Hath a halo in heaven upon its poll.

The original pencilled ma.n.u.script of the song is still extant. The t.i.tle was Pero & Podex ('Boot and Bottom'), and verse 6 as first written went: In the proper place upon the base Tom boots him right - but, alas! that race Hath as stony a seat as it is in face, And Pero was punished by Podex.

Odex! Codex!

My father made a new version of the song for Bingo to sing in The Prancing Pony, suitable to the intended context, and as already mentioned this is found in the ma.n.u.script of the present chapter; but it is still in a rough state, and uncertain, and was abandoned when still incomplete. When he decided that he would not after all use it in this place he did not at once reintroduce it into The Lord of the Rings; it will be seen in Chapter XI that while the visit of the hobbits to the scene of Bilbo's encounter with the three Trolls was fully present from the first version, there was no song. It was only introduced here later; but the earlier drafts of Sam's 'Troll Song' proceed in series from the version intended for Bingo at Bree.

Songs for the Philologists.

The origin of the material in this little booklet goes back to Leeds University in the 1920s, when Professor E. V. Gordon (my father's colleague and close friend, who died most untimely in the summer of this same year, 1938) made typescripts for the use of students in the Department of English. 'His sources', in my father's words, 'were MSS of my own verses and his... with many additions of modern and traditional Icelandic songs taken mostly from Icelandic student song- books.'

In 1935 or 1936 Dr. A. H. Smith of London University (formerly a student at Leeds) gave one of these typescripts (uncorrected) to a group of Honours students there for them to set up on the Elizabethan printing- press. The result was a booklet bearing the t.i.tle SONGS FOR THE PHILOLOGISTS.

By J. R. R. Tolkien, E. V. Gordon & Others.