Sauron Defeated Read Free

written in ink over a briefer pencilled text, very little of which can be read - partly because of the overwriting, partly because of the script itself (my father could not read the conclusion of the first sentence and marked it with dots and a query).(1)

    (II) Frodo now feels full force of the Eye....... ? He does not want to enter Chamber of Fire or throw away the Ring. He seems to hear a deep slow persuasive voice speaking: offering life and peace - then rich reward, great wealth - then lordship and power - and finally a share of the Great Power: if he will take Ring intact to the Dark Tower. He rejects this, but stands still - while thought grows (absurd though it may seem): he will keep it, wield it, and himself have Power alone; be Master of All. After all he is a great hero.
    Hobbits should become lords of men, and he their Lord, King Frodo, Emperor Frodo. He thought of the great poems that would be made, and mighty songs, and saw (as if far away) a great Feast, and himself enthroned and all the kings of the world sitting at his feet, while all the earth blossomed.
    (Probably now Sauron is aware of the Ring and its peril, and this is his last desperate throw to halt Frodo, until his messenger can reach Orodruin.)
    Frodo puts on Ring! A great cry rings out. A great shadow swoops down from Baraddur, like a bird. The Wizard King is coming. Frodo feels him - the one who stabbed him under Weathertop. He is wearing Ring and has been seen. He struggles to take off Ring and cannot. The Nazgul draws near as swift as storm.
    Frodo's one idea is to escape it, and without thinking of his errand he now flies into the Chamber of Fire. A great fissure goes across it from left to right. Fire boils in it. All goes dark to Frodo and he falls on his knees. At that moment Gollum arrives panting and grabs at the Ring. That rouses Frodo, and they fight on the brink of the chasm. Gollum breaks Frodo's finger and gets Ring. Frodo falls in swoon. But Sam who has now arrived rushes in suddenly and pushes Gollum over the brink. Gollum and Ring go into the Fire together. The Mountain boils and erupts. Barad-dur falls. A great dust and a dark shadow floats away NE on the rising SW wind.
    Frodo suddenly thinks he can hear and smell Sea. A dreadful shuddering cry is borne away and until it dies far off all men and things stand still.
    Frodo turns and sees door blocked by the Wizard King. The mountain begins to erupt and crumble. Here we will perish together, said the Wizard King. But Frodo draws Sting. He no longer has any fear whatsoever. He is master of the Black Riders. He commands the Black Rider to follow the Ring his master and drives it into the Fire.
    Then Frodo and Sam fly from the chamber. Fire is pouring out of the mountain-side by three great channels W, SE, S, and makes a burning moat all round. They are cut off.
    Gandalf, of course, now knows that Frodo has succeeded and the Ring has perished. He sends Gwaihir the Eagle to see what is happening. Some of the eagles fall withered by flame?(2) But Gwaihir sweeps down and carries off Sam and Frodo back to Gandalf, Aragorn, etc. Joy at the reunion - especially of Merry and Pippin?

    There seems to be no certain way in which to date this text, but the reference to the coming of the Wizard King from Barad-dur shows at any rate that his fate on the Pelennor Fields had not yet arisen. I incline to think that it is relatively late, and would associate it tentatively with the end of the outline 'The Story Foreseen from Forannest' (VIII.362): Gandalf knows that Ring must have reached fire. Suddenly Sauron is aware of the Ring and its peril. He sees Frodo afar off. In a last desperate attempt he turns his thought from the Battle (so that his men waver again and are pressed back) and tries to stop Frodo.
    At same time he sends the Wizard King as Nazgul to the Mountain.
    The whole plot is clear to him....
    Gandalf bids Gwaihir fly swiftly to Orodruin.

    With this d. the words of outline II just