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First let me express my sincere condolences to you, Maédhros.
RD-SL-27:
In Q30 Tolkien named the Great River of East-Beleriand (latest name Duin Daer) at first Ascar. Then when he found that the first tributary of that river should have that name he changed the name to Flend and later to Gelion.
With the geography that underlaies Q30 I would not have any problem. The Ford was directly south of the confluence of Flend [Duin Daer] and Ascar. Thus a hoard drowned at that ford would have been drowned figuratively in both rivers. Such a ford as Sarn Athrad in the position of Q30 would have been builded out of the load of stones carried by Ascar (that were droped when with the confluence the current became less strong). That would have provided a good reason to rename the river Ascar to Rathlorion -> Rathloriel -> Rathmallen, since the implication of the gold in the ford would hve been that Ascar did carry that gold and laied it down at the confluence.
But the geography changed. The Ford over Duin Daer is now clearly a few miles north of the confluence. If the Battle is still at that Ford and the hoard is to be drowned in Ascar the elves must activly transport it.
In TY we do not have a clear picture of the geography involved. But it can be seen clearly that JRR Tolkien changed the story. The "slip of the pen" argument does not work for me. In no Versions of TY the River Gelion is even mentioned and any way Gelion was never the renamed River. That was in fact the tributary river ever since the fight was moved away from Aros.
I think that JRR Tolkien changed the fight to be at a Ford over Ascar exactly because he wanted to aviod that transport and any activity of the Elves with the hoard. In my view we could only hold the fight at the ford over Duin Daer when we label the changed that occoured in TY as "unworkable outline", but it does not seem to be, for me at least.
§49 "the elfin laughter":
Okay, if you both feel that eves laughin at the flying dwarves is fine we will take them in from both occurences.
§51d laughed -> answered:
Are you suggesting that for an Elf it would not have been disrespectfull to laugh at Melians warning? That only would be true for me if I would lock at Elves like the group that welcomed Gandalf, Bilbo and Thorin & Co. in Rivendell in the Hobbit. But even then, Beren talks here with his mother in law and she is giving him advise in a grave matter concerning his beloved. And equally if he is an Elf or an Adan Melian is fare above him in wisdom, in rank and in expirence. Thus it was disrespectfull anyway. And we have no hint that JRR Tolkien planed to change it. On the conteray the outcome of the conversation never changed: Beren kept the Nauglamír against Melians advice.
Rathloriel -> Rathmalad or Rathmallen:
Rathmallen, the Golden Bed, it will become in the next version of the text.
Respectfully
Findegil
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