THE GREY ANNALS
The history of the Annals of Beleriand began about 1930, when my father wrote the earliestversion ('AB 1') together with that ofthe Annals of Valinor ('AV 1'). These were printed in Vol.IV, The Shaping of Middle-earth; I remarked there that'the Annals began, perhaps, in parallel with the Quenta as a convenient way of drivingabreast, and keeping track of, the different elements in the ever more complexnarrative web.' Second versions of both sets of Annals were composed later in the1930s, as part of a group of texts comprising also the Lhammas or Account of Tongues, a newversion of the Ainulindalë, and thecentral work of that time: a new version of 'The Silmarillion' proper, theunfinished Quenta Silmarillion('QS'). These second versions, together with the other texts of that period,were printed in Vol.V, The Lost Road andOther Writings, under the titles TheLater Annals of Valinor ('AV 2') and The Later Annals of Beleriand ('AB 2').
When my father turned again, in 1950-1,to the Matter of the Elder Days after the completion of The Lord of the Rings, he began new work on the Annals by taking up the AV 2 and AB 2manuscripts from some 15 years earlierand using them as vehicles for revision and new writing. In the case of AV 2, correction of the old text was limited tothe opening annals, and the beginnings of a new version written on the blankverso pages of this manuscript likewise petered out very quickly, so that therewas no need to take much account of this preliminary work (X.47). In AB 2, on the other hand, the preparatory stageswere much more extensive and substantial.
In the first place, revision of the original AB 2 text continues much further –although in practice this can be largely passed over, since the content of therevision appears in subsequent texts. (In some cases, as noted in V.124, it isnot easy to separate 'early' (pre-Lord ofthe Rings) revisions and additions from 'late' (those of the early 1950s).) In the second place, the beginning ofa new and much fuller version of the Annalsof Beleriand on the blank verso pages of AB2 extends for a considerable distance (13manuscript pages) – and the first part ofthis is written in such a careful script, before it begins to degenerate, thatit may be thought that my father did not at first intend it as a draft. This isentitled ‘The Annals of Beleriand’, and could on that account be referred to as'AB 3', but I shall in fact call it 'GA1’ (see below).
The final text is a goodclear manuscript bearing the title 'The Annals of Beleriand or the GreyAnnals'. I have chosen to call this work the Grey Annals, abbreviated 'GA', in order to mark its distinctivenature in relation to the earlier forms of the Annals of Beleriand and itsclose association with the Annals of Aman('AAm'), which also bears a title different from that of its predecessors. Theabandoned first version just mentioned is then more suitably called ‘GA 1’

than ‘AB 3’ since for most of its length it was followed very closelyin the final text, and is to be regarded as a slightly earlier variant: it willbe necessary to refer to it, and to cite passages from it, but there is no needto give it in full. Where it is necessary to distinguish the final text fromthe aborted version I shall call the former ‘GA2'.
There is some evidence that the GreyAnnals followed the Annals of Aman(in its primary form), but the two works were, I feel certain, closelyassociated in time of composition. For the structure of the history ofBeleriand the Grey Annals constitutesthe primary text, and although much of the latter part of the work was used inthe published Silmarillion withlittle change I give it in full. This is really essential on practical grounds,but is also in keeping with my intention in this 'History', in which I havetraced the development of the Matter of the Elder Days from its beginning toits end within the compass of my father's actual writings: from this point ofview the published work is not its end, and I do not treat his later writingprimarily in relation to what was used, or how it was used, in ‘The Silmarillion’ – It is a most unhappy fact that he abandoned the Grey Annals at the death of Túrin – although, as will be seen subsequently (pp. 251 ff.), he added elements of a continuationat some later time.
I have not, as I did in the case of the Annals of Aman, divided the GreyAnnals into sections, and the commentary, referenced to the numberedparagraphs, follows the end of the text (p.103). Subsequent changes to the manuscript, which in places were heavy,are indicated as such.
At the top of the first page of the old AB 2 text, no doubt before he began work on the enormously enlargednew version, my father scribbled these notes: 'Make these the Sindarin Annalsof Doriath and leave out most of the...'(there are here two words that probably read 'Nold[orin] stuff'); and ‘Put innotes about Denethor, Thingol, etc. from AV.’
Two other elements in the complex of papers constituting the Grey Annals remain to be mentioned.There are a number of disconnected rough pages bearing the words ‘Old materialof Grey Annals' (see p. 29); and there isan amanuensis typescript in top copy and carbon that clearly belongs with thatof the Annals of Aman, which Itentatively dated to 1958 (X.47).

THEANNALS OF BELERIANDOR THE GREYANNALS
§1 These are the Annals of Beleriand as they weremade by The Sindar, the Grey Elves of Doriath and the Havens, and enlarged fromthe records and memories of the remnant of the Noldor of Nargothrond andGondolin at the Mouths of Sirion, whence they were brought back into the West.
§2 Beleriand is the name of the country that lay uponeither side of the great river Sirion ere the Elder Days were ended. This nameit bears in the oldest records that survive, and it is here retained in thatform, though now it is called Belerian. The name signifies in the language ofthat land: the country of Balar. For this name the Sindar gave to Ossë, whocame often to those coasts, and there befriended them. At first, therefore,this name was given to the land of the shores, on either side of Sirion'smouths, that face the Isle of Balar, but it spread until it included all theancient coast of the North-west of Middle-earth south of the Firth of Drengistand all the inner land south of Hithlum up to the feet of Eryd Luin (the BlueMountains). But south of the mouths of Sirion it had no sure boundaries; forthere were pathless forests in those days between the unpeopled shores and thelower waters of Gelion.
VY1050
§3 Hither, it is said, at this time came Melian the Maiafrom Valinor, when Varda made the great stars. In this same rime the Quendiawoke by Kuiviénen, as is told in the Chronicle of Aman.
1080
§4 About this time the spies of Melkor discovered theQuendi and afflicted them.
1085
§5 In this year Oromë found the Quendi, and befriendedthem.
1090
§6 At this time the Valar came hither from Aman fortheir assault upon Melkor, whose stronghold was in the North beyond Eryd Engrin(the Iron Mountains). In these regions, therefore, were fought the first battlesof the Powers of the West and the North, and all this land was much broken, andit took then that shape which it had until the coming of Fionwë. For the GreatSea broke in upon the coasts and made a deep gulf to the southward, and manylesser bays were made between the Great Gulf and Helkaraxë far in the North,

where Middle-earth and Aman came nigh together. Of these bays the Bayof Balar was the chief; and into it the mighty river Sirion flowed down fromthe new-raised highlands northwards: Dorthonion and the mountains aboutHithlum. At first these lands upon either side of Sirion were ruinous anddesolate because of the War of the Powers, but soon growth began there, whilemost of Middle-earth slept in the Sleep of Yavanna, because the Valar of theBlessed Realm had set foot there; and there were young woods under the brightstars. These Melian the Maia fostered; and she dwelt most in the glades of NanElmoth beside the River Celon. There also dwelt her nightingales.
1102-5
§7 Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë were brought to Valinor byOromë as ambassadors of the Quendi; and they looked upon the Light of the Treesand yearned for it. Returning they counselled the Eldar to go to the Land ofAman, at the summons of the Valar.
1115
§8 Even as the Valar had come first to Beleriand as theywent eastward, so later Oromë leading the hosts of the Eldar westwards towardsAman brought them to the shores of Beleriand. For there the Great Sea was lesswide and yet free from the perils of the ice that lay further north. In thisyear of the Valar, therefore, the foremost companies of the Vanyar and Noldorpassed through the vale of Sirion and came to the sea-coast between Drengistand the Bay of Balar. But because of their fear of the Sea, which they hadbefore neither seen nor imagined, the Eldar drew back into the woods andhighlands. And Oromë departed and went to Valinor and left them there for atime.
1128
§9 In this year the Teleri, who had lingered on theroad, came also at last over Eryd Luin into northern Beleriand. There theyhalted and dwelt a while between the River Gelion and Eryd Luin. At that timemany of the Noldor dwelt westward of the Teleri, in those regions whereafterwards stood the forests of Neldoreth and Region. Finwë was their lord, andwith him Elwë lord of the Teleri had great friendship; and Elwë was wont oftento visit Finwë in the dwellings of the Noldor.
1130
§10 In this year King Elwë Singollo of the Teleri waslost in the wilderness. As he journeyed home from a meeting with Finwë, hepassed by Nan Elmoth, and he heard the nightingales of Melian the Maia, andfollowed them deep into the glades. There he saw Melian standing beneath thestars, and a white mist was about her, but the Light of Aman was in her face.Thus began the love of

dare the deeps of the Great Sea or behold even from afar the BlessedRealm and the Light of the Trees of Valinor. Wherefore those that remainedbehind were called Moriquendi, Elves of the Dark.
1150
§15 The friends and kinsfolk of Elwë also remained; butthey would fain have departed to Valinor and the Light of the Trees (which Elwëindeed had seen), if Ulmo and Olwë had been willing to tarry yet longer whilethey sought still for Elwë. But when Ulmo had tarried a full Year (and a Yearof the Valar is in length well nigh as are ten of the years that now are) hedeparted, and the friends of Elwë were left behind. Therefore they calledthemselves the Eglath, the Forsaken People; and though they dwelt in the woodsand hills rather than by the Sea, which filled them with sorrow, their inmosthearts yearned ever Westward.
1152
§16 At this time, it is told, Elwë Singollo awoke fromhis long trance. And he came forth from Nan Elmoth with Melian, and they dweltthereafter in the woods in the midst of the land; and though Elwë had greatlydesired to see again the light of the Trees, in the face of Melian the fair hebeheld the Light of Aman as in an unclouded mirror, and in that light he wascontent. Then his folk gathered about him in joy; and they were amazed, forfair and noble as he had been, now he appeared as it were a lord of the Maiar,tallest of all the Children of Ilúvatar, his hair as grey silver, and his eyeslike unto stars. King of the Eglath he became, and Melian was his Queen, wiserthan any daughter of Middle-earth.
1200
§17 It is not known to any among Elves or Men whenLúthien, only child of Elwë and Melian, came into the World, fairest of all theChildren of Ilúvatar that were or shall be. But it is held that it was at the endof the first age of the Chaining of Melkor, when all the Earth had great peaceand the glory of Valinor was at its noon, and though Middle-earth for the most[part] lay in the Sleep of Yavanna, in Beleriand under the power of Melianthere was life and joy and the bright stars shone like silver fires. In theForest of Neldoreth it is said that she was born and cradled under the stars ofheaven, and the white flowers of niphredilcame forth to greet her, as stars from the earth.
1200-50
§18 In this time the power of Elwë and Melian reachedover all Beleriand. Elu Thingol he was called in the tongue of his people. KingGreymantle, and all the Elves of Beleriand from the mariners of Círdan to thewandering huntsmen

of the Blue Mountains took him for lord. And they are called,therefore, the Sindar, the Grey Elves of starlit Beleriand. And albeit theywere Moriquendi, under the lordship of Thingol and the teaching of Melian theybecame the fairest and the most wise and skilful of all the Elves ofMiddle-earth.
1250
§19 In this year the Norn-folk came first over the mountainsinto Beleriand. This people the Noldor after named the Naugrim, whom some Mencall Dwarves. Their most ancient dwellings were far to the East, but they haddelved for themselves great halls and mansions, after the manner of their kind,on the east-side of Eryd Luin, north and south of Mount Dolmed, in those placeswhich the Eldar named Belegost and Nogrod (but they Gabilgathol andTumunzahar). Thence they now came forth and made themselves known to the Elves;and the Elves were amazed, for they had deemed themselves to be the only livingthings in Middle-earth that spoke with words or wrought with hands; and thatall others were beasts and birds only.
§20 Nonetheless they could understand no word of thetongue of the Naugrim, which to their ears was cumbrous and unlovely; and fewever of the Eldar have achieved the mastery of it. But the Dwarves were swiftto learn (after a fashion), and indeed were more willing to learn theElven-tongue than to teach to aliens their own; and soon there was much parleybetween the peoples. Ever cool was their friendship, though much profit theyhad one of the other. But at that time those griefs that lay between them hadnot yet come to pass, and they were welcomed by King Thingol.
§21 How the Dwarves came into the world the Eldar knownot for certain, though the loremasters have elsewhere recorded the tales ofthe Naugrim themselves (such as they would reveal) concerning their beginning.They say that Aulë the Maker, whom they call Mahal, brought them into being;and however that may be, certain it is that they were great smiths and masons,though of old there was little beauty in their works. Iron and copper theyloved to work more than silver or gold, and stone more than wood.
1300
Of the building of Menegroth§22 Now Melian had after the manner of the Maiar; thepeople of Valinor, much foresight. And when two of the ages of the Chaining ofMelkor had passed, she counselled Thingol that the Peace of Arda would not lastfor ever; and he therefore bethought him how he should make for himself akingly dwelling, and a place that should be strong, if evil were to awake againin Middle-earth. He called therefore upon the Enfeng, the Longbeards ofBelegost, whom he had befriended, and sought their aid and counsel. And theygave it

and now the remnant, having long multiplied in the dark, were comingforth once more and roaming far and wide. ‘There are fell beasts,' said they,‘in the land east of the mountains, and the dark-elves that dwell there, yourancient kindred, are flying from the plains to the hills.’
1330
§26 And ere long (in the year 1330 according to the annals that were made in Doriath) the evilcreatures came even to Beleriand, over passes in the mountains, or up from thesouth through the dark forests. Wolves there were, or creatures that walked inwolf-shapes, and other fell beings of shadow.
§27 Among these were the Orkor indeed, who after wroughtruin in Beleriand; but they were yet few and wary and did but smell out theways of the land, awaiting the return of their Lord. Whence they came, or whatthey were, the Elves knew not then, deeming them to be Avari, maybe, that hadbecome evil and savage in the wild. In which they guessed all too near, it issaid.
§28 Therefore Thingol bethought [him] of arms, whichbefore his folk had not needed, and these at first the Naugrim smithied forhim. For they were greatly skilled in such work, though none among themsurpassed the craftsmen of Nogrod, of whom Telchar the Smith was the greatestin renown. A warlike race of old were all the Naugrim, and they would fightfiercely with whomsoever aggrieved them: folk of Melkor, or Eldar, or Avari, orwild beasts, or not seldom with their own kin, Dwarves of other mansions andlordships. Their smith-craft indeed the Sindar soon learned of them; yet in thetempering of steel alone of all crafts the Dwarves were never outmatched evenby the Noldor, and in the making of mail of linked rings (which the Enfengfirst contrived) their work had no rival.
§29 At this time therefore the Sindar were well armed,and they drove off all creatures of evil, and had peace again; but Thingol'sarmouries were stored with axes (the chief weapons of the Naugrim, and of theSindar), and with spears and swords, and tall helms, and long coats of brightmail: for the hauberks of the Enfeng were so fashioned that they rusted not andshone ever as were they new-burnished. This proved well for Thingol in the timethat was to come.
1350
The coming of Denethor§30 Now as is elsewhere recounted, one Dân of the host ofOlwë forsook the march of the Eldar at that time when the Teleri were halted bythe shores of the Great River upon the borders of the westlands ofMiddle-earth. And he led away a numerous people and went south down the river,and of the wanderings of that people, the Nandor, little is now known. Some, itis said, dwelt age-long in the woods of the Vale of the Great River, some cameat last to the mouths of

§42 Now the flames of that burning were seen not onlyby Fingolfin, whom Fëanor had deserted, but also by the Orcs and the watchersof Morgoth. No tale hath told what Morgoth thought in his heart at the tidingsthat Fëanor his bitterest foe had brought a host out of the West. Maybe hefeared him little, for he had not yet had proof of the swords of the Noldor,and won it was seen that he purposed to drive them back into the Sea.
§43 Drengist is a long firth which pierces the EchoingHills of Eryd Lómin that are the west-fence of the great country of Hithlum.Thus the host of Fëanor passed from the shores into the inner regions ofHithlum, and marching about the northern end of the Mountains of Mithrim theyencamped in that pan which was named Mithrim and lay about the great lake amid(he mountains that bore the same name.
§44 But the host of Melkor, orcs and werewolves, camethrough the passes of Eryd-wethrin and assailed Fëanor on a sudden, ere hiscamp was fullwrought or put in defence. There now on the grey fields of Mithrimwas fought the second battle of the Wars of Beleriand, and the first meeting ofthe might of Morgoth with the valour of the Noldor. Dagor-nuin-Giliath it isnamed, the Battle under the Stars, for the Moon had not yet risen. In thatbattle, albeit outnumbered and taken at unawares, the Noldor were swiftlyvictorious. Strong and fair were they yet, for the light of Aman was not yetdimmed in their eyes; swift they were, and deadly in wrath, and long and terriblewere their swords. The Orcs fled before them, and they were driven forth fromMithrim with great slaughter, and hunted over that great plain that lay northof Dorthonion, and was then called Ardgalen. There the armies that had passedsouth into the vales of Sirion and had beleagured Círdan came up to theirsuccour, and were caught in their ruin. For Celegorn Fëanor's son, having newsof them, waylaid them with a part of the Elven-host, and coming down upon themout of the hills nigh Eithel Sirion drove them into the Fen of Serech. Evilindeed were the tidings that came at last unto Angband, and Morgoth wasdismayed. Ten days that battle endured, and from it returned of all the hoststhat he had prepared for the conquest of the kingdoms of the Eldar no more thana handful of leaves.
§45 Yet cause he had for great joy, though it was hiddenfrom him for a while. For the heart of Fëanor, in his wrath against the Enemy,blazed like a fire, and he would not halt, but pressed on behind the remnant ofthe Orcs, thinking, it is said, so to come at Morgoth himself. And he laughedaloud as he wielded his sword, and rejoiced that he had dared the wrath of theValar and the evils of the road that he might see that hour of his vengeance.He knew naught of Angband or the great strength of defence that Morgoth had soswiftly prepared; but had he known, it would not have deterred him, for fey hewas, consumed by the flame of his own wrath. Thus it was that he drew far aheadof the van of his host, and seeing this the servants of Morgoth turned to bay,and

there issued from Angband Balrogs to aid them. There upon the confinesof Dor Daedeloth, the land of Morgoth, Fëanor was surrounded, with few friendsabout him. Soon he stood alone; but long he fought on, and laughed undismayed,though he was wrapped in fire and wounded with many wounds. But at the lastGothmog,* Lord of the Balrogs, smote him to theground, and there he would have perished, but Maidros and three other of hissons in that moment came up with force to his aid, and the Balrogs fled back toAngband.
§46 Then his sons raised up their father and bore himback towards Mithrim. But as they drew near to Eithel Sirion and were upon theupward path to the pass over the mountains, Fëanor bade them halt. For hiswounds were mortal, and he knew that his hour was come. And looking out fromthe slopes of Eryd-wethrin with his last sight he beheld afar the peaks ofThangorodrim, mightiest of the towers of Middle-earth, and knew with theforeknowledge of death that no power of the Noldor would ever overthrow them;but he cursed the name of Morgoth, and laid it upon his sons to hold to theiroath, and to avenge their father. Then he died; but he had neither burial nortomb, for so fiery was his spirit that, as it passed, his body fell to ash andwas borne away like a smoke, and his likeness has never again appeared in Arda,neither has his spirit left the realm of Mandos. Thus ended the mightiest ofthe Noldor, of whose deeds came both their greatest renown and their most grievouswoe.
§47 Tidings of these great deeds came to Menegroth and toEglarest, and the Grey-elves were filled with wonder and with hope, for theylooked to have great help in their defence against Morgoth from their mightykindred that thus returned unlooked-for from the West in their very hour ofneed, believing indeed at first that they came as emissaries of the Valar todeliver their brethren from evil. Now the Grey-elves were of Telerian race, andThingol was the brother of Olwë at Alqualondë, but naught yet was known of thekinslaying, nor of the manner of the exile of the Noldor, and of the oath ofFëanor. Yet though they had not heard of the Curse of Mandos, it was soon atwork in Beleriand. For it entered into the heart of King Thingol to regret thedays of peace when he was the high lord of all the land and its peoples. Widewere the countries of Beleriand and many empty and wild, and yet he welcomednot with full heart the coming of so many princes in might out of the West,eager for new realms.
§48 Thus there was from the first a coolness between himand the sons of Fëanor, whereas the closest friendship was needed, if Morgothwere to be withstood; for the [House >] sonsof Fëanor were ever unwilling to accept the overlordship of Thingol, and wouldask for no leave where they might dwell or might pass. When, therefore, erelong (by treachery and ill will, as later is told) the full tale of the deedsin Valinor became known in Beleriand, there was
* [Marginal note:] whom Ecthelion afterward slew in Gondolin.

rather enmity than alliance between Doriath and the House of Fëanor;and this bitterness Morgoth eagerly inflamed by all means that he could find.But that evil lay as yet in the days to come, and the first meeting of theSindar and the Noldor was eager and glad, though parley was at first not easybetween them, for in their long severance the tongue of the Kalaquendi inValinor and the Moriquendi in Beleriand had drawn far apart.
Excursus on the languages ofBeleriand
Iinterrupt the text here since the complex variant material that follows in thetwo manuscripts cannot well be accommodated in the commentary.
Inplace of GA 2 §48 just given, GA 1 (making no reference to the active hostilitythat developed between Thingol and the Fëanorians) has only the following(after the words 'eager for new realms'):
Moreover in their longseverance the tongues of the Sindar and the Noldor had drawn apart, and atfirst parley was not easy between them.
Thisis followed by a long 'excursus' (marked on the manuscript as an intrusion intothe main text) on the development and relations of Noldorin and Sindarin inBeleriand, the end of which is also the end of GA 1. This discussion reappears, rewritten, in GA 2, and then this revised form was itselfsubstantially altered. It seems desirable to give all the versions of thispassage, of central importance in the linguistic history of Middle-earth. Thenumbered notes to this section are found on p.28. The original version in GA 1reads as follows.
It was indeed at thelanding of Fëanor three hundred and sixty-five long years of the Valar 1since the Noldor had passed over the Sea and left the Teleri behind them. Nowthat time was in length well nigh as three thousand and five hundred years ofthe Sun. In such an age the tongues of mortal Men that were far sundered wouldindeed change out of knowledge, unless it were as written records of song andwisdom. But in Valinor in the days of the Trees change was little to beperceived, save that which came of will and design, while in Middle-earth underthe Sleep of Yavanna it was slow also, though before the Rising of the Moon allthings had been stirred from slumber in Beleriand, as has before beentold. 2 Therefore,whereas the tongue of the Noldor had altered little from the ancient tongue ofthe Eldar upon the march - and itsaltering had for the most part come in the making of new words (for things oldand new) and in the softening and harmonizing of the sounds and patterns of theQuendian tongue to forms that seemed to the Noldor more beautiful - the language of the Sindar had changed much,even in unheeded growth as a tree may imperceptibly change its shape: as muchmaybe as an unwritten mortal tongue might change in five hundred years ormore. 3 It was already ere the Rising of the Sun a speechgreatly different to the ear from the Noldorin, and after that Rising all

change was swift, for a while in the second Spring of Arda very swiftindeed. To the ear, we say, because though Dairon the minstrel and loremasterof Menegroth had devised his Runes already by V.Y. 1300 (and after greatly bettered them), it was not the custom ofthe Sindar to write down their songs or records, and the Runes of Dairon (savein Menegroth) were used chiefly for names and brief inscriptions cut upon wood,stone, or metal. (The Naugrim 4 learned the Runes of Daironfrom Menegroth, being well-pleased with the device and esteeming Dairon higherthan [did] his own folk; and by the Naugrim they were brought east over theMountains.) 5 Soon, however it came to pass that the Noldor indaily use took on the Sindarin tongue, and this tongue enriched by words anddevices from Noldorin became the tongue of all the Eldar in Beleriand (save inthe country of the Green[-elves]) and the 'language of all the Eldar, either inMiddle-earth, or that (as shall be told) went back from exile into the West anddwelt and dwell now upon Eressëa. In Valinor the ancient Elven-speech ismaintained, and the Noldor never forsook it; but it became for them no longer acradle-tongue, a mother-tongue, but a learned language of lore, and of high songand noble and solemn use. Few of the Sindar learned it, save in so far as theybecame, outside Doriath, merged in one people with Noldor and followed theirprinces; as indeed ere long happened indeed except for few scattered companiesof Sindar in mountainous woods, and except also for the lordship of Círdan, andthe guarded kingdom of Thingol.
Now this change of tongueamong the Noldor took place for many divers reasons. First, that though theSindar were not numerous they far outnumbered the hosts of Fëanor andFingolfin, such as in the end survived their dreadful journeys and reachedBeleriand. Secondly and no less: that the Noldor having forsaken Amanthemselves began to be subject to change undesigned while they were yet uponthe march, and at the Rising of the Sun this change became swift - and the change in their daily tongue wassuch that, whether by reason of the like clime and soil and the like fortunes,whether by intercourse and mingling of blood, it changed in the same ways asdid the Sindarin, and the two tongues grew towards one another. Thus it camethat words taken from Noldorin into Telerin entered not in the true forms ofHigh Speech but as it were altered and fitted to the character of the tongue ofBeleriand. Thirdly: because after the death of Fëanor the overlordship of theExiles (as shall be recounted) passed to Fingolfin, and he being of other moodthan Fëanor acknowledged the high-kingship of Thingol and Menegroth, beingindeed greatly in awe of that king, mightiest of the Eldar save Fëanor only,and of Melian no less. But though Elu-Thingol, great in memory, could recallthe tongue of the Eldar as it had been ere riding from Finwë's camp he heardthe birds of Nan Elmoth, in Doriath the Sindarin tongue alone was spoken, andall must learn it who would have dealings with the kins. It is said that it wasafter the Third Battle Dagor

Aglareb 6 that the Noldor first began far and wide totake the Sindarin as they settled and established realms in Beleriand; thoughmaybe the Noldorin survived (especially in Gondolin) until Dagor Arnediad 7or until the Fall of Gondolin - survived,that is, in the spoken form that it had in Beleriand as different both from theQuenya (or Ancient Noldorin) and from the Sindarin: for the Quenya neverperished and is known and used still by all such as crossed the Sea ere theTrees were slain.
This is the first general linguistic statement since the Lhammas, written long before, and therehave been major shifts from the earlier theory. The third version of the Lhammas,‘Lammasethen’ the latest andshortest of the three, gives a clear statement of what is more diffuselyexpressed in the longer versions, and I cite a part of it (from V.193-4):
Now ancient Noldorin, as first used, and written inthe days of Fëanor in Tûn, remained spoken by the Noldor that did not leaveValinor at its darkening, and it abides still there, not greatly changed, andnot greatly different from Lindarin. It is called Kornoldorin, or Finrodianbecause Finrod and many of his folk returned to Valinor and did not go toBeleriand. But most of the Noldor went to Beleriand, and in the 400 years of their wars with Morgoth theirtongue changed greatly. For three reasons: because it was not in Valinor;because there was war and confusion, and much death among the Noldor, so thattheir tongue was subject to vicissitudes similar to those of mortal Men; andbecause in all the world, but especially in Middle-earth, change and growth wasvery great in the first years of the Sun. Also in Beleriand the tongue anddialects of the Telerian Ilkorins was current, and their king Thingol was verymighty; and Noldorin in Beleriand took much from Beleriandic especially ofDoriath. Most of the names and places in that land were given in Doriathrinform. Noldorin returned, after the overthrow of Morgoth, into the West, andlives still in Tol-Eressëa, where it changes now little; and this tongue isderived mainly from the tongue of Gondolin, whence came Eärendel; but it hasmuch of Beleriandic, for Elwing his wife was daughter of Dior, Thingol's heir;and it has somewhat of Ossiriand, for Dior was son of Beren who lived long inOssiriand.
There was also the book-tongue, 'Elf-Latin',Quenya, concerning which the Lammasethengives a different account from that in the other versions (see V.195). The 'Elf-Latin', it is said (V.172), was brought to Middle-earth by the Noldor,it came to be used by all the Ilkorindi, 'and all Elves know it, even such aslinger still in the Hither Lands'. -
Thus in the Lhammas accountwe are concerned essentially with three tongues in Beleriand after the Returnof the Noldor:

Quenya, the high languageand book-tongue, brought from Valinor by the Noldor;
Noldorin, the language of the Noldor in Kôr, greatlychanged in Beleriand and much influenced by the Ilkorin speech especially thatof Doriath. (It is said in the Lhammas,V.174, that the Noldorin tongue of Kôr;Korolambë or Kornoldorin, was itself much changed from ancient times throughthe peculiar inventiveness of the Noldor.)
Beleriandic, the Ilkorin tongue ofBeleriand, which had become in long ages very different from the tongues ofValinor.
The Noldorinspeech of Gondolin was the language that survived in Tol Eressëa after the endof the Elder Days, though influenced by other speech, especially the Ilkorin ofDoriath during the sojourn at Sirion's Mouths (see V.177-8).
InGA 1 we have still the conception thatthe language of the Noldor in Valinor was changed by Noldorin inventiveness,though it is emphasized that it had altered little 'from the ancient tongue ofthe Eldar upon the march'; and the profound difference between the Noldorin ofthe new-come Exiles out of Valinor and the ancient Telerian tongue of Beleriand(now called Sindarin) likewise remains -indeed it is the remark that at first communication between Noldor and Sindarwas not easy that leads to this excursus. But in GA 1 it is said that, while the Sindarin tongue was 'enriched bywords and devices from Noldorin', Sindarinnevertheless became the language of all the Eldar of Middle-earth and was thelanguage of Tol Eressëa after the Return, while Noldorin of Valinor becamea 'learned' tongue - equivalent in statusto the 'Elf-Latin' or Quenya of the Lhammas,but learned by few among the Sindar; and indeed the 'Ancient Noldorin' isequated with Quenya (p. 22, at the end ofthe text). Among the reasons given for this development is that spoken Noldorinin Beleriand and Sindarin 'grew towards' each other, and it is made clear inthe last paragraph of the text that there was at the end of the Elder Days aprofound difference between the spoken Noldorin of Beleriand, where itsurvived, and 'Ancient Noldorin' or Quenya.
Thestatement that Fingolfin as ‘overlord’ of the Exiles 'acknowledged thehigh-kingship of Thingol and Menegroth', being 'greatly in awe of that king',is notable (cf. QS §121: 'and mightythough the Kings of the Noldor were in those days ... the name of Thingol was held in awe among them'). This isindeed one of the reasons given for the adoption of Sindarin by the Noldor inBeleriand - for in Thingol's domain onlySindarin might be used; but it is clear that as yet the idea of an actual banon the use of the Noldorin speech among the Sindar had not arisen. At the endof this linguistic passage in GA 1 myfather wrote in rapid pencil:

NOTES
1 365 years of the Valar:1132-1497 (see GA §11).
2 On the awakening of Beleriand from the Sleep ofYavanna see §§6,17, and the commentary on §§6,10.
3 A rough draft of this passage is extant, and this hashere:
Therefore whereasthe tongue of the Noldor had changed for the most pan only in the making of newwords (for things new and old), and in the wilful altering of the ancienttongue of the Quendi to forms and patterns that seemed to the Eldar morebeautiful - in which Vanyar, Noldor, andTeleri differed and drew apart - thetongue of the Sindar had changed as living things change by growth - yet only so as in the later world might passin 400 years.
4 Earlier in GA 1the form is Nauglath: see thecommentary on §19.
5 On this passage concerning the Runes of Dairon see §31 and commentary.
6 Dagor Aglareb,the Glorious Battle, was formerly the Second Battle (see commentary on § §36 ff.).
7 Dagor Arnediad:the Battle of Unnumbered Tears (NírnaithArnediad).
8 This represents myfather's original view that there were no Grey-elves among the people ofGondolin; see note 9.
9 The removal of thewords ‘and Gondolin’ shows the entry of the later conception (see note 8) that many Sindar dwelling in Nivrost at thecoming of the Noldor took Turgon to be their lord, and that there were in factmore Elves of Sindarin origin than of Noldorin in the people of Gondolin; see §§107, 113 and commentary.
10 This passage wasremoved at the same time and for the same reason as the words 'and Gondolin'earlier in this revised text (note 9).
11 The change of‘both the Sindarin and Noldorin tongues’ to ‘the tongues of Beleriand’ was madelater than the changes referred to in notes 9and 10, but presumably for the samereason, since the reference was to the spoken Noldorin of Gondolin. The plural'tongues' in the revised wording is rather puzzling; perhaps my father wasthinking of the speech of the Green-elves of Ossiriand, or possibly he meantthe varieties (dialects) of Sindarin.
12 The term Quenta Noldorinwa appears in the titleof Q (IV.77). I cannot say what conception my father had formed of the historicaltradition when he wrote these concluding words.