Lúthien Tinúviel by oshun

Part 1

Introduction

Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien. Of their lives was made the Lay of Leithian, Release from Bondage, which is the longest save one of the songs concerning the world of old; but here the tale is told in fewer words and without song.¹

The tale of Lúthien Tinúviel, daughter of King Thingol of the Sindar and Melian the Maia, is central among those told in Tolkien's histories of the First Age of Middle-Earth and beyond. It is unique among the stories collected in Tolkien's legendarium in that its chief protagonist is a woman. She is also the only character in The Silmarillion who is able to survive and win a direct confrontation with Melkor.

In his review of Christopher Tolkien's collection Beren and Lúthien,² published in 2017, author John Garth³ cogently describes and characterizes Lúthien and her significance:

In all the forms of the story here, Lúthien is the key figure, "more fair than mortal tongue can tell" but also more resourceful than Beren. It is she who springs him from prison and defeats his captor. When together they reach the end of the quest in Morgoth's throne room, everything falls to her. If this is meant to be the lost original of "Rapunzel", it is strikingly in tune with much more recent, female-centred fairy-tale revisionings. It is also a hymn to Edith [Tolkien's wife]—and to her power to lift Tolkien out of the depths. ⁴

Lúthien's story has also been referred to as the heart of The Silmarillion.⁵ The central plot of the theft of Fëanor's Silmarils by the rogue Vala Melkor and the exiled Noldor's heroic struggle against him shifts in emphasis when a mere elf maid⁶ succeeds where the greatest warriors of the First Age have failed. Lúthien enables her mortal lover Beren to secure a Silmaril from the crown of Melkor himself. Yet, most readers first encounter the story of Beren and Lúthien in the main narrative of The Lord of the Rings when the Hobbits ask Aragorn to tell them a tale of the Elder days of Middle-earth:

'Then tell us some other tale of the old days,' begged Sam; 'a tale about the Elves before the fading time. I would dearly like to hear more about Elves; the dark seems to press round so close.'

'I will tell you the tale of Tinúviel,' said Strider, 'in brief – for it is a long tale of which the end is not known; and there are none now, except Elrond, that remember it aright as it was told of old. It is a fair tale, though it is sad, as are all the tales of Middle-earth, and yet it may lift up your hearts.'⁷

Those who have not read The Silmarillion may recall the bare bones of the story by the comparison made in The Lord of the Rings of Arwen, daughter of Elrond, to her great-great-grandmother Lúthien. When we first come upon the story, the ending of the tale of Lúthien still remains unfinished because it is tied to that of Arwen the daughter of Elrond, who chooses to follow Lúthien's fate in order to wed Aragorn. In full-out fairytale style, Lúthien, the beautiful Elf-maiden and princess of Doriath, is given the name of Morning Star of her people. Arwen's tale reaches its culmination near the end of the days of the Elves in Middle-earth, where she is given the parallel appellation of Evenstar. These two women share twin destinies—i.e., to fall in love with a mortal man and each to give up a quasi-immortal life to share mortality with her beloved.

Tolkien emphasized the importance of the tale of Beren and Lúthien in his legendarium in a letter to his publisher:

The chief of the stories of the Silmarillion, and the one most fully treated is the Story of Beren and Lúthien the Elfmaiden . . . . It is Beren the outlawed mortal who succeeds (with the help of Lúthien, a mere maiden even if an elf of royalty) where all the armies and warriors have failed: he penetrates the stronghold of the Enemy and wrests one of the Silmarilli from the Iron Crown. Thus he wins the hand of Lúthien and the first marriage of mortal and immortal is achieved.⁸

Lúthien's Origins

In The Silmarillion, we are introduced early in the narrative to Lúthien's parents. In fact, they are important enough to get their own chapter. Lúthien's mother Melian "was a Maia, of the race of the Valar. She dwelt in the gardens of Lórien, and among all his people there were none more beautiful than Melian, nor more wise, nor more skilled in songs of enchantment."⁹ But she loved the forests of Middle-earth and came there often, where "she filled the silence of Middle-earth before the dawn with her voice and the voices of her birds."¹⁰

Lúthien's father, Thingol, was one of the three leaders of the Firstborn who had been chosen by Oromë, the great woodsman of the Valar who often visited Middle-earth in "pursuit of the evil creatures of Melkor."¹¹ Oromë was enamored of these newly awakened children of Eru and, aware of the threat of Melkor to their safety, convinced the Valar they should be transported to the protected realm across the sea. He took the three leaders of the Eldar to Aman to show them the light of the Two Trees and the paradisiacal conditions under which their peoples might live there, cosseted and protected against the darkness and evil creatures that lurked in the forests of Middle-earth. Returning from the land of the gods, the three chieftains appeared to have accepted the task of organizing their peoples and leading them in a long trek to the sea in order to travel to Aman.

However, only in the case of the Vanyar was this emigration accomplished without major issues. The Noldor in their early years were, as they would remain, a contentious people, splintering rather than moving as a whole across the continent without complaint or dispute. In the end, Finwë the leader of the Noldor was able to bring the majority of his people over the mountains, to the sea, and finally sail to their new home in Aman (no small political and organizational feat—perhaps therein lay Finwë's greatness).

Meanwhile, Thingol had the most difficult job, leading his people, the Teleri, later named the Sindar or "the Grey-elves, the elves of the Twilight."¹² Thingol's tribe made up by far the largest of the three groups. Leading them over rivers, through forests, and across mountains became a bit like herding cats. They liked to sing and loved water. Some "looked upon the shadowy heights and were afraid," while others were attracted to "falls and running streams."¹³ At every junction some of them became distracted and fell away from the main grouping and settled, at least temporarily, where they found themselves. But, in the end, it could be argued that it was the fault of Thingol that so many of his people never reached Aman.

Much like the later story of Beren and Lúthien, Thingol and Melian meet in a forest and fall in love. Wandering alone in a starlit forest, "an enchantment fell on him, and he stood still; and afar off beyond the voices of the lómelindi¹⁴ he heard the voice of Melian, and it filled all his heart with wonder and desire."¹⁵ It is interesting to note that this love story of an Elf-lord and a Maia alters in a major way the course of future events, setting in motion a storyline that carries all the way through the end of The Lord of the Rings. Now, romantic love and sexual attraction does not usually play a huge role in Tolkien's storytelling. The exception would be in the storyline involving Lúthien, which is not that dissimilar from her parents' initial encounter. According to the biography of Thingol found on this site,

Thingol and Melian are so smitten with one another, that Thingol completely forgets about his business at hand of leading the largest host of elves to the land of the Valar. The leader of the Sindar and his Maian [sic] lover spend long centuries simply holding hands and gazing into one another's eyes. The most pragmatic among the readers of The Silmarillion might want to believe that a bit more than simply holding hands must have occurred during that interlude. Nevertheless, the outcome would remain the same. Many of Teleri would eventually continue to Valinor, led by Thingol's brother, Olwë, while a larger number refused to leave without their king and remained behind in Middle-earth.¹⁶

Lúthien was born in the Forest of Neldoreth in the Year of the Trees 1200¹⁷ after Thingol had finally reunited with the remainder of his faithful people who had searched and waited for him over those long years. Thingol and Melian settled in the central part of Beleriand and ruled over the remaining Sindar out of what would become the protected realm of Doriath:

Great power Melian lent to Thingol, who was himself great among the Eldar; for he alone of all the Sindar had seen with his own eyes the Trees in the day of their flowering, and king though he was of Úmanyar, he was not accounted among the Moriquendi, but with the Elves of the Light, mighty upon Middle-earth. And of the love of Thingol and Melian there came into the world the fairest of all the Children of Ilúvatar that was or shall ever be.¹⁸

In Christopher Tolkien's first edited compilation of this story, published in The Silmarillion as the chapters "Of Thingol and Melian" and "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Chaining of Melkor," Lúthien is the only child of the Elven-king and his Maiarin queen. (In a later section of this biography we will discuss earlier versions of Lúthien's narrative, one of which proposes a brother.) If one assumes that the published Silmarillion contains the closest to a final version, one must deduce that Lúthien grew up as the treasured and adored sole offspring of this much renowned couple. If one questions why Thingol objects to Beren's audacity in asking for the hand of Lúthien, one answer might be to posit another question: how could her father have been expected to do otherwise?

Lúthien Meets Beren

Lúthien is initially given no role in the part of the story surrounding the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth. She first meets only the children of Finarfin, the youngest son of King Finwë, who happen to be also grandchildren of Olwë her father's brother, who had continued on to reach Aman leading a significant proportion of the Teleri. Thingol greets his long-sundered kin, thinking of them (and one could argue rightfully so) as primarily associated politically and culturally with the Noldor. And he "welcomed not with a full heart the coming of so many princes in might¹⁹ out of the West, eager for new realms."²⁰ He had no intention, in the face Melkor's recent attempts to destroy his people, to open his kingdom to these newly arrived strangers. He allowed within the confines of Doriath, guarded by Melian's girdle of enchantment, those Noldor of the house of Finarfin only because their mother was Eärwen of Alqualondë, Olwë's daughter and Thingol's niece. Even the Finarfinweans "were suffered [grudgingly] to pass within the confines of Doriath."²¹

We know nothing of how Lúthien might have responded to the changes wrought by the arrival of these long-separated kinsmen from the land of the gods. Neither do we know her opinion of the Mortals from the east of Beleriand slowly finding their way into the world into which she was born. Lúthien is not presented to the reader as proud or ambitious. Unlike her Noldorin cousins, she is not one who meddles in the politics of Middle-earth or seeks a kingdom of her own like her kinswoman Galadriel. Although we discover later in her storyline that she has preternatural strengths of her own, we do not initially see any hints of her mother's command of prophecy and wisdom or a need to play a responsible role in the governance and wellbeing of a people.

Our first introduction to Lúthien is to a mere elf maid (see Tolkien's description below), albeit one of surpassing beauty, an enchantress. She represents, however, a complete lack of interest in power and control save an unwillingness to sacrifice her own right to select a husband and live a life of her own choosing. Tolkien compares Lúthien to those who might not appear at first glance to rank among the powerful and ambitious but who are stronger than they appear:

Here we meet, among other things, the first example of the motive (to become dominant in Hobbits) that the great policies of world history, 'the wheels of the world', are often turned not by the Lords and Governors, even gods, but by the seemingly unknown and weak – owing to the secret life in creation, and the part unknowable to all wisdom but One, that resides in the intrusions of the Children of God into the Drama. It is Beren the outlawed mortal who succeeds (with the help of Lúthien, a mere maiden even if an elf of royalty) where all the armies and warriors have failed: he penetrates the stronghold of the Enemy and wrests one of the Silmarilli from the Iron Crown. Thus he wins the hand of Lúthien and the first marriage of mortal and immortal is achieved.²²

Lúthien dances and sings. Flowers spring to life under her feet. She is beloved by many. One might assume that she is cherished and indulged, and certainly protected. When we meet her, she manifests none of the need for power and control of her father nor does she bear the weight of responsibility for others that is her mother's curse. She is introduced to the reader as less of a political actor in a world filled with those—good and bad alike—but more a fairy princess in a wonder tale.

Beren, a hero, but a battered and brutalized one, to all outward appearances defeated and demoralized, stumbles upon this vision of womanly loveliness. One could argue--but I won't--that any woman reasonably healthy and clean might have looked amazing to him in the state he was in when he first spots Lúthien:

Then all memory of his pain departed from him, and he fell into an enchantment; for Lúthien was the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. Blue was her raiment as the unclouded heaven, but her eyes were grey as the starlit evening; her mantle was sewn with golden flowers, but her hair was dark as the shadows of twilight. As the light upon the leaves of trees, as the voice of clear waters, as the stars above the mists of the world, such was her glory and her loveliness; and in her face was a shining light.²³

One is not surprised to find that our tormented hero falls in love with this magical princess. Nor is one truly taken aback that her father rejects him. What does astonish some first-time readers about Lúthien is the active role she comes to play in her own story. She is not to be a passive object of adoration and won like a trophy. She is proactive and powerful, nobody's victim or reward. Another twist on many of the fairytale tropes of ordinary-guy-falls-for-amazing-princess is that she instantly returns his love and participates fully in the hero's quest: "In all its versions, the story concerns Lúthien . . . the half-divine daughter of an elven king and a fairy queen, who falls in love with Beren, a wayfarer who stumbles into their protected kingdom."²⁴

A significant point to be made about Beren is that he not simply a starving, unshaven wayfarer, but a hero in his own right. He has a history, a family, and a reputation. (In these ways, he resembles Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings—who is not simply a scruffy hard-living ranger, but the hidden heir of a long line of kings of Men.)

Beren is much more than a disreputable outlaw but the much-lauded son of the heroic Barahir of the First House of the Edain. Barahir's most memorable act occurs at the end of the war known as the Battle of Sudden Flame—the breaking of the several hundred-year Siege of Angband by Morgoth. At great risk to himself and his accompanying warriors Barahir saves the life of Finrod Felagund, who in gratitude gifts him with a ring that is to be of extreme importance later in this narrative. Barahir manages to hold Dorthonion against persistent attacks until only a dozen of his men remain, including his son Beren. In the end, only Beren survives. Beren wanders alone as a solitary outlaw befriended only by birds and beasts who help him stay alive for four years. Although Beren is alone and seemingly friendless, his deeds of valor do not pass unnoticed:

He did not fear death, but only captivity, and being bold and desperate he escaped both death and bonds; and the deeds of lonely daring that he achieved were noised abroad throughout Beleriand, and the tale of them came even into Doriath. At length Morgoth set a price upon his head no less than the price upon the head of Fingon, High King of the Noldor; but the Orcs fled rather at the rumour of his approach than sought him out.²⁵

Beren is a Robin Hood-like character in this version of the tale, but instead of a band of merry men he is supported by the wild creatures of the forest. His power lies not merely in boldness or charisma, but a deep magic grounded in the natural world. These paranormal details make him a fitting partner for Lúthien. Tolkien scholar Jane Chance notes:

Among the various myths and legends recalled by the tale are the Volsunga Saga, the Calydonian Boar Hunt, Robin Hood, Rapunzel, Orpheus, and Ishtar. Within these tales appear common themes: the disapproving father, the rival lover, the quest, the bride-price, the magical animal ally, the tragic victory of death over love, and the triumph of love over death. Despite the apparent patchwork-quilt nature of the tale as it appears in Christopher Tolkien's publication of The Silmarillion, it is deeply moving and carefully crafted.²⁶

The point is that Lúthien's choice, at first glance, might appear an unexpected one, but Beren is unique in and of himself. Tolkien believes in free will and choices, but nonetheless there are few chance meetings in his legendarium. Many readers, however, might underestimate Beren's exceptionality and quality, or the significance of his near miraculous survival and his ability to slip unhindered into the relative safety of Melian's magic circle:

That journey is not accounted least among the great deeds of Beren, but he spoke of it to no one after, lest the horror return into his mind; and none know how he found a way, and so came by paths that no Man nor Elf else ever dared to tread to the borders of Doriath. And he passed through the mazes that Melian wove about the kingdom of Thingol, even as she had foretold; for a great doom lay upon him.²⁷

By "great doom," in this instance, Tolkien means fate or destiny. The Elven princess does not fall in love with just any random raggedy fellow she runs across in the forest but one who represents virtue and nobility among mortal Men.

It is interesting to note that much is made in discussions of this couple implying Lúthien is the strong one and Beren "got lucky." One ought perhaps to consider that Lúthien's strength is legendary and obvious in comparison to the literary heroines of the period in which she is written. In an article describing Lúthien as the "Original Badass Elven Princess," Jeff LaSala states that:

She's as spiritual as Galadriel, as valorous as Éowyn, as comforting as Arwen. She's the memorable one here—a heroine of mettle and volition, a woman who escapes the chains imposed on her, makes her own decisions, commands enemies and friends alike, stands boldly against evil, and yet is the voice of healing and mercy when that is needed instead. She may seem like a superhero at times (to be fair, the Silmarillion doesn't spend much time talking about everyday people), but she is still at times naive and flawed. She falls for a rugged, sweaty, homeless, and mortal ranger type and that gets them both in a heap of trouble with her people.²⁸

Beren, however, is no slacker, although his contrast to the princess of Doriath has been overstated for dramatic effect by fans and scholars alike. We soon discover his mettle when we see him stand up to King Thingol when his and Lúthien's relationship is finally exposed.

But to return to the chronology of their story, it is Beren who first notices Lúthien. He spots her at a distance in the forest during the summer and is totally lovestruck. Yet she slips away before he has a chance to approach her: "But she vanished from his sight; and he became dumb, as one that is bound under a spell, and he strayed long in the woods, wild and wary as a beast, seeking for her." Throughout the coming months, she remains elusive: "[H]e saw her afar as leaves in the winds of autumn, and in winter as a star upon a hill, but a chain was upon his limbs."²⁹ Meanwhile, Daeron, King Thingol's chief loremaster and minstrel, a longtime friend and companion of Lúthien becomes aware of Beren and turns wary and watchful.³⁰

While Beren lingers and searches for her, he assigns the mystery Elf-maid a name of his own making: "[I]n his heart he called her Tinúviel, that signifies Nightingale, daughter of twilight, in the Grey-elven tongue, for he knew no other name for her."³¹ The name he chooses will be of great significance to her, when she finally notices him. After that first summer faded into fall and fall into winter, and spring at last draws near, Beren finally hears her singing and sees her again:

There came a time near dawn on the eve of spring, and Lúthien danced upon a green hill; and suddenly she began to sing. Keen, heart-piercing was her song as the song of the lark that rises from the gates of night and pours its voice among the dying stars, seeing the sun behind the walls of the world; and the song of Lúthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed.³²

Beren's tongue is finally loosened and he calls out his name for her, "Tinúviel!"

"Then she halted in wonder, and fled no more." Beren is at last capable of approaching her. When they look upon one another, her doom falls upon her; she falls in love. She stays with him until dawn, "yet she slipped from his arms and vanished from his sight even as the day was breaking."³³ Tolkien is not given to writing love scenes, certainly not explicit ones. Aside from the tale of Beren and Lúthien, the closest he comes to describing physical love in The Silmarillion is the account of Thingol and Melian gazing into one another's eyes for long starlit years, also alone in a forest.

In The Lord of the Rings, the encounter of Faramir and Éowyn on the walls of Minas Tirith at the moment of the destruction of the One Ring is arguably one of English literature's most romantic visual descriptions of two destined lovers, but it is simultaneously limited and made more touching by the literary and social conventions of its high-medieval setting, i.e., "they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth." A few days and a few pages later, we read of their first real kiss: "And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many" (emphasis mine).³⁴

Faramir and Éowyn are bold enough to kiss where they can be seen—an act which points to a disregard for conventional restraint and shows their determination to commit to one another. Yet Beren and Lúthien far more daringly meet alone and spend entire nights together throughout the seasons of spring and summer. There are no accounts of kisses in Beren and Lúthien's tale, but absent that romantic element, one might assert that their story is more likely to imply physical intimacy.

One might argue that Faramir and Éowyn's kiss and its public nature is far more conservative and innocent than Beren and Lúthien's summer of love in The Lay of Leithian and The Silmarillion. Tolkien scholar Dr. Cami Agan explores the corporal element of the first union between a mortal Man and a Half-Elven/Half-Maiarin princess:

Lúthien appears as a rare textual example in Tolkien's legendarium of one who acts on sexual desire and is neither demonized as monstrous nor directly punished by the narrative for her desires. Interestingly, the locus of Beren's and Lúthien's love is the forest, a space beyond the traditional fixtures of cultural codes and systems. Because the text repeatedly places the lovers in this highly charged locale of freedom and natural power, it asks us to consider their "forest time" as Other, as atypical, and perhaps as somehow sanctioned by larger forces. Allowing ourselves to ask, "Are they sexually intimate?" offers fruitful inroads both into Lúthien's episodes in the forest with Beren and into the resulting powerful reversals of domination she enacts. We might come to view the moments where the two engage in sexual union as a process that moves from equal choice to betrothal to consummation, a kind of private marriage sustained by only themselves and that can exist only in "forest-time."³⁵

The idyllic interval between their first meeting and Daeron's exposure of their relationship to King Thingol is, with or without sex, a liminal period during which their intimacy and love for one another is allowed to grow and be tested: "Thereafter often she came to him, and they went in secret through the woods together from spring to summer; and no others of the Children of Ilúvatar have had joy so great, though the time was brief."³⁶ As mentioned above by Professor Agan, for that short period Beren and Lúthien lived a life untouched by others. But this was not to last. We learn that Daeron the minstrel also loved Lúthien, and during this period he has been spying upon Lúthien's meetings with this stranger, and thus takes it upon himself to betray them to Thingol.

The Die Is Cast

Thingol, not surprisingly, is outraged at the idea that his beloved daughter, in his eyes unequalled in rank by any other in Middle-earth, has been approached by a mortal Man and has entered into an intimate relationship with him. In Thingol's opinion, there is no Elf-lord even who is worthy of the hand of the princess of Doriath. He did not allow the Second-born within the Girdle of Melian for any reason. Thingol's ban upon the entrance of Men within the Girdle of Melian dates back the first reports of the migration of Men into Beleriand from the east of the mountains. He stated with vehemence that

'Into Doriath shall no Man come while my realm lasts, not even those of the house of Bëor who serve Finrod the beloved.' Melian said nothing to him at that time, but afterwards she said to Galadriel: 'Now the world runs on swiftly to great tidings. And one of Men, even of Bëor's house, shall indeed come, and the Girdle of Melian shall not restrain him, for doom greater than my power shall send him; and the songs that shall spring from that coming shall endure when all Middle-earth is changed.'³⁷

It must have been hard for Melian with her gift of prophecy to be married to Thingol. She and Cassandra of Troy would have had a lot to commiserate about.

Thingol, shocked, outraged, and yet utterly grief-stricken, demands that Lúthien reveal to him where to find this trespasser she has befriended. But his stalwart daughter refuses to tell her father anything unless he swears an oath to her that he will not kill or imprison Beren. Thingol then sends his servants out to track Beren and drag him back into the halls of Menegroth as a common criminal.

But Lúthien obstructs his capture by going to her lover herself and leading him back "before the throne of Thingol, as if he were an honoured guest. . . . Then Thingol looked upon Beren in scorn and anger; but Melian was silent. 'Who are you,' said the King, 'that come hither as a thief, and unbidden dare to approach my throne?'"³⁸

It is noteworthy that Lúthien rejects the burden of proving to her father that her relationship with Beren is noble and legitimate. She straightforwardly asserts that Beren is worthy of her love and her father's respect. One can easily imagine how Beren, for a long moment, is confounded and struck speechless to find himself standing before the throne of Thingol and Melian within the magnificent halls of Menegroth, surrounded by the grandeur of that legendary court. Even Finrod and his siblings fresh from Aman, where they had grown up familiar with the splendor of the courts of Tirion and Alqualondë and Manwë's abode on the slopes of Taníquetil, were filled with wonder "at the strength and majesty of Menegroth, its treasuries and armouries and its many-pillared halls of stone."³⁹

But Lúthien has no trouble finding her tongue; she introduces her chosen mate as, "Beren son of Barahir, lord of Men, mighty foe of Morgoth, the tale of whose deeds is become a song even among the Elves."⁴⁰

Thingol will not be put off by the determination of his daughter. Meanwhile, Melian, with her power of foresight, is squirming with discomfort. (At one point, "Melian leaned to Thingol's side, and in whispered counsel bade him forgo his wrath. 'For not by you,' she said, 'shall Beren be slain; and far and free does his fate lead him in the end, yet it is wound with yours. Take heed!'"⁴¹ ) One can just imagine the warnings and signals her magic is giving her at that moment, but her benighted husband blunders on:

'Let Beren speak!' said Thingol. 'What would you here, unhappy mortal, and for what cause have you left your own land to enter this, which is forbidden to such as you? Can you show reason why my power should not be laid on you in heavy punishment for your insolence and folly?'⁴²

When Beren does find his tongue he is far from ineloquent. After observing something in the eyes of both Lúthien and Melian, "it seemed to him that words were put into his mouth" and

Fear left him, and the pride of the eldest house of Men returned to him; and he said: 'My fate, O King, led me hither, through perils such as few even of the Elves would dare. And here I have found what I sought not indeed, but finding I would possess forever. For it is above all gold and silver, and beyond all jewels. Neither rock, nor steel, nor the fires of Morgoth, nor all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms, shall keep from me the treasure that I desire. For Lúthien your daughter is the fairest of all the Children of the World.'⁴³

This entire scene before the throne of Thingol would work wonderfully on film. Tolkien conjures a dramatic visual image of magnificent halls and elegant courtiers stunned and shocked at the scene unfolding before them, believing that Beren has condemned himself to death. Then their enraged king responds:

'Death you have earned with these words; and death you should find suddenly, had I not sworn an oath in haste; of which I repent, baseborn mortal, who in the realm of Morgoth has learnt to creep in secret as his spies and thralls.'

Then Beren answered: 'Death you can give me earned or unearned; but the names I will not take from you of baseborn, nor spy, nor thrall. By the ring of Felagund, that he gave to Barahir my father on the battlefield of the North, my house has not earned such names from any Elf, be he king or no.'⁴⁴

Beren, before Thingol's throne, declares that he is worthy of Lúthien and his family is well-regarded by "beloved Finrod." At this point, Thingol is infuriated beyond control, no concern for his daughter's earnest pleas, his wife's warnings, or Beren's courage can prevent him from saying the words that will lead to his own ruin and the doom of Doriath. He calls down upon himself the curse of Mandos:

'I see the ring, son of Barahir, and I perceive that you are proud, and deem yourself mighty. But a father's deeds, even had his service been rendered to me, avail not to win the daughter of Thingol and Melian. See now! I too desire a treasure that is withheld. For rock and steel and the fires of Morgoth keep the jewel that I would possess against all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms. Yet I hear you say that bonds such as these do not daunt you. Go your way therefore! Bring to me in your hand a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown; and then, if she will, Lúthien may set her hand in yours. Then you shall have my jewel; and though the fate of Arda lie within the Silmarils, yet you shall hold me generous.'⁴⁵

Beren's comeback to Thingol's dangerous hubris is one of the great lines in The Silmarillion, a long time coming, and most gratifying to hear, although even a first-time reader realizes much suffering will follow it:

'For little price,' he said, 'do Elven-kings sell their daughters: for gems, and things made by craft. But if this be your will, Thingol, I will perform it. And when we meet again my hand shall hold a Silmaril from the Iron Crown; for you have not looked the last upon Beren son of Barahir.'⁴⁶

Lúthien, however, is not the sort of princess to allow her knight to go off on his quest and placidly wait, for better or worse, for him to return to her. Of course, her father, short-sighted as he is for taking upon himself the Curse of the Noldor, never expects Beren to survive to return from this quest. Instead of ridding himself of this unwanted mortal, Thingol has doomed Doriath and his people.

In the next section of this biography we will discover how Lúthien follows Beren despite every effort of her father to prevent this and how and why they escape the end which falls upon others who tie their fate to that of the Silmarils. Author and editor Janet Brennan Croft opines that

Lúthien achieves feats of greatness for love of Beren, just as he is inspired to deeds far beyond the power of mortal men for love of her. Both escape the Curse of the Silmarils because they are prompted in their actions by love for one another, rather than hoard-desire for the Silmarils.⁴⁷

Lúthien's abilities surpass those of all of the major actors among the Elves of The Silmarillion, including valiant warriors (like Fingon, Maedhros, or Fingolfin) wise ancients (like Círdan the Shipwright) whose complete histories are lost in the mists of time, brilliant craftsmen (like Fëanor "the mightiest in skill of word and of hand"⁴⁸ ) whose unique skills rivaled even those of the Ainur, and such characters as Finrod Felagund and Galadriel who combine wit and paranormal skills. This mere maiden might be said to be a near purely magical creature. The sum of her extraordinary powers surpasses those of other remarkable elven heroes. She is a shape-shifter, an enchantress, and a sorceress with an unmatched strength of will. Of course, among the Elves, she has a singularly extraordinary heritage, being born out of the union of one of the most powerful Elf-lords and a Maiarin demi-goddess. Yet, her greatness derives from not simply her bloodline and background or even her preternatural gifts, but from her motivation and determination.

 

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Continued in Part 2 and Part 3.

 

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Works Cited

1. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
2. Christopher Tolkien's separately published Beren and Lúthien is neither a complete collection of everything Tolkien wrote about Beren and Lúthien, nor is it, like C.T.'s Children of Húrin, a selection from Tolkien's manuscripts edited and molded to form a consistent single novelistic narrative of that epic tale. Still, Beren and Lúthien is a useful book to own, and not only for the illustrations, but for the proximity of various versions to one another and C.T.'s commentary on various points, which this reader found up to his highest standards.
3. John Garth is the author of an excellent book Tolkien and the Great War, which focuses upon Tolkien's life as a young man, his education, and his first collaborative relationship with a circle of likeminded literary and artistic comrades during his school days. Garth examines Tolkien falling in love with his wife-to-be Edith and his experiences related to World War I.
4. John Garth, "Beren and Lúthien: Love, War and Tolkien's Lost Tales," New Statesman America, May 27, 2017, accessed October 31, 2019.
5. George Clark and Daniel Timmons, eds., J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-Earth (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 177.
6. The Silmarillion, "From a Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman, 1951," Tolkien claims that Beren succeeds with the help of "a mere maiden even if an elf of royalty." It can be amusing or annoying depending upon the reader that Tolkien calls his most formidable woman character a "mere" anything and credits her with only with helping Beren. It is true that Beren was a hero even before he met Lúthien and, to his credit, he had the courage to set out upon his quest. However, without her assistance he would have had no chance of success. In today's vernacular one would say she undeniably saved his ass.
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Knife in the Dark."
8. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, "131 - To Milton Waldman."
9. The Silmarillion, "Of Thingol and Melian."
10. Ibid.
11. The Silmarillion, Valaquenta, "Of the Valar."
12. The Silmarillion, "Of Thingol and Melian."
13. The Silmarillion, "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Chaining of Melkor."
14. Lómelindi is a Quenya word meaning 'dusk-singers', nightingales. The Silmarillion, "Index of Names."
15. The Silmarillion, "Of Thingol and Melian."
16. Oshun, "Thingol," Silmarillion Writers' Guild, December 2007, accessed November 29, 2019.
17. The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals.
18. The Silmarillion, "Of Thingol and Melian."
19. "In might" in this case means armed to the teeth and prepared for a confrontation or challenge.
20. The Silmarillion, "The Return of the Noldor."
21. Ibid.
22. The Silmarillion, "From a Letter by J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman, 1951."
23. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
24. Brian Kenna, "The Surprising Evolution of 'Beren and Lúthien,'" The Los Angeles Review of Book, December 9, 2017, accessed November 18, 2019.
25. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
26. Jane Chance, "Introduction," in Tolkien the Medievalist, ed. Jane Chance (London: Routledge, 2003), 11.
27. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
28. Jeff LaSala, "Lúthien: Tolkien's Original Badass Elf Princess," Tor,, June 2, 2017, accessed September 16, 2019.
29. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Luthien."
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Steward and the King."
35. Cami D. Agan, "Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire in the Lay of Leithian," in Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft (Altadena, CA: Mythopoeic Press, 2015), 169-170.
36. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
37. The Silmarillion, "Of the Coming of the Men into the West."
38. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
39. The Silmarillion, "Of the Return of the Noldor."
40. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.
47. Melanie A. Rawls, "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien," in Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft, (Altadena, CA: Mythopoeic Press, 2015), 114..
48. The Silmarillion, "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië."

Part 2

Introduction

At the end of Part I of Lúthien’s biography, we left the reader at the beginning of one of the unforgettable, and perhaps most underrated, journey or quest narratives. Among the great quest stories of world literature and lore, the less well-known tale of Beren and Lúthien has been largely limited to Tolkien super-fans who, after reading The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, crack open the purportedly more difficult Silmarillion in order to study the origins of Middle-earth. In his book The Keys of Middle-earth, Stuart Lee writes of the connection between ancient and medieval quest tales and the story of Beren and Lúthien:

Modern readers will probably find no issue in the connection between the theme of a quest and the ancient and medieval worlds. The idea of a hero, heroine or group of such characters going in search of something, or to do something, is as ancient as Theseus or Jason and the Argonauts. Medieval literature also saw the appeal in this simple idea. . . . Beren and Lúthien seek the Silmaril held by Morgoth, and go through a series of tests and overcome the fiercest guardians of the time."¹

Of course, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are quest tales as well, but the tale of Beren and Lúthien is arguably the most classic form of the genre. The hero's journey, which begins in this section of this biography, finds Beren and Lúthien temporarily separated. Chapter 19 of The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien," can be read as a narrative nearly complete within itself.² (In case one doubts my assessment of it as a standalone, Tolkien himself refers to it as a "heroic-fairy-romance, receivable in itself with only a very general vague knowledge of the background."³ ) I will draw almost entirely and chronologically from this chapter to tell the rest of their tale. I will pick up on some extra details and variations in earlier versions in the next and final section of this biography.

An article by author and game designer Jeff LaSala on the Tor publishing company’s website gives the reader a brief and focused description of what one will find in The Silmarillion account of our protagonists’ epic quest:

The adventure and wonderment of The Lord of the Rings is phenomenal, but it is understated and drawn-out compared to how much punch Tolkien packs into this one particular story. Elves, Men, and romance aside, it’s also chock full of mighty spells, magic weapons, werewolves, vampires, magic dogs, sing-offs, dying words, and the infamous Morgoth himself (aka Sauron’s original master).⁴

Beren and Lúthien’s saga differs substantially from the usual hero’s journey in that it involves a true partnership of a man and woman and not simply a questing knight or hero. King Thingol’s demand for an impossible bride price results in Beren initially setting out alone upon his trek into hell, determined to fulfill the challenge. But Lúthien eventually joins him.

Beren Has a Plan

Beren is not entirely without a strategy. He travels toward the underground fortress of Nargothrond, hoping to enlist the aid of its great lord Finrod Felagund in his mission. His secret weapon initially is the Ring of Barahir given to his father by Finrod, who "swore unto Barahir to render whatsoever service was asked in hour of need to him or to any of his kin."⁵ The Ring of Barahir is not a magical artifact, not one of the Numinous Objects referred to by W.H. Auden when he lists the elements which make up a classic quest narrative.⁶ As we will see later, the principle magical object in this tale is the Silmaril that Beren seeks to retrieve while the Ring of Barahir is more like a calling card or an introduction with an oath attached to it. When the bearer of the Ring presents it to Finrod, he will fulfill his promise of assistance, up to and including the point of sacrificing his life.

The following passage in The Silmarillion account of Beren, alone in the wilderness seeking Nargothrond, paints a minimalist yet vivid and atmospheric picture of his approach to Finrod’s stronghold:

Upon all that plain the Elves of Nargothrond kept unceasing watch; and every hill upon its borders was crowned with hidden towers, and through all its woods and fields archers ranged secretly and with great craft. Their arrows were sure and deadly, and nothing crept there against their will. Therefore, ere Beren had come far upon his road, they were aware of him, and his death was nigh. But knowing his danger he held ever aloft the ring of Felagund; and though he saw no living thing, because of the stealth of the hunters, he felt that he was watched, and cried often aloud: ‘I am Beren son of Barahir, friend of Felagund. Take me to the King!’⁷

I will refer the reader at this point to my biographies of Finrod Felagund and Edrahil of Nargothrond, which describe in greater detail the events which unfold in the underground capital of Finrod’s realm, how Beren persuades Finrod to help him, and how the sons of Fëanor Celegorm and Curufin convince the overwhelming majority of Nargothrond to repudiate the decision of their king. And, finally, those previously published biographies contain the story of the tragic demise of Finrod and his loyal followers who supported Beren in his quest. Only Edrahil and a handful of brave men left Nargothrond with Beren and Finrod, making up a scant company of twelve in total. They disguise themselves, with the help of a little magic on Finrod’s part, as Orcs until they come to Tol-in-Gaurhoth or Isle of Werewolves where Sauron eventually sees through their disguise and captures and imprisons them.

Lúthien Learns of Beren’s Capture and Breaks Free of Doriath

Meanwhile, Lúthien, incapable of sitting idly by and while her beloved struggles alone, is being held against her will in Doriath by her father: "But Lúthien was silent, and from that hour she sang not again in Doriath. A brooding silence fell upon the woods, and the shadows lengthened in the kingdom of Thingol." Apparently, she needed a moment to recover and figure out how to approach the situation. When Sauron captured Beren and his companions, throwing them into a deep pit, "a weight of horror came upon Lúthien’s heart."⁸ She approaches her mother, seeking counsel, and is told that Beren has been captured and is confined in the dungeons of Tol-in-Gaurhoth without hope of rescue.

Of all of the daughters of the Eldar in Tolkien’s legendarium, none are painted as more predictably capable of acts of defiance and assertions of independence than Lúthien. (And the daughters of the Noldor—thinking of Galadriel and Aredhel for starters—are not exactly one’s mopey, defenseless princesses waiting to be rescued or won by a man.) There can be no doubt that Thingol and Melian are well aware of her strength of mind and must have considered the likelihood of an escape attempt on her part. Thingol took precautious and did what he could to ensure that Lúthien would not leave Doriath and try to liberate Beren.

She made a mistake of judgment by turning to her old friend Daeron and asking him for help; he betrays her plan to her father:

Then Thingol was filled with fear and wonder; and because he would not deprive Lúthien of the lights of heaven, lest she fail and fade, and yet would restrain her, he caused a house to be built from which she should not escape. Not far from the gates of Menegroth stood the greatest of all the trees in the Forest of Neldoreth; and that was a beech-forest and the northern half of the kingdom. This mighty beech was named Hírilorn, and it had three trunks, equal in girth, smooth in rind, and exceeding tall; no branches grew from them for a great height above the ground. Far aloft between the shafts of Hírilorn a wooden house was built, and there Lúthien was made to dwell; and the ladders were taken away and guarded, save only when the servants of Thingol brought her such things as she needed.⁹

This is a desperate tactic on Thingol’s part. He has inadvertently released her from any compulsion to feel regretful about disobeying him. And so, guiltless, she sets about devising a way to break out of her closely guarded captivity. It is almost impossible to read this next step of Lúthien’s escape from Thingol’s confinement without thinking of the fairytale Rapunzel. The echo of familiarity conjures up memories of childhood storytimes for those of us who grew up on the traditional version of the tale of the princess trapped in a tower, who uses her long hair to escape. It also informs us for the first time in this narrative that Lúthien’s magic does not simply exist as a romantic or descriptive embellishment—like her dancing in the forest, for example, "released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed"¹⁰ —but is an essential element of plot:

[S]he put forth her arts of enchantment, and caused her hair to grow to great length, and of it she wove a dark robe that wrapped her beauty like a shadow, and it was laden with a spell of sleep. Of the strands that remained she twined a rope, and she let it down from her window; and as the end swayed above the guards that sat beneath the tree they fell into a deep slumber. Then Lúthien climbed from her prison, and shrouded in her shadowy cloak she escaped from all eyes, and vanished out of Doriath.¹¹

In an article "Tolkien’s Rapunzel," fantasy blogger Ben Melnyk compares the Grimm version of Rapunzel to Tolkien’s view of Lúthien. He proposes that, uniquely, "Lúthien is in control of her own destiny. Where Rapunzel seems to be alternately at the mercy of her parents, the enchantress, or the King’s son, Lúthien takes charge of her situation."¹² This difference—the take-charge characteristic of Lúthien as a woman who determines her own fate—is what distinguishes her from most princesses in the fairytales most familiar to the modern reader. One could argue that no other character, male or female, in Tolkien’s legendarium holds onto and directs their destiny to the degree that Lúthien does. In Jane Chance’s Tolkien the Medievalist, Richard C. West emphasizes that at no point is Lúthien either a "damsel in distress or a prize to be won by the hero," reiterating that "while Tolkien is far from being a feminist author, his women characters are stronger than they are often made out to be. And Lúthien is, I think, his strongest."¹³

However, one of Lúthien’s lowest points must have come when she found herself separated from her beloved and a prisoner in her own land, which had until that time honored her as its most revered daughter. Daeron, perhaps her closest companion from childhood, had betrayed her not once but twice, possibly in a misguided attempt to protect her or even worse in a fit of jealousy. So Lúthien uses her own not insignificant magical abilities and frees herself to flee Doriath, determined to rescue Beren.

Lúthien Encounters Celegorm and Curufin

Lúthien, however, is initially cursed with terrible luck. By chance she encounters Celegorm and Curufin hunting for wolves. They are accompanied by the amazing wolfhound Huan, gifted to Celegorm by Oromë back in the bliss of Valinor. Huan is a loyal hound who had also followed Celegorm out of Aman and, in punishment for siding with his master, "he too came under the doom of woe set upon the Noldor, and it was decreed that he should meet death, but not until he encountered the mightiest wolf that would ever walk the world."¹⁴ Actually, it is Huan who first notices Lúthien, discovering her

. . . flying like a shadow surprised by the daylight under the trees, when Celegorm and Curufin rested a while near to the western eaves of Doriath; for nothing could escape the sight and scent of Huan, nor could any enchantment stay him, and he slept not, neither by night nor day. He brought her to Celegorm, and Lúthien, learning that he was a prince of the Noldor and a foe of Morgoth, was glad; and she declared herself, casting aside her cloak.¹⁵

Celegorm instantly falls in love with Lúthien when she throws back her cloak and he sets eyes upon her "sudden beauty revealed beneath the sun."¹⁶ In an attempt to disarm and ingratiate her to himself, "he spoke her fair, and promised that she would find help in her need, if she returned with him now to Nargothrond." (No doubt Celegorm the Fair was accustomed to using gentle words to disarm women.) He takes care not to reveal that he is already aware of Beren and his quest and how profoundly he responds to this unexpected opportunity to lay hands on a Silmaril. She knows little enough about the brothers and their terrible purpose, so she does not recognize that this is one of those all but overpowering Oath-awakening moments for Celegorm. In fact, she takes for granted that, in the dangerous world outside of the Melian’s girdle of enchantment and shelter, she might actually trust these well-spoken, fair-appearing princes of the Eldar. Lúthien’s strength is not one of political wisdom or cunning but of courage and willingness to sacrifice. She is momentarily caught off-guard by Curufin and Celegorm’s methods and motivations. In her article "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien," Melanie Rawls notes that Lúthien is a strong woman, if still a sheltered princess:

Is Lúthien mannish? No. Without recourse to such masculine appurtenances as swords or rayguns, she nevertheless outperforms in courage, daring, resourcefulness, adventure, and sheer power most of our weapon-brandishing heroes and heroines. Her deeds are masculine—active and outer-directed—but her methods are not, and she has not been turned into an imitation male.¹⁷

 

The Fëanorian brothers, of course, break off their hunt and return posthaste to Nargothrond with Lúthien. She soon discovers she has been deceived: "[T]hey held her fast, and took away her cloak, and she was not permitted to pass the gates or to speak with any save the brothers." Believing that Beren and Felagund are prisoners without any hope of rescue or survival, the brothers

purposed to let the King perish, and to keep Lúthien, and force Thingol to give her hand to Celegorm. Thus they would advance their power, and become the mightiest of the princes of the Noldor. And they did not purpose to seek the Silmarils by craft or war, or to suffer any others to do so, until they had all the might of the Elf-kingdoms under their hands. Orodreth had no power to withstand them, for they swayed the hearts of the people of Nargothrond; and Celegorm sent messengers to Thingol urging his suit.¹⁸

It might have been a plausible plan had the brothers been dealing with a lesser adversary than Lúthien.

The Hound of Valinor Saves Lúthien

Neither did Celegorm expect that his long-suffering companion Huan the Hound of Valinor would ever turn upon him:

But Huan the hound was true of heart, and the love of Lúthien had fallen upon him in the first hour of their meeting; and he grieved at her captivity. Therefore he came often to her chamber; and at night he lay before her door, for he felt that evil had come to Nargothrond. Lúthien spoke often to Huan in her loneliness, telling of Beren, who was the friend of all birds and beasts that did not serve Morgoth; and Huan understood all that was said. For he comprehended the speech of all things with voice; but it was permitted to him thrice only ere his death to speak with words.¹⁹

Now Huan reflects the trope of the loyal and endearing, courageous and intelligent animal friend at its highest level. Huan has remained a dutiful helpmate despite the deteriorating moral character of his once beloved master and Celegorm’s series of terrible choices—the swearing of that catastrophic Oath and the First Kinslaying amongst them. But meeting Lúthien forces Huan to reassess his fealty and transfer his affection and trust to her. Huan, no ordinary dog,²⁰ is able to devise a plan to rescue Lúthien and assist her on her mission. He comes to her in the middle of night, bearing her magical cloak,

and for the first time he spoke, giving her counsel. Then he led her by secret ways out of Nargothrond, and they fled north together; and he humbled his pride and suffered her to ride upon him in the fashion of a steed, even as the Orcs did at times upon great wolves. Thus they made great speed, for Huan was swift and tireless.²¹

They arrive at the Wizard's Isle too late to save brave Finrod and his companions, who, suffering horribly, had died one by one, viciously slain by Sauron’s werewolves. Lúthien and Huan are, however, in time to save Beren:

In that hour Lúthien came, and standing upon the bridge that led to Sauron’s isle she sang a song that no walls of stone could hinder. Beren heard, and he thought that he dreamed; for the stars shone above him, and in the trees nightingales were singing. And in answer he sang a song of challenge that he had made in praise of the Seven Stars, the Sickle of the Valar that Varda hung above the North as a sign for the fall of Morgoth. Then all strength left him and he fell down into darkness.

But Lúthien heard his answering voice, and she sang then a song of greater power. The wolves howled, and the isle trembled. Sauron stood in the high tower, wrapped in his black thought; but he smiled hearing her voice, for he knew that it was the daughter of Melian. The fame of the beauty of Lúthien and the wonder of her song had long gone forth from Doriath; and he thought to make her captive and hand her over to the power of Morgoth, for his reward would be great.²²

Huan and Lúthien take on Sauron and Win

Determined to capture Lúthien, Sauron sends wolf after terrible wolf against her and Huan slays each of them in turn. Finally, Sauron sends Draugluin,

a dread beast, old in evil, lord and sire of the werewolves of Angband. His might was great; and the battle of Huan and Draugluin was long and fierce. Yet at length Draugluin escaped, and fleeing back into the tower he died before Sauron’s feet; and as he died he told his master: ‘Huan is there!’²³

 

Sauron takes note at this of what he knows of the Hound of Valinor—that only the greatest wolf to ever exist will be able to kill Huan. So he decides to go himself, transforming himself into the most powerful of all werewolves. This overconfidence leads to Sauron’s defeat.

Huan flinches at the sight of Sauron in his terrible wolf form, but when Sauron lunges, courageous Lúthien entangles him within the folds of her enchanted cloak. This gives Huan heart and an opening to grapple with him. The two fight, with Sauron shape shifting into various forms from wolf to snake to monster and back again:

But no wizardry nor spell, neither fang nor venom, nor devil’s art nor beast-strength, could overthrow Huan of Valinor; and he took his foe by the throat and pinned him down. Then Sauron shifted shape, from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his own accustomed form; but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body utterly. Ere his foul spirit left its dark house, Lúthien came to him, and said that he should be stripped of his raiment of flesh, and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: ‘There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes, unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower.’²⁴

It is finally Lúthien who defeats Melkor's versatile and capable servant, through her magic powered by love rather than driven by hate or greed and her logic untempered by arrogance or overconfidence. She forces him to surrender the keys of his tower:

Then Sauron yielded himself, and Lúthien took the mastery of the isle and all that was there; and Huan released him. And immediately he took the form of a vampire, great as a dark cloud across the moon, and he fled, dripping blood from his throat upon the trees, and came to Taur-nu-Fuin, and dwelt there, filling it with horror.²⁵

Lúthien destroys the Tower, standing upon its bridge and loosening the spell that bound stone to stone, "and the gates were thrown down, and the walls opened, and the pits laid bare; and many thralls and captives came forth in wonder and dismay, shielding their eyes against the pale moonlight, for they had lain long in the darkness of Sauron. But Beren came not."²⁶

Huan and Lúthien search for Beren throughout the isle until they finally come upon him mourning his slain comrade Finrod Felagund. He is lost in such deep anguish that he does not hear her feet, and he lays as still as one who was dead. Believing him dead, Lúthien "put her arms about him and fell into a dark forgetfulness." Beren, however, at that moment, comes back into the light from his pit of deep despair. He lifts Lúthien up and "they looked again upon one another; and the day rising over the dark hills shone upon them."²⁷

Reunited, they bury Finrod Felagund, without whose help Beren would have surely perished:

Now Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel went free again and together walked through the woods renewing for a time their joy; and though winter came it hurt them not, for flowers lingered where Lúthien went, and the birds sang beneath the snowclad hills. But Huan being faithful went back to Celegorm his master; yet their love was less than before.²⁸

Beren and Lúthien’s quest does not end here, but as they take a much-deserved break at this point in their story and several significant plot points still remain in the basic narrative, this seems like a good point for us to stop as well.

Extended Trailer for Part 3

In the next and final segment, we will cover Beren sneaking away while Lúthien sleeps to try to fulfill his promise to Thingol to secure the Silmaril. The dread Fëanorian brothers and noble Huan reenter the story. Beren and Lúthien go to Angband and trick Melkor. Beren loses a hand and a Silmaril. Celegorm loses his best friend and Curufin loses his horse. And much, much more. There will be cats and Lúthien dancing and casting spells before the throne of Melkor. (I promise no dancing cats!) I hope that you will return for those exciting events.

 

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Continued in Part 3.

 

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Works Cited

1. Stuart Lee, The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien (Oxford: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 2.4.1. Kindle Edition.
2. A mere ten thousand or so words, Chapter 19 does not include everything that Tolkien wrote about Beren and Lúthien but, pieced together by Christopher Tolkien from disparate sources, it does reflect the most coherent, chronological and, arguably, the latest conception of that story. In a planned third part of this biography we will make comparisons of this published version to other divergent plot points developed primarily in, but not limited to, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2, The Tale of Tinúviel and The Lays of Beleriand, Lay of Leithian.
3. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, "131 To Milton Waldman."
4. Jeff LaSala, "Lúthien: Tolkien's Original Badass Elf Princess," Tor, June 2, 2017, accessed January 29, 2020.
5. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
6. "Mr. Tolkien has succeeded more completely than any previous writer in this genre in using the traditional properties of the Quest, the heroic journey, the Numinous Object, the conflict between Good and Evil while at the same time satisfying our sense of historical and social reality, it should be possible to show how he has succeeded." W.H. Auden, "At the End of the Quest, Victory," The New York Times, January 22, 1956.
7. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. The reader can argue the author indulges in poetic license, conveying an emotional response in such a passage rather than stating that actual flowers sprang forth under her feet. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
11. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
12. Ben Melnyk, "Tolkien’s Rapunzel," Some Angsty Man, March 19, 2016, accessed February 1, 2020.
13. Richard C. West, "Real-World Myth in a Secondary World," in Tolkien the Medievalist, ed. Jane Chance (London: Routledge, 2003), 265.
14. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
15. Ibid.
16. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
17. Melanie A. Rawls, "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien" in Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft (Altadena, CA: Mythopoeic Press, 2015), 99-117.
18. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
19. Ibid.
20. He actually might be one of the Maiar. Tolkien notes: "But true 'rational' creatures, 'speaking peoples', are all of human/'humanoid' form. Only the Valar and Maiar are intelligences that can assume forms of Arda at will. Huan and Sorontar [aka Thorondor] could be Maiar--emissaries of Manwë." Morgoth’s Ring, Myths Transformed, "Orcs."
21. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.

Part 3

The Quest Continues

At the end of Part II of Lúthien's biography, Beren and Lúthien are safe and alive after destroying the walls and breaking open the dungeons of Sauron's stronghold on the Isle of Werewolves. Lúthien and Huan have freed Beren, along with other thralls imprisoned there. Arriving too late to save the life of Finrod Felagund and his brave comrades, Lúthien has used her magic to rescue Beren and drive Sauron in bat form flapping his way back to Angband in bitter humiliation.¹

Our power couple then bid farewell to Huan the mighty hound of Valinor, who departs to seek out Celegorm. After so many long years and difficult choices endured with the problematic Celegorm, Huan is still loyal but no longer blind to the faults of his master. Beren and Lúthien, having removed themselves from immediate danger, journey closer to Doriath, allowing themselves a short respite before taking up their quest again in earnest.

Now Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel went free again and together walked through the woods renewing for a time their joy; and though winter came it hurt them not, for flowers lingered where Lúthien went, and the birds sang beneath the snowclad hills.²

Beren, however, cannot rest easy, having given his word to Thingol to perform this impossible task, so he raises the issue of how he intends to pick up the quest again: "Beren took thought of his vow; and against his heart he resolved, when Lúthien was come again within the safety of her own land, to set forth once more."³

Meanwhile Back in Nargothrond …

Things are heating up for the Fëanorian brothers. Many Elves who had been imprisoned on the isle of Sauron are beginning to drift back home and they have a story to tell, causing a clamor that no new attempts of eloquence on the part of Celegorm can silence:

They lamented bitterly the fall of Felagund their king, saying that a maiden had dared that which the sons of Fëanor had not dared to do; but many perceived that it was treachery rather than fear that had guided Celegorm and Curufin. Therefore the hearts of the people of Nargothrond were released from their dominion, and turned again to the house of Finarfin; and they obeyed Orodreth.⁴

Celegorm and Curufin are driven out of Nargothrond with the clear warning that they are finished there. In fact, it took some effort on the part of Orodreth to allow them to leave with their lives. He sent them on their way while swearing that there will be "little love between Nargothrond and the sons of Fëanor thereafter."⁵ Incidentally, this is the moment when Celebrimbor son of Curufin refuses to follow his father and remains behind.

A Lovers' Quarrel and the Leap of Beren

Concurrently with the Fëanorian brothers getting booted out of Nargothrond for good, Beren and Lúthien, back on the trail again, have been arguing over whether or not she will continue on with him or whether, as he wishes, he will drop her off safely inside of the borders of Doriath and go back and get that Silmaril on his own:

But she was not willing to be parted from him again, saying: 'You must choose, Beren, between these two: to relinquish the quest and your oath and seek a life of wandering upon the face of the earth; or to hold to your word and challenge the power of darkness upon its throne. But on either road I shall go with you, and our doom shall be alike.'⁶

In midst of all the momentous drama of these events, it's not too difficult for anyone who has ever been married or in a close intimate relationship to imagine the scene of Beren and Lúthien having a knock-down-drag-'em-out quarrel while stomping through the woods completely unaware of their surroundings. (One has to chuckle to oneself comparing this scene to the more famous one which Tolkien wrote while remembering his beloved Edith dancing barefoot amongst the flowers in a forest grove in the springtime. I think we get a less romantic but perhaps even more believable view of a realistic argument in the following description of Beren and Lúthien.) Apparently, Beren does not understand her as well as most readers do. For nearly everyone it comes as no great surprise that Lúthien outright refuses to return home to Doriath to await forthcoming news of his mission.

Left behind once, she will never again allow Beren to waltz off to Angband alone. And she is right to want to participate, because she has already proven, to herself at least, that she can draw upon heretofore unfathomed strength and significant paranormal skills. The point is that they disagree strongly. He wants to know that she is home safe and she will not consider the idea of him pursuing this desperate quest alone. Consequently, they are going at it tooth and nail, hard enough that they do not even notice when Celegorm and Curufin spot them and essentially sneak up on them:⁷

Even as they spoke together of these things, walking without heed of aught else, Celegorm and Curufin rode up, hastening through the forest; and the brothers espied them and knew them from afar. Then Celegorm turned his horse, and spurred it upon Beren, purposing to ride him down; but Curufin swerving stooped and lifted Lúthien to his saddle, for he was a strong and cunning horseman.⁸

Here, we are treated to a sharply focused visualization of the famous "Leap of Beren . . . renowned among Men and Elves." Beren turns away from the charging Celegorm and leaps onto Curufin's horse and grabs him "by the throat from behind, and they fell to the ground together. The horse reared and fell, but Lúthien was flung aside, and lay upon the grass." Beginning to end, this might be one of the most vivid cinematic-type action sequences in The Silmarillion. At least one might assume that was the intent of the author (he gives the reader advance notice—renowned Leap of Beren indeed!). Once Beren has Curufin on the ground with Lúthien out of the way of immediate harm, he starts beating the living daylights out of the guy. While Beren is distracted, "Celegorm rode upon him with a spear. In that hour Huan forsook the service of Celegorm, and sprang upon him, so that his horse swerved aside, and would not approach Beren because of the terror of the great hound."⁹ (One can mentally hear the ferocious snarl and growl. This is serious business, but there is no way one could argue with certainty that it is narrated totally without humor.)

Lúthien then intervenes to forbid the slaying of Curufin. Beren, however, does relieve him first of his gear and weapons, including a truly exceptional knife—Angrist, made by the famous Telchar of Nogrod.¹⁰ Beren literally picks him up and flings him aside, ordering him to walk back "to his noble kinsfolk, who might teach him to turn his valour to worthier use. 'Your horse,' he said, 'I keep for the service of Lúthien, and it may be accounted happy to be free of such a master.'"¹¹

Celegorm pulls Curufin up onto his horse and makes as though to ride away. Fed up, Beren turns his back on them: "But Curufin, being filled with shame and malice, took the bow of Celegorm and shot back as they went; and the arrow was aimed at Lúthien. Huan leaping caught it in his mouth; but Curufin shot again, and Beren sprang before Lúthien, and the dart smote him in the breast."¹²

Then the enraged hound Huan takes off after them as they flee in terror before him. Huan returns shortly, bearing with him a healing forest herb, which Lúthien combines with love and curative magic to treat Beren's wound.

Beren Tries Again to Strike Out Alone

Finally, the three of them arrive within the boundaries of Doriath and are able to rest without fear. While Lúthien is sleeping, Beren, still not wanting to expose his beloved to the dangers lying before him, leaves her in the care of Huan and slips off alone into the night.¹³

One might question his judgment. Together they might succeed but the outcome is far more problematic for either of them alone. Scholar and author Melanie Rawls notes, "Lúthien achieves feats of greatness for love of Beren, just as he is inspired to deeds far beyond the power of mortal men for love of her." Together they may "escape the Curse of the Silmarils because they are prompted in their actions by love for one another, rather than hoard-desire for the Silmarils."¹⁴

Clearly he does not get very far without her to help him before he is running low on emotional resources if not determination. He basically decides that he is making one last deliberate, Kamikaze-like assault upon an enemy target, based more upon principle and honor than any concrete hope of success. So, he releases Curufin's horse from "dread and servitude" to "run free upon the green grass in the lands of Sirion."¹⁵ Then he sings a parting song, loudly enough for anyone listening to hear, believing, however, there is no one nearby:

Farewell sweet earth and northern sky,
for ever blest, since here did lie
and here with lissom limbs did run
beneath the Moon, beneath the Sun,
Lúthien Tinúviel
more fair than mortal tongue can tell.
Though all to ruin fell the world
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss,
yet were its making good, for this—
the dusk, the dawn, the earth, the sea—
that Lúthien for a time should be.¹⁶

Who should appear at the dying notes of his last lonesome song, than Lúthien herself and the trusty Huan? Tolkien scholar Sarah Beach notes that "[o]ften, the traditional Heroine is acted upon rather than initiating action. Also, given whether the tale is heading toward a happy or tragic ending, the Heroine may be a good or a bad influence on the course of the Hero's quest."¹⁷ In this tale we are already well aware that Lúthien is no traditional heroine. She is certainly equal to our hero, arguably superior in resourcefulness and skill. And tragic or happy be the end, there is never any question in the reader's mind that Beren and Lúthien's choice will prove to be one that has been made for a greater good.

The deeper one delves into their story, the more one realizes that Beren has his own strengths: personal courage and honor, as well as remarkable skills as a seasoned warrior, but not least of all the courage to love Lúthien and to enter into a collaborative relationship of equals with her. Finally, with no further argument, he gives in gracefully to Lúthien, realizing that he cannot shake her off, nor should he want to. His best judgment persuades him to take the advice of the dog (yes, Huan even does couples' counseling):

Then for the second time Huan spoke with words; and he counselled Beren, saying: 'From the shadow of death you can no longer save Lúthien, for by her love she is now subject to it. You can turn from your fate and lead her into exile, seeking peace in vain while your life lasts. But if you will not deny your doom, then either Lúthien, being forsaken, must assuredly die alone, or she must with you challenge the fate that lies before you—hopeless, yet not certain. Further counsel I cannot give, nor may I go further on your road. But my heart forebodes that what you find at the Gate I shall myself see. All else is dark to me; yet it may be that our three paths lead back to Doriath, and we may meet before the end.'¹⁸

Farewell to Huan and Suiting Up for the Journey

Parting with Huan once again—no doubt, regretfully—the intrepid couple set off for Angband. They assume the disguises of bat and werewolf—"he was arrayed now in the hame of Draugluin, and she in the winged fell of Thuringwethil."¹⁹ Cami Agan notes in Perilous and Fair that "Lúthien's ability to transform her body and Beren's into fell creatures—Thuringwethil the vampire and the wolf Draugluin—suggests an ironic inversion of Morgoth and Sauron's power to corrupt through bodily perversion."²⁰ The idea and execution of these disguises were said to have been accomplished as result of Huan's counsel and Lúthien's magical arts:

Beren became in all things like a werewolf to look upon, save that in his eyes there shone a spirit grim indeed but clean; and horror was in his glance as he saw upon his flank a bat-like creature clinging with creased wings. Then howling under the moon he leaped down the hill, and the bat wheeled and flittered above him.²¹

The description of "grim but clean" is one of many references to the wholeness and purity of the heart of Beren that provides an affecting foreshadowing of why the Silmarils will be denied to Maglor and Maedhros after they have sacrificed so much to win them. (The Silmarillion is in part so beloved because its heroes are relatably imperfect while these so-named kinslayers pull at the heartstrings of many readers.) We learn why the Fëanorian claim to their patrimony will be rendered void and their oath will have been kept in vain because of their many and merciless deeds performed while they were blinded by their oath, a relationship to the Silmaril they seek that differs markedly from Beren and Lúthien's.

In the actions of Curufin and Celegorm throughout this tale, we can observe how corrupted they have already become. But that is another topic for another time. Perhaps in Beren's upcoming biography we can examine more about how the Oath becoming dynamic determined the course of his life and his choices (or more likely vice versa—can we blame Thingol?). One could discuss the personification of the Oath—the concept of how the Oath sleeps or the Oath awakens—which is relevant throughout this quest. The point for here and now is that once the Oath has awakened it pushes this story inexorably forward.

In the Hall of the Dark Vala

Meanwhile, returning to the main narrative, we find the foul-appearing but fair Beren and Lúthien wending their way across the countryside to meet the Dark Vala in his own stronghold. At last they enter into the noxious and terrifying landscape that makes up the approach to the Gates of Angband:

Black chasms opened beside the road, whence forms as of writhing serpents issued. On either hand the cliffs stood as embattled walls, and upon them sat carrion fowl crying with fell voices. Before them was the impregnable Gate, an arch wide and dark at the foot of the mountain; above it reared a thousand feet of precipice.²²

They made it through all that only to encounter a terrible monster. Jeff LaSala draws on a comparison with Classical myth at this point in the tale: "But here our heroes are stopped in their tracks when they see a creature guarding the gate like Cerberus at the gates of Hades."²³ Morgoth, with his side having been thwarted once already by the combination of Lúthien and Huan and not knowing if or when he will be confronted again by the great hound, has taken into consideration the rumor that Huan can only be killed by the greatest wolf that ever lived and decides to breed exactly such a creature:

Morgoth recalled the doom of Huan, and he chose one from among the whelps of the race of Draugluin; and he fed him with his own hand upon living flesh, and put his power upon him. Swiftly the wolf grew, until he could creep into no den, but lay huge and hungry before the feet of Morgoth. There the fire and anguish of hell entered into him, and he became filled with a devouring spirit, tormented, terrible, and strong. Carcharoth, the Red Maw, he is named in the tales of those days, and Anfauglir, the Jaws of Thirst. And Morgoth set him to lie unsleeping before the doors of Angband, lest Huan come.²⁴

The ease with which Lúthien's magic is able to overcome this terrible beast—the terrible Red Maw and Jaws of thirst!—is almost anticlimactic. That is, it might have been, were it not for the acknowledgement of the source of her power and how unique it is. One needs to remember she is only half-Elven and the other half, in ordinary parlance, is divine. This is not simple Elven wisdom and skill combined to create something special which resembles the magical to the likes of us, but something far stronger and more profound:

But suddenly some power, descended from of old from divine race, possessed Lúthien, and casting back her foul raiment she stood forth, small before the might of Carcharoth, but radiant and terrible. Lifting up her hand she commanded him to sleep, saying: 'O woe-begotten spirit, fall now into dark oblivion, and forget for a while the dreadful doom of life.' And Carcharoth was felled, as though lightning had smitten him.²⁵

Morgoth's intent when he prepared for their coming was to, in short order, capture and kill them both. But, although he was concerned about Huan and made a plan, he completely underestimated Lúthien. Beren and Lúthien are able to pass through the Gate and down the labyrinthine stairs to the lowest level, where they would find Morgoth's throne. As The Silmarillion describes it, they "together wrought the greatest deed that has been dared by Elves or Men."²⁶

The terrible hall they entered is "lit by fire and upheld by horror"—strong language. And it was "filled with weapons of death and torment." Well, Lúthien has balls of steel and is able to enter without turning into a mindless puddle of fear but, assuming some of the servile spirit of his lowly form, poor "Beren slunk in wolf's form beneath his throne." (This was just as well, because he goes unnoticed for the moment while Lúthien prepares herself for a faceoff with the Dark Lord.) Despite the fact that Morgoth strips Lúthien of her disguise in short order and "bent his gaze upon her. She was not daunted by his eyes; and she named her own name, and offered her service to sing before him, after the manner of a minstrel."²⁷

Now the story gets dark really fast and fairly explicitly so (disturbing sexual imagery anyone?). One's mileage may vary on how truly dark it is but when Morgoth looks upon her beauty and is overcome by an "evil lust, and a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart since he fled from Valinor," one might wonder how much intent on Lúthien's part might have been involved in using his fascination with her beauty against him. Tolkien says, "Thus he was beguiled by his own malice, for he watched her, leaving her free for a while, and taking secret pleasure in his thought" (emphasis added)²⁸ But who actually is the horse and who is the rider in this instance? Cami Agan forthrightly pursues this line of speculation and answers that it is Lúthien who takes control:

[S]he powerfully meets Morgoth's eye and offers him what he has desired: the possession of her body, identity, and song. We might also read the self-declaration and proposal of performance as a kind of concealed exchange or even as spell; Lúthien appears to offer "service" out of a position of weakness—and this is what Morgoth "sees"—when in reality she has worked through his bodily desire to create a space and time wherein she might take mastery of Angband.²⁹

Lúthien here is not a delicate little violet; she is a strong woman and aware of all of her powers. She is conscious of his rare recognition of his own physical desire and exploits and uses it as a weapon against him. When she has thoroughly enthralled him, she suddenly disappears from his gaze and

out of the shadows began a song of such surpassing loveliness, and of such blinding power, that he listened perforce; and a blindness came upon him, as his eyes roamed to and fro, seeking her. All his court were cast down in slumber, and all the fires faded and were quenched; but the Silmarils in the crown on Morgoth's head blazed . . . .³⁰

Through the enchantment of her song Lúthien is able to hold the entire court in a sleeping trance. And the Dark Valar himself is ensnared within "a dream, dark as the Outer Void where once he walked alone. Suddenly he fell, as a hill sliding in avalanche, and hurled like thunder from his throne lay prone upon the floors of hell. The iron crown rolled echoing from his head. All things were still."³¹

The fascinating thing about Lúthien is, although she outsmarts him, she does it by allowing him to defeat himself. She does not out-evil him; her insight permits her to disarm him and let his own malice do the job for her:

Lúthien's exhibition in Morgoth's throne room provides critical insight into the operation of her power, which is predicated on her own inherent goodness, grace, purity, and beauty. Her power inspires virtue in characters like Beren or the mighty wolf hound Huan, and disarms the intentions of wicked characters, rendering fearsome opponents from Sauron to Carcharoth to Morgoth and his entire court powerless. Lúthien's power, in fact, causes evil to founder on its own intentions: as Tolkien informs the reader, Morgoth failed to stop Lúthien and Beren from taking a Silmaril because "he [Morgoth] was beguiled by his own malice" (180).³²

Beren in his wolf form falls asleep along with Morgoth and all of his fell beasts and minions. But Lúthien hurries to awaken him, having no idea how much time they might have to take care of their business.

The reader may recall the knife Angrist that Beren lifted from Curufin. Turns out it is hard enough to free a Silmaril from Morgoth's fearsome iron crown, but not enough to pry two loose. It breaks on the second Silmaril but, no matter, Beren only needs one. Scrambling to get out of the throne room before everyone wakes up, they reach the front gates again only to encounter Carcharoth awake, aware, and barring their escape. Lúthien, however, despite all of her magical resources is not indefatigable. Holding Morgoth and his entire court under her spell has drained her of all of her strength, and she is completely incapable of engaging in any further struggle against the monstrosity of a werewolf. She must leave this fight entirely in the hands of Beren. Without the aid of Lúthien, Beren must think fast and holds up the hallowed jewel to ward off the beast:

Lúthien was spent, and she had not time nor strength to quell the wolf. But Beren strode forth before her, and in his right hand he held aloft the Silmaril. Carcharoth halted, and for a moment was afraid. 'Get you gone, and fly!' cried Beren; 'for here is a fire that shall consume you, and all evil things.' And he thrust the Silmaril before the eyes of the wolf.³³

But the ravening beast, mad with the devouring spirit that has been bred into him, cannot be stopped even by the unadulterated light of that sacred jewel. Undaunted, he leaps forward and snaps off Beren's hand at the wrist, Silmaril and all. However, because the Silmarils are hallowed stone, blessed by Varda, they will not bear the touch of any unclean flesh. The beast's entrails are set afire from within, and he charges off to the south, howling in excruciating pain. Carcharoth launches a rampage of terror crossing over the border into Menegroth heading in the direction of Doriath:

So terrible did he become in his madness that all the creatures of Morgoth that abode in that valley, or were upon any of the roads that led thither, fled far away; for he slew all living things that stood in his path, and burst from the North with ruin upon the world. Of all the terrors that came ever into Beleriand ere Angband's fall the madness of Carcharoth was the most dreadful; for the power of the Silmaril was hidden within him.³⁴

Lúthien is left holding Beren in her arms, unconscious and at the point of death. Her powers have been depleted almost to the point of nonexistence: "Thus the quest of the Silmaril was like to have ended in ruin and despair; but in that hour above the wall of the valley three mighty birds appeared, flying northward with wings swifter than the wind." You guessed it! The Eagles are coming! As well they should be—Lúthien has earned this deus ex machina: "High above the realm of Morgoth Thorondor and his vassals soared, and seeing now the madness of the Wolf and Beren's fall they came swiftly down, even as the powers of Angband were released from the toils of sleep."³⁵

The Eagles return them to the exact spot where Beren set off alone without Lúthien:

There the eagles laid her at Beren's side and returned to the peaks of Crissaegrim and their high eyries; but Huan came to her, and together they tended Beren, even as before when she healed him of the wound that Curufin gave to him. But this wound was fell and poisonous. Long Beren lay, and his spirit wandered upon the dark borders of death, knowing ever an anguish that pursued him from dream to dream. Then suddenly, when her hope was almost spent, he woke again, and looked up, seeing leaves against the sky; and he heard beneath the leaves singing soft and slow beside him Lúthien Tinúviel. And it was spring again.³⁶

Relieved to be alive and badly in need of rest, the trio is not in a great rush to move. But it is Beren again who most craves a sense of resolution. He does not fancy Lúthien living on-the-lam so to speak:

[I]t seemed also to him unfit that one so royal and fair as Lúthien should live always in the woods, as the rude hunters among Men, without home or honour or the fair things which are the delight of the queens of the Eldalië. Therefore after a while he persuaded her, and their footsteps forsook the houseless lands; and he passed into Doriath, leading Lúthien home. So their doom willed it.³⁷

He still, of course, remembered his words to Thingol and is anxious to report that he, in fact, has carried out his quest to its end.

In the meantime, Carcharoth, the Wolf of Angband, still runs "ravening from the north, and passing at length over Taur-nu-Fuin upon its eastern side he came down from the sources of Esgalduin like a destroying fire."³⁸ Thingol's messengers encounter news of Carcharoth's rampaging reign of blood and terror when they go abroad from Menegroth to try to find word of Lúthien. Thingol has gone so far as to try to send a request to the sons of Fëanor to ask them to help him find his daughter, whom Celegorm has been wholly unable to protect and yet who has not returned home. This situation greets Beren and Lúthien when they enter Menegroth: "Even in that dark hour Beren and Lúthien returned, hastening from the west, and the news of their coming went before them like a sound of music borne by the wind into dark houses where men sit sorrowful."³⁹

The joy and relief that their return engenders does not dissuade Thingol from immediately demanding a report from Beren on the outcome of his quest:

. . . Beren knelt before him, and said: 'I return according to my word. I am come now to claim my own.'

And Thingol answered: 'What of your quest, and of your vow?'

But Beren said: 'It is fulfilled. Even now a Silmaril is in my hand.'

Then Thingol said: 'Show it to me!'

And Beren put forth his left hand, slowly opening its fingers; but it was empty. Then he held up his right arm; and from that hour he named himself Camlost, the Empty-handed.

Then Thingol's mood was softened; and Beren sat before his throne upon the left, and Lúthien upon the right, and they told all the tale of the Quest, while all there listened and were filled with amazement.⁴⁰

At last Thingol gives the hand of his daughter to Beren willingly:

And it seemed to Thingol that this Man was unlike all other mortal Men, and among the great in Arda, and the love of Lúthien a thing new and strange; and he perceived that their doom might not be withstood by any power of the world. Therefore at the last he yielded his will, and Beren took the hand of Lúthien before the throne of her father.⁴¹

But the joy of the moment, however, could not endure as long as the threat of Carcharoth's bloodthirsty marauding hangs over Thingol's land, people, and Menegroth itself.

The Great Hunt for the Wolf

Determined to protect Doriath, Thingol, Beren, Mablung, and Beleg Cúthalion organize what becomes known in all of the legends and histories as the Great Hunt for the Wolf. Huan joins in, successfully tracking Carcharoth.

It is irresistible to lift language from Jeff LaSala again here because it is both economic and vivid: "Beren jumps in the way, saving his new father-in-law, and gets mauled horribly by Carcharoth . . . the wolf is tackled by Huan and the two engage in a titanic final battle that churns the earth and 'choked the falls' of the river itself."⁴² Beren acquires his mortal wound in the act of bringing down Carcharoth. Huan continues to fight the wolf to the death, almost certainly knowing that this will be his last act. The reader has been repeatedly warned of the prophecy that Huan can only be killed by the greatest wolf that has even lived. When Huan at last prevails over this massive werewolf, it is only after he has been mortally poisoned in the process.

Huan's third and last use of his ability to speak is expended in bidding good-bye to Beren before dying:

Huan in that hour slew Carcharoth; but there in the woven woods of Doriath his own doom long spoken was fulfilled, and he was wounded mortally, and the venom of Morgoth entered into him. Then he came, and falling beside Beren spoke for the third time with words; and he bade Beren farewell before he died. Beren spoke not, but laid his hand upon the head of the hound, and so they parted.⁴³

Mablung, the captain of Thingol's security forces, cuts open the wolf and finds the fire of the Silmaril has consumed most of the entrails of the beast and

lay there unveiled, and the light of it filled the shadows of the forest all about them. Then quickly and in fear Mablung took it and set it in Beren's living hand; and Beren was aroused by the touch of the Silmaril, and held it aloft, and bade Thingol receive it. 'Now is the Quest achieved,' he said, 'and my doom full-wrought'; and he spoke no more.⁴⁴

After nightfall, the hunting party returns to Menegroth, bearing the body of Huan and the grievously wounded Beren, victorious but weighed down with grief at the tremendous cost of the venture. The monstrous wolf has been slain and the Silmaril recovered, but Huan is gone and Beren will soon succumb to fatal wounds. As soon as Lúthien hears, she begins to waste from grief. But even still she will not give up easily:

There she set her arms about Beren, and kissed him, bidding him await her beyond the Western Sea; and he looked upon her eyes ere the spirit left him. But the starlight was quenched and darkness had fallen even upon Lúthien Tinúviel. Thus ended the Quest of the Silmaril; but the Lay of Leithian, Release from Bondage, does not end.⁴⁵

There will be more to their story.

Meanwhile, this may be a good place to pause and note that Lúthien did far more to achieve the quest of the Silmaril than even Beren, "urging him on when he was ready to abandon it rather than put her at risk."⁴⁶ She could be called Tolkien's only true superhero—a warrior in spirit embodied in the person of a magical fairy-princess. She was not a builder of great cities nor a skilled administrator and leader. She had none of Galadriel's ambitions to rule a land of her own. Yet her supernatural attributes—superpowers—are obvious:

As the child of Melian the Maia, Lúthien's significant powers allow her to pursue a heroic purpose that even Galadriel's narrative does not match, but equally powerful are the episodes wherein Lúthien acts as a physical and (potentially) sexual agent not only to alter her personal narrative, but also to act against annihilating forces and thus reframe the larger Story of Middle-earth.⁴⁷

Tolkien writes of Lúthien in a letter to publisher Milton Waldman:

As such the story is (I think a beautiful and powerful) heroic-fairy-romance . . . . also a fundamental link in the cycle, deprived of its full significance out of its place therein. For the capture of the Silmaril, a supreme victory, leads to disaster. The oath of the sons of Fëanor becomes operative, and lust for the Silmaril brings all the kingdoms of the Elves to ruin.⁴⁸

Lúthien herself is unable to save that world, but she will provide the means for others to do exactly that. The task will be left to her descendants, who will play a significant role in all of the coming struggles, defeats, interim triumphs, until, at last, we reach the final victory (eucatastrophe) at the end of The Lord of the Rings.

Lúthien goes to Mandos and Negotiates with the Doomsman of the Valar Himself

Tolkien placed great importance in his legendarium on the half-Elven in his histories, the connection between the Eldar and the Edain through the line of the Peredhil that dates back to Beren and Lúthien:

Immortality and Mortality being the special gifts of God to the Eruhíni⁴⁹ (in whose conception and creation the Valar had no part at all) it must be assumed that no alteration of their fundamental kind could be effected by the Valar even in one case: the cases of Lúthien (and Túor) and the position of their descendants was a direct act of God. The entering into Men of the Elven-strain is indeed represented as part of a Divine Plan for the ennoblement of the Human Race, from the beginning destined to replace the Elves.⁵⁰

This Peredhil line is formed of the union between the descendants of Beren and Lúthien and another Mortal/Elven marriage between Tuor of the House of Hador and Idril, daughter of King Turgon of Gondolin. But in order for this most important lineage to be formed, Beren will have to survive in order for him and Lúthien to bear children.

But if anyone could challenge the complex and immutable principles of Immortality and Mortality relating to Men and Elves in Tolkien's legendarium and reach a compromise, of course, it would be Lúthien.

Upon a first-time read of the scene in the halls of Mandos, when Lúthien sings of the striving and sorrow, efforts and sacrifices, and of the love and loss that she and Beren have experienced, and actually is able to move Námo the Lord of the Dead to pity, it seems an almost more surprising victory than her enchantment cast over Morgoth: "The song of Lúthien before Mandos was the song most fair that ever in words was woven, and the song most sorrowful that ever the world shall hear."⁵¹ But Lúthien is a remarkable woman—her combination of decency, valor, passion, and sentiment take her a long way:

Lúthien wove two themes of words, of the sorrow of the Eldar and the grief of Men, of the Two Kindreds that were made by Ilúvatar to dwell in Arda, the Kingdom of Earth amid the innumerable stars. And as she knelt before him her tears fell upon his feet like rain upon the stones; and Mandos was moved to pity, who never before was so moved, nor has been since.⁵²

Námo himself is unable to offer a solution, for he cannot alter the rules that separate the Eldar and Men after death. Beren can only wait for a short moment before being sent onto whatever location or state of being that is the fate of Mortal Man after death, a place where Lúthien is not permitted to follow. But being so moved by Lúthien's tale and her expression of it in song, Námo chooses to consult with Manwë, who, no more than Námo, can change the fates of Elves and Men but does have access to the mind of the One (Ilúvatar) who, should he choose to take note of him, could consider Manwë's dilemma and offer guidance: "He [Námo] went therefore to Manwë, Lord of the Valar, who governed the world under the hand of Ilúvatar; and Manwë sought counsel in his inmost thought, where the will of Ilúvatar was revealed."⁵³

So, Námo, through Manwë's interpretation of the mind of the One, is able to offer Lúthien two choices. First, she can be released from the halls of Mandos and go to Valimar and live "until the world's end among the Valar, forgetting all griefs that her life had known"-- without Beren. Or, secondly--and one can imagine from what we have learned of Lúthien that this choice was a no-brainer for her--she can return to Middle-earth with Beren. There they would live again "but without certitude of life or joy. Then she would become mortal, and subject to a second death, even as he; and ere long she would leave the world for ever, and her beauty become only a memory in song."⁵⁴

Lúthien accepts that second choice—to return to Middle-earth to live out a mortal life with Beren with no guarantee of comfort or even long life. Beren does go out to battle one last time, which is a longish and somewhat complicated story and does not really involve Lúthien at all, so it seems logical to save that tale for Beren's biography. He does return from that encounter with the Silmaril that he once pried from Morgoth's crown and presents it to Lúthien, who is said to have worn it until she and Beren eventually die of old age. So, in fact, they do largely live out their life in happiness for a time on the green island of Tol Galen in the River Adurant. A son Dior is born to them, who will in time become Thingol's heir and eventually hold in his possession the Silmaril, which will bring about his doom. His fate, although it seems tragic at the time, will lead to hope for Middle-earth, and that story most readers know much better than Dior's own or even that of Beren and Lúthien. The doom that Lúthien chose,

forsaking the Blessed Realm, and putting aside all claim to kinship with those that dwell there; that thus whatever grief might lie in wait, the fates of Beren and Lúthien might be joined, and their paths lead together beyond the confines of the world. So it was that alone of the Eldalië she has died indeed, and left the world long ago. Yet in her choice the Two Kindreds have been joined; and she is the forerunner of many in whom the Eldar see yet, though all the world is changed, the likeness of Lúthien the beloved, whom they have lost.⁵⁵

Other Versions of the Legendarium (Or the Bits Off the Cutting-Room Floor)

In the Guardian article heralding the 2017 publication of Christopher Tolkien's stand-alone edition of Beren and Lúthien, the reviewer notes that

I should also add that though everything that is included in this book has been published elsewhere – I point readers in particular towards The Silmarillion, the Lost Tales, the Lay of Leithian and the Quenta Noldorinwa – this is the first time, and almost certainly the last, that anyone has tried to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien into a single coherent whole and explain how the narrative developed.⁵⁶

When we have published biographies in the past, a feature of many of them has been the consideration of abandoned or rejected earlier parts of the narrative. These often consist of name changes and moderately significant late additions or deletions of early elements but nowhere are these more thorough-going, or one could even say less connected, to the final coherent narrative than the disparate parts of Lúthien's story.

In fact, there is no single definitive text of the story of Beren and Lúthien. Like so many of Tolkien's important storylines, it has been woven together by Christopher Tolkien to form his 1977 edition of The Silmarillion. Lúthien's story remained unfinished at the time of Tolkien's death. The closest to a complete telling of the Beren and Lúthien story would be the prose version cobbled together by Christopher Tolkien in the published Silmarillion with the assistance of Guy Gavriel Kay, a philosophy student at the time, who went on to become a recognized fantasy writer himself. The earliest draft of the tale of Beren and Lúthien dates back to World War I. Tolkien notes that "during sick leave from the army in 1917" he wrote The Fall of Gondolin and later that same year the Tale of Lúthien Tinúviel and Beren.⁵⁷

When discussing his reasons near the end of his life for wanting to put the name "Lúthien" on his wife's gravestone, Tolkien writes to Christopher of his initial inspiration for the story of Beren and Lúthien.

We do know from a much circulated photo taken in her youth, assuming it is a good likeness--and there is no reason not to believe it is--that Edith Tolkien, like Lúthien, was beautiful. This is not merely the fanciful exaggeration of a young man in love. The physical description of Lúthien in The Lay of Leithian is not dissimilar to Tolkien's romantic description of Edith near the end of his life. He tells us in The Lay that:

Her robe was blue as summer skies,
but grey as evening were her eyes;
her mantle sewn with lilies fair,
but dark as shadow was her hair.
Her feet were swift as bird on wing,
her laughter merry as the spring;
the slender willow the bowing reed,
the fragrance of a flowering mead,
the light upon the leaves of trees,
the voice of water, more than these
her beauty was and blissfulness,
her glory and her loveliness.⁵⁸

He describes to his son Christopher in a poignant, rather hopeful and apprehensive, letter explaining what he wants on Edith's gravestone and why. And in this letter he describes Edith as she was when she first inspired Lúthien:

I never called Edith Lúthien – but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion. It was first conceived in a small woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire (where I was for a brief time in command of an outpost of the Humber Garrison in 1917, and she was able to live with me for a while). In those days her hair was raven, her skin clear, her eyes brighter than you have seen them, and she could sing – and dance.⁵⁹

Edith had significant musical ability, with aspirations to become a concert pianist, and a great love of dancing.⁶⁰ One wonders as one reads of Lúthien and Beren on that quest to take a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown if there could be a certain division of labor in that couple that Tolkien might have thought in some way mirrored his own relationship. Beren is motivated and inspired, unwilling to give up on what at points seems like an almost foolish venture. But Lúthien enables. She provides the practical circumstances (although they are based in magic!) within which he can reach his goal. Nobody in my generation wants to be that wife, unless she can do it like Lúthien.

One can choose one's own favorite version of Beren and Lúthien if we sit down and determine to read all of the primary sources from which Christopher Tolkien constructed Chapter 19 of The Silmarillion (only circa 10,000 words but containing enough sheer content to fill up an epic novel). Like many chapters in The Silmarillion, it uses what almost seems at points like an expanded outline form although, with many beautiful flourishes of word choice and cadence.

Some people prefer the youthful and at times almost rollicking nonsense tone of The Book of Lost Tales version. It's problematic for many when trying to construct a coherent narrative of Beren and Lúthien's adventures in that major aspects do not fit. For example, Beren is a Gnome (a what? one of the Noldoli, of course, or known to most of us as Noldor) and not a mortal man. Lúthien is called Tinuviel (without the accent)—not so difficult if one is working backward from latest texts to earliest as most readers are. This tale is where one encounters the infamous Prince of Cats. John Garth notes in a review of Christopher Tolkien's 2017 compilation Beren and Lúthien in The New Statesman that

There is much to relish, even for those who have read The Silmarillion. Of all the 1916-19 "Lost Tales", this one changed most. The early version, doubtless written for Edith, is a rollicking fairy tale crossed with a kind of "Just So Story" about why cats fear dogs; yet in its latter stages it steps up several gears and attains a mythic power.⁶¹

Whereas some people might like the shenanigans of Telvido the Prince of Cats (much later Sauron) and Beren the gnome captured and imprisoned as his servant for its children's tale quality, others reading it for the first time after encountering The Silmarillion might find it a true step backwards. In another review of Christopher Tolkien's 2017 volume, Katherine Neville, a true fan of The Book of Lost Tales, opines that

[t]his portion is one of the loveliest of the book, for 'The Tale of Tinuviel' is a "single and well-defined narrative," one which reads like a true fairy tale. There are spells of enchantment and an escape from a high prison through magically long hair; our hero Beren is a great hunter and bold trickster who is forced to become a scullery maid before being rescued by his true love and her faithful talking dog.⁶²

Whereas some readers fall in love with the magnificent detail of The Lay of Leithian, but find its more archaic language difficult, others find it atmospheric and that it adds to the spell. The Lay is unfinished (always a drawback), but contains details that exist nowhere else and did not make it into The Silmarillion either. That is where one finds the famous song duel between Finrod and Sauron. Others will be quick to point out that, in this version, Lúthien actually dances in her bat-wing suit before the throne of Morgoth:

But Lúthien hath cunning arts
for solace sweet of kingly hearts.
Now hearken!' And her wings she caught
then deftly up, and swift as thought
slipped from his grasp, and wheeling round,
fluttering before his eyes, she wound
a mazy-wingéd dance, and sped
about his iron-crownéd head.⁶³

The Lay also contains a gentler, much more detailed, and more elegant version of the argument discussed above between Beren and Lúthien on the trail about whether she should continue as a companion in his quest. Whether one finds rhyming couplets the best and most legitimate way of receiving such an elegiac and inspiring tale or would prefer prose, the fact that The Lay of Leithian contains priceless elements found nowhere else makes it required reading if one would fully appreciate the account of Beren and Lúthien, what one could call the most central and far-reaching tale in his legendarium.

 

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Works Cited

1. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
7. One has to love this scene. They are a real couple. This is a real thing, not just some courtly love flutter.
8. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
9. Ibid.
10. Telchar, a Dwarf of Nogrod, is one of the most renowned smiths in the long history of illustrious metal-workers of Middle-earth, who is credited with producing not only Angrist but Aragorn's sword Narsil. The Silmarillion, "Index of Names." Angrist is to play an important role later in this narrative.
11. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Melanie A. Rawls, "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien" in Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft (Altadena, CA: Mythopoeic Press, 2015), 99-117.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Sarah Beach, "Fire and Ice: The Traditional Heroine in The Silmarillion," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature 18, no. 1 (1991): 37-41.
18. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
19. Ibid.
20. Cami D. Agan, "Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire in the Lay of Leithian" in Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft (Altadena, CA: Mythopoeic Press, 2015), 169-170.
21. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
22. Ibid.
23. Jeff LaSala, "Lúthien: Tolkien's Original Badass Elf Princess," Tor, June 2, 2017, accessed September 16, 2019.
24. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
29. Agan, "Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire," 169-170.
30. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
31. Ibid.
32. Jack M. Downs, "'Radiant and terrible': Tolkien's Heroic Women as Correctives to the Romance and Epic Traditions" in A Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy, ed. Lori M. Campbell, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2010), Kindle Edition.
33. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. LaSala, "Lúthien.
43. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Luthien."
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Richard C. West, "Real-World Myth in a Secondary World" in Tolkien the Medievalist, ed. Jane Chance (London: Routledge, 2003), 265.
47. Agan, "Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire," 169-170.
48. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, "131 To Milton Waldman."
49. The Silmarillion, "Index of Names, Children of Ilúvatar."
50. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, "153 To Peter Hastings (draft)."
51. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
52. Ibid.
53. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
54. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
55. The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien."
56. John Crace, "Beren and Lúthien by JRR Tolkien (ed: Christopher Tolkien) – digested read," The Guardian, U.S. Edition, July 23, 2017.
57. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, "257 To Christopher Bretherton."
58. The History of Middle-earth, Volume III: The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of Leithian, "The Gest of Beren and Lúthien," Canto I, lines 27-38.
59. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, " 340 From a letter to Christopher Tolkien."
60. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biography (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1977).
61. John Garth, "Beren and Lúthien: Love, War and Tolkien's Lost Tales," New Statesman, May 27, 2017.
62. Katherine Neville, "Beren and Lúthien," Mythlore 36, no. 1 (2017),, 209-213.
63. The History of Middle-earth, Volume III: The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of Leithian, "The Gest of Beren and Lúthien," Canto XIII, lines 4054-4061.