The process of the composition of the tale was explored by Tolkien's son and literary executor Christopher Tolkien in the 12th and final volume of The History of Middle-earth. Working from his father's unpublished manuscripts and drafts, he traces the evolution of the tale through several versions and framing devices, including an abandoned experiment at inserting it into [a] history of the North Kingdom, concluding that the original design of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen had been lost. The original manuscript pages of the deathbed exchange between Aragorn and Arwen show that this key scene was almost unchanged from the published version, and had been written at great speed.