Ruin of Doriath - Attack on Menegroth

[Findegil]

A long time since I posted the second section of these, but better late then never. So here it goes:

Some conventions of my writing:
Normal Text is from the basic text that is mentioned below (when I change the basic-Text it will be mentioned)
Bold Text source information, comments and remarks
{ } = text that should be deleted
[ ] = normalised text
<source > = additions with source information
example = text inserted for garmatical reason
/ / = outline expansion

The basic text is that of The Tale of the Nauglafring.
Since full-text quoting is not appropirate any longer, I will only give the starting words of each paragraph of the basic text and all editions or delitions, but not the regular changes.

§30 (§21) Now tells the tale that the Nauglath fared home again, and if their greed had been kindled when first RD-AM-01 <editorial addition they saw> the gold{ was brought to Nogrod} now was it a fierce flame of desire, and moreover they burnt under the insults of the king. Indeed all that folk love gold and silver more dearly than aught else on Earth, while that treasury was haunted by a spell and by no means were they armed against it. Now RD-AM-02 { one there had been, Fangluin the aged, who had Counselled them from the first never to return the king's loan, for said he: ‘Ufedhin we may later seek by guile to release, if it seem good,’ but at that time this seemed not policy to Naugladur their lord, who desired not warfare with the Elves.Yet now} did Fangluin <moved from above the aged> jeer at them mightily on their return, saying they had flung away their labour for a botcher's wage and a draught of wine and gotten dishonour thereto, and he played upon their lust{, and Ufedhin joined his bitter words thereto}. Therefore did Naugladur<moved from above their lord> hold a secret council of the Dwarves of Nogrod, and sought how he might both be avenged upon {Tinwelint}[Thingol], and sate his greed.

§31 (§22) Yet after long pondering ... such come thither RD-AM-03{ unaided by treachery from within}.

§32 (§23) Now even as those aged ones sat ... nor more than RD-AM-04 {Ufedhin}[the Elves] might tell hearing the speech in {Tinwelint}[Thingol]'s halls, ...

§33 (§24) This then was the design; and by his deeds have the Dwarves been severed in feud for ever since those days with the Elves RD-AM-05 {, and drawn more nigh in friendship to the kin of Melko}. Secretly he let send to the {Indrafangs}[Firebeards] RD-AM-06 asking<Sil77 aid from Belegost, but it was denied them, and the Dwarves of Belegost sought to dissuade them from their purpose>, because they <Unfinished Tales; Galadriel and Celeborn were filled with dismay at the calamity and fear for its outcome>{ that they}. But the Broadbeams did prepare their host against a day that {he}[Naugladur] would name, whenso the time should be ripe; and a hidden forging of bitter steel then was in RD-AM-07 [Nogrod.]{Belegost the dwelling of the Indrafangs. Moreover he gathered about him a great host of the Orcs, and wandering goblins, promising them a good wage, and the pleasure of their Master moreover, and a rich booty at the end; and all these he armed with his own weapons.} Now came unto Naugladur an Elf, and he was one of {Tinwelint}[Thingol]'s folk, RD-AM-07 { and he offered to lead that host through the magics of Gwendelin,} for he was bitten by the gold-lust of {Glorund's}[Glaurung's] hoard, and so did the curse of Mîm come upon {Tinwelint}[Thingol] and treachery first arose among the Elves of {Artanor}[Doriath]. Then did Naugladur {[?}smile{]} bitterly, for he knew that the time was ripe and {Tinwelint}[Thingol] delivered to him.

§34 (§25) Now each year about ... next high moon but one RD-AM-08 {, and straightway he sent the trysted sign, a bloodstained knife, to Bodruith at Belegost}. Now RD-AM-09 <editorial addition therefore> all that host assembled on the confines of the woods, and no word came yet unto the king.

RD-AM-10 {§35 Now tells the tale that one came unto Tinwelint, and Tinwelint knew him not for the wild growth of his hair -- and lo! it was Mablung, and he said: ‘Lo, even in the depths of the forest have we heard that this year you will celebrate the death of Karkaras with a high-tide greater than even before, O King -- and behold I have returned to bear you company.’ And the king was full ofmirth and fain to greet Mablung the brave; and at the words of Mablung that Huan captain of Dogs was come also into Artanor was he glad indeed.}

§36 (§26) Behold now {Tinwelint}[Thingol] the king rode forth a-hunting, ... Beside him rode Mablung the Heavyhand in the place of honour by reason of his deeds at that great hunt aforetime RD-AM-11 { - but Huan of the Dogs was ahead of the hunters, and men thought that great dog bore him strangely, but mayhap there was something in the wind that day liked not}.

§37a (§27) RD-AM-12 <HoME11; The Tale of The Years {Somehow it must be}/No Tale tales how it was/ contrived that Thingol {is}/was/ lured outside or induced to go to war beyond his borders ><moved from below but there the king and his company were all encircled with armed foes. Long they fought bitterly{ there} among the trees, and the Nauglath - for such were their foes - had great scathe of them or ever they were slain. Yet in the end were they all fordone, and Mablung and the king fell side by side - but Naugladur it was who swept off the head of {Tinwelint}[Thingol] after he was dead, for living he dared not so near to his bright sword or the axe of Mablung.>

§37b (§28) RD-AM-13 {Now is} But now it must be told, that when the king was far in the woods with all his company, and the horns grow faint in the deep forest, {but}did {Gwendelin}[Melian] sit{s} in her bower and foreboding {is}was in her heart and eyes. Then said an Elfmaid, Nielthi: ‘Wherefore, O Lady, art thou sorrowful at the hightide of the king?’ And {Gwendelin}[Melian] said: ‘Evil seeks our land, and my heart misgives me that my days in {Artanor}[Doriath] are speeding to their end, yet if I should lose {Tinwelint}[Thingol] then would I wish never to have wandered forth from Valinor.’ But Nielthi said: ‘Nay, O Lady {Gwendelin}[Melian], hast thou not woven great magic all about us, so that we fear not?’ But the queen made answer: ‘Yet meseems there is a rat that gnaws the threads and all the web has come unwoven.’ Even at that word <moved from below did {Gwendelin}[Melian] see in her heart all that had befallen, and how the curse of the gold had fallen on the realm of {Artanor}[Doriath], and never has she danced or sung since that dark hour;> RD-AM-14 and <Sil77 Melian sat long in silence beside <editorial addition the throne of> Thingol the King, and her thought passed back into the starlit years and to their first meeting among the nightingales of Nan Elmoth in ages past; and she knew that her parting from Thingol was the forerunner of a greater parting, and that the doom of Doriath was drawing nigh. For Melian was of the divine race of the Valar, and she was a Maia of great power and wisdom; but for love of Elwë Singollo she took upon herself the form of the Elder Children of Ilúvatar, and in that union she became bound by the chain and trammels of the flesh of Arda. In that form she bore to him Lúthien Tinúviel; and in that form she gained a power over the substance of Arda, and by the Girdle of Melian was Doriath defended through long ages from the evils without. But now Thingol lay dead, and his spirit had passed to the halls of Mandos; and with his death a change came also upon Melian. Thus it came to pass that her power was withdrawn in that time from the forests of Neldoreth and Region, and Esgalduin the enchanted river spoke with a different voice, and Doriath lay open to its enemies.

§37c (§29) Thereafter Melian spoke to none save to RD-AM-15 {Mablung}[Nielthi] only, bidding her{him take heed to the Silmaril, and} to send word speedily to Beren and Lúthien in Ossiriand; and she vanished out of Middle-earth, and passed to the land of the Valar beyond the western sea, to muse upon her sorrows in the gardens of Lórien, whence she came, and this tale speaks of her no more.

§38 (§30) Thus it was that the host of the Naugrim crossing over Aros passed unhindered into the woods of Doriath; and none withstood them, for they were many and fierce, and the captains of the Grey-elves were cast into doubt and despair, and went hither and thither purposeless. But the Dwarves held on their way, and >there was a cry about the doors <editorial addition of the Thousand Caves>, and suddenly it grew to a fierce noise{ ...} by the clash of steel.{ Then went {Gwendelin}[Melian] unafraid forth from her bower, and behold, a}And a sudden multitude of {Orcs and Indrafangs}[Nauglath] held the bridge, and there was war within the cavernous gates; but that place ran with blood, and a great heap of slain lay there, for the onset had been secret and all unknown.

§39 (§30) RD-AM-16 {Then did Gwendelin know well that her foreboding was true, and that treachery had found her realm at last, yet did she hearten those}Valiantly the few guards that remained{ to her} and had fared not to the hunt{, and valiantly they} warded the palace of the king until the tide of numbers bore them back and fire and blood found all the halls and deep ways of that great fortress of the Elves.

§40 Then did those{ Orcs and} Dwarves ransack all the chambers seeking for treasure RD-AM-17 .{, and lo! one came and sate ... but already is he come.’} And behold, Naugladur entered now and a host of the Dwarves were about him, but he bore the head of {Tinwelint}[Thingol] crowned and helmed in gold; but the necklace of all wonder was clasped about the throat of Naugladur. RD-AM-18 { Then did {Gwendelin}[Melian] see in her heart all that had befallen, and how the curse of the gold had fallen on the realm of Artanor, and never has she danced or sung since that dark hour; but}And Naugladur bid gather all things of gold or silver or of precious stones and bear them to Nogrod RD-AM-19 { - ‘and whatso remains of goods or folk may the, Orcs keep, or slay, as they desire. Yet the Lady Gwendelin Queen of Artanor shall fare with me.’ … here we take out the next paragraph and the §-break Then did Naugladur in his triumph laugh till his beard shook RD-AM-20 .{, and bib size her: ... here we take out the rest of these § and the next one until … And she said suddenly: ‘What evil then has fallen upon Artanor?’ and Huan said}

§41 taken out

§42 taken out

As before the discussion wil follow in the next post.

Respectfully
Findegil

[ November 16, 2003: Message edited by: Findegil ]

Edited to change format.