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THE QUENTA NOLDORINWA
After the Sketch of the Mythology this text, which I will refer to as ‘the Quenta’, was the
only complete and finished version of ‘The Silmarillion’ that my father achieved: a
typescript that he made in (as seems certain) 1930. No preliminary drafts or outlines, if there
were any, survive; but it is plain that for a good part of its length he had the Sketch before
him. It is longer than the Sketch, and the ‘Silmarillion style’ has clearly appeared, but it
remains a compression, a compendious account. In the sub-title it is said that it is ‘the brief
history of the Noldoli or Gnomes’, drawn from the Book of Lost Tales which Eriol
[Ælfwine] wrote. The long poems were of course now in being, substantial but massively
unfinished, and my father was still working on The Lay of Leithian.
In the Quenta there emerges the major transformation of the legend of Beren and Lúthien
by the entry of the Noldorin prince, Felagund, son of Finrod. To explain how this could come
about I will give here a passage from this text, but a note on names is needed. The leader of
the Noldor in the great journey of the Elves from Cuiviénen, the Water of Awakening in the
furthest East, was Finwë; his three sons were Fëanor, Fingolfin, and Finrod, who was the
father of Felagund. (Later the names were changed: The third son of Finwë became Finarfin,
and Finrod the name of his son; but Finrod was also Felagund. This name meant ‘Lord of
Caves’ or ‘Cave-hewer’ in the language of the Dwarves, for he was the founder of
Nargothrond. The sister of Finrod Felagund was Galadriel.)