The Book of Lost Tales 2. Christopher Tolkien
off, and wandered lost in Taurfuin, the Forest of Night, where after Túrin slew Beleg by mishap. Nigh was Tinúviel to those evil places; but she entered not that dark region, and the Valar set a new hope in her heart, so that she pressed on once more.
(21) Seldom was any of the cats slain indeed; for in those days they were mightier far in valour and in strength than they have been since those things befell that thou art soon to learn, mightier even than the tawny cats of the southern lands where the sun burns hot. No less too was their skill in climbing and in hiding, and their fleetness was that of an arrow, yet were the free dogs of the northern woods marvellously valiant and knew no fear, and great enmity was between them, and some of those hounds were held in dread even by the greatest of the cats. None, however, did Tiberth fear save only Huan the lord of the Hounds of Hisilómë. So swift was Huan that on a time he had fallen upon Tiberth as he hunted alone in the woods, and pursuing him had overtaken him and nigh rent the fur of his neck from him ere he was rescued by a host of Orcs that heard his cries. Huan got him many hurts in that battle ere he won away, but the wounded pride of Tiberth lusted ever for his death.
Great therefore was the good fortune that befell Tinúviel in meeting with Huan in the woods; and this she did in a little glade nigh to the forest’s borders, where the first grasslands begin that are nourished by the upper waters of the river Sirion. Seeing him she was mortally afraid and turned to flee; but in two swift leaps Huan overtook her. Speaking softly the deep tongue of the Lost Elves he bade her be not afeared, and “wherefore,” said he, “do I see an Elfin maiden, and one most fair, wandering thus nigh to the places of the Prince of Evil Heart?
(22) What is thy thought, O Huan?”
“Little counsel have I for thee,” said he, “save that thou goest with all speed back to Artanor and thy father’s halls, and I will accompany thee all the way, until those lands be reached that the magic of Melian the Queen does encompass.” “That will I never do,” said she, “while Beren liveth here, forgotten of his friends.” “I thought that such would be thy answer,” said he, “but if thou wilt still go forward with thy mad quest, then no counsel have I for thee save a desperate and a perilous one: we must make now all speed towards the ill places of Tiberth’s abiding that are yet far off. I will guide thee thither by the most secret ways, and when we are come there thou must creep alone, if thou hast the heart, to the dwelling of that prince at an hour nigh noon when he and most of his household lie drowsing upon the terraces before his gates. There thou mayst perchance discover, if fortune is very kind, whether Beren be indeed within that ill place as thy mother said to thee. But lo, I will lie not far from the foot of the mount whereon Tiberth’s hall is built, and thou must say to Tiberth so soon as thou seest him, be Beren there or be he not, that thou hast stumbled upon Huan of the Dogs lying sick of great wounds in a withered dale without his gates. Fear not overmuch, for herein wilt thou both do my pleasure and further thine own desires, as well as may be; nor do I think that when Tiberth hears thy tidings thou wilt be in any peril thyself for a time. Only do thou not direct him to the place that I shall show to thee; thou must offer to guide him thither thyself. Thus thou shalt get free again of his evil house, and shalt see what I contrive for the Prince of Cats.” Then did Tinúviel shudder at the thought of what lay before, but she said that this rede would she sooner take than to return home, and they set forth straightway by secret pathways through the woods, and by winding trails over the bleak and stony lands that lay beyond.
At last on a day at morn they came to a wide dale hollowed like a bowl among the rocks. Deep were its sides, but nought grew there save low bushes of scanty leaves and withered grass. “This is the Withered Dale that I spake of,” said Huan. “Yonder is the cave where the great
Here the typescript version of the Tale of Tinúviel ends, at the foot of a page. I think it is improbable that any more of this version was made.
NOTES
1 For earlier references to Olórë Mallë, the Way of Dreams, see I.18, 27; 211, 225.
2 The distinction made here between the Elves (who call the queen Wendelin) and, by implication, the Gnomes (who call her Gwendeling) is even more explicit in the typescript version, p. 42 (‘’tis a tale of the Gnomes, wherefore I beg that thou fill not Eriol’s ears with thy Elfin names’) and p. 45 (‘The Prince of Cats, whom the Gnomes have called Tiberth Bridhon Miaugion, but the Elves Tevildo’). See I.50–1.
3 The manuscript as originally written read: ‘Now Beren was a Gnome, son of a thrall of Melko’s, some have said, that laboured in the darker places…’ See note 4.
4 The manuscript as originally written read: ‘I Beren of the Noldoli, son of Egnor the huntsman…’ See note 3.
5 From this point, and continuing to the words ‘forests of the south’ on p. 21, the text is written on detached pages placed in the notebook. There is no rejected material corresponding to this passage. It is possible that it existed, and was removed from the book and lost; but, though the book is in a decayed state, it does not seem that any pages were removed here, and I think it more likely that my father simply found himself short of space, as he wrote over the original, erased, version, and (almost certainly) expanded it as he went.
6 The text as originally written read: ‘came never back to Ellu, but plays…’ (for Ellu see Changes to Names below). As a result of the interpolation ‘but turned towards Palisor’ Palisor is placed in the south of the world. In the tale of The Coming of the Elves (I. 114) Palisor is called ‘the midmost region’ (see also the drawing of the ‘World-Ship’, I.84), and it seems possible that the word ‘south’ should have been changed; but it remains in the typescript (p. 47).
7 The Tale of Turambar, though composed after the Tale of Tinúviel, was in existence when Tinúviel was rewritten (see p. 69).
8 From ‘amazed utterly’ to ‘if Tinúviel were not there’ (p. 30) the text is written on an inserted page; see note 5—here also the underlying textual situation is obscure.
9 A short passage of earlier text in pencil becomes visible here, ending: ‘…and Tinúviel grew to long sorely for Wendelin her mother and for the sight of Linwë and for Kapalen making music in pleasant glades.’ Kapalen must be a name preceding Tifanto, itself preceding Dairon (see Changes to Names below).
10 this Gnome: original reading this man. This was a slip, but a significant slip (see p. 52), in all probability. It is possible that ‘man’ was used here, as occasionally elsewhere (e.g. p. 18 ‘as high as men could fashion their longest ladders’,