Sauron Defeated Read Free Page A

given: 'Probably now Sauron is aware of the Ring and its peril, and this is his last desperate throw to halt Frodo'; and 'Gandalf, of course, now knows that Frodo has succeeded and the Ring has perished. He sends Gwaihir the Eagle to see what is happening.'

    I turn now to other outlines that preceded any actual narrative writing of Book VI. The first of these, Outline III, also only came to light recently; it is a somewhat disjointed page, with deletions and additions, but all belonging,to the same time. I believe that time to be the brief period of work (October 1944) when my father began writing 'Minas Tirith' and 'The Muster of Rohan', and wrote also many outlines for Book V; with the opening of the present text cf.
    VIII.260: '[12] Gandalf and Aragorn and Eomer and Faramir defeat Mordor. Cross into Ithilien. Ents arrive and Elves out of North.
    Faramir invests Morghul and main force comes to Morannon. Parley.'
    It will be seen that the story of the fighting and slaughter in the Tower of Kirith Ungol had not yet arisen.

    (III) They pass into Ithilien [12 >] 11 (3) [and turn >] Eomer and Faramir invest Minas Morghul. The rest turn / north to Morannon. Joined by Ents and Elves out of Emyn Muil. Camp on [added: S. edge (of)] Battle Plain [14 >) evening of 12. Parley. Messengers
    [sic] of Sauron. Gandalf refuses. [Added: begins assault on Morannon.]
    Sam rescues Frodo night of 11/12. They descend into Mordor.
    [Gollum comes after them. They see a vast host gathering in Kirith Gorgor, and have to lie hid (12). 12/13 They go on and are tracked by Gollum. This was struck out and replaced by the following:]
    Frodo from the high tower holds up phial and as if with Elvish sight (4) sees the white army in Ithilien. On the other side he sees the vast secret host of Mordor (not yet revealed) gathered on the dead fields of Gorgor. ? Sauron delays to take Frodo because of the defeat at Gondor.
    Mt.Doom (Orodruin) stands in plain at inner throat of Kirith Gorgor, but a complete darkness comes over land, and all they can see is Mt.Doom's fire and far away the Eye of Baraddur. They cannot find a path? It is not until night of 12 that they reach rocky slopes above the levels of Kirith Gorgor. There they see an immense host camped: it is impossible to go further. They remain in hiding during 13 - and are tracked down by Gollum. Suddenly the whole host strikes camp and pours away leaving Mordor empty. Sauron himself has gone out to war.(5) They cross plain and climb Mt.Doom.
    Frodo looks back and sees the white army driven back.

    Frodo captured on night 10/11. But Shagrat persuades Gorbag not to send message at once,(6) until he's had a look for the real warrior still loose. Orcs scatter and hunt in Kirith Ungol (11). Sam at last finds way in - he has to go back and down pass (7) - then he finds quite a small fort (8) of many houses and a gate and a path leading up to the cliff. It is not until [evening >] night of 11 that he manages to get in.
    Rescue of Frodo early on 12. Shagrat sends message to Lugburz.
    [Added: How do messages work. Signal from Tower to Eye. News.]
    Nazgul arrives at Tower and takes coat of mail and [clothes etc. >]
    a sword to Baraddur (12).
    Frodo and Sam hide in rocks. The Gorgor plain is covered with armies. They are in despair, for crossing is impossible. Slowly they work their way north to where the defile narrows, to a point nearer Mt.Doom [> Dum].(9)

    Another outline (IV) describes the capture of Frodo and his rescue by Sam from the Tower of Kirith Ungol; and this is yet another text of which I was not aware until recently. Like outline II it is written in ink over an underlying, and much briefer, pencilled text. It was written, very obviously at the same time, on the reverse of a page that carries a rejected preliminary version (also in ink over pencil) of the outline
    'The march of Aragorn and defeat of the Haradrim' given in VIII.397 -
    9, which preceded the writing of 'The Battle of the Pelennor