LúTHIEN

'Lúthien Tinúviel' is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in ''The Silmarillion'' and the epic poem ''The Lay of Leithian''.

Contents

Character overview

Biography

Earlier versions

The Tolkien grave

Inspirations

References

Character overview

Lúthien was the only child of Elu Thingol, king of Doriath, and his queen, Melian the Maia. Lúthien's romance with the mortal man Beren is one of the great stories of the Elder Days.
The name ''Lúthien'' appears to mean "enchantress" in a Beleriandic dialect of Sindarin, but it can also be translated "blossom".^[1] ''Tinúviel'' was a name given to her by Beren. It literally means "daughter of the starry twilight", which signifies "nightingale". She is described as the Morning Star of the Elves, while Arwen is called ''Evenstar'', the Evening Star.

Biography

Lúthien was born in the year 4700 of the Years of the Trees. At her birth, the white flower niphredil first bloomed in Doriath.
She fell in love with Beren, a Man of the House of Bëor. Their relationship was unlikely from the beginning: Lúthien was not just the cherished only daughter of Thingol, the most powerful Elven-king in Beleriand, but also the daughter of a Maia, a powerful angelic being. Beren was a mortal man on the run from the Dark Lord Morgoth.
Thingol was determined not to let Beren marry his daughter, and set a seemingly impossible task as the bride price: Beren had to bring him one of the Silmarils from Morgoth's iron crown. Against monstrous odds, including kidnap by the sons of Fëanor and the death of Finrod Felagund, as well as the first overthrow of Sauron, the couple achieved the task, with help of Huan the Hound of Valinor, but Beren died as soon as it was completed. In grief, Lúthien lay down and died as well, going to the Halls of Mandos. There she sang a song of woe so touching that Mandos was moved to pity for the first and only time. He then consulted with Manwë, who presented Lúthien with a choice: to live in Valmar in the immortal land of Valinor or to return to Middle-earth together with Beren as a mortal. She chose to become mortal and to share the fate of Men.
After this, they dwelled in Ossiriand until after the sack of Menegroth. They had a son, Dior, 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 splendour of the gem and necklace to make her home of Tol Galen the fairest land ever to have existed east of Valinor. After her death the Nauglamír was delivered to her son Dior, which led to the ruin of Doriath.
Elrond the Half-elven and Arwen Evenstar are descendants of Lúthien, as is Aragorn, (a desendant of Elrond's brother). According to legend, her line will never be broken. Through the valiant efforts of Lúthien's grand-daughter, Elwing, and her husband Eärendil, all of Lúthien's half-elven/half-human descendants may choose either an elven or mortal destiny. This choice seems to only apply to those who were previously counted among the ranks of elves, as the mortal descendants of Elros, who was himself a descendant of Lúthien, were not given this choice, which became a major source of contention. Amongst her elven descendants, Elros and Arwen alone have chosen the fate of men, and are now completely lost to the Elves, having travelled beyond the confines of the world.

Earlier versions

In the various versions of ''The Tale of Tinúviel'', Tolkien's earliest form of his tale, as published in ''The Book of Lost Tales'', her original name is ''Tinúviel'' (''Lúthien'' was invented later). Beren is, in this earlier version, an ''Elf'' (specifically a Noldo, or ''Gnome''), and Sauron has not yet emerged. In his place, they face 'Tevildo', the Prince of Cats, a monstrous cat who is the principal enemy of the Valinorean hound Huan.
The story is also told in an epic poem in the ''The Lays of Beleriand''.

The Tolkien grave

Edith and J.R.R. Tolkien lie in Wolvercote Cemetery (North Oxford). Their gravestone shows the association of Lúthien with Edith, and Tolkien himself with Beren. The stone reads:
EDITH MARY TOLKIEN

LUTHIEN

1889 – 1971
JOHN RONALD

REUEL TOLKIEN

BEREN

1892 – 1973

Inspirations

In a letter to his son Christopher, dated 11 July 1972, Tolkien requested the above inscription for Edith's grave "for she was (and knew she was) my Lúthien." [The Letters of JRR Tolkien, ISBN 0-395-31555-7, letter 340]. In a footnote to his letter, Tolkien added "she knew the earliest form of the legend...also the poem eventually printed as Aragorn's song." The name may be derived from the Old English word ''Lufien'', which means ''love''. The tale of Beren and Lúthien also shares an element with folktales such as the Welsh Culhwch and Olwen and others — namely, the disapproving parent who sets a seemingly impossible task (or tasks) for the suitor, which is then fulfilled. In Tolkien's version the woman actually ''helps'' the suitor fulfill his task.

References

1. Noel, Ruth S. "The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth", page 166. Houghton Mifflin, 1974