Read an Excerpt

Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Chapter One

Rían, wife of Huor, dwelt with the people of the House of Hador;
but when rumour came to Dor-lómin of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad,
and yet she could hear no news of her lord, she became distraught
and wandered forth into the wild alone. There she would have
perished, but the Grey-elves came to her aid. For there was a dwelling
of this people in the mountains westward of Lake Mithrim; and
thither they led her, and she was there delivered of a son before the
end of the Year of Lamentation.

And Rían said to the Elves: 'Let him be called Tuor, for that
name his father chose, ere war came between us. And I beg of you to
foster him, and to keep him hidden in your care; for I forebode that
great good, for Elves and Men, shall come from him. But I must go
in search of Huor, my lord.'

Then the Elves pitied her; but one Annael, who alone of all that
went to war from that people had returned from the Nirnaeth, said
to her: 'Alas, lady, it is known now that Huor fell at the side of
Húrin his brother; and he lies, I deem, in the great hill of slain that
the Orcs have raised upon the field of battle.'

Therefore Rían arose and left the dwelling of the Elves, and she
passed through the land of Mithrim and came at last to the Haudhen-Ndengin
in the waste of Anfauglith, and there she laid her down
and died. But the Elves cared for the infant son of Huor, and Tuor
grew up among them; and he was fair of face, and golden-haired
after the manner of his father's kin, and he became strong and
tall and valiant, and being fostered by the Elves he had lore and
skill no less than the princes of the Edain, ere ruin came upon the
North.

But with the passing of the years the life of the former folk of
Hithlum, such as still remained, Elves or Men, became ever harder
and more perilous. For as is elsewhere told, Morgoth broke his
pledges to the Easterlings that had served him, and he denied to them
the rich lands of Beleriand which they had coveted, and he drove
away these evil folk into Hithlum, and there commanded them to
dwell. And though they loved Morgoth no longer, they served him
still in fear, and hated all the Elven-folk; and they despised the
remnant of the House of Hador (the aged and women and children,
for the most part), and they oppressed them, and wedded their
women by force, and took their lands and goods, and enslaved their
children. Orcs came and went about the land as they would, pursuing
the lingering Elves into the fastnesses of the mountains, and taking
many captive to the mines of Angband to labour as the thralls of
Morgoth.

Therefore Annael led his small people to the caves of Androth,
and there they lived a hard and wary life, until Tuor was sixteen
years of age and was become strong and able to wield arms, the axe
and bow of the Grey-elves; and his heart grew hot within him at the
tale of the griefs of his people, and he wished to go forth and avenge
them on the Orcs and Easterlings. But Annael forbade this.

`Far hence, I deem, your doom lies, Tuor son of Huor,' he said.
'And this land shall not be freed from the shadow of Morgoth until
Thangorodrim itself be overthrown. Therefore we are resolved at
last to forsake it, and to depart into the South; and with us you shall
go.'

'But how shall we escape the net of our enemies?' said Tuor. 'For
the marching of so many together will surely be marked.'

'We shall not march through the land openly,' said Annael; 'and
if our fortune is good we shall come to the secret way which we call
Annon-in-Gelydh, the Gate of the Noldor; for it was made by the
skill of that people, long ago in the days of Turgon.'

At that name Tuor was stirred, though he knew not why; and he
questioned Annael concerning Turgon. 'He is a son of Fingolfin,'
said Annael, 'and is now accounted High King of the Noldor, since
the fall of Fingon. For he lives yet, most feared of the foes of
Morgoth, and he escaped from the ruin of the Nirnaeth, when Húrin
of Dor-lómin and Huor your father held the passes of Sirion behind
him.'

'Then I will go and seek Turgon,' said Tuor; 'for surely he will
lend me aid for my father's sake?'

'That you cannot,' said Annael. 'For his stronghold is hidden
from the eyes of Elves and Men, and we know not where it stands.
Of the Noldor some, maybe, know the way thither, but they will
speak of it to none. Yet if you would have speech with them, then
come with me, as I bid you; for in the far havens of the South you
may meet with wanderers from the Hidden Kingdom.'

Thus it came to pass that the Elves forsook the caves of Androth,
and Tuor went with them. But their enemies kept watch upon their
dwellings, and were soon aware of their march; and they had not
gone far from the hills into the plain before they were assailed by a
great force of Orcs and Easterlings, and they were scattered far and
wide, fleeing into the gathering night. But Tuor's heart was kindled
with the fire of battle, and he would not flee, but boy as he was he
wielded the axe as his father before him, and for long he stood his
ground and slew many that assailed him; but at the last he was
overwhelmed and taken captive and led before Lorgan the Easterling.
Now this Lorgan was held the chieftain of the Easterlings and claimed
to rule all Dor-lómin as a fief under Morgoth; and he took Tuor to
be his slave. Hard and bitter then was his life; for it pleased Lorgan
to treat Tuor the more evilly as he was of the kin of the former lords,
and he sought to break, if he could, the pride of the House of Hador.
But Tuor saw wisdom, and endured all pains and taunts with watchful
patience; so that in time his lot was somewhat lightened, and at the
least he was not starved, as were many of Lorgan's unhappy thralls.
For he was strong and skilful, and Lorgan fed his beasts of burden
well, while they were young and could work.

But after three years of thraldom Tuor saw at last a chance of
escape. He was come now almost to his full stature, taller and swifter
than any of the Easterlings; and being sent with other thralls on an
errand of labour into the woods he turned suddenly on the guards and
slew them with an axe, and fled into the hills. The Easterlings hunted
him with dogs, but without avail; for wellnigh all the hounds of
Lorgan were his friends, and if they came up with him they would
fawn upon him, and then run homeward at his command. Thus he
came back at last to the caves of Androth and dwelt there alone.
And for four years he was an outlaw in the land of his fathers, grim and
solitary; and his name was feared, for he went often abroad, and slew
many of the Easterlings that he came upon. Then they set a great
price upon his head; but they did not dare to come to his hiding-place,
even with strength of men, for they feared the Elven-folk, and
shunned the caves where they had dwelt. Yet it is said that Tuor's
journeys were not made for the purpose of vengeance; rather he
sought ever for the Gate of the Noldor, of which Annael had spoken.
But he found it not, for he knew not where to look, and such few of
the Elves as lingered still in the mountains had not heard of it.

Now Tuor knew that, though fortune still favoured him, yet in
the end the days of an outlaw are numbered, and are ever few and
without hope. Nor was he willing to live thus for ever a wild man in
the houseless hills, and his heart urged him ever to great deeds.
Herein, it is said, the power of Ulmo was shown. For he gathered
tidings of all that passed in Beleriand, and every stream that flowed
from Middle-earth to the Great Sea was to him a messenger, both to
and fro; and he remained also in friendship, as of old, with Círdan
and the Shipwrights at the Mouths of Sirion. And at this time most
of all Ulmo gave heed to the fates of the House of Hador, for in his
deep counsels he purposed that they should play great part in his
designs for the succour of the Exiles; and he knew well of the plight
of Tuor, for Annael and many of his folk had indeed escaped from
Dor-lómin and come at last to Círdan in the far South.

Thus it came to pass that on a day in the beginning of the year
(twenty and three since the Nirnaeth) Tuor sat by a spring that trickled
forth near to the door of the cave where he dwelt; and he looked out
westward towards the cloudy sunset. Then suddenly it came into
his heart that he would wait no longer, but would arise and go. 'I
will leave now the grey land of my kin that are no more,' he cried,
'and I will go in search of my doom! But whither shall I turn? Long
have I sought the Gate and found it not.'

Then he took up the harp which he bore ever with him, being
skilled in playing upon its strings, and heedless of the peril of his
clear voice alone in the waste he sang an elven-song of the North
for the uplifting of hearts. And even as he sang the well at his feet
began to boil with great increase of water, and it overflowed, and a
rill ran noisily down the rocky hillside before him. And Tuor took
this as a sign, and he arose at once and followed after it. Thus he
came down from the tall hills of Mithrim and passed out into the
northward plain of Dor-lómin; and ever the stream grew as he
followed it westward, until after three days he could descry in the
west the long grey ridges of Ered Lómin that in those regions marched
north and south, fencing off the far coastlands of the Western Shores.
To those hills in all his journeys Tuor had never come.

Now the land became more broken and stony again, as it approached
the hills, and soon it began to rise before Tuor's feet, and the stream
went down into a cloven bed. But even as dim dusk came on the
third day of his journey, Tuor found before him a wall of rock, and
there was an opening thercin like a great arch; and the stream passed
in and was lost. Then Tuor was dismayed, and he said: 'So my
hope has cheated me! The sign in the hills has led me only to a dark
end in the midst of the land of my enemies.' And grey at heart he
sat among the rocks on the high bank of the stream, keeping watch
through a bitter fireless night; for it was yet but the month of Sùlimë,
and no stir of spring had come to that far northern land, and a
shrill wind blew from the East.

But even as the light of the coming sun shone pale in the far
mists of Mithrim, Tuor heard voices, and looking down he saw in
amazement two Elves that waded in the shallow water; and as they
climbed up steps hewn in the bank, Tuor stood up and called to them.
At once they drew their bright swords and sprang towards him. Then
he saw that they were grey-cloaked but mail-clad under; and he
marvelled, for they were fairer and more fell to look upon, because
of the light of their eyes, than any of the Elven-folk that he yet had
known. He stood to his full height and awaited them; but when they
saw that he drew no weapon, but stood alone and greeted them in
the Elven-tongue, they sheathed their swords and spoke courteously
to him. And one said: 'Gelmir and Arminas we are, of Finarfin's
people. Are you not one of the Edain of old that dwelt in these lands
ere the Nirnaeth? And indeed of the kindred of Hador and Húrin
I deem you; for so the gold of your head declares you.'

And Tuor answered: 'Yea, I am Tuor, son of Huor, son of Galdor,
son of Hador; but now at last I desire to leave this land where I am
outlawed and kinless.'

'Then,' said Gelmir, 'if you would escape and find the havens in
the South, already your feet have been guided on the right road.'

'So I thought,' said Tuor. 'For I followed a sudden spring of
water in the hills, until it joined this treacherous stream. But now
I know not whither to turn, for it has gone into darkness.'

'Through darkness one may come to the light,' said Gelmir.

'Yet one will walk under the Sun while one may,' said Tuor. 'But
since you are of that people, tell me if you can where lies the Gate of
the Noldor. For I have sought it long, ever since Annael my foster-father
of the Grey-elves spoke of it to me.'

Then the Elves laughed, and said: 'Your search is ended; for we
have ourselves just passed that Gate. There it stands before you!'
And they pointed to the arch into which the water flowed. 'Come now!
Through darkness you shall come to the light. We will set your feet
on the road, but we cannot guide you far; for we are sent back to the
lands whence we fled upon an urgent errand.' 'But fear not,' said
Gelmir: 'a great doom is written upon your brow, and it shall lead
you far from these lands, far indeed from Middle-earth, as I guess.'

Then Tuor followed the Noldor down the steps and waded in the
cold water, until they passed into the shadow beyond the arch of
stone. And then Gelmir brought forth one of those lamps for which
the Noldor were renowned; for they were made of old in Valinor,
and neither wind nor water could quench them, and when they were
unhooded they sent forth a clear blue light from a flame imprisoned
in white crystal. Now by the light that Gelmir held above his head
Tuor saw that the river began to go suddenly down a smooth slope
into a great tunnel, but beside its rock-hewn course there ran long
flights of steps leading on and downward into a deep gloom beyond
the beam of the lamp.

When they had come to the foot of the rapids they stood under a
great dome of rock, and there the river rushed over a steep fall with
a great noise that echoed in the vault, and it passed then on again
beneath another arch into a further tunnel. Beside the falls the Noldor
halted, and bade Tuor farewell.

'Now we must return and go our ways with all speed,' said Gelmir;
'for matters of great peril are moving in Beleriand.'

'Is then the hour come when Turgon shall come forth?' said Tuor.

Then the Elves looked at him in amazement. 'That is a matter
which concerns the Noldor rather than the sons of Men,' said
Arminas. 'What know you of Turgon?'

'Little,' said Tuor; 'save that my father aided his escape from
the Nirnaeth, and that in his hidden stronghold dwells the hope of
the Noldor. Yet, though I know not why, ever his name stirs in my
heart, and comes to my lips. And had I my will, I would go in search
of him, rather than tread this dark way of dread. Unless, perhaps,
this secret road is the way to his dwelling?'

'Who shall say?' answered the Elf. 'For since the dwelling of
Turgon is hidden, so also are the ways thither. I know them not,
though I have sought them long. Yet if I knew them, I would not
reveal them to you, nor to any among Men.'

But Gelmir said : 'Yet I have heard that your House has the favour
of the Lord of Waters. And if his counsels lead you to Turgon, then
surely shall you come to him, withersoever you turn. Follow now the
road to which the water has brought you from the hills, and fear not!
You shall not walk long in darkness. Farewell! And think not that
our meeting was by chance; for the Dweller in the Deep moves
many things in this land still.
Continues...

---

Excerpted from Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
by J.R.R. TOLKIEN
Copyright © 1980 by J.R.R Tolkien Copyright Trust.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---