[Child of the 7th Age]

Bb,

If I have read your excerpts correctly, Tolkien started out with some first idea of a character for this Dark Lord, who then became excised from subsequent drafts as an explicit character. If this suppostion is correct, it makes the final depiction of Sauron very interesting: a focus upon an opposing character who ultimately became absent, if I am making myself clear here!

That sounds so logical, Bethberry, but I don't think he did. I would welcome other views on this, but after reading the first three chapters, my gut feeling is that Tolkien never really thought of the Dark Lord as an explicit character. He seems more like a distant shadow, always seen through the eyes of others. This is in direct contrast to the Ring, which takes on a sinister physical appearance early on, and also different from the Black Riders, who are also carefully drawn from the beginning. Perhaps he intended to build up to the point later in the story where we would actually see the Dark Lord, but I don't think we can tell for certain.

In his earliest notes, the Dark Lord is only identified as the 'Necromancer', following along with the story that had deveoped in The Hobbit. However, the Ring already begins to take on a more direct identity, especially with the mysterious reference to Primula that implies the death of Bingo's mother was somehow connected with the Ring. Here is a more complete quote for you to judge. This comes from the first chapter of Return of the Shadow. The italics and parenthetical expressions are Tolkien's.

The Ring: whence its origin. Necromancer? Not very dangerous, when used for good purpose. But it exacts its penalty. You must either lose it, or lose yourself. Bilbo could not bring himself to lose it. He starts on a holiday [ struck out: with his wife] handing over ring to Bingo. But he vanishes. Bingo worried. Resists desire to go and find him - though he does travel round a lot looking for news. Won't lose ring as he feels it may ultimately lead him to his father.

At last he meets Gandalf. Gandalf's advice. You must stage a disappearance , and the ring may then be cheated into letting you follow a similar path. But you have got to really disappear and give up the past. Hence the 'party'.

Bingo confides in his friends, Odo, Frodo, and Vigo (?) insist on coming too. Gandalf rather dubious. You will share the same fate as Bingo, he said, if you dare the ring. Look what happened to Primula.

In the second chapter of Return of the Shadow, which traces the path of the Hobbits out of the Shire and their meeting with Gildor, there is explicit characterization of the Black Riders. While I don't want to get into detail at this early point in the discussion, CT himself was struck by the fact that, although the plot line and many of the characters were not yet set, the menace of the Ringwraiths is quite close to what emerged later in the book.

It is only when we get into the third chapter of RS, into the proposed foreward called "Of Gollum and the Ring" that we see the first explicit reference to the 'Lord of the Ring"(in the singular). Yet once again, the Dark Lord is not clearly drawn: the phrase is used only as a means to describe the Black Riders:

"Who are they?"

"Servants of the Lord of the Ring- [? people] who have passed through the Ring."

I do believe Tolkien was lured onward by the Ring! Right from the beginning, the emphasis is more on the Ring and "Ringwraiths" than on the Dark Lord himself..... By the time the Gollum foreward was written, Tolkien was fairly consistently in capitalizing "Ring" as would befit a major character (which he hadn't done in the earlier drafts).

There are a number of passages where Gandalf described how the "Ring-Lord" (that itself is an interesting name!) made the rings and passed them out to ensnare various folk. Yet even here, as in the final form of the book, the Dark Lord is only seen through Gandalf's narration. The name of Sauron has not yet been set down on paper.

********************

On to another topic......as someone who is fond of Hobbits, there is a quote I find fascinating that comes immediately after this. The language sounds straight out of The Hobbit, yet the situation is deadly serious, and the Dark Lord is here referred to in more explicit terms:

..."Bilbo is all right. It is you and all these other dear, silly, charming, idiotic, helpless hobbits that trouble me! It would be a mortal blow if the dark power should overcome the Shire, and all these jolly, greedy, stupid Bolgers, Bagginses, Brandybucks, Hornblowers, Proudfoots, and whatnot become Wraiths.

Bingo shuddered. "But why should we?" he asked; and why should the Lord want such servants, and what has all this to do with me and the Ring?"

"It is the only Ring left," said Gandalf. "And hobbits are the only people of whom the Lord has not yet mastered any one."

Gandalf goes on to point out that Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Goblins had all accepted the Dark Lord's Rings; only the Hobbit did not have any. And then G. begins to tell the tale of Digol (later called Gollum), who was of a family akin to the Hobbits, and explains how the "missing" Ring came to him.

What an intriguing idea! How interesting to identify the uniqueness of a people in this fashion: their lack of a magic ring. Because of this, there is also a hint (at least to me) that the Ring coming to Gollum at this time may not have been wholly an accident! Perhaps the Dark Lord (or the Ring?) had decided it was time to score another point. By contrast, on the very next page, Gandalf goes on to make a reference to the "strange accidents" that govern this particular Ring, a portion I quoted in my last post -- which is surely the first veiled reference to providence. Leave it to Tolkien to imply two different things leading off in different directions!

I'm purposely quoting chunks of this so people can see. If you prefer, I'll cut back on the detailed quotes.

**************

Hey, talk about foreshadowing! How about the presence of Vigo in the "Fellowship"?