Lúthien Tinúviel

[Thorondor_]

Lúthien Tinúviel is the most beautiful Children of Iluvatar, and her deeds easily enchant the heart and stun the mind.
Name
"Lúthien" means enchantress and may also be derived from the old english word Lufien, which means love; Tinúviel means nightingale /dusk-singer/ sunset maiden. Tinúviel was a name given to her by Beren, it was also the name Tolkien originally gave her, before changing it to Lúthien. She is supposed to have been based on Edith Tolkien, the wife of J.R.R. Lúthien.

Description

Lúthien is an Elf of Middle-earth, the fairest of all the Children of Iluvatar. She was the daughter of Elu Thingol, king of Doriath, and his queen, Melian the Maia (thus, we could consider her a half-elven). She was born in the age of the stars, she wore light blue garments and her eyes were gray "as the starlit evening". Her hair was a dark black, and her mantle shone of golden flowers. For many years Lúthien danced to the song of Daeron, a great musician who composed such songs for her beauty. She also learned the wisdom and power of the Eldar and Maiar alike from Melian.



About her story

"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. 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. He was silent for some time, and then he began not to speak but to chant softly.
"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 (escape 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."
Tolkien began creating her character around 1917 with a rough draft of The Tale of Tinúviel. Her story is also found in The Silmarillion, The Lays of Beleriand and The Book of Lost Tales II. The extraordinary poem of Tynwfel / Tinúviel was written and continuously modified by J.R.R. Tolkien from 1925 to 1931 and it is composed of 4175 verses. In the books, Tolkien' son presents two major versions (A and B). It is the prototype of all poems related to Lúthien Tinúviel, including the well-known song of "Lúthien and Beren" by Aragorn in the "Lord of the Rings". The names Tynwfel (Tinúviel), princess of Artanor (Doriath), as well as Tinwë (Elu Thingol) and Tindriel (Melian) were originally found in an older manuscript (1917), presented in "The Book of Lost Tales II", which - after revision by C. Tolkien - has given the final version published in the "Silmarillion". In this early version of the story, Beren was not a man at all, but an elf, and there are several different elements of the story changed as well, such as Lúthien 's need to save her love from the house of Tevildo, the evil cat-like creature who enslaved Beren.

The doom of love

It may be said that destiny brings Beren to wander in Neldoreth, into the hidden Kingdom of Doriath, in the summer of the year 464 in the First Age. The cursed Beren (son of Barahir, of the House of Bëor), wandering, tortured, and seeking rest, had found her dancing in the forest in the evening, and singing with nature. After seeing her, he immediately fell in love.

"It is told in the Lay of Leithian that Beren came stumbling into Doriath grey and bowed as with many years of woe, so great had been the torment of the road. But wandering in the summer in the woods of Neldoreth he came upon Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, at a time of evening under moon rise, as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin. 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 Iluvatar. 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 shinning light.
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.
He 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. 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 froze waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed. Then the spell of silence fell from Beren, and he called to her, crying Tinúviel; and the woods echoed the name. Then she halted in wonder, and fled no more, and Beren came to her. But as she looked on him, doom fell upon her, and she loved him; yet she slipped from his arms and vanished from his sight even as the day was breaking. "
Lúthien and Beren would meet together in secret (much like Romeo and Juliet) and the peaceful part of their love story takes part in the woods. The nature seen as a protector of her love, while society, as we shall see, will be its fierce enemy.

[Thorondor_]

Thingol and the curse of Mandos

Much to her future misfortune, Lúthien inspired a hopelles love in Daeron the minstrel; after she confesses to him, he betrayes them to Thingol, of whom we know that:

"All things he had he counted small,

For dearer than all wealth in hall,

And fairer than are born to Men,

A daughter had he, Tynfwel"

Their relationship was doomed from the beginning: Lúthien was not only the cherished single daughter of the most powerful elven king in Beleriand, but also the daughter of the Maia Melian. Beren was a mortal man on the run from the Dark Lord.

Thingol sends his servents to lay hands on him and lead him to Menegroth as a malefactor, but Lúthien, forestalling them, led Beren herself before the throne of Thingol, as if he were an honoured guest. Lúthien's father was furious when he found out about Beren, and was going to kill him outright for daring to lay hands upon her, but Lúthien convinced Thingol to promise not to kill her beloved:

"If aught thou hast to say to him,

Then swear to hurt not flesh nor limb,

And I will lead him to thy hall,

A son of kings, no mortal thrall."

Beren told Thingol of his love for Lúthien. He also showed the Elven King the Ring of Barahir.

Thingol, desperate not to let Beren marry his daughter, instead of death directly by his hands, decided instead to send Beren on an impossible quest, to take back one of the three Silmarils that Morgoth had stolen from the elves, as the bride-price for Lúthien's hand in marriage. First in tears, then furious, following the exemple of Antigona (the niece of king Kreon) or Cridilla (the youngest daughter of king Leir) Lúthien opposed courageously to the paternal dictation; later, as retaliation, her singing would never be heard in Doriath again.

"Thingol looked in silence upon Lúthien; and he thought in his heart: 'Unhappy Men, children of little lords and brief kings, shall such as these lay hands you, and yet live?"

It may be said that Thingol was bound to fall as he put races and honors above love - it would seem a christian like Tolkien would hardly accept that.

Then, Thingol wrought the doom of Doriath and he became ensnared within the curse of Mandos

"Then breaking the silence he said: 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'

All cultures honor the hero who risks death to fulfill a quest, even imaginary Elven cultures. Beren was proud, and the son of a king. Thingol had threatened and insulted him, and he could not stand for such low treatment from anyone, whether he was a king or not. So for his love of Lúthien, and his honor, he accepted the Quest.



Hirilorn

Since Beren's father saved Finrod in battle and he pledged to come to the aid of the family if called upon, he joins Beren and went to Tol-In-Guarhoth. Unfortunately, after Felagund fights with Sauron in songs of power, they are defeated.

In the time when Sauron casts them into a pit, a weight of horror came upon Lúthien's heart; and going to Melian for counsel she learned that Beren lay in the dungeons of Tol-in-Gaurhoth without hope of rescue. She went to Daeron for help, but he betrayed her to Thingol, who, rightly afraid that Lúthien would follow Beren, had a house for her made in the limbs of a tree called Hírilorn. There he placed her, and he set guards about the tree. Lúthien was a prisoner in her own father's kingdom, and for such treatment of her person and of her Love, she decided to defy her father, and flee Doriath to find and aid Beren him in his Quest. With her magic, she caused her hair to grow to a great length, which she then cut to weave a magical cloak that covered her beauty like a shadow. As she wove, she sang spells and enchantments of sleep into it's creation. Hair is the link to the subtle world, and her power is a testimony to the link she has to her maiar origin. She then used this cloak to escape Hírilorn by putting her guards to sleep, and climbing down the tree. We could interpret her imprisonment in the tree as Thingol attempt to isolate her from the world and from her destiny.

Lúthien at Nargothrond

After her escape from father's kingdom, Lúthien wandered lost in the lands outside of Doriath, seeking her Beren, when she was beset upon by a large and fearsome hound.

"Huan alone that she ever met

She never in enchantment set

Nor bound with spells.

But loveliness and gentle voice and pale distress

And eyes like starlight dimmed with tears

Tamed him that death nor monster fears."

Huan was the name of this fearsome hound, but he was more then just a hound, he was The Hound of Valinor. The Valar Oromë had given him as a gift to Celegorm son of Fëanor. Huan was Celegorm's faithful companion and had even followed him into exile in Middle-earth. No enchantments or magic spells could fool Huan, and he found Lúthien with no problem. Huan took her to his master Celegrom, and Lúthien showed herself, for she knew Celegorm was no friend to Melkor; but Celegorm and his brother Curufin mistreated Lúthien.

Celegorm suspected that Sauron had imprisoned his king and Beren; by marrying Lúthien, he could secure his claim with Lúthien's father's support. It can be argued this is an unlikely event, given what Thingol thought of the kinslayers.

It may be said that Lúthien 's only flaw is her judging of characters that fall in love with her hopelessly - two times with Daeron and once with Celegorm - tho it can also be said it's a sign of her innocence/ complete trust in the others/love.

Huan, percieving his master had turned evil, helped Lúthien to escape. True of heart, he would often go up to her room and listen to her. But he could not talk for he was only allowed to talk three times before he died. One night, Huan spoke for the first time. He came up with a plain to aid Lúthien and brought her her cloak. He then led her out of Nargothrond in secrecy and headed north.

[Thorondor_]

The freeing of Beren

They arrived at an isle where Sauron had sent a wolf to kill Beren, but Felagund put forth all his power, and burst his bonds; and he wrestled with the werewolf, and slew it with his hands and teeth; yet he himself was wounded to the death.

As Beren mourned beside the Elven King, Lúthien came and stood upon the bridge that led to Sauron's isle. She sang a song the no walls of stone could hinder. Beren heard her, and thought that he was dreaming. He answered her call with a song of challenge and then he fell down for his strength had left him. Then Lúthien (upon having heard Beren) sang a song of greater power. Sauron smiled at hearing her voice then sent a wolf to the bridge, in an attempt to abduct Lúthien so that he might hand her over to his master, Morgoth. It is rather curious that Sauron notices her beauty and doesn't desire her for himself; maybe this is just a sign of how enthralled he was to his master.

But when the wolf approached Lúthien, Huan silently killed it. Sauron sent more wolves, and Huan killed them as well. Then Suaron sent Draugluin, lord and sire of all the werewolves of Angband - Morgoth's iron prison. Huan and Draugluin had a fierce battle, but in the end, Huan slew him as well, he just escaped and fled back to Sauron's feet and died after telling him that Huan was there. So Sauron transformed himself into a wolf, and went forth to battle Huan himself:

Thus came Thu, as wolf more great

Than e'er was seen from Angband's gate

To the burning south, than ever lurked

In mortal lands or murder worked

So great was the horror of his approach

That Huan leaped aside.

Then Sauron sprang upon Lúthien;

And she swooned before the menace

Of the fell spirit in his eye

And the foul vapor of his breath.

But even as he came,

Falling she cast a fold of her

Dark cloak before his eyes;

And he stumbled, for a fleeting

Drowsiness came upon him.

After being defeated, Sauron's dark spirit left his body, and took the form of a vampire, and went to Taur-nu-Fuin and dwelt there and Lúthien took the mastery of the isle and all that was there. Then Lúthien stood upon the bridge, and declared her power: and the spell was loosed that bound stone to stone, and the gates were thrown down, and the walls opened, and the pits laid bare.

Many captives came forth, but not Beren. Lúthien found him still mourning by Felagund. After burying Felagund, they were free again and Lúthien and Beren rejoiced together. But Beren remembered his vow and as they thought on it, Celegorm and Curufin rode up and lifted up Lúthien and tried to over-run Beren. In that hour Huan left the service of Celegrom and sprang upon him, so that he couldn't approach Beren. As they were sent away, Curufin shot twice at Lúthien --one Huan caught in his mouth and the other Beren leaped in front of Lúthien and it hit him. When he returned from chasing away the brothers, Huan brought a herb to Lúthien. She healed Beren by that herb and her love for him.


Descent to Melkor

To find Morgoth, Beren and Lúthien descend labyrinthine stairs to the "nethermost hall" of Angband. No Man or Elf had ever dared to do such a deed.
(Tolkien has a special fondness for this mythic theme. His main characters are frequently going into caves or underground spaces. Bilbo, Frodo, the Fellowship of the Ring, and Beren and Lúthien go under into dark mysteries. Earlier, Sauron imprisons Beren and King Finrod of Nargothrond in the underground dungeons of Tol-in-Gaurhoth as they attempt to reach Angband and carry out the quest. Earlier still, when Beren is drawn by fate to Doriath, he descends the Mountains of Terror into the shadowy valley of Dungortheb, where giant spiders and other hideous creatures lurk. It isn't strictly a subterranean descent but the effect is the same. The experience is so awful, Beren tells no one of it.)



Lúthien approached Morgoth and Beren went to lay beneath his throne. Morgoth saw through Lúthien's disguise, but he desired her with an "evil lust", so he avidly watched as Lúthien danced before him with her magic cloak. All of Morgoth's court soon fell asleep from the magic of her cloak, song and dance, Morgoth included:

"So Beren (now in the form of the hame of Draugluin) and Lúthien passed through all perils until they came to the Gate of Angband. There were black chasms on each side of the road with serpents in them, and there were high cliffs with carrion fowls, and the gate was a big arch at the foot of the mountain that went up a thousand feet. And the guard was Carcharoth, the Red Maw, Anfauglir, the Jaws of Thirst. He lay there before the doors of Angband (for he was too large to fit in any den) incase Huan came. When he saw them approach, he was doubtfull for news had reached them that Draugluin was dead. So, he didn't allow them entry. Then Lúthien threw aside her raiment and stood before him, small but radiant and terrible. After lifting up her hand, she commanded him to sleep:

"O woe-begotten spirit, fall now into dark oblivion, and forget for a while the dreadful doom of life."

They came to the seat of Morgoth in his nether most hall, that was upheld by horror, lit by fire, and filled with weapons of death and torment. There Beren slunk in wolf's form beneath his throne; but Lúthien was stripped of her disguise by the will of Morgoth, and he bent his gaze upon her. His eyes did not daunt her; and she named her own name, and offered her service to sing before him, after the manner of a minstrel. Then Morgoth looking upon her beauty conceived in his thought an evil lust, and a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart since he fled from Valinor. 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. Then suddenly she eluded his sight, 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 forth suddenly with a radiance of white flame; and the burden of that crown and of the jewels bowed down his head, as though the world were set upon it, laden with a weight of care, of fear, and of desire, that even the will of Morgoth could not support. Then Lúthien catching up her winged robe sprang into the air, and her voice came dropping down like rain into pools, profound and dark. She cast her cloak before his eyes, and set upon him 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."



The Silmarils upon his Iron Crown then did blaze forth. Then Beren drew forth his knife Angrist; and from the iron claws that held it he cut a Silmaril. As he closed it in his hand, the radiance welled through his living flesh, and his hand became as a shining lamp; but the jewel suffered his touch and hurt him not. This is a sign of Lúthien 's lover pure heart; howerver, Beren makes a grave mistake, for wishing to fulfill his promise three times, he attempts to take all silmarils; but a piece of metal awakes Melkor and the two fled for their very lives (temptation is a common theme in mythology as in religion. Beren is tempted to take all three silmarils from Morgoth's crown, the quest requires only one, as Beren is crudely reminded)



But as they fled from the gates of Angband, Beren and Lúthien met with Carcharoth, Guardian of the Gates of Angband. The greatest of the evil wolves, Carcharoth never slept. He saw them coming and Beren attempted to fight Carcharoth, but he doesn't wield the power of his beloved one and he lost his hand to the wolf, the hand clutching the Silmaril. The jewel was a burning agony in Carcharoth's belly and he went mad, running away into the surrounding lands, destroying all in his path trying to relieve the searing pain.

Then eagles lifted up Lúthien and Beren from the earth, and bore them aloft into the clouds. Thus they passed swiftly over Dor-nu-Fauglith, and over Taur-nu-Fuin, and came above the hidden valley of Tumladen. Neither cloud nor mist lay there, and looking down Lúthien saw far below, as a white light starting from a green jewel, the radiance of Gondolin where Turgon dwelt.

[Thorondor_]

Doriath

Lúthien healed Beren, and they came at last back to her father's halls. Huan met up with Beren in Doriath and they went hunting after Carcharoth, for it was Huan's destiny to fight this evil wolf. The Silmaril Carcharoth had swallowed not only caused him intense pain, but it also made his powers greater. When Beren and Huan found Carcharoth, they battled long and fierce, but in the end, Huan won over the wolf, but at the cost of his life, for the fangs of Carcharoth were venomous. As one could say, loyalty to the death.

Beren cut the Jewel from Carcharoth's belly and returned it to King Thingol, saying: 'Now is the Quest achieved and my doom full-wrought' but his. He lived just long enough to await for Lúthien and then he departed for the Halls of Mandos. Then Lúthien, in her grief, began to waste away and she joins him.



The Hall of Mandos


Their spirits were gathered in the Halls of Mandos in the Uttermost West of the World, and there Lúthien sang a song of such extraordinary power and beauty that it moved even the implacable heart of Mandos himself. And Manwe gave her a second chance, with two choices: to live once again in Valinor, or to return to Middle-earth and live with Beren, but to eventually die as a mortal and leave the world.

After death

It is said that Beren and Lúthien returned to the northern lands of Middle-earth, and dwelt together for a time as a living man and woman; and took up again their mortal form in Doriath. Those that saw them were both glad and fearful; and Lúthien went to Menegroth and healed the winter of Thingol with the touch of her hand. But Melian is crushed at the thought of her daughter's mortality: she looked into her eyes and read the doom that was written there, and turned away; for she knew that a parting beyond the end of the world had come between them. Then Beren and Lúthien went forth alone, fearing neither thirst nor hunger; and they passed beyond the River Gelion into Ossiriand, and dwelt there in Tol Galen the green isle, in the midst of Adurant, until all tidings of them ceased. The Eldar afterwards called that country Dor Firn-i-Guinar, the Land of the Dead that Live
They have a son, Dior, who is called Elúchil - the Heir of Thingol. After the Silmaril stolen by Beren was set in the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, it was given to Lúthien. Her beauty combined with the splendor of the gem and necklace to make her home of Tol Galen the fairest land ever to have existed east of Valinor. On her death the Nauglamír was delivered to her son Dior, which leads to the ruin of Doriath, fulfilling once again the curse of the valar. When they died the second time, the Valar took pity on them and so they were placed in the skies as stars for all to see.



Beren's courage alone could not have been enough, if it wasn't for Tinúviel to be as intrepid as he. She could display strengths and arts that are legacy of her divine mother. She was able to put an irresistible sleep magic with her hair; she found the imperious and at the same time perceptive words, addressing the monsters and demons on their way; and with the sound of her voice, even Melkor came into the reverie. The courage, the energy to go further, Lúthien Tinúviel found it in her. As Beren in fulfillment of his quest had found the death, she go to Valinor, and the lament that she sing there, touched even the icy fate-judge Mandos.

One important trait of her that can be noticed is the mutual relation of protection with nature - which will prove very beneficial, as Thorondor rescues them from Angbad, Huan, the Hound of Valinor saves them several times and he also calls for all creatures to help them; at the opposite of nature, lies society, which, through Daeron, Thingol and Celegorm, tries to put an end to her relation.

Lúthien's romance was one of the great stories of the Elder Days, and was mirrored by the later romance between Aragorn and Arwen. She is the pit of Tolkien's ideas of love and pain, a personification of human feelings. Lúthien's story is eloquent, beautiful, and tragic; it include the essence of love in one chapter and is one drowned in misery and among the richest ever. Tinúviel showed that love is the the most powerful energy of the universe and it can win over the death and the evil in our world.