Transcription of the letter from circa 1964 as it appears at https://historical.ha.com/itm/books/j-r-r-tolkien-genealogy-chart-and-autograph-manuscript-kinship-of-the-half-elven-and-concerningthe-h/a/6258-42010.s?ic5=CatalogHome-MostPopular-112917, images 5 to 13. The lot also includes a genealogy chart for the half-elven and a typewritten letter, neither transcribed here. Transcribed by Gaia / SkyEventide (@feanaaro) with a huge thank you to Kathrin (@KathrinHeierli), Vyacheslav Stepanov, and Elyanna (@itariilles) for their contributions.
Orig. written to Mrs. Elgar
Concerning… “The Hoard”
“The Hoard” purports to tell in brief the history of one of the “hoards” of legend. It begins with the demiurgic making of silver and gold (and other aspects of “matter”) by the “gods” *[1] not at the Creation, but in the carrying out of the idea and vision of the World propounded by the One. It passes to the use made of such things by the Elves, as artists with the original motive only of producing beautiful things. But these things of beauty excited the envy and greed of the evil rebel Vala and his servants. [Greed has a capital in its own right and not merely because of the preceding ⊙] They drove away the Elves and plundered them, and hence arose the dark and secret hoards, in some cases possessed and guarded by a dragon. In the heroic age of Men these hoards were sometimes acquired by great warriors, but all dragon-hoards were cursed, and bred in men the dragon-spirit: in possessors an obsession with mere ownership, in others a fierce desire to take the treasure for their own by violence or treachery.
Naturally dragon-possession usually preceded acquisition by Men or by Dwarves, but the poet of these verses has arranged the sequence in this order to bring the dragon-slaying into relation with the mortal King, and provide a series of three violent deaths.
Evidently not a lover of Dwarves, but one who looked only on their bad side (or knew no other side). He had some justification, for though no servants of the Evil Vala, the Dwarves were by nature and origin specially open to the degeneration of their love and admiration [[the word “for” is corrected to “of”, written above the original word]] of works of “craft” into a fierce possessiveness.
The tale of Túrin and Mim the Dwarf mentioned in the Preface, is one of the main [[† strands?]] in the “Silmarillion”. In it the dwarf in fact follows the dragon.
The story concerns the great hoard of Nargothrond, which contained much of the treasure and works of Elvish art that has been preserved from the wreckage of the Elven-Kingdoms under the assault of the Dark Lord from his unassailable stronghold of Thangorodrim in the North.
Nargothrond was finally defeated and ravaged and fell into the possession of the first of the Great Dragons.
Túrin son of Húrin was a man, but had been fostered by Thingol the Elf-King in Doriath *[2], when Húrin’s Kingdom was destroyed and Húrin taken as a prisoner to Thangorodrim. Soon [[about two lines are here stricken away by a wiggly line. Underneath, it appears to show the same text as what can be read in footnote 2, which was likely added afterwards, in red ink. In the margin, these lines are substituted with “after Túrin reached manhood, he”]] after Túrin reached manhood, he fled from Doriath after a deed of violence in the King’s hall, and became a wandering warrior (or knight-errant). Eventually he slew the Dragon, but the Dragon achieved Túrin’s death. Mim the dwarf then took possession of the unguarded hoard in desolate Nargothrond.
At that time the Dark Lord released Húrin. Not out of mercy, but to bring confusion among his enemies. Húrin had refused to accept the Dark Lord or bow to him, but he was now partly unhinged by his torment and imprisonment, and (though unwittingly) deluded by lies and deceits of the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord had threatened him that, if he did not submit, a terrible doom should fall upon his wife and children, Túrin and Níniel. This came to pass and all that happened was reported to Húrin, but in such a way that it appeared to him that all the evils were brought about through the greed and arrogance of the Elves, and of Thingol in particular.
Húrin thus came forth: a fierce and dangerous but terribly vigorous old man, filled with grief and anger, and the desire to punish all who had dealings with his family. Among other evils that he wrought was the [[a wiggly line strikes through a few words, substituted in the margin with the following end of the sentence]] plundering of the hoard of Nargothrond. He gathered a great company of violent outlaws, and they came to Nargothrond and slew Mim, and carried off a great part of the dragon-treasure.
Dominated by his will and by fear of him they brought this treasure to Doriath, and there Húrin cast it before the feet of King Thingol in a proud gesture of scorn, saying that as “the Lord of the House of Hador” (Húrin) vowed not be beholden to an elf-King for the fostering of his son, nor the harbouring of his wife and daughter. “Here is your fee! More than enough, maybe, for services so meanly performed; but hold me now out of your debt and friendship!”
Thingol was amazed at the insult, but answered with patience and courtesy, saying he wished for no ending of friendship with Húrin, whose name was honoured among Elves and Men for his great valour in the last great Battle, and near all Elves and Men had been rather in his debt ever since. But Húrin laughed in contempt and went out, unmolested, into the night.
But even as he did so, Thingol looked at the hoard and the dragon-curse began to work upon him, and upon all there who gazed at the treasure. The outlaws, released from the presence of Húrin, claimed that it was theirs, won by their weapons and labour. Fighting broke out, even in the inviolable halls of Thingol.
Blood was spilled on either side, but in the end all the outlaws were slain and Thingol then had the treasure locked in a deep chamber. But it gnawed his mind, for the most of the treasure that had been brought from Nargothrond was in gold and silver yet unwrought, and he lusted specially for the silver, thinking what might be done with it. At last in an unhappy hour he sent for the Dwarves of the Mountains to the east from Belegost and Nogrod. With them he had dealings and some friendship, and long ago they had helped in the building of his grand underground halls and palace.
The Dwarves sent emissaries, and they gazed on the treasure in amazement. After bargaining they agreed to send their best smiths to work at Thingol’s orders but at the price of one tithe of the unwrought metals. The smiths came and laboured long, and among other marvellous works they made the renowned “Necklace of the Dwarves”, of silver, upon which was set in the middle the peerless Silmaril that Beren and Lúthien had won from the Iron Crown of the Dark Lord. But as their work progressed Thingol began to regret the bargain, and in particular he saw that if the tithe was paid in full, not enough would remain for the making of a thing upon which he had now set his spell-distraught heart, a double throne of silver and gems for himself and Melian the Queen. When the Dwarves had ended their work he [[† demurred?]], offering less than the tithe; or demanding at least that the throne should be made and other treasure given in stead of the silver required.
The Dwarves were angered, all the more because they had themselves come under the dragon-spell. They rejected Thingol’s terms, and refused anything less than the full tithe of treasure of Nargothrond. Unpaid they departed in wrath.
Back in their mountains’ strongholds they plotted revenge, and not long after they came down with a great force and invaded Doriath. This had before been impossible, because of the Girdle of Melian, an invisible fence maintained by her power and will through which no one with evil intent could pass. But either this fence had been robbed of its power by the evil within, or Melian had removed it in grief and horror at the deeds that had been done. The dwarf-host entered Doriath and most of Thingol’s warriors perished. His halls were violated and he himself slain.
According to dwarf-honesty, however, nothing was taken of all his treasures, save the hoard of Nargothrond. This the Dwarves had claimed: part as bargained pay, part as recompense for broken troth, and the need to make a great expedition to obtain their rights. Also (they now urged) the treasure had been taken with violence and murder from a Dwarf (though Mim was not in fact akin to the Dwarves of the eastern mountains).
The great necklace was taken from Thingol as he lay dead. Then the Dwarves departed from their “honesty” in spite of the warning of the wisest among them. They lusted for the peerless and supremely powerful gem, and under the plea that it would ruin their handiwork to remove it from the Necklace they carried it off.
Fugitives from Doriath brought news to Beren in Ossiriand, especially of the rape of the Silmaril. He gathered a force and waylaid the Dwarves on their return march, at a ford across one of “Seven Rivers of Ossir”.
Then the Dwarves were routed. The gold and silver was cast into the river, which hereafter bore a new name, signifying “Golden-bed”. But Beren rescued the Necklace and the Silmaril. Lúthien wore it, until ere long she and Beren passed away and were heard of no more in Middle-earth.
It then descended to Dior her son and then to Elwing his daughter. Elwing afterwards became the wife of Eärendil, at the ship-havens at the mouths of the great River Sirion, where was the last refuge of the remnants of the Kingdoms of Elves and Men, as the Dark Lord’s victory approached completion.
It was by possession of the Silmaril *[3] that Eärendil the mariner was enabled at last to overcome the shadows and perils that the Valar had set about the Blessed Land, to prevent the return of the rebellious Elves now exiled in Middle-earth. He came now [†thus?] at last to the Blessed Realm, and spoke the embassy of the Two Kindreds, Elves and Men *[4], before Manwe, Lord of the Valar (the Elder King), pleading for help in their anguish, before the Dark Lord was utterly triumphant. The Valar relented.
Thus was prepared the overthrow of the Dark Lord. A great army came from the West to Middle-earth, and the Sons of the Valar aided by the remnants of the Elves and the Dúnedain (or Men of Elf-alliance) overcame the Dark Lord in that war called the “Last Battle” [of the First Age], but was actually a long war, scantily chronicled owing to the ruin and confusion of the days. Thangorodrim was broken and laid low and its dungeons laid bare. The Dark Lord was at the last himself taken and thrust “beyond the Doors of Night” in [according to legendary geography; meaning thrust out of the created world as a “person”, though the evil he had sown continued to grow and reappear]. [[The “in” before the square brackets seems to be an abandoned or truncated sentence, or crossed out with a short wiggly line.]]
In this Battle Beleriand was ruined and destroyed, except for a remnant of the land of Ossiriand at the west of the mountains: the Elf Kingdoms were at an end. The Exiled Elves returned into west, to Eressëa, if they would. Some passed over the Mountains (e.g. in particular Galadriel) into the lands which are the scene of the Lord of the Rings. Many others also did the same. But the main part of the Three Houses of Men, who had become allies of the Elves and had fought with them against the Dark Lord (Morgoth) were given a special grace and a land to dwell in, an island westernmost of all lands in Middle-earth. This among other names was called Númenórë / Númenor ( = Westernesse), and hence its people are usually called Númenóreans.
Eärendil, who had first set foot upon the “immortal” land of the Valar, was not permitted to return to mortal lands, but his ship was set to sail in the heavens as a star, lit by the brilliance of the Silmaril. By this star the elf-friend men were guided to their new land, and so its first name (among them) was Elenna = “Starwards”.
The other two Silmarils were also taken by the Valar from the crown of Morgoth. But the last surviving sons of Feänor (Maedros and Maglor), in a despairing attempt to carry out the Oath, stole them again. But they were tormented by them, and at last they perished each with a jewel: one in a fiery cleft in the earth, and one in the Sea.
So the Three Silmarils were lost for ever “until the remaking of the world”: in air, earth, and sea. Thus ended the First Age.
The most important “tale” in this network of legend is that of Beren and Lúthien, but as that is sketched in the Lord of the Rings it is not told here.
The “War of the Rings” is, as it were, a breaking out again of the “Wars of the Jewels”, though in a different mode.
The Silmarils were made by Feänor, greatest of the Elves, and chief of all craftsmen, originally with no motive but the making of beauty. But after the disaster, when Morgoth contrived to destroy the Two Trees of Valinor (which illumined that land) they acquired a special value — since Fëanor had imprisoned in them the light of the Trees before Morgoth poisoned them. That light unsullied now was preserved in them only. From this proceeded the tragedy of the fall and rebellion of the High Elves *[5] For Feänor [[the truncated word “beg” can be here read stricken away by a wiggly line, likely a mistake]] became obsessed with love of these jewels, his “own works”, and guarded them jealously, seldom permitting anyone else to look at them.
After the “Darkening of Valinor”, as the Trees were dying, the Valar asked for the surrender of the Jewels, and for Feanor to break them: for by the pure light they contained the Trees could, they said, be healed again. But Fëanor [[here a wiggly line strikes through the words “was a”]] refused their prayer; and when the Valar commanded him to relinquish them (since the light which gave them their beauty and sanctity was theirs, and had only been lent to him) he became obdurate, and rebelled, and foreswore allegiance to Manwë Lord of the Valar (The Elder King).
Later it became known that when Morgoth escaped back to Middle-earth, after poisoning the Trees, he had also ravaged Feanor’s stronghold, slain his father Finwë, and carried off the Silmarils. Feanor then with his Seven Sons, swore the abominable Oath, to hold anyone Elf or Vala, even the One, his enemy if they held or retained a Silmaril and did not surrender it. He then led away the main part of the High Elves, in a desperate attempt to return to Middle-earth and make war on Morgoth, boasting that the Elves would recover their own, without any help save their own wisdom and valour.
This oath and madness soon bore evil fruit. There was no hope of escape back to Middle-earth across the Western Sea without ships.
The building and management of ships was practised only by the third race of Elves (the Teleri) whose haven was on the shores of Valinor at Alqualondë (Swan-haven). They would not leave Valinor, and would not give up their ships. Fëanor attacked them, slew great numbers of them, and carried off the ships. Thus violence, rapine, and murder, had entered the Blessed Realm. The Valar in a last attempt, sent a messenger warning Feänor that his whole purpose was now accursed: he had forfeited his right to the Silmarils (which only the power of the Valar could now recover), and unless he and the rebels returned to await judgement and make atonement, they would go on only to sorrow and disaster and death; all their enterprises would be brought to nothing by hatreds, feuds, and treacheries among themselves.
So it came to pass. *[6] The Silmarils had become to Feanor symbols and instruments of power: he called himself “the lord of the lights”. The Rings began in that evil mode in which the Jewels ended.
[1] *SC. [[small capitals]] not God, but the Valar
[2] At Morwen’s pleading. Morwen, Túrin’s mother, was a kinswoman of Beren, who had won the hand of Lúthien daughter of Thingol. See L.R. I.
[3] One of the Three Gems made by Feanor in the Blessed Land, enclosing the light of the Two Trees, before they were slain by the Dark Lord
[4] Eärendil was himself “halfelven” — of both Kindreds — since his mother was Idril daughter of K. Turgon of Gondolin. He was also a kinsman of Túrin. Húrin (father of Túrin) was the brother of Huor, father of Tuor who wedded Idril of Gondolin [[the following added in red ink]] and whose son was Eärendil.
[5] Those who at the invitation of the Valar had left Middle-earth and [[† removed?]] to live in the Blessed Realm.
[6] Morgoth’s triumph became almost complete. All the Kingdoms of Elves and their allies were destroyed. Beleriand was ruined and ravaged. Only the capture of one Silmaril by Beren and Luthien marred his success. It came at last to the remnant of the Elves of the “Mouths of Sirion”, and so to Eärendil — and so brought the vengeance of the Valar upon him at last — when it was surrendered to the Valar, and set out of reach of Elves and Men. (Similarly the loss of the One Ring eventually brought Sauron’s empire to an end.)