"GL3" - читать интересную книгу автора (vol08)

1944, not 1942. The page 'A', preceding 'B' and 'C', is indeed where
the ideas of the beacons and the westbound errand-riders first emerged
- and since it was written in 1944 the appearance of Faramir repre-
sents no difficulty. Thus in his letter of 29 November 1944 cited on
p. 219 my father could say that 'Book Five and Last opens with the
ride of Gandalf to Minas Tirith ... Some of this is written or
sketched': it had been 'written or sketched' in the previous month.
The reason for this error, made many years later, is easy to see: for
there was indeed a long hiatus in the writing of 'Minas Tirith' (and
'The Muster of Rohan'). But it fell not in the long halt of 1943-4,
between Book III and Book IV; it fell in the long halt between October
1944 and the summer of 1946 (see pp. 219-20), after Book IV was
completed. That this is so is strongly supported by the time-schemes.
I have argued (p. 141) that the schemes C and D preceded the
chronological problems that emerged in October 1944, while scheme
S represents their resolution. All three, however, deal both with Frodo



and Sam on the one hand and the events in Rohan and Gondor on the
other; and it seems therefore very probable that they are all to be
associated with the new narrative opening at that time. It was precisely
because my father was now, in the latter part of 1944, returning 'west
of Anduin' for the first time since he finished 'The Palantir' that the
need for all this chronological synchronisation arose. See further the
Note on Chronology at the end of this chapter.

The first full draft of 'Minas Tirith' belongs of course to the final
period in the writing of The Lord of the Rings. This text was left
behind in England; but apart from this, almost all manuscript material
from the final period (Books V and VI), including outlines and initial
draftings, went to Marquette University in the original consignment of
papers.

(ii) The Muster of Rohan.

The original draft for the opening of 'The Muster of Rohan', here
called 'A', is a rapidly pencilled text in my father's most difficult script,
some of which has defied repeated attempts to decipher it; I give it here
as best I can. The opening paragraph was rejected as soon as written,
but it was not struck through. It may be mentioned before giving the
text that it had long been known that Theoden would return from
Isengard through the mountains to Dunharrow: see the outlines given
on pp. 70, 72 (written before Gandalf's sudden departure for Minas
Tirith on Shadowfax had entered). In LR the journey of Theoden,
Aragorn and their company from Dol Baran is described in 'The
Passing of the Grey Company', but that had not yet been written.

Morning was come again, but dim still lay the deep dale
about them. Dark and shadowy the great woods of fir climbed