"GL3" - читать интересную книгу автора (vol06)

words concerning the Three Rings were early changed from their form in
the second version (p. 260, but with 'earth, sea, and sky' for 'earth, air,
and sky'):

What use they made of the Three Rings of Earth, Sea, and Sky, I



do not know; nor do I know what has now become of them. Some
say that hidden Elf-kings still keep them in fast places of the
Middle-earth; but I believe they have long been carried far over
the Great Sea.

Gandalf, again by early or immediate change, now concludes his
remarks about the Seven Rings of the Dwarves, which some say have
perished in the fire of the dragons, with the words: 'Yet that account,
maybe, is not wholly true'; he does not now refer to the belief that some
of the Seven Rings are preserved, though no doubt he implies it (cf. the
first draft for the Council of Elrond, p. 398).
As my father first wrote here the passage about Gil-galad, he began by
following the former text almost exactly, with 'Valandil, King of the
Island' (see p. 260 and note 26), but he changed it in the act of writing to:
'and he made an alliance with Valandil, King of the men of Numenor,
who came back over the sea from Westernesse into Middle-earth in
those days.' Valandil was then changed to Elendil, probably almost
immediately, and also at the subsequent occurrences of the name in this
passage. Isildor of the second text is now written Isildur. Isildur's host
was overwhelmed by 'Orcs', not 'Goblins' (see p. 437, note 35).
To Gandalf's story of Gollum nothing is added or altered from the
preceding version (see p. 261), save that 'his grandmother who ruled all
the family turned him out of her hole.'
The purport of Gandalf's discussion of Gollum's character and
motives in respect of the Ring remains unchanged from the second
version, though of course with continual slight development in expres-
sion, and in some passages with considerable expansion. The words
'Only Elves can stand it, and even they fade' (p. 261) are now omitted.
Gandalf's meaning in his reply to Frodo's objection that Gollum never
gave Bilbo the Ring is now made clearer:

'But he never gave Bilbo the Ring,' said Frodo. 'Bilbo had
already found it lying on the floor.'
'I know, answered Gandalf, 'and I have always thought that
that was one of the strangest things about Bilbo's adventure. That
is why I said that Gollum's ancestry only partly explained what
happened...'

It is still Gandalf himself who found Gollum, though Frodo's excla-
mation 'You found Gollum! ' (p. 263) was subsequently changed to 'You
have seen Gollum!', and Gandalf's reply to Frodo's question 'Did you
find him there [in Mirkwood]?' (p. 264) was changed to 'I saw him there,