Work through the central tale of “The Silmarillion”: the love of the mortal Beren and the Elf-maiden Lúthien, the Quest of the Silmaril, Finrod's death, the return of Beren and Lúthien from the Halls of Mandos, the roles of Huan and Carcharoth, and the meaning of choosing mortality.
Content guide
The heart of the whole book
The legendarium's key tale and Tolkien's favorite: “Beren” and “Lúthien” are carved on his and his wife's gravestone.
Beren, a mortal, son of Barahir, strays into Doriath and sees Lúthien dancing: daughter of Thingol and the Maia Melian, fairest of the Children of Ilúvatar. He calls her Tinúviel, “nightingale.” They fall in love.
Thingol, loath to give her to a mortal, sets a price he thinks impossible: a Silmaril from Morgoth's iron crown. So begins THE QUEST OF THE SILMARIL.
Finrod, bound to Beren's house by an oath, helps him, though Fëanor's sons Celegorm and Curufin turn Nargothrond against him over their Oath. Caught by Sauron on Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Finrod dies killing a wolf barehanded to save Beren.
Lúthien escapes Doriath to rescue him, helped by HUAN, the hound of Valinor, who may speak only thrice. They defeat Sauron. In Angband her song puts Morgoth and his court to sleep, and Beren cuts a Silmaril from his crown.
Escaping, they meet the wolf CARCHAROTH; he bites off Beren's hand with the Silmaril and, burned within, runs mad into Doriath. He dies in the Hunting of the Wolf; the jewel is recovered, but Beren is mortally wounded.
Then Lúthien does the impossible: she follows Beren in death to the Halls of Mandos, and her song moves the Valar. Offered a choice, she chooses TO BECOME MORTAL, to live again with Beren and leave the world as Men do.
Lesson notes
The heart of the whole book
The legendarium's key tale and Tolkien's favorite: “Beren” and “Lúthien” are carved on his and his wife's gravestone.
Beren, a mortal, son of Barahir, strays into Doriath and sees Lúthien dancing: daughter of Thingol and the Maia Melian, fairest of the Children of Ilúvatar. He calls her Tinúviel, “nightingale.” They fall in love.
Thingol, loath to give her to a mortal, sets a price he thinks impossible: a Silmaril from Morgoth's iron crown. So begins THE QUEST OF THE SILMARIL.
Finrod, bound to Beren's house by an oath, helps him, though Fëanor's sons Celegorm and Curufin turn Nargothrond against him over their Oath. Caught by Sauron on Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Finrod dies killing a wolf barehanded to save Beren.
Lúthien escapes Doriath to rescue him, helped by HUAN, the hound of Valinor, who may speak only thrice. They defeat Sauron. In Angband her song puts Morgoth and his court to sleep, and Beren cuts a Silmaril from his crown.
Escaping, they meet the wolf CARCHAROTH; he bites off Beren's hand with the Silmaril and, burned within, runs mad into Doriath. He dies in the Hunting of the Wolf; the jewel is recovered, but Beren is mortally wounded.
Then Lúthien does the impossible: she follows Beren in death to the Halls of Mandos, and her song moves the Valar. Offered a choice, she chooses TO BECOME MORTAL, to live again with Beren and leave the world as Men do.
Etymology and themes
— Lúthien is also called Tinúviel, “daughter of twilight,” a poetic name for the nightingale. Beren calls her so when they first meet.
— Huan is simply “hound” in Quenya: the great hound of Valinor, fated to fall only to the greatest of wolves.
— Carcharoth, “red maw,” is also called Anfauglir, “jaws of thirst.”
— Tol-in-Gaurhoth, “isle of werewolves”: Finrod's former stronghold, now Sauron's lair.
KEY THEMES.
— LOVE STRONGER THAN DOOM. The first tale in the legendarium where a mortal and an Elf are joined, and the only one where someone returns from the Halls of Mandos. Their love can shake the curse and move the Valar.
— CHOOSING MORTALITY. Lúthien gives up the immortality of the Elves for love. She accepts the “Gift of Men,” death, as the highest love. This is the moral summit of the book.
— THE DEED OF THE WEAK. Morgoth is beaten not by armies but by two lovers and a hound, through cunning, song, and self-sacrifice. Again Tolkien says great evil falls not to force but to faithfulness and love (the idea behind “The Lord of the Rings,” where hobbits carry the Ring).
— LINKING THE AGES. Beren and Lúthien are ancestors of Elrond, of Elros (first king of Númenor), and, far in the future, of Aragorn and Arwen. Their story in “The Lord of the Rings” deliberately echoes this tale: a mortal Man and an Elf-maiden, and again mortality chosen for love.