The End of the Lost Tales: The Eriol Story

I have reached the end of the second book of the History of Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien attempts to bring together the final scraps of his father's earliest writings known as The Book of Lost Tales or The Golden Book of Tavrobel. The Tales were never completed by the father and the son noted is attempts to make a coherent plot out of the remaining notes is artificial at best. Still, he goes to great length's to tie things together which I will highlight here. Perhaps most interesting is in conceptualizing the end of Eriol's journey Tolkien abandoned it with a whole new (and yet similar) character altogether which will be covered in the next blog post.

Here are highlights of what Christopher Tolkien hypothesized the end of the Tales to be:

• The Eldar and rescued Noldoli depart to Tol Eressëa and built many towns and villages
• Ottar Wáefre (whom the Elves name Eriol) comes to Tol Eressëa and dwells in the Cottage of Lost Play
• After learning the history of the Elves Eriol visited Gilfannon in Tavrobel and wrote down the history; there is was given limpë 
• Eriol wedded and had a son named Heorrenda (Half-elven) although another note states Eriol died in Tavrobel consumed with longing for his home
• The remaining Elves of the Great Lands rebelled against Melko; the Great Faring Forth where Tol Erressëa was taken back to the Great Lands to aid in the fight.
• Ossë, in anger, fought against the moving of Tol Eressëa causing the wester half to break and end up in the geographical position of Ireland. Tol Eressëa came to rest in the geographical position of England
• The Battle of Rôs; Elves defeated, retreat to Tol Eressëa--followed by evil Men and Orcs
• Battle of the Heath of the Sky-roof (in one note witnessed by Eriol); the fading of the Elves
• The sons of Eriol (Heorrenda from his Elvish wife, Hengest and Horsa from his late human wife) conquer Tol Eressëa and it became Englad. "They were not hostile to the Elves, and from them the English have 'the true tradition of the fairies'" (p. 293, The Book of Lost Tales - Volume II).
• The Elvish towns and villages became English (such as Kortirion = Warwick). In one note it is said Heorrenda finished the Golden Book of Tavrobel. 

Lastly in another set of notes it appears that the untimely Faring Forth was directly caused by Eriol who longed for his home and doomed the Elves. 

Here it can be seen how Tolkien was to connect his mythology to English history as he mourned the fact that England lost all it's history, legend, and myth through centuries of invasions and conquests.