In  the  first  part  of  Sauron  Defeated  Christopher Tolkien
  completes  his  account  of  the  writing  of  The Lord  of the
  Rings:  beginning  with   Sam's  rescue   of  Frodo   from  the
  Tower  of  Cirith Ungol,  and giving  a very  different account
  of  the Scouring  of the  Shire, this  part ends  with versions
  of  the hitherto  unpublished Epilogue,  in which,  years after
  the  departure  of  Bilbo  and  Frodo  from  the  Grey  Havens,
  Sam attempts to answer his children's questions.               
   The second part is  an edition  of the  previously unpublished
  Notion  Club  Papers.  This  was  written  by   J.R.R.  Tolkien
  in  the  interval  between  The  Tv  o  Towers  and  The Return
  of  the  King.  These  mysterious  Papers,  discovered  in  the
  early years of the twenty-first century, report the discussions
  of a literary club  in Oxford  in the  years 1986-7,  in which,
  after an account  by one  of the  members of  the possibilities
  of  travel  in  space  and  time  through  the medium  of 'true
  dream', the centre of interest turns to the legend of Atlantis,
  the  strange  communications  received  by  other   memhers  of
  the  club out  of the  remote past,  and the  violent irruption
  of  the  legend   into  the   North-west  of   Europe.  Closely
  associated  with   the  Papers   is  a   new  version   of  the
  Numenorean   legend,   The    Drowning   of    Anadune,   which
  constitutes  the  third  part  of  the book.  At this  time the
  language of the Men of  the West,  Adunaic, was  first devised,
  and  the  book  concludes with  an elaborate  though unfinished
  account  of  its  structure  provided  by  Arundel  Lowdham,  a
  member  of  the  Notion  Club,  who learned  it in  his dreams.

                     CONTENTS.                                 
                                                              
 Foreword.                                            page xi.
                                                              
         PART ONE: THE END OF THE THIRD AGE.                   
                                                              
    I The Story of Frodo and Sam in Mordor                  3
   II The Tower of Kirith Ungol                            18
  III The Land of Shadow                                     31
  IV Mount Doom                                              37
   V The Field of Kormallen                               44
  VI The Steward and the King                              54
 VII Many Partings                                           61
 VIII Homeward Bound                                         75
  IX The Scouring of the Shire                               79
   X The Grey Havens                                      108
  XI The Epilogue                                           114
     Appendix: Drawings of Orthanc and Dunharrow       136
                                                              
                     PAKT TWO: THE NOTION CLUB PAPERS.         
                                                              
 Introduction                                               145
 Foreword and List of Members                               155
 The Notion Club Papers Part One                            161
 The Notion Club Papers Part Two                            222
 Major Divergences in Earlier Versions of Part Two             
 (i) The earlier versions of Night 66                       299
 (ii) The original version of Lowdham's 'Fragments'         309
 (iii) The earlier versions of Lowdham's 'Fragments'           
 in Adunaic                                                 311

                               SAURON DEFEATED         
                                                      
 (iv) Earlier versions of Edwin Lowdham's              
      Old English text                              313
                                                      
 (v) The page preserved from Edwin Lowdham's            
      manuscript written in Numenorean script       318
                                                      
    PART THREE: THE DROWNING OF ANADUNE                
                                                      
 (i)  The  third  version  of  The Fall  of Numenor  331
 (ii) The original text of The Drowning  of Anadune  340
 (iii) The second text of  The Drowning  of Anadune  357
 (iv)  The final  form of  The Drowning  of Anadune  387
 (v)      The      theory      of      the     work  397
 (vi) Lowdham's Report on the Adunaic Language      413
                                                      
      Index                                         441

                     ILLUSTRATIONS.                              
                                                                
 Arundel Lowdham's 'Fragments'                     page ii -iii
 The Tower of Kirith Ungol                                     19
 Mount Doom                                                   42
 First copy of the King's letter                            130
 Third copy of the King's letter                             131
 Orthanc I                                                   138
 Orthanc  II                                                 139
 Orthanc  III                                                139
 Dunharrow I                                                 140
 Dunharrow II                                                141
 Title-page of The Notion Club Papers                        154
 The surviving page of Edwin Lowdham's manuscript:               
  Text I, recto                                              319
  Text I, verso                                              320
  Text II                                                    321