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THE THIRD PHASE.

XIX.
THE THIRD PHASE (1):
THE JOURNEY TO BREE.

It seems to me extremely probable that the 'second phase' of writing,
beginning with the fifth version of 'A Long-expected Party' (Chapter
XI V in this book) now petered out, and once again a new start was made
on the whole work. This 'third phase' is constituted by a long series of
homogeneous manuscripts carrying the story from a sixth version of 'A
Long-expected Party' right through to Rivendell. Though subsequently
overwritten, interleaved, struck through, or 'cannibalised' to form parts
of later texts, these manuscripts were at first clear and neat, and their
rather distinctive, regular script makes it possible to reconstitute the
series quite precisely despite the punishment they received later, and
despite the fact that some parts remained in England when others went to
Marquette University. They were indeed fair copies of the now chaotic
existing texts, and few important narrative changes were made. But in
these new texts 'Bingo' is finally supplanted by 'Frodo', and 'Frodo Took'
becomes in turn 'Folco Took', taking over what had been his father's
name (see pp. 251, 290). In describing these third phase versions I
restrict myself here almost exclusively to the form they had when first
written, and ignore the fearsome complexities of their later treatment.
There are three pieces of evidence available for the determination of
the 'external' date. One is my father's letter of 13 October 1938, in which
he said that the book 'has reached Chapter XI (though in rather an
illegible state') (Letters no. 34). Another is his letter of a February 1939,
in which he recorded that although he had not been able to touch it since
the previous December, it had by then 'reached Chapter 12 (and had
been re-written several times), running to over 300 MS pages of the size
of this paper and written generally as closely.' The third is a set of notes,
plot-outlines and brief narrative drafts all bearing the date 'August 1939'.
from these, as will be seen later, it is apparent that the third phase was
already in being.
My guess - it can hardly be more - is that in October 1938 the third
phase had not been begun, or had not proceeded far, since the boot was
'in rather an illegible state', while when my father wrote of having had to
set the work aside in December 1938 it was to the third phase that he was
referring: hence he said that it had been 're-written several times'
(moreover 'Chapter XI I' of this phase is the arrival at Rivendell, and it is
here - as I think - that the new version was interrupted).

The third phase can be described quite rapidly, as far as the end of
'Fog on the Barrow-downs', but first there is an interesting new text to be
given. This my father called a Foreword (precursor of the Prologue in the
published work). There is no preparatory material for it extant, but for a
section of it he took up the passage concerning hobbit architecture from
the second version of 'A Short Cut to Mushrooms', against which he had
directed 'Put in Foreword' (see pp. 294 - 5). This was scarcely changed