The Fourth Age

[PMA]

To all the Tolkien experts, I have a question. Did he ever try to write a sequel to The Lord of the Rings? I have been trying to understand whether any of his later work focused on this beyond the appendecies in the books.

Thanks to everyone for more knowledge on this.

Regards,

Paul

 

[Arthur_Vandelay]

Not that I'm a Tolkien expert, but the answer to your question is "yes." Tolkien began a sequel called "The New Shadow," but soon abandoned it. The abandoned manuscript is available in a volume of The History of Middle-earth series entitled The Peoples of Middle-earth.

 

[PMA]

Thanks for the reply. I will check that out. Was also curious whether Tolkien's son has anything to do with writing. This may be a heretical view but would anyone think a sequel could be undertaken by his family in some form? Can you imagine the interest that would generate if done well?

Regards,
Paul

 

[BlackCaptain]

Christopher Tolkien, his son, had everything to do with his writings. He was the main translator of JRR's manuscripts, and turned them into the Silmarillion.

JRR didnt write the Silmarillion. Christopher did. JRR just was the creator of the world inside the Silmarillion

 

[Snaga]

Part of the reason why the attempts at a sequel were abandoned was because it is hard to see what could be gained by writing one. Sad to say, there is a completeness to Lord of the Rings. The feeling of melancholy that the age of the elves is over, and that the modern world of men has commenced is extremely powerful. To provide a sequel undermines that, in a way that is probably fatal.

Christopher Tolkien provides a commentary on this matter in 'Peoples of Middle Earth'.

 

[Artanis]

JRRT made a comment in Letters too (#338):

As for the Entwives: I do not know. I have written nothing beyond the first few years of the Fourth Age. (Except the beginning of a tale supposed to refer to the end of the reign of Eldaron about 100 years after the death of Aragorn. Then I of course discovered that the King's Peace would contain no tales worth recounting; and his wars would have little interest after the overthrow of Sauron; but that almost certainly a restlessness would appear about then, owing to the (it seems) inevitable boredom of Men with the good: there would be secret societies practising dark cults, and 'orc-cults' among adolescents.)

I would not say that CRT wrote the published Sil, all he did was to put the story together from the many different versions his father had made and to get it published. But he did it in a clever way, I admit that.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Do any books from The History of Middle Earth contain any info on the fourth age at all?

 

[Arthur_Vandelay]

The only one I can think of (not that I'm very familiar with the HoME series) is The Peoples of Middle Earth, which contains a fragment of Tolkien's abandoned tale "The New Shadow," set in the Fourth Age about 100 years after the death of Aragorn.

There is an article on Suite101 which speculates upon what Middle-earth in the Fourth Age might have been like. Here is an excerpt:

Many people are curious about how the Fourth Age would have unfolded had Tolkien written much about its history. Unfortunately for curious fans Tolkien felt the wonder of Middle-earth sort of died with Aragorn. After his time "the dynasts descended from Aragorn would become just kings and governors -- like Denethor or worse" (Tolkien, "Letters", p. 344).Tolkien did begin a story set in the Fourth Age, the working title of which was The New Shadow. This would have been a sequel to The Lord of the Rings, but he abandoned the work after only a few pages, feeling there was nothing left to say which would have been fantastic and enchanting. There was no longer a physical embodiment of evil in the world. There was no longer a universal enemy. Sauron and Melkor had both been defeated and rendered impotent, so the Free Peoples were no longer at risk of being subjugated against their wills in ways that no man could dominate others.

The New Shadow would have been set in Gondor, or at least would have begun there, in the house of Borlas, the younger son of Beregond, the guardsman of the Citadel who became Captain of the White Company, Faramir's guard, after the War of the Ring. There is a problem with the dating of the story, however, in that Tolkien originally set it about 100 years after the Downfall of Sauron, at the beginning of Eldarion's reign. But years later Tolkien changed the time to 100 years after Eldarion ascended the throne. However, Tolkien retained Borlas as the primary character, and one must wonder why he would do such a thing. Borlas would have to have been about 200 years old, which is an incredibly long time for even a Dunadan to live, unless he were a descendant of Elros. Probably Borlas would have become a grandson or great-grandson of Beregond.

Borlas was concerned with rumors of a strange and secret cult gaining popularity in Gondor. It had become fashionable among Gondorian boys to play at being Orcs, doing Orcish things (such as destroying trees for no apparent reason). But now men were whispering of a new leader, Herumor (which is Quenya for "dark lord"), around whom a cult had formed (Tolkien called it a Satanic cult, and presumably it would have been a revival of Morgothian worship). The story proceeds no farther than Borlas' receipt of an invitation from Saelon, a younger man who grew up with Borlas' son, to attend a secret meeting (most undoubtedly of Herumor's followers). It is not clear whether Saelon would have been a member of the cult attempting to recruit (or murder) Borlas, or if he was engaged in some campaign against the cult and required Borlas' aid.

Tolkien decided that he could have written a thriller about the discovery and overthrow of the cult, which would have been plotting the overthrow of Eldarion. But such a story did not interest him, even though it surely would interest his many readers. Borlas might not have remained the primary character, but he could have been instrumental in initiating or catalyzing whatever countermeasures Eldarion's supporters would take against the cult.

Middle-earth would of course have to be a very different place from the world described in The Lord of the Rings. If we assume the later dating of the story, around the year 220 of the Second Age, would have remained fixed, then we can deduce a few things about the state of the world. For instance, in The Peoples of Middle-earth we learn that Durin VII, the Dwarven king destined to restore the Longbeard Dwarves to Moria, would probably have been the son of Thorin III Stonehelm, the son of Dain II Ironfoot. Thorin III was born in the year 2866 of the Third Age, and he would have been 153 years old when his father died in the War of the Ring. Thorin probably would not have lived to the end of Aragorn's reign (though Gimli, who was born in TA 2879, did live that long). Hence, Durin VII became King under the Mountain around the year Fourth Age 100.

When did the Longbeard Dwarves return to Moria? Maybe early in Durin's reign, but probably not until after Aragorn's death. Undoubtedly the event would have occurred before the year 172 of the Fourth Age, when Findegil made the last recorded note in the Thain's Copy of the Red Book of Westmarch. So the recovery of Moria probably occurred between the years 120 and 172. Such an event would have resulted, perhaps, in one of the last wars with Orcs before the time of The New Shadow. Borlas, the aged protagonist of The New Shadow, could smell "the old evil", which apparently was the evil represented by the true Orcs, former servants of Sauron, and other creatures. Perhaps he would have fought these creatures in his youth.(Click here for full article)

 

[Arthur_Vandelay]

Another speculative article from Suite101, written from a post-Third Age perspective, may interest you: The Historic Baranduin

 

[Corvis]

Just look in the appendices of the LOTR books. You'll get loads of info on the fourth age in there.

*By the way Erestor, I like your signature. It's just like mine.*

 

[Barliman Butterbur]

Do any books from The History of Middle Earth contain any info on the fourth age at all? jw cause I was always curious.

See http://thetolkien.forum/showthread.php?p=442871#post442871 .

Barley