The War of the Jewels (49 page)

The region nigh Brithiach and along Sirion for some way was the land of Manthor (brother of Hunthor who fell in the ravine). But Manthor, as one of the chief warriors and of the kin of the Haladin, was in command of the chief forces kept near the Crossings of Taiglin. (Manthor was not liked by Harathor, for many had wished to elect him Warden - it being... law to do so. And maybe Manthor too desired the Wardenship.) The captain of the guards near Brithiach was Enthor [> was therefore a chief henchman, called Ebor, of Manthor's (appointed by him)] younger brother of Hunthor and Manthor. So Manthor heard soon of what had happened: for all this family had been supporters and admirers of Turin, and were proud of their kinship with the House of Hador. So Enthor [> Ebor] sent messengers to Manthor to tell him that Hurin might come, escaping from Angband.

In the last part of the Narn (NE) the emergence of Hunthor (< Torbarth) can be followed, from his origin in Albarth, at first simply one of those who volunteered to accompany Turin to the attack on Glaurung and named only because he fell and was drowned at Cabed-en-Aras. In the first of these rejected passages (A 1, p. 265) the new lord of Brethil after the death of Brandir is Harathor, 'brother of that Hunthor who perished in the ravine of Taeglin'; and it is expressly said of him that 'he had no love for the house of Hador and no part in their blood'. These words, repeated in the revision A 2 (p. 263), are of great importance in the story.

An essential element in the older history of the People of Haleth was the intermingling of the line of their lords with that of the House of Hador which came about through the 'double marriage' of Hador's son Galion with the daughter (unnamed) of Haleth the Hunter, and of his daughter Glorwendil with Haleth's son Hundor (GA $171

and commentary). This double marriage was preserved in the later transformed history of the Edain, when the genealogical place of Haleth the Hunter had been taken by Halmir (p. 236); the resulting relationships can be displayed thus:

Hador Halmir

Hareth = Galdor Gloredel = Haldir Hareth = Galdor Hurin Handir Hurin Turin Brandir Turin But the complexity was further increased by the introduction of another connection with the House of Beor in the marriage of Beldis to Handir of Brethil (see the tables on pp. 231, 237): Bregor

Bregil Bregolas Handir = Beldis Baragund Brandir Morwen = Hurin Turin

Thus Turin was the second cousin of Brandir on the 'Hadorian' side, and he was also his second cousin on the Haladin side; while in the

'Beorian' line he was Brandir's second cousin once removed - a genealogical situation to delight the heart of Hamfast Gamgee.

Pointing out these relationships in an isolated note of this time, my father observed that 'Turin would be more readily accepted by the Haladin when his true name and lineage were known or guessed', since he was akin to their lords in these ways. Harathor, on the other hand, 'had no love for the house of Hador and no part in their blood'

(although he also was Turin's second cousin, his great-aunt Hareth being Turin's grandmother).

The genealogical table of the Haladin (p. 237) belongs to this stage: Harathor is shown as the seventh lord of the Haladin, succeeding Brandir, and as the brother of Hunthor: they are the sons of Hundad, son of Hundar who died in the Nirnaeth.

The hostility of the new lord to the House of Hador was an essential idea in the story of Hurin in Brethil from the beginning; but in the last paragraph of the discussion C (p. 267) we see the emergence of a family within the larger clan who, on the contrary, took pride in their kinship with the House of Hador, and were thus divided in spirit from the new lord.

In C the significance of Hunthor is moved a stage further: he becomes the dead brother of Manthor (and must therefore, as will be seen in a moment, cease to be the brother of Harathor). Manthor had indeed already entered the story in the original drafting of WH, but he did not make his appearance until the discovery of Hurin beside the Haud-en-Elleth (p. 275 in the final version), as captain of the guard in those parts; now in C he becomes a kinsman of Hurin, and an upholder of the values and virtues of the Edain. How his kinship with the House of Hador was introduced is seen from the correction made to the ending of the rejected passage B 1 (p. 266): '[Harathor] was not a man of great heart such as Hunthor his brother' > '... such as the descendants of Haldir and Hiril his sister'.* Hiril here enters the line of the People of Haleth, and the family tree is extended by a fourth child of Halmir: Haldir, Hundar, Hareth, and Hiril. In the replacement B 2

(p. 264) the phrase becomes 'he was not a man of great spirit, such as were Hunthor and Manthor, descendants of Hiril'. (That Manthor's mother was the daughter of Hiril is stated later in the text of WH, p. 289.)

In C Harathor was still so named, but he must have been on the point of receiving a new name, and must have already received a new lineage, separating him from those with 'Hadorian' sympathies, Hunthor and Manthor. The new name, Hardang, appears in the replacement text A 2 (p. 263) - and the occurrence of this name in the plot-sequence from the Narn papers shows incidentally that that text was written when my father's work on The Wanderings of Hurin was far advanced, if not completed. It is said there (p. 256) that when Brandir the Lame was chosen to be the Chieftain of Brethil 'many would have preferred his cousins Hunthor or Hardang', and (p. 258) that Manthor was a kinsman of Hurin and a cousin of Hardang.

This new 'family within the larger clan' was entered in roughly made alterations to the table of the Haladin (p. 237), of which I give the essentials in compressed form:

(* Before Hiril was introduced as a second daughter of Halmir, his daughter Hareth was first named Hiriel (p. 235, footnote).) Halmir

Haldir Hundar Hareth Hiril

= Gloredel = Galdor

Handir Hundad Hurin Meleth Brandir Hardang Turin Hunthor Manthor Hardang's birthdate is given as 470, Hunthor's as 467, and Manthor's as 469.

It also appears from C (p. 267) that a new conception of the social organisation of the Men of Brethil had entered, and with it a new meaning of the name Haladin: Manthor is said to be 'one of the chief warriors and of the kin of the Haladin', and that 'many had wished to elect him Warden'. In this connection, an isolated note (written on the reverse of that on the relationships of Turin referred to on p. 268) states:

The title of the chieftains of Brethil should be not lord nor Master.

They were elected from the family of Haldad - called the Haladin, that is 'wardens'. For hal(a) = in the old tongue of Beor's house and Haldad's 'watch, guard'. Halad was a warden. (Haldad = watch-dog.)

These new conceptions appear in the revision A 2 (p. 263), where Hardang is said to have been made Halad, 'being of the Haladin, the kin of Haleth, from which all chieftains were chosen'. It is also said, following the discussion in C, that Hardang was no friend to Manthor,

'who was also of the Haladin'. In contrast, in the first form of the passage (p. 265) Harathor is called 'the new Master of the Haladin', where Haladin clearly still means the whole people.

In the last paragraph of C (p. 267) a younger brother of Hunthor and Manthor appears, Enthor, 'captain of the guards near Brithiach'

(in the additions made to the genealogical table of the Haladin this name Enthor was given to Hiril's husband, not otherwise named; and Meleth's husband is apparently named Agathor). The removal of the name Enthor in this sentence and substitution of 'a chief henchman, called Ebor, of Manthor's (appointed by him)' suggests that my father intended to cut out the words 'younger brother of Hunthor and Manthor', but omitted to do so; this is supported by the fact that Ebor, when he appears in the revision A 2 (p. 263), refers to 'Manthor my lord, Master of the North-march', who was not there. Manthor was not there because, as stated in C, he was 'in command of the chief forces kept near the Crossings of Taiglin'; Asgon and his companions entered Brethil from the north, near the Brithiach, and they left by the same way, meeting Ebor again and retrieving their weapons.

The only obscure point concerns the failure of Asgon's party to encounter Hurin on his return. My father was in two minds about this. The rejected fourth paragraph in C (p. 267) shows him (having decided that Asgorn and his men were not imprisoned) taking the view that they were ejected from Brethil near the Crossings: it is 'the captain of the Taiglin-guard' who restores their weapons; and they remain lurking in that neighbourhood. Thus they missed Hurin, 'who entered out of Dimbar' (i.e. came into Brethil from the north after crossing the Brithiach, as Asgorn had done). Hurin, he wrote, must not enter Brethil at the Crossings and be found lying beside the Haud-en-Elleth (as the story was already in the draft manuscript).

But he at once, and understandably, thought better of this, and (in the fifth paragraph) retained the existing story that Hurin was found by the guards near the Crossings; he said now that Asgorn and his men were put out of Brethil in the same region as they entered, and that they lurked 'near the eaves in that region' - hence their failure to meet with Hurin. But in the replacement passage B 2 (p. 265) he has them decide not to stay near the north eaves of the forest, and they go down towards the Crossings.

I return now to the text, left at the end of the second passage of rewriting (B 2) on p. 265. It must be borne in mind that the typescript from this point belongs to the stage before the important alterations in the narrative entered in the two replacement passages discussed above.

Thus for a long way 'the Master of Brethil' remains Harathor; the term Halad was not yet devised, and his dwelling was not yet named Obel Halad. Rather than rewrite the existing text after the new conceptions had arisen, my father found it sufficient to correct it.

These corrections are very numerous but for the most part repetitive and systematic (as 'Master' to 'Halad' or 'Chieftain'), and to record each case in the text would make it unreadable. I have therefore ignored the rejected names and titles (this applies also to the short passage on pp. 263-4 between the two rewritten sections: here Hardang is in fact a correction on the typescript of Harathor).

Now Hurin, coming into Dimbar, summoned his strength and went on alone towards the dark feet of the Echoriad.(27) All the land was cold and desolate; and when at last it rose steeply before him and he could see no way to go further, he halted and looked about him in little hope. He stood now at the foot of a great fall of stones beneath a sheer rock-wall, and he did not know that this was all that was now left to see of the old Way of Escape: the Dry River was blocked and the arched gate was buried.(28)

Then Hurin looked up to the grey sky, thinking that by fortune he might once more descry the Eagles, as he had done long ago in his youth.(29) But he saw only the shadows blown from the East, and clouds swirling about the inaccessible peaks; and wind hissed over the stones. But the watch of the Great Eagles was now redoubled, and they marked Hurin well, far below, forlorn in the failing light. And straightaway Sorontar himself, since the tidings seemed great, brought word to Turgon.

But Turgon said: 'Nay! This is past belief! Unless Morgoth sleeps. Ye were mistaken.'

'Nay, not so,' answered Sorontar. 'If the Eagles of Manwe were wont to err thus, Lord, your hiding would have been in vain.'

'Then your words bode ill,' said Turgon; 'for they can mean only that even Hurin Thalion hath surrendered to the will of Morgoth. My heart is shut.' But when he had dismissed Sorontar, Turgon sat long in thought, and he was troubled, remembering the deeds of Hurin. And he opened his heart, and he sent to the Eagles to seek for Hurin, and to bring him, if they could, to Gondolin. But it was too late, and they saw him never again in light or in shadow.

For Hurin stood at last in despair before the stern silence of the Echoriad, and the westering sun, piercing the clouds, stained his white hair with red. Then he cried aloud in the wilderness, heedless of any ears, and he cursed the pitiless land: 'hard as the hearts of Elves and Men'. And he stood at last upon a great stone, and spreading wide his arms, looking towards Gondolin, he called in a great voice: 'Turgon, Turgon! Remember the Fen of Serech!' And again: 'Turgon! Hurin calls you. O Turgon, will you not hear in your hidden halls?'

But there was no answer, and all that he heard was wind in the dry grasses. 'Even so they hissed in Serech at the sunset,' he said. And as he spoke the sun went behind the Mountains of Shadow, and a darkness fell about him, and the wind ceased, and there was silence in the waste.