Q: How Much Did Tolkien Write About Gandalf’s Journey to Dol Guldur?
ANSWER: So far as I know, there is no essay or story that lays out from start to finish the tale of Gandalf’s journey to Dol Guldur. J.R.R. Tolkien only shared bits and pieces of it in a few texts.
Readers first learn of Gandalf’s adventure in The Hobbit, when he tells Thorin and Company that he acquired Thror’s map and a key (to the secret door of Erebor) from Thráin in the Necromancer’s dungeons. Gandalf’s explanation of receiving the map and key from a dying dwarf in the Necromancer’s dungeon goes back to a pre-publication version of “The Hobbit”; John Rateliff records the earliest occurrence of this anecdote in what he terms “the Bladorthin Typescript”, which constitutes the second phase of written composition of the story (which may have had an oral composition phase that is not recorded but Rateliff argues strongly against that point of view in The History of the Hobbit: Part One, Mr. Baggins).
The Historical Background of The Hobbit Is Important
It is important to place the composition of the anecdote from The Hobbit in a historical context. The world in which Mr. Baggins existed changed through the years and those changes reflect an evolution in J.R.R. Tolkien’s story-telling. For example, the “Pryftan Fragment”, representing the first written phase of composition for the story, speaks of “the Black Mountain”, which becomes simply “the Mountain” in subsequent versions of the tale. Tolkien used the descriptive phrases “black mountain”, “black mountains” in his Beleriand stories for only a few years, eventually abandoning references to “black” mountains.
At first the “black mountains” separate Hithlum from the rest of Beleriand, and are clearly to be associated with the Ered Wethrin, the “mountains of shadow”; then Tolkien used “black mountains” and “black mountain” to refer to the three mountains of Angband and specifically Thangorodrim. But by the time of the “Pryftan Fragment” this imagery was close to being abandoned. One might ask why but I think that its underscores an important point about the nature and role of the Necromancer. In The History of The Hobbit John Rateliff argues that the original Mirkwood (of the “Pryftan Fragment”) may have been Taur-nu-Fuin (the great pine forest of Dorthonion). His identification of these two forests extends into the second phase of writing (the “Bladorthin Typescript”).
Hence, the original dungeons of the Necromancer must have been the fortress of Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion, from which Luthien drove Thû (an earlier name for Sauron). These dungeons are quite old in Tolkien’s myth-making, extending back to “Lay of Leithian”, where Felagund and Beren were held prisoner with their companions, all of whom were devoured by were-wolves. What this early association between The Hobbit and the world of The Silmarillion means is that Tolkien imbued his wandering wizard (Bladorthin –> Gandalf) with a history that touched upon the matters of the great War of the Jewels, and that all of this was transformed into new adventures (and a wholly new character) situated firmly in the Third Age of Middle-earth.
In other words, of all the great deeds that occur in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, only one is explicitly transferred from a “known” location in First Age Beleriand to Third Age Rhovanion: Gandalf’s visit to the dungeons of the Necromancer. I think the reason Tolkien did this was that it was an intriguing anecdote which inspired questions among his readers and it was conveniently vague enough even in the first published edition of The Hobbit to be retained in the new mythology that Tolkien began developing in December 1937 when he started to write what became The Lord of the Rings.
Middle-earth Evolved Rapidly with The Lord of the Rings
The Middle-earth of Frodo Baggins and his companions was a very different world from the anomalous landscape through which Bilbo Baggins journeyed in the first edition. I think, therefore, that one must look at later texts to understand the story of Gandalf’s journey to the dungeons of the Necromancer. That is, while the anecdote has remained in the story essentially unchanged since the time of the “Bladorthin Typesscript”, its context and meaning were radically changed. We can pinpoint those changes to the period 1947-51. In 1947 Tolkien sent some illustrative changes to George Allen & Unwin for The Hobbit, proposing that he modify the book to agree with the evolving story (and landscape) of The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien completed the main narrative for The Lord of the Rings in 1948 but he was unable to conclude a deal with George Allen & Unwin right away. He began working on the appendices in 1950, and when he received the unexpected galley proofs for the Second Edition of The Hobbit Tolkien subsequently altered some of the background material for the Dwarves. It was during this time he had begun working on “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” as well as “The Tale of Years” (Appendix B) for The Lord of the Rings. These were the primary texts explaining the appearance and adventures of Gandalf and the other Istari.
What J.R.R. Tolkien Wrote about Gandalf’s Visits to Dol Guldur
The details are sparse but we learn that in Third Age year 2850 Gandalf entered Dol Guldur and discovered that the Necromancer was, in fact, Sauron. According to “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” Gandalf returned to Elrond after his journey; in the next year the White Council met and Saruman (Curunir) convinced the council to do nothing against Sauron but wait. It would be another 90 years before they finally drove him out of Dol Guldur.
The “Rings of Power” essay only says that Mithrandir (Gandalf) had long suspected the power in Mirkwood might be Sauron taking shape again. But why did he wait so long to find out?
In fact, Gandalf had sought to discover who the Necromancer really was many centuries before, according to the “Tale of Years”.
In Third Age year 2063 Gandalf infiltrated Dol Guldur — but Sauron fled and his secret remained safe. Sauron returned to Dol Guldur with greater strength in Third Age year 2460.
Soon after that time many great evils befell Gondor and other Free Peoples:
-> the Uruks began attacking Ithilien (2475),
-> Orcs reappeared in the Misty Mountains (2480-2509),
-> the Balchoth attacked Gondor (leading to the migration of Éothéod in 2510),
-> dragons reappeared (2570) in the north,
-> Orcs began invading Eriador again (2740),
-> there was the Long winter of 2758-9,
-> Smaug attacked Erebor and Dale in 2770,
-> the War of the Dwarves and Orcs lasted from 2793 to 2799,
-> and Orcs troubled Rohan until 2864.
Thráin II only set out for Erebor in 2841 and was taken in 2845. So Gandalf had plenty of evil events to keep him busy even if we don’t read about his participation in those events.
The longest, most detailed account of Gandalf’s journey to Dol Guldur is found in a post-LoTR text, “The Quest of Erebor”, written sometime in the early 1950s:
“But you know how things went, at any rate as Bilbo saw them. The story would sound rather different, if I had written it. For one thing he did not realize at all how fatuous the Dwarves thought him, nor how angry they were with me. Thorin was much more indignant and contemptuous than he perceived. He was indeed contemptuous from the beginning, and thought then that I had planned the whole affair simply so as to make a mock of him. It was only the map and the key that saved the situation.
“But I had not thought of them for years. It was not until I got to the Shire and had time to reflect on Thorin’s tale that I suddenly remembered the strange chance that had put them in my hands; and it began now to look less like chance. I remembered a dangerous journey of mine, ninety-one years before, when I had entered Dol Guldur in disguise, and had found there an unhappy Dwarf dying in the pits. I had no idea who he was. He had a map that had belonged to Durin’s folk in Moria and a key that seemed to go with it, though he was too far gone to explain it. And he said that he had possessed a great Ring.
“Nearly all his ravings were of that. The last of the Seven he said over and over again. But all these things he might have come by in many ways. He might have been a messenger caught as he fled, or even a thief trapped by a greater thief. But he gave the map and the key to me. ‘For my son,’ he said; and then he died, and soon after I escaped myself. I stowed the things away, and by some warning of my heart I kept them always with me, safe, but soon almost forgotten. I had other business in Dol Guldur more important and perilous than all the treasure of Erebor.
Conclusion
Without a complete, coherent description of Gandalf’s journey this mostly untold story is ripe for development in fan fiction and role-playing games. Of course, many people only know of Middle-earth from the Peter Jackson movies. But even there the details are limited because the “Hobbit” films had to tell such a large story.
If you’re looking for help in understanding what Gandalf did, my guess is that Tolkien imagined a very subtle journey. He could have allowed himself to be captured, or he could have snuck in via some subterfuge. Dol Guldur’s garrison would have required regular supplies, for example. Gandalf could simply have ridden a well-laden wagon into the fortress.
However you want to envision the story, you know it’s outcome: Gandalf escaped to fight another day.
See Also
What is the History of Dol Guldur?
How Did Gandalf Sneak Into Dol Guldur?
Where Did Shelob’s Offspring Live?
What Is the History of the Nazgûl?
Why Does Gandalf Leave Bilbo and the Dwarves in The Hobbit?
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It does seem strange, doesn’t it, that it took nearly eight hundred years from his first visit (2063 to 2850) for Gandalf to finally confirm the Necromancer’s identity. (And another seven centuries of Nazgul-instigated evildoings before that… y’know these guys really remind me of someone, can’t quite put my finger on it… starts with an S… no it’s gone).
I would suggest, to be fair, that the mystery of the Necromancer is bound up with the fate of the Ring. At the Council of Elrond, Boromir gives the prevailing view: “I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do not name, but we believed that it perished from the world in the ruin of his first realm.” Earlier, in ‘The Shadow of the Past’, Gandalf explains to Frodo about it being lost with Isildur in the Anduin: “and even so much of its history is known now only to a few.”
But Gandalf was not in Middle Earth at the time of the pivotal events. Elrond was, and to him they are a closed chapter: “For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion.” Elrond doesn’t want the Ring to have any further role, so that the Three can be wielded with impunity. It would fit with this outlook if he has all along taken the sceptical side in the debates about the Necromancer, putting the onus of proof on Gandalf.
Another mystery is why Sauron, in 2063 seemingly at the height of his power, should flee from a wandering wizard. It’s a prelude to the Watchful Peace and seems to have been inserted to explain it – making Gandalf much more powerful and Sauron much less powerful tham the surrounding narratives would imply. Maybe this (and with it the ‘feint’ withdrawal in 2941) are Tolkien’s take on the Germans’ 1917 retreat to the Hindenburg Line, which John Garth mentions in the interview.
Did Sauron have a fortress somewhere in Rhun? He had to have taken refuge somewhere after he fled Mirkwood. And I wander how Gandalf was able to sneak into Dol Guldur in the first place without getting caught. I think I remember a role-playing game somewhere, in which Radagast disguises Gandalf. Which seems like a logical assumption.