"FOREWORD" - читать интересную книгу автора (vol07)

considerably by treating such matters as the chronology and
geography far more superficially, but as I know well there are
some who find these often exceedingly complex questions of
great interest, and those who do not can easily pass them by. Or
I might have omitted some passages of original writing where it
is not very distinctively different from the published work; but it
has been my intention throughout this 'History' that the
author's own voice should be largely heard.
The way in which The Return of the Shadow was constructed
has meant that the first part of The Treason of Isengard must
deal at some length with further developments in The Fel-
lowship of the Ring up to the point reached in the first book,
and this part is of necessity a continuation of the account in The
Return of the Shadow and stands in very close relation to it -
though most of the many page-references made to it are no
more than references and need not be looked up in order to
follow the discussion.
This book is again very largely descriptive in intent; and in
general I have thought it more useful to explain why I believe
the narrative to have evolved as I describe it than to enlarge on
my own views of the significance of particular features.
As the writing of The Lord of the Rings proceeds the initial
draftings become more and more difficult to read; but for
obvious reasons I have not hesitated to try to present even the
most formidable examples, such as the original description of
Frodo's vision on Amon Hen (pp. 372 - 3), though the result
must be peppered all over with dots and queries.
In the preparation of this book I have again been greatly
indebted to the help of Mr Taum Santoski generously and
unfailingly given, and to that of Mr John D. Rateliff who has



assisted in the analysis of manuscripts in the possession of
Marquette University. I thank also Mr Charles B. Elston, the
Archivist of the Memorial Library at Marquette, for providing
photographs of the designs on the West Gate of Moria and the
inscription on Balin's Tomb, and Miss Tracy Muench, who has
been responsible for the photocopying of many manuscripts.
Mr Charles Noad very kindly undertook an additional and
independent reading of the proofs, together with a meticulous
checking of all references and citations from published works.
In this connection I must explain, what I should have explained
in The Return of the Shadow, a perhaps rather misleading
device that I have employed in these books: when relating an
earlier text to the published form I often treat passages as
identical although the wording actually differs in unimportant
ways. Thus for example (p. 370) 'Sam broke in on the discus-
sion... with "Begging your pardons, but I don't think you
understand Mr Frodo at all (FR p. 419) is not a misquotation