Leithian by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

Fanwork Information

Summary:

I seem to remember a note of Christopher Tolkien's saying that his father never etymologized the word Leithian or explained exactly what is meant by the title Lay of Leithian. This may well be wrong, but meanwhile here's this - well, you might call it a meditation.

Intended for the "To Be Free" challenge, although perhaps it doesn't really fit...

Major Characters:

Major Relationships:

Genre: Experimental

Challenges: To Be Free

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 481
Posted on 10 April 2010 Updated on 10 April 2010

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments on Leithian

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I've always wonderd about what release exactly the Lay is. I thought it was death, nature, fate itself ( which is of course sort of ruined by the fact that everything in Middel Earth is predestined, but..) - what Luthien does is utterly unnatural. She escapes being reborn and living for ever, escapes the world itself. It was always the lay of Luthien to me - she is the escape artist throughout, from Thingol to Morgoth to the very fate of all her people. I never really saw the lay as being about Beren's release too, though now I think I can. And Finrod..I never thought of it as a release for him. But it must have been. He had his father again and maybe even Amarie too, finally. 
"Really?

There’s nothing real about any of this!

Then what is it we are waiting for?

Leithian. The sob of the nightingale. Release from bondage."

Wow. Those final sentence just struck something. Beautiful. The lines about John and Edith and spring coming into blood again, too: such an abstract story suddenly very personal, much more real. Great writing!