The Cottage of Lost Play

It all begins with a wayfaring stranger Eriol, a son of Eärendil finding his way Tol Eressëa where the Gnomes abided. If one has trouble keeping names and places accurate in the published works of Tolkien reading the works that proceeded those is extremely difficult. Son of Eärendil is not referring to Elrond and Elros' long lost brother but rather a kinship of spirit. As a Jew may say I am a son of Abraham so Eriol could claim being a son of Eärendil because of his seafaring adventures. Gnomes is a reference to Elves, specifically who would eventually become the Noldor (after much meandering) and not the garden variety trinkets many are so fond of.

Eriol discovers the Cottage of Lost Play on Tol Eressëa and learns of it's many rooms such as: The Hall of Play Regained and the Room of the Log Fire. The hosts of the house Lindo and Vairë invited Eriol to stay. Eriol spoke with his hosts over a feast and observed the others, who appeared to be children, who came. "In one thing only were all alike, that a look of great happiness lit with a merry expectation of further mirth and joy lay on every face" (The Book of Lost Takes - Volume I, p. 15).

After the feast all were led to the Room of the Log Fire where a great magical fire burned year round that aided the tellers of great tales. Lindo asked what tales should be recounted that night and, deferring to their guest, Eriol asked about the history of the cottage he now sat. Vairë began with location of the the Cottage before saying: "This was a time of joy to the children, for it was mostly at this hour that a new comrade would come down the lane called Olórë Mallë or the Path of Dreams. It has been said to me, though the truth I know not, that the lane ran by devious routes to the homes of Men, but that way we never trod when we fared thither ourselves. It was a lane of deep banks and great overhanging hedges, beyond which stood many tall trees wherein a perpetual whisper seemed to live; but not seldom great glow-worms crept about its grassy borders" (The Book of Lost Tales - Volume I, p. 18). Even in his earliest writings Tolkien could evoke beautiful pictures with his words.

As it was the children of the fathers of the fathers of Men wandered their. And the Elves created a beautiful place, The Cottage of the Children, so that mortal Man did not wander into immortal Valinor which though seemingly not forbidden at this time certainly would not have been a good thing to have happened. "'Now for the most part the children did not often go into the house, but danced and played in the garden, gathering flowers or chasing the golden bees and butterflies with embroidered wings that the Eldar set within the garden for their joy'" (The Book of Lost Takes - Volume I, p. 19). Sounds like a lovely place--don't you think?

And yet there came a time when the Elves moved on and the lane that led to the Cottage of the Children and it was cut off until the day of the great Faring Forth. Yet some of the children of men remained in the foster care of Lindo and Vairë. They built the Cottage of Lost Play where old tales, songs, and music could be heard. This was the place Eriol found himself seated. And as it was the children of the Cottage of Lost Play would travel to the Great Lands (aka Middle-earth, which was not used in these early writings) to lonely children and as a comfort to those who weep. And yet not all return from the Great Lands. Vairë's tale spurred Eriol's memory--that a legend had been past down among Men of a fair house, magic gardens, and beautiful music.

Christopher Tolkien noted that Eriol was a central figure in the early mythology of his father. Furthermore, this early mythology was indelibly linked to the ancient histories of England. As Tolkien stated: "I was from early days grieved by the poverty of my own beloved country: it had no stories of its own (bound up with its tongue and soil), not of the quality I sought, and found (as an ingredient) in the legends of other lands. There was Greek, and Celtic, and Romance, and Germanic, Scandinavian, and Finnish (which greatly affected me); but nothing English, save impoverished chap-book stuff" (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, no. 131).

Tolkien's son explains that Eriol was to have reached Tol Eressëa around the time of the invasion of Britain by Hengest and Horsa in the 5th century AD. In fact pages 23-24 of The Book of Lost Tales - Volume I give a very interesting historical connections Tolkien had thought about tying to Eriol. Indeed, Tol Eressëa itself was to align with the geographical position of England. It's all rather heady stuff and makes me wish I had taken more world history courses when in college. Ultimately Eriol was to be a conduit, a sea-wanderer akin to Eärendel, who would come find the Elves and learn their histories to bring back to Men before the great Faring Forth took place. This event was to be a last great expedition to rescue all Elves still wandering in the Great Lands. Very little else in all of Tolkien's immense writings is anything found in regards to the Cottage of Lost Play and the children who abided there.

As I stated before my original goal in reading The History of Middle-earth books was not an academic pursuit in how Tolkien wrote his masterpieces. Rather it was to discover bits of unpublished writing, like the Cottage of Lost Play, and incorporate it into my chronological reading schedule (see 2013--the crowning achievement of this blog). But as you may have guessed that became a very difficult goal to achieve from the onset with this story that was unfinished and set to be dated outside the ages of Middle-earth. I have some theories on how I might accomplish this but for the moment they stay just that: theories.