The Tale of Beren and Lúthien

The Tale of Beren and Lúthien is the story of the love and adventures of the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf-maiden Lúthien, as told in several works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place during the First Age of Middle-earth, about 6500 years before the events of his most famous book, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote several versions of their story, the latest written in The Silmarillion. Beren and Lúthien are also mentioned in The Lord of the Rings.

The first version of the story is the Tale of Tinúviel, which was written in 1917 as a part of The Book of Lost Tales. During the 1920s, Tolkien started to reshape the tale and to transform it into an epic poem which he called The Lay of Leithian. He never finished it, leaving three of seventeen planned cantos unwritten. After his death, The Lay of Leithian was published in The Lays of Beleriand, together with The Lay of the Children of Húrin and several other unfinished poems. The latest version of the tale is told in prose form in one chapter of The Silmarillion and is recounted by Aragorn in The Fellowship of the Ring. Furthermore, it was the model for "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", which is told in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings.

Synopsis

As told in The Silmarillion, the later version of the tale:
Beren was the last survivor of a group of Men led by his father Barahir that had still resisted Morgoth, the Dark Enemy, after the Battle of Sudden Flame, in which Morgoth had conquered much of northern Middle-earth. After the defeat of his companions, he fled from peril into the elvish realm Doriath. There he met Lúthien, the only daughter of King Thingol and Melian the Maia, as she was dancing and singing in a glade. Upon seeing her Beren fell in love, for she was the fairest of all elves. She later fell in love with him as well, when he, moved by her beauty and enchanting voice, gave her the nickname "Nightingale." As Thingol disliked Beren and regarded him as being unworthy of his daughter, he set a seemingly impossible task on Beren that he had to achieve before he could marry Lúthien. Thingol asked Beren to bring him one of the Silmarils, the three hallowed jewels made by Fëanor, which Morgoth had stolen from the elves.

Beren left Doriath and set out on his quest to Angband, the enemy’s fortress. Although Thingol tried to prevent it, Lúthien later followed him. On his journey to the enemy’s land Beren reached Nargothrond, an Elvish stronghold, and was joined by ten warriors under the lead of King Finrod, who had sworn an oath of friendship to Beren's father. Although Fëanor’s sons, Celegorm and Curufin, warned them not to take the Silmaril that they considered their own, the company was determined to accompany Beren. On their way to Angband they were seized by the servants of Sauron, despite the best efforts of Finrod to maintain their guise as Orcs, and imprisoned in Tol-in-Gaurhoth. One by one they were killed by a werewolf until only Beren and Finrod remained. When the wolf went for Beren, Finrod broke his chains and wrestled it with such fierceness that they both died.

When she was following Beren, Lúthien was captured and brought to Nargothrond by Celegorm and Curufin. Aided by Huan, Celegorm’s hound (which according to prophecy could only be defeated by the greatest werewolf ever), she was able to flee. With his aid, she came to Sauron’s fortress where Huan defeated the werewolves of the Enemy, Draugluin the sire of werewolves, and Sauron himself in wolf-form. Then Lúthien forced Sauron to give ownership of the tower to her. She freed the prisoners, among them Beren. Meanwhile, Sauron took the form of a vampire and fled to Taur-nu-Fuin.

Anke-Katrin Eiszmann

Beren wanted to try his task once more alone, but Lúthien insisted on coming with him. However, they are attacked by Celegorm and Curufin, who have been exiled from Nargothrond. Beren was wounded by Curufin, but Lúthien healed him. Through magic, they took the shapes of the bat Thuringwethil and the wolf Draugluin that Huan had killed. Thereby they were able to enter the enemy’s land and at last came to Angband and before Morgoth’s throne. There Lúthien sang a magical song which made the Dark Lord and his court fall asleep; then Beren cut a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. As he tried to cut out the others, his knife broke and a shard glanced off Morgoth's face, awakening him. As they attempted to leave, the gate was barred by Carcharoth, a giant werewolf, who was bred as an opponent to Huan. He bit off and swallowed Beren’s hand, in which Beren was holding the Silmaril. Carcharoth was burned by the pure light of the Silmaril and ran off madly. Eagles then helped Beren and Lúthien escape.

Beren and Lúthien returned to Doriath, where they told of their deeds and thereby softened Thingol’s heart. He accepted the marriage of his daughter and the mortal Man, although Beren’s task had not been fulfilled. Beren and Huan participated in the hunt for Carcharoth, who in his madness had come into Doriath and caused much destruction there. Both of them were killed by the wolf, but Carcharoth was also slain. Before he died, Beren handed the Silmaril, which was recovered from Carcharoth's belly, to Thingol.

Luthien and Beren by highlandheart1968

Grieving for Beren, Lúthien also died, and came to the halls of Mandos. There she sang of her ill fate, that she would never again see Beren, who as a mortal Man had passed out of the world. Thereby Mandos was moved to pity. He restored Beren and Lúthien to life and granted mortality to the Elf. Lúthien left her home and her parents and went to Ossiriand with Beren. There they dwelt for the rest of their lives, and both eventually died the death of mortal Men.

Significance in the legendarium

After the recovery of the Silmaril by Beren and Lúthien, many people of Middle-earth sought to possess it, and there were wars between the Sindar, the Noldor and the Dwarves, in which the Sindar were defeated. The Silmaril was taken by Eärendil, who sailed to Valinor with it and persuaded the Valar to make war on Morgoth, which led to the latter's defeat in the War of Wrath.

The marriage of Beren and Lúthien was the first of the three unions of a mortal Man and an Elf, of which came the Half-elven, those who had both elven and human ancestry. Like Lúthien, they were given the choice of being counted among either Elves or Men. The extended live-action film of The Fellowship of the Ring would make this connection through a song Aragorn sings at night in Elvish. When questioned by Frodo, he simply explains that it relates to an Elven woman who gave up her immortality for the love of a man.

Inspiration

The Tale of Beren and Lúthien was regarded as the central part of his legendarium by Tolkien. The story and the characters reflect the love of Tolkien and his wife Edith. Particularly, the event when Edith danced for him in a glade with flowering hemlocks seems to have inspired his vision of the meeting of Beren and Lúthien. Also, some sources indicate that Edith's family disapproved of Tolkien originally, due to his being a Catholic. On Tolkien's grave, J. R. R. Tolkien is referred to as Beren and Edith, as Lúthien.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien also shares an element with folktales such as the Welsh Culhwch and Olwen, maybe its main literary inspiration, and the German The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs and The Griffin— namely, the disapproving parent who sets a seemingly impossible task (or tasks) for the suitor, which is then fulfilled. The hunting of Carcharoth the Wolf may be inspired by the hunting of the giant boar Twrch Trwyth in Culhwch and Olwen or other hunting legends. The quest for one of the three Silmarils from the Iron Crown of Morgoth has a close parallel in the search for the three golden hairs in the head of the Devil. The sequence in which Beren loses his hand to the Wolf may be inspired by the god Tyr and the wolf Fenrir, characters in Norse mythology. Tolkien also got inspiration from the great love story of Romeo and Juliet.
Dior Eluchíl, son of Beren and Lúthien.
Source HERE

 The names of Beren and Luthien are on the Tolkiens gravestone.

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo

An artist's storybook of Tolkien

Artwork by http://ekukanova.deviantart.com

Finarfin's farewell to his children

From left to right:  Finarfin, Orodreth, Galadriel, Finrod, Aegnor, Angrod

Finrod. First, encounter with Edain

Andreth and Aegnor- the first encounter

inspired by "Atrabeth Finrod ah Andreth"

Something of Manwe and Ulmo

Celegorm, Curufin, Luthien and Huan

Andreth

Andreth

After seeing all of this beautiful art I must pick up and read the Silmarillion soon. I did start it but sadly didn't have the time to really get into it. From these images, I think I've fallen in love with the characters already. :o) 

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son, Christopher Tolkien, in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R. Tolkien's other works, forms an extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Eä in which are found the lands of Valinor, Beleriand, Númenor, and Middle-earth within which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.

The Silmarillion comprises five parts. The first part, Ainulindalë, tells of the creation of Eä, the "world that is". Valaquenta, the second part, gives a description of the Valar and Maiar, the supernatural powers in Eä. The next section, Quenta Silmarillion, which forms the bulk of the collection, chronicles the history of the events before and during the First Age, including the wars over the Silmarils that gave the book its title. The fourth part, Akallabêth, relates the history of the Downfall of Númenor and its people, which takes place in the Second Age. The final part, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, is a brief account of the circumstances which led to and were presented in The Lord of the Rings.

The five parts were initially separate works, but it was the elder Tolkien's express wish that they be published together. Because J. R. R. Tolkien died before he finished revising the various legends, Christopher gathered material from his father's older writings to fill out the book. In a few cases, this meant that he had to devise completely new material in order to resolve gaps and inconsistencies in the narrative.

Ainulindalë and Valaquenta

The first section of The Silmarillion, Ainulindalë ("The Music of the Ainur"), takes the form of a primary creation narrative. Eru ("The One"), also called Ilúvatar ("Father of All"), first created the Ainur, a group of eternal spirits or demiurges, called "the offspring of his thought". Ilúvatar brought the Ainur together and showed them a theme, from which he bade them make a great music. Melkor — whom Ilúvatar had given the "greatest power and knowledge" of all the Ainur — broke from the harmony of the music to develop his own song. Some Ainur joined him, while others continued to follow Ilúvatar, causing discord in the music. This happened thrice, with Eru Ilúvatar successfully overpowering his rebellious subordinate with a new theme each time. Ilúvatar then stopped the music and showed them a vision of Arda and its peoples. The vision disappeared after a while, and Ilúvatar offered the Ainur a chance to enter into Arda and govern over the new world.

Many Ainur descended, taking physical form and becoming bound to that world. The greater Ainur became known as the Valar, while the lesser Ainur were called the Maiar. The Valar attempted to prepare the world for the coming inhabitants (Elves and Men), while Melkor, who wanted Arda for himself, repeatedly destroyed their work; this went on for thousands of years until, through waves of destruction and creation, the world took shape.

Valaquenta ("Account of the Valar") describes Melkor and each of the 14 Valar in detail, as well as a few of the Maiar. It also reveals how Melkor seduced many Maiar — including those who would eventually become Sauron and the Balrogs — into his service.

Quenta Silmarillion

Quenta Silmarillion ("The History of the Silmarils"), which makes up the bulk of the book, is a series of interconnected tales set in the First Age that makes up the tragic saga of the three jewels, the Silmarils.

The Valar had attempted to fashion the world for Elves and Men, but Melkor continually destroyed their handiwork. After he destroyed the two lamps that illuminated the world, the Valar moved to Aman, a continent to the west of Middle-earth, where they established their home called Valinor, illuminated by Two Trees, and left Middle-earth to darkness and Melkor. When stars began to shine and the Elves awoke, the Valar fought Melkor to keep the Elves safe, defeated and captured Melkor and then invited the Elves to live in Aman. Many Elves travelled to Aman, while others refused and still others stopped along the way, including the Elves who later became the Sindar, ruled by the Elf King Thingol and Melian, a Maia. Of the three tribes that set out, all of the Vanyar and Noldor, and many of the Teleri reached Aman.

In Aman, Fëanor, son of Finwë, King of the Noldor, created the Silmarils, jewels that glowed with the light of the Two Trees. Melkor, released after feigning repentance, destroyed the Two Trees with the help of Ungoliant, killed Finwë, stole the Silmarils, and fled to Middle-earth, where he attacked the Elvish kingdom of Doriath. He was defeated in the first of five battles of Beleriand, however, and barricaded himself in his northern fortress of Angband.

Fëanor and his sons swore an oath of vengeance against Melkor – and against anyone who withheld the Silmarils from them, even the Valar. Fëanor persuaded most of the Noldor to pursue Melkor, whom Fëanor renamed as Morgoth, into Middle-earth. Fëanor's sons seized ships from the Teleri, attacking and killing many of them, and left the other Noldor to make the voyage by foot. Upon arriving in Middle-earth, the Noldor under Fëanor attacked Melkor and defeated his host, though Fëanor was slain by Balrogs. After a period of peace, Melkor attacked the Noldor but was again defeated and besieged. Nearly 400 years later, he broke the siege and drove the Noldor back.

After the destruction of the Trees and the theft of the Silmarils, the Valar had created the moon and the sun. At the same time, Men awoke, some of whom later arrived in Beleriand and allied themselves with the Elves. Beren, a man who had survived the latest battle, wandered to Doriath, where he fell in love with the elf Lúthien, the king's daughter.
Read more HERE

At the time of release, reviews of The Silmarillion were generally mixed to negative. The Silmarillion was criticised for being too serious, lacking the light-hearted moments that were found in The Lord of the Rings and especially The Hobbit.TIME lamented that there was "no single, unifying quest and, above all, no band of brothers for the reader to identify with". Other criticisms included difficult-to-read archaic language and many difficult and hard-to-remember names.

Robert M. Adams of The New York Review of Books called The Silmarillion "an empty and pompous bore", "not a literary event of any magnitude", and even claimed that the main reason for its "enormous sales" was the "Tolkien cult" created by the popularity of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, predicting that more people would buy The Silmarillion than would ever read it. The School Library Journal called it "only a stillborn postscript" to Tolkien's earlier works. Peter Conrad of the New Statesman even went so far as to say that "Tolkien can't actually write".

Despite these shortcomings, a few reviewers praised the scope of Tolkien's creation. The New York Times Book Review acknowledged that "what is finally most moving is … the eccentric heroism of Tolkien's attempt".TIME described The Silmarillion as "majestic, a work held so long and so powerfully in the writer's imagination that it overwhelms the reader". The Horn Book Magazine even lauded the "remarkable set of legends conceived with imaginative might and told in beautiful language". John Calvin Batchelor, reviewing the book for The Village Voice, lauded the book as a "difficult but incontestable masterwork of fantasy" and praised the character of Melkor, describing him as "a stunning bad guy" whose "chief weapon against goodness is his ability to corrupt men by offering them trappings for their vanity".

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo

J.R.R. Tolkien reciting "Namárië"

Tolkien is one of many writers that inspire me, and I'm so grateful that he shared his love of folklore with us all. Old myths retold in his own wonderful magical way, igniting the muse in others.

"Namárië" is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien written in Quenya, a constructed language, and published for the first time in The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter "Farewell to Lórien"). It has the subtitle "Galadriel's Lament in Lórien", which in Quenya is Altariello nainië Lóriendessë. The poem appears only in one other book by Tolkien, The Road Goes Ever On.

The Quenya word namárië is a reduced form of á na márië, meaning literally "be well", an Elvish formula used for greeting and for farewell.

The first stanza of "Namárië" written in Tengwar script.

"Namárië" is the longest Quenya text in the The Lord of the Rings and also one of the longest continuous texts in Quenya that was ever written by Tolkien. It was rewritten many times by Tolkien before it reached the form that was published (see Early versions below). Many Tengwar versions were made by Tolkien. An English translation is provided in the book.

TNamarie in Tengwar. Handwritten and decorated by SoigneCalligraphy

The first version of "Namárië" was published in The Treason of Isengard pp. 284–285.

Namárië was set to music by Donald Swann with the help of Tolkien. The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the book The Road Goes Ever On. In a recording, Tolkien sings it in a Gregorian manner.

Excerpt: Namárië, Swann, 22.

From 1997 to 2005 the Danish Tolkien Ensemble published four CDs featuring every poem from the Lord of the Rings, amongst them two versions of Namárië, both composed by the ensemble leader Caspar Reiff: The first, sung by Signe Asmussen, sets the original Quenya text to music; the second version features the English translation spoken by Christopher Lee. HERE

Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima

HERE

Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!
Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier
mi oromardi lisse-miruvóreva
Andúnë pella, Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni
ómaryo airetári-lírinen.

Sí man i yulma nin enquantuva?

An sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo
ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë,
ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë;
ar sindanóriello caita mornië
i falmalinnar imbë met, ar hísië
untúpa Calaciryo míri oialë.
Sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar!

Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar.
Nai elyë hiruva. Namárië!

The song translates into English thus:

Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind,
long years numberless as the wings of trees!
The years have passed like swift draughts
of the sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West,
beneath the blue vaults of Varda
wherein the stars tremble in the song of her voice, holy and queenly.

Who now shall refill the cup for me?

For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars,
from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds,
and all paths are drowned deep in shadow;
and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming waves between us,
and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever.
Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar!

Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar.
Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!

Varda

J.R.R. Tolkien singing "Namárië" (Rare recording)

Ainulindalë (J.R.R Tolkien Short Animation)

Storybook Inspiration: I get so wrapped up in this kind of story, and being a deep thinker, I developed a creation tale for ACoPF, not sure if I will add it to the second book as don't want to complicate the overall story. So I may add the tale to the website at a later date. We'll see. :o) 

Writers have so much background knowledge enabling them to understand characters, worlds, etc, it always seems a shame to leave them out. 

The more I research certain aspects of the story, the more I appreciate that everything is connected. I've always known it, but writing about it is quite a magical, moving, and humble experience. I wouldn't say that I'm an especially spiritual person, but I feel drawn to the mystical areas of life and the nerd in me loves to delve into science. This, with the love of folklore, inspired me to write a story of karma. I only hope that I can write it as well as I see it. Still learning. I think that's the hardest part, remembering the reader cannot fill the gaps, and to try and capture the special beauty of the mystical. It has been quite a challenge to combine a spiritual undertone with a normal 'Joe bloggs' life, but it's been fun. :o) 

The Passing of the Elves by Moondusts #Deviantart

J.R.R. Tolkien

Below is one of my favourite fan videos of  

'The Silmarillion' 

I haven't fully explored this website, but it appears to be a grand place for information relating to everything Tolkien.              Tolkien Gateway~  Link HERE

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo