I. Remembering Elrond's Library

The next time you visit Elrond's house take a left turn out from the Hall of Fire, go across the courtyard and find the entrance to the scriptorium. It is the place where Master Bilbo could be found when he wished to research particular aspects of Middle-Earth lore. In this place, Elrond's library, I would spend hours reading the stories of the First and Second Ages. Practicing patience until I was old enough to take down the most ancient of the scrolls. I untied the thongs, peeled back the cover and with the musty fragrance of aged leather and crinkly paper tickling my attention, I began reading about the ancient heroes and heroines of Beleriand.

It has been over 30 years since those fall weeks in Rivendell reading the scrolls of Tuor, Beren & Luthien, Turin, and others. I devoured those stories after first reading There and Back Again, A Hobbit's Holiday and Frodo the Nine Fingered and the Cracks of Doom. I wish the fans of TheOneRing.net to experience that same sense of grandeur from reading the epics of the First Age of Middle-Earth in their original form. To that end I share the making of three scrolls:

• Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin.
• The Fall of Gondolin.
• Beren & Luthien and the Silmaril Quest.

I will begin with a physical description of a scroll. That will be followed by discussions of the motivation behind the scroll idea and of editing issues for the Tuor and Beren stories. The article concludes with a note of thanks to the professional artists who, through their art, made the scroll idea worthwhile. Included along the way are several pictures to help you visualize the scrolls and their construction.

NEXT: Description of the Scroll