Book of lost tales (part 1) help

[Gazing]

Hello, Galin, some of my best learning experiences have come about as the result of "Quibbling." LOL.

I'm going through the indices of BOLT-1 and BOLT-2, "fine-combing" the material with a particular eye toward the Earendel mythos, it is a complex matter made even more difficult by the sometimes notational nature of Tolkiens own phrases, where an "easily elucidated," single and precise meaning is not to be found.

The example you proffer is quite apropos:Then Eriol said:

"'Now these are tidings sad and yet good to hear, and I remember me of certain words my father spake in my early boyhood. It had long, said he, been a tradition in our kindred that one of our father's fathers would speak of a fair house and magic gardens, ... and these things he said he had seen and heard as a child, as if a longing half-expressed for unknown things dwelt within him; and 'tis said that he died among rocks on a lonely coast on a night of storm -- and moreover that most of his children and their children since have been of a restless mind -- and methinks I know now the truth of the matter." (BOLT-1, p. 20 hd bk ver)

To which person does the long string of "he s" pertain? Depending upon my momentary bent of interpretation it could refer to Eriol's father, or could refer to an earlier ancestor, as the tale is related by Eriol's father.

I am thinking now that "chronology" is the key to this issue: when was The Cottage of Lost Play" written, and when do we find the first indisputable evidence of Earendel/ Earendil as something other than a human, mortal Man mariner?

Unfortunately, there is a good deal of confusion surrounding the BOLT Tales regarding the individual times of their composition, so we cannot simply assume that later chapters in the narrative sequence were actually written in the order in which they appear. Nor can we be certain of the dates of revision of any given chapter. The "Tale of Earendel," appears quite late in the BOLT text (BOLT-2, pp254 ff, pap ver) but, it is prefigured in "The Fall of Gondolin," (BOLT-2, pp 146 ff). Here we have a problem, because, according to Chris Tolkien, Scull and Hammond, Michael Drout (Ency.) and even JRRT himself, Letter #297) this Tale, "The Fall of Gondolin," was composed long before most of the BOLT material. JRRT suggests, in a Letter from 1967, 50 years after, that "The Fall of Gondolin" came before the rest of the Tales. Here, Chris Tolkien, Scull and Hammond, Michael Drout seem to think that "The Cottage of Lost Play" was still written first of all, and being an introductory chapter, rather than a full Tale, it simply slipped JRRT's mind.

I was initially led to considering this issue, the potential mortal Man nature of the original Earendel, as it made no sense to place an Elf, a Fay, a Faery, or Fairy into the ancient form of an Imran -- the literary device of a Mortal Man becoming enamoured of the "Other World" of Faerie, and then setting out upon a maritime venture seeking to actually find that realm. Tolkien's Eriol Tale, his poem "Loony," (later "The Sea Bell"), are "proper" examples of the Imram. JRRT considered this topic minutely and even wrote his own version of an Imram based on St. Brendan's voyages.

So, how does Earendel morph into an Elven character making the same kind of perilous journey to the "Other World" of Faerie, an Imram? I see here, in the 1910 - 1917 period of Tolkien's life, an attempt to make sense of the Old English poem, sometimes attributed to Cynewulf (c. 750 - 825 CE):

"Eala Earendel engla* beorhtast ofer middangeard monnum sended.
Hail Earendel, brightest of angels, Above Middle-earth sent unto men."

JRT was quite aware that the original meaning of the Greek-based term "angel" is "messenger" and could refer to heavenly beings and mere mortals equally.

I think, in "The Cottage of Lost Play," that JRRT was initially interpreting the Earendel of this Old English poem in the light of the Imram device. In which case, Earendel would have to be a Mortal Man. So far, I must admit, I have a tenuous and troubled line of connections here that I am "trying," -- perhaps the whole web will collapse of its own weight? We'll see.

For now, I'm trying to establish the first incontrovertible evidence for Earendel's Elven (half-Elven) nature, the first instance of the use of a Silmaril connected with Earendel, and the first mention of a definite "salvific/ messenger" function for Earendel, the half-elven who acts as spokesperson for both kindreds (Elf and Man) in the attempt to persuade the Valar to intervene directly in the course of Middle-earth history. The fully evolved Earendil, (the change in spelling marks the later, fully evolved character) found in the pages of the Silmarillion, seems to represent quite an alteration in the old Imram form. Earendil, in the latter work, is no longer a Fay-haunted mortal Man trying to reach (for his personal "salvation") the unobtainable Fairy Realm, he is instead, a half-Elven character classed along with the rebellious Noldor, and thus denied entry into the western "Other World" of Faerie.

Thanks for the great "Quibbling," Galin!