road became 'a wide street, paved with great flat stones'.(22) Already in preliminary drafting the description of the Circle of Isengard reached almost its form in TT (pp. 159-60),(23) but that of the tower of Orthanc underwent many changes, which can be related to a series of contemporary illustrations. These descriptions, for clarity in my account, I label A, B, C, D.
The description in the preliminary draft is as follows: (A) And in the centre from which all the chained paths ran was a tower, a pinnacle of stone. The base of it, and that two hundred feet in height, was a great cone of rock left by the ancient builders and smoothers of the plain, but now upon it rose a tower of masonry, tier on tier, course on course, each drum smaller than the last. It ended short and flat, so that at the top there was a wide space fifty feet across, reached by a stair that came up the middle.
This description fits the picture captioned 'Orthanc (1)' that was reproduced as frontispiece to Vol. VII, The Treason of Isengard,(24) except in one respect: in the text there was 'a wide space fifty feet across' at the top, whereas in the picture the tower is surmounted by three pinnacles or horns (see under 'C' below).
In the completed manuscript of the first version the description begins in the same way,(25) but after 'left by the ancient builders and smoothers of the plain' it continues:
(B) ... a tower of masonry marvellously tall and slender, like a stone horn, that at the tip branched into three tines; and between the tines there was a narrow space where a man could stand a thousand feet above the vale.
This accompanies the drawing labelled 'Orthanc (2)', reproduced on p. 33, where the basal cone is black, and steeper than in 'Orthanc (1)', and the tower much more slender. Against this second description of the tower my father subsequently wrote:
(C) Or - if first picture [i.e. 'Orthanc (1)'] is adopted (but with cone-like rock as in second picture) [i.e. 'Orthanc (2)']:
[a tower of masonry] marvellously tall and strong. Seven round tiers it had, dwindling in girth and height, and at the top were three black horns of stone upon a narrow space where a man could stand a thousand feet above the plain.
This precisely fits 'Orthanc (1)'. It seems likely then that that picture was made after the first description 'A' was written, since it differs from 'A' in that the tower possess three horns at the summit.
The accounts 'B' and 'C' were rejected together and replaced in the manuscript by the following (all this work obviously belonging to the same period):
(D) And in the centre, from which all the chained paths ran, there stood an island in a pool, a great cone of rock, two hundred feet in height, left by the ancient builders and smoothers [> levellers]
of the plain, black and smooth and exceeding hard. A yawning chasm clove it from tip to middle into two great fangs and over the chasm was a mighty arch of masonry, and upon the arch a tower was founded, marvellously tall and strong. Seven round tiers it had, dwindling in girth and height, and at the top were three black horns of stone upon a narrow space, where a man could stand a thousand feet above the plain.
This conception is illustrated in the drawings 'Orthanc (3)' and '(4)'
on the same page as 'Orthanc (2)' and reproduced below (the distinc-tion between the two enters into successive descriptions of the tower in 'The Voice of Saruman', pp. 61-2). On the back of the page bearing 'Orthanc (1)' my father wrote: 'This is wrong. The rock should be steeper and cloven, and the tower should be founded over an arch (with greater "horns" at top), as is shown in small sketch (3).'
He also wrote here: 'Omit the water-course', but struck this out. A stream or 'moat' surrounding the basal cone is seen in 'Orthanc (1)'. In description 'D' the tower stands on 'an island in a pool' ('in the lake', see note 25).
Finally, a rider was inserted into the first manuscript bearing the
The description in the preliminary draft is as follows: (A) And in the centre from which all the chained paths ran was a tower, a pinnacle of stone. The base of it, and that two hundred feet in height, was a great cone of rock left by the ancient builders and smoothers of the plain, but now upon it rose a tower of masonry, tier on tier, course on course, each drum smaller than the last. It ended short and flat, so that at the top there was a wide space fifty feet across, reached by a stair that came up the middle.
This description fits the picture captioned 'Orthanc (1)' that was reproduced as frontispiece to Vol. VII, The Treason of Isengard,(24) except in one respect: in the text there was 'a wide space fifty feet across' at the top, whereas in the picture the tower is surmounted by three pinnacles or horns (see under 'C' below).
In the completed manuscript of the first version the description begins in the same way,(25) but after 'left by the ancient builders and smoothers of the plain' it continues:
(B) ... a tower of masonry marvellously tall and slender, like a stone horn, that at the tip branched into three tines; and between the tines there was a narrow space where a man could stand a thousand feet above the vale.
This accompanies the drawing labelled 'Orthanc (2)', reproduced on p. 33, where the basal cone is black, and steeper than in 'Orthanc (1)', and the tower much more slender. Against this second description of the tower my father subsequently wrote:
(C) Or - if first picture [i.e. 'Orthanc (1)'] is adopted (but with cone-like rock as in second picture) [i.e. 'Orthanc (2)']:
[a tower of masonry] marvellously tall and strong. Seven round tiers it had, dwindling in girth and height, and at the top were three black horns of stone upon a narrow space where a man could stand a thousand feet above the plain.
This precisely fits 'Orthanc (1)'. It seems likely then that that picture was made after the first description 'A' was written, since it differs from 'A' in that the tower possess three horns at the summit.
The accounts 'B' and 'C' were rejected together and replaced in the manuscript by the following (all this work obviously belonging to the same period):
(D) And in the centre, from which all the chained paths ran, there stood an island in a pool, a great cone of rock, two hundred feet in height, left by the ancient builders and smoothers [> levellers]
of the plain, black and smooth and exceeding hard. A yawning chasm clove it from tip to middle into two great fangs and over the chasm was a mighty arch of masonry, and upon the arch a tower was founded, marvellously tall and strong. Seven round tiers it had, dwindling in girth and height, and at the top were three black horns of stone upon a narrow space, where a man could stand a thousand feet above the plain.
This conception is illustrated in the drawings 'Orthanc (3)' and '(4)'
on the same page as 'Orthanc (2)' and reproduced below (the distinc-tion between the two enters into successive descriptions of the tower in 'The Voice of Saruman', pp. 61-2). On the back of the page bearing 'Orthanc (1)' my father wrote: 'This is wrong. The rock should be steeper and cloven, and the tower should be founded over an arch (with greater "horns" at top), as is shown in small sketch (3).'
He also wrote here: 'Omit the water-course', but struck this out. A stream or 'moat' surrounding the basal cone is seen in 'Orthanc (1)'. In description 'D' the tower stands on 'an island in a pool' ('in the lake', see note 25).
Finally, a rider was inserted into the first manuscript bearing the
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