3. Timeline and Sources
Timeline regarding (oral and textual) tradition above:
III 3003 / S.R. 1403 Bilbo begins Translations from the Elvish in Rivendell.
III 3018 / S.R. 1418 Bilbo finishes the Translations from the Elvish in Rivendell.
III 3019 / S.R. 1419 Frodo brings the Translations from the Elvish (3 volumes) and Bilbo’s diary containing the recountings of his quest for Erebor (1 volume; designated as There and Back Again) together with »many loose leaves of notes« (LotR, 14) to the Shire.
III 3020 / S.R. 1420 Frodo begins writing down his account of the War of the Ring (designated as The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King) and adding it to the volume Bilbo began.
III 3021 / S.R. 1421 Frodo finishes his part of The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King and hands the current four volumes of the later so-called Red Book of Westmarch over to Sam (see right side).
IV 62 / S.R. 1482 Death of Rose; Sam gives the Red Book of Westmarch to his daughter, Elanor the Fair, and goes over the Sea. Now the Red Book of Westmarch can be called thus in a strict sense. Afterwards it is kept by the Fairbairns (the Wardens of Westmarch; descendants of Elanor) in Undertowers in Westmarch. Here to the four volumes is added a fifth volume, »conaining commentaries, genealogies, and various other matter concerning the hobbit members of the Fellowship« (LotR, 14).
IV 64 / S.R. 1484 A Copy of the Red Book of the Westmarch is made at the request of King Elessar and Thain Peregrin brings this so-called Thain’s Book to Gondor. There are made much annotations, many corrections and an abbreviated version of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen is added. Only this copy (and its copies) contain the alternative, ›true‹ account of Bilbo’s journey which is derived from Frodo’s and Sam’s notes. Both »seem to have been unwilling to delete anything actually written by the old hobbit [scil. Bilbo] himself« (LotR, 13).
IV 172 / S.R. 1592 Findegil, King’s Writer, finishes making a exact copy of the Thain’s Book. This copy was kept at Great Smials, where the Tale of the Years is composed (and included) »with the assistance of material collected by Meriadoc« (LotR, 15), who »obtained assistance and information from Rivendell, which he visited more than once« (LotR, 15). Only this copy contains »the whole of Bilbo’s ›Translations from the Elvish‹« (LotR, 15).
Prop replica: http://www.indyprops.com/pp-rb.htm
Sources
• LotR, 13–15
• LotR Reader’s Companion, 2f.41
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, 29–34 [Preface].
• LotR, 1111 [Appendix D].
Title page of the book/volumes given to Sam by Frodo
(with various titles successively crossed out:
italic: Bilbo’s handwriting; non-italic: Frodo’s handwriting)
»My Diary. My Unexpected Journey. There and Back Back Again. And What Happened After.
Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring.
the downfall
of the
lord of the rings
and the
return of the ring
(as seen by the little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise.)
Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell.« (LotR, 1027)
3. Timeline and Sources