The New Shadow was an incomplete sequel (approximately 13 pages) to The Lord of the Rings that J.R.R. Tolkien quickly abandoned, but may have come back to. It is set during the reign of Eldarion, Aragorn's son. Tolkien originally set the story approximately 105 years after the fall of the Barad-dûr, but decided in 1972 to set the story in the year 220 of the Fourth Age. The story revolves around a cult known as the Dark Tree, and two characters named Saelon and Borlas.
Content[]
The only published versions of the story make up the sixteenth chapter of Christopher Tolkien's The Peoples of Middle-earth, in Part Four. The following chapter is Tal-Elmar, another unfinished story of his father's.
In May of 1964, Tolkien commented on The New Shadow:
- "I did begin a story placed about 100 years after the Downfall, but it proved both sinister and depressing. Since we are dealing with Men, it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good. So that the people of Gondor in times of peace, justice and prosperity, would become discontented and restless — while the dynasts descended from Aragorn would become just kings and governors — like Denethor or worse. I found that even so early there was an outcrop of revolutionary plots, about a centre of secret Satanistic religion; while Gondorian boys were playing at being Orcs and going around doing damage. I could have written a 'thriller' about the plot and its discovery and overthrow — but it would have been just that. Not worth doing."
- ―from The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter to Colin Bailey.
On June 6 of 1972, he changed the dating of the story to be 100 years after Aragorn's death: "I have written nothing beyond the first few years of the Fourth Age. (Except the beginning of a tale supposed to refer to the end of the reign of Eldarion about 100 years after the death of Aragorn. Then I of course discovered that the King's Peace would contain no tales worth recounting; and his wars would have little interest after the overthrow of Sauron; but that almost certainly a restlessness would appear about then, owing to the (it seems) inevitable boredom of Men with the good: there would be secret societies practising dark cults, and 'orc-cults' among adolescents.)"
Translations[]
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Afrikaans | Die Nuwe Skaduwee |
Albanian | Hija e Re |
Amharic | ዘ ኒው ጥላ |
Arabic | الظل جديد |
Armenian | Նոր ստվերային |
Azerbaijani | Yeni kölgə |
Belarusian Cyrillic | Новы Цень |
Bengali | নতুন শ্যাডো |
Bosnian | Nove sjene |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | Новата сянка |
Burmese | အသစ်ရိပ် |
Cambodian | ស្រមោលថ្មី |
Catalan | La Nova Ombra |
Cebuano | Ang Bag-ong Anino |
Chinese | 新的影子 |
Cornish | A Skeus Nowydh ? |
Corsican | Lu Novu Ignat |
Croatian | Nove sjene |
Czech | Nový stín |
Danish | Den Nye Skygge |
Dutch | De Nieuwe Schaduw |
Esperanto | La Nova Ombro |
Filipino | Ang Bagong anino |
Finnish | Uusi varjo |
French | La Nouvelle Ombre |
German | Der Neue Schatten |
Greek | Η Νέα Σκιά |
Gujarati | નવી છાયા |
Haitian Creole | Nouvo lonbwaj |
Hausa | Sabuwar inuwa |
Hebrew | הצל החדש |
Hindi | नई छाया |
Hmong | Tus duab ntxoov ntxoo tshiab |
Hungarian | Az új Árnyék |
Icelandic | Hin Nýja Skuggi |
Indonesian | Bayangan baru |
Irish Gaelic | An Scáth Nua |
Italian | La Nuova Ombra |
Japanese | 新しい影 |
Kannada | ಹೊಸ ಛಾಯಾ |
Kazakh Cyrillic | Жаңа көлеңкелі |
Korean | 새로운 그림자 |
Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Болумушту көлөкө |
Latvian | Jauna ēna |
Lithuanian | Naujas šešėlis |
Luxembourgish | Déi Nei Schied |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Новиот сенка |
Malay | Bayang-bayang baru |
Malayalam | ന്യൂ ഷാഡോ |
Marathi | नवी छाया |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Шинэ сүүдэр |
Nepalese | नयाँ छाया |
Norwegian | Den nye Skyggen |
Pashto | د نوي نومول |
Persian | جدید سایه |
Polish | Nowy Cień |
Portuguese | A Nova Sombra |
Punjabi | ਨ੍ਯੂ ਸ਼ੈਡੋ |
Romanian | Noua umbră |
Russian | Новая Тень |
Scottish Gaelic | Tha Sgàil Ùr |
Serbian | Нова сенка (Cyrillic) Nova senka (Latin) |
Sindhi | سنڌ جي نئين پاڇو |
Sinhalese | ඡායා නව ? |
Slovak | Nový tieň |
Slovenian | Nova senca |
Somalian | Hooskii Cusub |
Spanish | La Nueva Sombra |
Swahili | Kivuli Mpya |
Swedish | Den Nya Skuggan |
Tajik Cyrillic | Дар сояи нав |
Tamil | புதிய நிழல் |
Telugu | న్యూ షాడో |
Turkish | Yeni gölge |
Turkmen | Täze Kolege |
Ukrainian Cyrillic | Нова Тінь |
Urdu | نیا شیڈو |
Welsh | Y Cysgodol Newydd |
Yiddish | די ניו שאָטן |
Yoruba | Awọn Titun Ojiji |