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Lúthien Tinúviel is a character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She is an Elf, the fairest of the Children of Ilúvatar. She is supposed to have been based on Edith Tolkien.
Lúthien was the daughter of Elu Thingol, king of Doriath, and his queen, Melian the Maia. (Lúthien is counted among the Elves, not the Half-elven who were those with human descent). Lúthien's romance with the mortal Man Beren is one of the great stories of the Elder Days, and is mirrored by the later romance between Aragorn and Arwen Evenstar (as well as, to a certain extent and ironically, her own parents).
The name Lúthien appears to be Sindarin for "Enchantress" . Tinúviel literally means dusk-singer, which signifies "Nightingale". Tinúviel was a name given to her by Beren. She is described as the Morning Star of the Elves, while Arwen is called Evenstar, the Evening Star.
Biography
Lúthien is remembered in the Lay of Leithian. She fell in love with Beren, a Man of the House of Bëor. Their relationship was unlikely from the beginning: Lúthien was not only the cherished single 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 a confrontation with 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 managed to convince Mandos to grant herself and Beren life again. 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.
According to legend, her line will never be broken.
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 an Elf, and Sauron has not yet emerged. In his place, they face Tevildo, the Prince of Cats, a giant cat.
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:
LUTHIEN
1889 – 1971
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." 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 Luthien also shares an element with folktales such as the Welsh Culhwch and Olwen and others (found even in the Hebrew scriptures, in the story of King David) — 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 fufill his task.
Grey Elves | Middle-earth Half-elven | Fictional heroines | Fictional half-elves | Characters in The Silmarillion
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"Lúthien"