Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s Femme Fatale Friday post is about Luthien from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien! Now, Luthien is not a character found in the novels of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. However, legendary folk songs are sung of her in The Lord of the Rings. This is because, by the time of The Lord of the Rings, her story had become the stuff of legends!
We find the primary story of Luthien and her love for Beren in The Silmarillion and Beren and Luthien (which is a collection of the many versions of specifically their story that J.R.R. Tolkien had written over the course of decades, collected and edited by his son, Christopher). Beren and Luthien was my first endeavor into reading about Middle-Earth, outside of the primary works of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I also recently posted a full review of the book here on White Rose of Avalon! Now, I am currently slowly reading through The Silmarillion.
So, who exactly is Luthien? Luthien was the daughter of the Elf King, Elu Thingol, and his wife, the Maia Melian. For context, the Maiar (Maia is the singular word) are a race of primordial spirits of Middle-Earth, so this makes Luthien half-Elf and half-Maia,which adds to her enchanting magic! Luthien was given the nickname Tinuviel (which means Nightengale) by Beren, but in early versions of their story, she was simply called Tinuviel.
When the story of Beren and Luthien begins, Beren meets Luthien when she is dancing in the forest, delighting in the music played by her brother Daeron’s flute. Beren is a human, making theirs the first love story of a human and an Elf in Middle-Earth. However, I do want to note that in the earliest version of the tale, Beren was also an Elf (described as a Gnome, in particular, which Tolkien was using at the time as a term for a specific type of Elf). That is part of what makes reading Beren and Luthien so fascinating, as you can see how Tolkien’s stories evolved over time!
Luthien and Beren begin to spend time together in the forest playing together, with Beren giving chase to Luthien as she dances. However, their joy was short-lived, as Thingol did not approve of his daughter being courted by a mere human! Thingol gives Beren an impossible task when he asks for Luthien’s hand in marriage. The impossible task is to steal one of the Silmarils from the iron crown of Morgoth. Luthien was heartbroken, as Beren left the Court of her father to go on this Quest, knowing it could bring about his death!
Thingol actually locks Luthien up in hopes of keeping her at the Court, but Luthien uses her intelligence and magic to grow her hair exceedingly long to make a magical cloak that she could use to enchant people to sleep, and she escapes the room where her father had locked her up! That is when she goes to seek Beren on his Quest, and with the help of Huan, they succeed in stealing a Silmaril. Luthien’s magical cloak is a great aid to this success, as it is she with her dancing and magical cloak that puts Morgoth to sleep long enough for Beren to steal the Silmaril! However, gaining the Silmaril was at great cost, as Beren lost his hand in the process (and the Silmaril was in his hand inside the belly of an evil wolf)! When Beren and Luthien return to her father’s Court at Doriath, Beren is able to gain the respect of Thingol by explaining what had happened. This also leads to a small Quest to slay the wolf, which succeeds, but at the cost of Beren’s life. Luthien dies of heartbreak, and both of them end up at the Halls of Mandos. Mandos was moved to pity by the song Luthien sang, and went to Manwe for advice on how to aid Beren and Luthien. This ended with Beren and Luthien being returned to live, to live a single human life together! It is this amazing story of eternal love and devotion that makes me adore Luthien so much. This ending is also how Luthien is an ancestor of Arwen, as Elrond is descended from Beren and Luthien!
I hope you have enjoyed reading some of my thoughts on Luthien and her very important place in the world of Middle-Earth. What is your favorite thing about Luthien’s story? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a lovely artwork of Luthien by Ted Nasmith. I found the art on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/4925880837197218/.
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Further Reading
- Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkein, edited by Christopher Tolkein