Errata
In Praise of Sharp-Eyed Readers
Thanks to Anders Stenström, 'Johan', Brendan Moody, and Kristine Larsen. Special thanks to Bruce Leonard, Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, Jason Fisher, Rodrigo Bergmaschi de Azevedo, and Arden Smith.
The History of The Hobbit as of July 2011
- p. xxviii, line 5
- enable
- Change To
- enabled
- Notes
- add "d"
- p. xxviii, lines 24–26
- "Finally, I will also be establishing a website (www.JohnDRateliff.homestead.com) to list errata and changes as new material becomes available"
- Change To
- "Finally, my website (www.sacnothscriptorium.com) hosts a list of errata for this book, while my blog (www.sacnoths.blogspot.com) features updates on all things Tolkienian, among other topics."
- Notes
- This replaces the defunct web-address and also includes the blog url as well
- p. 42, Note 9, line 9
- 'o-cedilla'
- Change To
- 'o-ogonek'
- Notes
- it's important not to do a search-and-replace on this one, since in quotes I was careful to follow each scholar's specific spelling & diacriticals on this non-English word
- p. 93, 20th line from bottom
- picking up a skewer
- Change To
- picking up a skewer.
- Notes
- add period
- p. 106. line 19
- Plate VI [bottom]
- Change To
- Plate IV [bottom]
- Notes
- Gotten the reference wrong
- p. 147, line 17
- Gower
- Change To
- Langland
- Notes
- Caught by Tom Shippey in a review. If it's the only thing we fix, we need to fix this one!
- p. 154, 16th line from bottom
- Stillhe
- Change To
- Still he
- Notes
- Break into two words
- p. 163, line 10
- Bilbo had escaped
- Change To
- Bilbo had escaped.
- Notes
- add period
- p. 184, line 13
- "whether due to influence or parallel inspiration"
- Change To
- "whether due to influence or parallel inspiration or an untraced common source"
- Notes
- I should have accounted for this third possibility.
- p. 185, Note 2, line 4
- "during the Battle of Britain"
- Change To
- "during the Blitz"
- Notes
- Wayne Hammond informs me that 'the Battle of Britain' officially ended a few days before this particular bombing
- Plate III, bottom caption
- "Below Gandalf on the doorstep at Bag-End."
- Change To
- "Below Gandalf on the doorstep at Bag-End."
- Notes
- "Below" should be italicized
- p. 257, line 23
- "aided by mysterious alley"
- Change To
- "aided by a mysterious ally"
- p. 260, line 16
- Shield Scyfing
- Change To
- Scyld Scefing (Shield Sheafing)
- Notes
- I mistakenly used a mixed form
- p. 260, lines 25 thr 27
- "the original with its touch of colour has so far as I know never been published: see plate VI [bottom]"
- Change To
- ". . . never been published before: see Plate VI [bottom]"
- Notes
- This assumes that we're now able to substitute the version of this picture with colour this time. Also, change lowercase to UpperCase
- p. 260, 9th line from bottom
- see plate IV [bottom]
- Change To
- see Plate IV [bottom]
- Notes
- Lowercase to UpperCase
- p. 281, Note 6
- Heimsókn: the defense of a hall or home against attackers, as in the murder of Gunnar Hamundarson . . . can also be seen as a heimsókn of sorts. Note, however, that Lewis's use of the term here is ill-chosen, since in The Wind in the Willows the heroes are the attackers attempting to retake Toad's ancestral hall, while heimsókn evokes a heroic defense, not a crafty (one might almost say underhanded) attack such as the one Grahame depicts: I am grateful to Richard West for clarifying Lewis's terminology for me.
- Change To
- Heimsókn: an attack on a home or hall, as in the murder of Gunnar Hamundarson . . . can also be seen as a heimsókn of sorts. As T. A. Shippey points out (Tolkien Studies V [2008], p. 220–21), the term survives into the modern day in Scottish legal jargon as hamesucken, "[t]he crime of assaulting a person in his own house or dwelling-place" (Concise OED Vol. II, p. 1246–47), and as such finds its way into John Buchan's Castle Guy [1930]. I am grateful to Richard West and Prof. Shippey for clarifying Lewis's terminology for me.
- Notes
- Shippey's review pointed out I'd gotten this wrong, so I'd like to correct the factual error
- p. 283, Note 14, next to last line
- Shield Scyfing's
- Change To
- Scyld Scefing's
- Notes
- cf. p. 260
- p. 284, last two lines
- "But Heusler in turn credits the drawing to Danmarks Geistesleben ['Denmark's Heroic Songs'] by Axel Olrik (Heidelberg, 1908), page 13, and when Arden Smith"
- Change To
- "But Heusler in turn credits the drawing to a German translation (1908) of Axel Olrik's Nordisk Aandsliv i Vikingetid og tidlig Middelalder ['Norse Intellectual Life during the Viking Era', 1907], and when Arden Smith"
- Notes
- Another of the slips caught by Shippey in his review
- p. 318, Note 4, line 3
- "in Chapter I"
- Change To
- "in Chapter I of The Lord of the Rings"
- Notes
- add title to clarify reference (i.e., not Ch. I of The Hobbit)
- p. 332, line 15
- her 'ebon thread on
- Change To
- her 'ebon thread' on
- Notes
- add missing end-quote mark after thread
- p. 359, 18th line from bottom
- "had Tolkien to kept the manuscript"
- Change To
- "had Tolkien kept to the manuscript"
- Notes
- transpose 'to kept' to 'kept to'
- p. 391, note 1, line 1
- become
- Change To
- became
- Notes
- change tense
- p.407, line 24
- his Vanyar wife)
- Change To
- his Vanyar mother)
- Notes
- His wife, Eärwen, was Teleri; the golden-hair came in a generation earlier than I'd indicated, with Finwë's second wife, Indis
- p. 407, 14th line from bottom
- "who is clearly neither a Light-elf (Vanyar) nor a Deep-elf (Noldor) but a Sea-elf (a Sindar, one of the Teleri of Middle-earth)"
- Change To
- "who is clearly neither one of the Light-elves (Vanyar) nor the Deep-elves (Noldor) but of the Sea-elves (the Sindar, or Teleri of Middle-earth)"
- Notes
- recast slightly for singular/plural agreement
- p. 407, 12th line from bottom
- "precedent for a golden-haired Sindar"
- Change To
- "precedent for golden-haired Sindar"
- Notes
- omit the article 'a'; singular/plural agreement issue
- p. 410, line 8
- "He is also one of the original elves, the very first generation (said to number one hundred and forty-four) to awaken at Cuiviénen, the elven Eden"
- Change To
- "He is also one of the original elves, one of those who began life in Cuiviénen, the lost elven Eden far to the east of what we know as Middle-earth"
- Notes
- it's been pointed out to me that he cannot be one of the original 144, as I'd argued, so I've altered the passage somewhat
- p. 417, 15th line from bottom
- "It must be potent wine"
- Notes
- I'd mistakenly marked this to be changed to "be a potent wine" on an earlier errata list, but this was wrong; Marq. 1/1/9:5 clearly reads "be potent wine"
- p. 427, note 22, line 5
- "by his friend R. E. M. Wheeler"
- Change To
- "by R. E. M. Wheeler"
- Notes
- delete "his friend"; turns out they barely knew each other
- p. 429, Note 30, line 4
- ('those not of Aman the Undying Land)
- Change To
- ('those not of Aman the Undying Land')
- Notes
- add missing end-quote mark after 'Land'
RETURN TO BAG END
- p. 475, lines 5 & 6
- . . . hereTN13
What is our Burglar doing . . . - Change To
- . . . hereTN13 What is our Burglar doing . . .
- Notes
- remove paragraph break and flow two paragraphs together
- p. 486, line 24
- loathy
- Change To
- loathly
- p. 519, 6th line from bottom
- <"Winchester, The Meaning of Everything, pages 206–8; and Appendix I (particularly pages 229–31) of Lexicography and the OED: Pioneers in the Untrodden Forest, ed. Lynda Mugglestone, Appendix I (particularly pages 229–31). The best account . . . "/dd>
- Change To
- "Winchester, The Meaning of Everything, pages 206–8; and Lexicography and the OED: Pioneers in the Untrodden Forest, ed. Lynda Mugglestone, Appendix I (particularly pages 229–31). The best account . . . "
- Notes
- delete first occurrence of duplicated phrase
- p. 521–522, Note 27, clue-finder
- I am the clue-finder — this could refer to any of several episodes. It might mean Bilbo finding the key to open the trolls' lair (page 97, Chapter II) but more likely refers to his discovering the exact application of the moon-runes on Thror's Map and thus enabling Thorin & Company to find the keyhole at the exact moment on Durin's Day (Chapter XI).
- Change To
- I am the clue-finder — this probably alludes to Bilbo's finding the spider-thread and using it to guide his friends through the tangles of Mirkwood in Chapter VIII, since 'clue' originally meant a ball of thread, specifically the one used by Theseus to navigate the labyrinth (Concise OED Vol I, page 434, under the spelling 'clew'). I am grateful to Anders Stenström for drawing this etymology to my attention.
- p. 522, Note 27, end of the bag
- "e. g., the name of Bilbo's home"
- Change To
- "cf. the name of Bilbo's home"
- Notes
- replace "e.g.," with "cf."
- p. 522 (last line) & 523 (line 3)
- Vafthrùthnismál
- Change To
- Vafthrúthnismál
- Notes
- change ù to ú to match other appearances elsewhere in the book (p. 168, 169, 174, 188)
- p. 523, Note 30
- "Presumably the missing word should be something like 'friends': e.g. 'Bilbo’s friends . . ."
- Change To
- "Presumably the missing word should be something like 'friends': i. e. 'Bilbo’s friends . . ."
- Notes
- replace "e.g." with "i.e."
- p. 524, 13th line from bottom
- Christine Scull
- Change To
- Christina Scull
- Notes
- Oops!
- p. 538, Note 2, lines 3–4
- "June 1996 issue of Dragon magazine (Dragon #230), available online at http://www3.sympatico.ca/ci.kett/dragons.html. For more . . ."
- Change To
- "June 1996 issue of Dragon magazine (Dragon #230). For more . . ."
- Notes
- delete broken link
- p. 571, Note 7, line 5
- Noldorian
- Change To
- Noldorin
- ibid, line 6
- Doriathian
- Change To
- Doriathrin
- Notes
- fix language-name in each case
- p. 576, Note 5, line 13
- Númenóreans
- Change To
- Númenoreans
- Notes
- drop second diacritical
- p. 601, 3rd line from bottom
- page 000
- Change To
- pages 364 & 496
- Notes
- the curse of the dread page 000!
- p. 602 & 603
- Notes
- I'm told a correction is needed on the runic inscription & translation p. 602, next to last line: the fourth & fifth tengwa from the right shd not be #9 + vowel marker but #13 with descender added;* this is Tolkien's sign for 'the'. (For an example of the tengwa needed, see the title page of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, bottom row, about the fifth tengwa from the right.) p. 603, similarly, instead of "TH (E) TH (E) F" the next to last word in the transcription should be "THE TH (E) F"[TH(E) ] THE *[LotR p. 1152, Appendix E chart]
- p. 604, line 9
- green as glass
- Change To
- green as grass
- Notes
- p. 605, lines 8–9
- which translates as 'and this third part is also named "Silmarillion"
- Change To
- which translates as 'and this third part is also named "Silmarillion" '
- Notes
- add single close-quote mark after "Silmarillion"
- p. 653, Note 7
- northeast corner of Beleriand
- Change To
- southeast corner of Beleriand
- Notes
- I seem to have misplaced Ossiriand
- p. 668, lines 10–11
- . . . given him before. Many of the hearts of the dwarves felt >]
- Change To
- . . . given him before. [Many of the hearts of the dwarves felt >]
- Notes
- need to add bracket at start of cancelled phrase
- p. 692, lines 9–10
- "All this material, forming as it does the rough draft for the brief epilogue was cancelled, and replaced by an additional sheet"
- Change To
- "All this material, forming as it does the rough draft for the brief epilogue, was cancelled and replaced by an additional sheet"
- Notes
- move the comma from after 'cancelled' to after 'epilogue'
- p. 705, 14th line from bottom
- "dying heroically in War of the Rings"
- Change To
- "dying heroically in the War of the Rings"
- Notes
- add article 'the' as indicated
- p. 792, line 19
- he said very, little, thinking
- Change To
- he said very little, thinking
- Notes
- delete comma between "very" and "little"
- p. 803, line 23
- "(cf. page 795)"
- Change To
- "(cf. pages 793–94)"
- Notes
- text seems to have shifted a little
- p. 809, 5th line from bottom
- "the end of New Chapter III (see page 810 above)"
- Change To
- "the end of New Chapter III (see page 803 above)"
- Notes
- page reference was wrong, due to text having shifted in galleys
- p. 810, last line
- "the New Chapter III fragment, on page 810"
- Change To
- "the New Chapter III fragment, on page 803"
- Notes
- again, text shifted
- p. 819, Note 8, last line
- "Note 1 on page 830"
- Change To
- "Note 1 on page 828"
- Notes
- text shifted; please correct
- p. 823
- Notes
- the paragraph in the middle of this page starting "Fonstad observed" is set in the wrong font size and should not be indented, but making the type larger and removing the indentation would probably overcrowd the page
- p. 828, Note 2.
- Add the following after the inset text
- "More importantly, here and elsewhere in this material (see pages 826, 827, 832, & 834) Tolkien is treating the moon's cycle as if it lasted exactly twenty-eight days, rather than the actual twenty-nine-and-a-half of the real world's lunar cycle. My thanks to Tolkienian astronomer Kristine Larsen for drawing this to my attention."
- Notes
- note that it itself is not inset. should be room to insert this by moving the first two lines of Nt 4 from the bottom of this page to the top of the next, thanks to the blank space at the bottom of page 829
- p. 847, last paragraph
- "According to a recent book by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, & Edmund Weiner, who have examined some of the original tracts from which the book was compiled (the Folk-Lore Society's not-quite-complete of which is now at University College, London)"
- Change To
- "As discovered by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, & Edmund Weiner, who examined some of the original tracts from which the book was compiled (the most complete collection of which is a single bound volume assembled by one 'W. S.' in 1860, now part of the Opie Collection in the Lilly Library at Indiana University, Bloomington)"
- Notes
- corrects factual error!
- p. 848, lines 2–3
- "pages 147–148). I have not been able to examine the original tracts for myself, but the evidence of Gilliver et al. pushes"
- Change To
- "pages 147–148); this pushes"
- Notes
- delete as indicated; helps make room for additon on prec. page
- p. 848, line 24
- reprinted on page 846 above
- Change To
- reprinted on pages 844–46 above
- Notes
- more correct citation
- p. 860, 6th & 7th lines from the bottom
- "Perth being on Scotland's east coast just north of Edinburgh"
- Change To
- "Perth being just some forty miles north and slightly west of Edinburgh"
- Notes
- another correction due to Shippey's review in Tolkien Studies; I was counting the estuary as being on the sea, just as I consider Puget Sound part of the Pacific, but it's easier to just change things if it's going to lead to confusion
- p. 863, Note 1, line 6
- "the same points is less detailed form"
- Change To
- "the same points in less detailed form"
- Notes
- change "is" to "in"; my slip
- p. 870, Note 2
- The two volumes published so far of Dronke's edition — Volume I: Heroic Poems [1969] and Volume II: Mythological Poems [1997] — cover only nine out of the collection's twenty-nine component poems. The remaining projected two volumes are to cover the Helgi lays and the Sigurd cycle (Volume III)† and the remaining mythological and miscellaneous pieces (Volume IV).
††That is, the portions rewritten by Tolkien as Volsungakvida En Nyja; cf. Letters p. 452. - Change To
- "The three volumes published so far of Dronke's edition — Volume I: Heroic Poems [1969], Volume II: Mythological Poems [1997], and Volume III: Mythological Poems II [2011] — cover only thirteen out of the collection's twenty-nine component poems. The remaining volumes are to cover the Helgi lays and the Sigurd cycle† and the remaining mythological and miscellaneous pieces.
†That is, the portions rewritten by Tolkien as Volsungakvida En Nyja; cf. Letters p. 452. - Notes
- correction and update. also note †† change to †
Appendix IV
- p. 872, line 16
- "himself a popular children's author"
- Change To
- "himself as a popular children's author"
- Notes
- insert omitted word
- p. 873, line 11
- "the four color plates"
- Change To
- "the four colour plates"
- Notes
- to match usage elsewhere throughout the book
- p. 873, line 19
- "also wrote to Tolkien himself, although"
- Change To
- "also wrote to Tolkien himself (on 13th December 1937), although"
- Notes
- insert detail of the date to help clarify sequence
- p. 873, last four lines
- Arthur Ransome
—Ransome to JRRT Signalling from Mars:
The Letters of Arthur Ransome, ed. Hugh Brogan [1997],
pages 249–250. - Change To
- Arthur Ransome6
- Notes
- delete bibliographical information, which is now given in new Note 6, and insert superscript for Nt 6
- p. 874, line 7
- "on 15th December shows."
- Change To
- "on 15th December shows.7"
- Notes
- add superscript for Nt 7
- p. 877, line 16
- " 'the Earliest Annals of Beleriand' "
- Change To
- " 'the (Earliest) Annals of Beleriand' "
- Notes
- add parentheses as indicated
- p. 877, 11th line from bottom
- "in pencil8. Some"
- Change To
- "in pencil12. Some"
- p. 878, Note 2, last 2 lines
- †Brogan himself was a correspondent of JRRT when young; see Letters pp. 129, 131, 132, 185–186, 224, 225–226, & 230.
- Change To
- †Brogan himself was a correspondent of JRRT when young; see Letters pp. 129, 131, 132, 185–186, 224, 225–226, & 230.
- Notes
- daggered sub-note should be indented
- p. 878, Note 4, last line
- "His Dark Materials, Book I [1995]."
- Change To
- "His Dark Materials, Book I: Northern Lights [1995]."
- Notes
- add title of Vol. I in the series, to parallel The Golden Compass in the daggered note.>
- p. 878: ADD Note 6
- 6 I have taken the text of this letter from a tengwar inscription Tolkien made [Ad.Ms.H.6]. In addition to being very lightly punctuated, the tengwar copy differs in some details from the text published in Ransome's collected letters (Signalling from Mars: The Letters of Arthur Ransome, ed. Hugh Brogan [1997], pp. 249–250). For example, Brogan prints 'excitable hobbit', 'no doubt right', 'Thorin is surely misinterpreted', and 'the chronicle'. I am grateful to Arden Smith for his aid in translating Tolkien's beautiful tengwar calligraphy back into English letters.
- p. 878: ADD Note 7
- 7 The following text is a composite: the first half of Tolkien's letter I have taken from another tengwar transcription by Tolkien himself [Ad.Ms.H.7], while the second half comes from Ransome's collected letters; see Note 10 below. Once again I am grateful to Arden Smith for his timely aid.
- p. 878, Current Note 6
- Change this designation to make this Note 8.
- p. 879, lines 5–6
- (http://crest.lancs.ac.uk/%7eesarie/tarboard/messages/23986.htm)
- Change To
- (http://www.tarboard.net/tarboard/messages/23986.htm)
- Notes
- web-address as given now a broken link
- p. 879: ADD Note 9
- 9 Here Tolkien accidentally wrote '212' in his tengwar transcription, but the passage in question actually occurs on p. 112 of the first edition; Brogan gives the citation correctly (Signalling from Mars p. 250).
- p. 879: ADD Note 10
- 10 At this point, Tolkien's tengwar transcription ends, at the bottom of a page [Ad.Ms.H.7], the verso of which [Ad.Ms.H.6] is covered by his transcription of Ransome's letter to him (see above). If Tolkien continued his transcription, it was on a separate sheet of paper which has since become lost. Accordingly, from this point onwards I take the text from Brogan's edition of Ransome's letters, Signalling from Mars pp. 250–251.
As before, the tengwar text differs slightly from that published in Ransome's collected letters — e.g., 'could expect' there becomes 'could have expected', 'so close an acquaintance with' becomes 'so close a scrutiny of', and 'will go up' becomes 'would go up'. More importantly, the transcription includes a passage omitted from the published text (the line 'You tempt me grievously' through 'of such import'), in which Tolkien briefly places 'the history of the hobbit' into context with that of 'the world into which Mr. Baggins strayed' — i.e. that of the Silmarillion texts.
- p. 879, Current Note 7
- Change this designation to make this Note 11
- p. 879, Current Note 8
- Change this designation to make this Note 12
- p. 879, last two lines
- "TarBoard, specifically http://www.tarboard.net/tarboard/messages/23986.ht"
- Change To
- "http://www.tarboard.net/tarboard/messages/23986.htm. I am also grateful to her for reading and critiquing this Appendix. "
- Notes
- fix broken link
Index
- p. 884: ADD (between 'Blue Mountains' and 'Bodleian Library')
- "Blue Wizards 273–274, 288, 697, 700"
- p. 885: ADD (between 'The Catenian Association' and 'Cave Bear')
- "Cave Art (Altamira, Lascaux, Chauvet) 150, 255, 448"
- p. 886: ADD (between 'Caxton, Wm' and 'Chambers, R. W.')
- "Chalk Figures 528"
- p. 886: ADD (following 'Cthulhu Mythos')
- "Cuiviénen (the Elven Eden) 138, 410"
- p. 889, entry 'Father Christmas Letters', ADD line after 'as documents'
- —Fr. Christmas as wizard xvi, xxxvi, 50, 269, 697
- Notes
- also, delete reference to page 544
- p. 894, entry "Lofting, Hugh"
- (Doctor Doolittle series)
- Change To
- (Doctor Dolittle series)
- p. 896, entry "Morwen"
- Mauwin
- Change To
- Mavwin
- p. 899: ADD (just before 'Ransome, Arthur')
- "Radagast 268–80, 287–92, 697, 700"
- p. 900: ADD (between 'Santoski, Taum' & 'Sauron the Great')
- "Saruman 271–74, 288, 697, 700"
- p. 899, entry Rodothrim
- Rodothrim
- Change To
- Rodothlim
- p. 900: ADD (between 'Scull & Hammond' & 'The Sea-Bell')
- "Scyld Scefing (Shield Sheafing) 260, 283"
- p. 903, entry Tolkien Children, subentry Books, 7th line
- Silver Trumpet); 874, 879
(Ransome's Swallows and Amazons
series). - Change To
- Silver Trumpet); 874, 879
(Ransome's Swallows and
Amazons series). - Notes
- fix bad break
- p. 904, entry Völuspá
- Dvegatal
- Change To
- Dvergatal
- p. 905, entry Wizards
- "See also Bladorthin, Gandalf the Wizard, Father Christmas, The Man in the Moon, Radagast, Saruman, Scandalf the Beanpiper, Thû, Túvo, et al."
- Change To
- "See also Artaxerxes, Bladorthin, The Blue Wizards, Father Christmas, Gandalf the Wizard, The Man in the Moon, Radagast, Saruman, Scandalf the Beanpiper, Thû, Túvo, et al."
- Notes
- transposition of Fr Christmas and Gandalf into alphabetical order
©2011 John D. Rateliff.