Thread:Eras of Arda Team/@comment-108.49.223.53-20171021014341

Mae l’ovannen, esteemed colleagues! I am writing this to officially and formally apply for the lore position of Lúthien Tinúviel- princess of Doriath, daughter of Thingol and Melian, and easily my favorite character in the Silmarillion, if not in the Tolkien universe.



“And there in the forest of Neldoreth Lúthien was born, and the white flowers of niphredil came forth to greet her as stars from the earth.”

                -Silmarillion, of the Sindar



L'ú 'thien: A Summary

                Lúthien was born in 1200 in the Years of the Trees at the end of the first age of Melkor’s chaining, the only child of King Elu Thingol and Melian the Maia. From YT 1200 until FA 464- where upon she met Beren, and the story of her ending began- she lived in the forests of her father’s kingdom (Neldoreth/Taur-na-neldor, the northern beech forest later called Doriath, the guarded realm). Like most of the elves of Doriath, her early life was blissful, happily unaware of the chaos and evil that dwelt just beyond the Girdle of Melian. Many of her days were spent dancing and singing in the woods, accompanied by her friend Daeron, the minstrel of Menegroth.

                Lúthien is regarded as the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar, and with her passing from the circles of Ea in FA 503, her likeness passed from the world, never to be seen again in Ea. She is described as being black of hair and fair of skin, with silver grey eyes.

As befitting the child of one of the most powerful elf-lords and a being older than time itself, Lúthien is incredibly powerful, demonstrating the ability to hide herself from sight (either under her own hair, or in the skins of slain foes), and weave a sleep so potent as to effect Morgoth himself.

                At the point that the server is currently on (FA 399) Lúthien is roughly 3,274 years of age, and is still living a life of peace in the woods of Doriath. She is still 65 years away from meeting Beren, so while it isn’t wholly necessary to delve into the history of her end, I will regardless, as that is where the majority of her actions take place.



“But wandering in the summer in the woods of Neldoreth he came upon Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, at a time of evening under moonrise, as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin.” – Silmarillion, of Beren and L'ú'thien



L'ú 'thien and Beren, a History:

<p class="MsoNormal">              It was in FA 464, when Lúthien was aged 3,338, that she and Beren, son of Barahir, first meet, though naught was said between them, as the spell of the Girdle of Melian was upon Beren, and Lúthien believed him to be some wild beast, and fled. Their first true meeting came the following year, when perchance Lúthien began to sing, and Beren heard her song, and was released from silence, crying out the only name he knew her by- Tinúviel, meaning nightingale. And she looked upon him, and loved him, and from then on, her fate was entwined with his. For the following year, they met in secret in the woods, and “no others of the Children of Ilúvatar have had joy so great, though the time was brief.”

<p class="MsoNormal">                But it came to pass that Daeron, who also loved Lúthien- be it unrequited- discovered their meetings, and desiring her took it upon himself to tell King Thingol of their relationship. Needless to say, Thingol was not pleased, especially given that he held Lúthien above all else, and gave not even a second thought to Men.

<p class="MsoNormal">                Though her father was enraged, Lúthien convinced him to swear an oath to her that he would neither kill nor imprison Beren- and when he attempted to circumvent her will by commanding his servants to bring Beren before the throne of Menegroth, Lúthien beguiled them and brought Beren before the throne herself, such that her father’s judgment had to be passed in her presence.

<p class="MsoNormal">                It was then that Beren asked for Lúthien’s hand, and this only further enraged Thingol. Against the counsel of Melian, he asked for a nigh impossible bride-price- a silmaril from the iron crown of Morgoth. Beren accepted this mission, and left for Angband post haste. And Lúthien remained in Doriath, although never again did her song grace the woods and halls of her father’s lands.

<p class="MsoNormal">                After a time, Lúthien sought counsel with her mother, and learned of Beren’s captivity in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the isle of Werewolves. Afeared for her love, and determined to save him, she began preparations to rescue Beren, confiding only in Daeron. But again, for love of Lúthien and fear of losing her should she fail, Daeron betrayed her cause to Thingol.

<p class="MsoNormal">                Therefore, the King built a house for his daughter in the largest tree in Neldoreth, the three-trunked Hírilorn, which was close to the gates of Menegroth and from whence she could not escape, as the ladders to the house were taken away, and the trunks of Hírilorn guarded. But yet, escape she did, as she used her magic to grow out her hair to fantastic length, and part of it she wove into a cloak to hide her, and the rest she used as a rope entwined with a heavy sleep, and with these she escaped from Doriath.

<p class="MsoNormal">                It so happened that Lúthien was spotted in her guise by Huan, the hound of Valinor, and was brought before his master, Celegorm, and his brother Curufin, two of the sons of Fëanor and residents of Nargothrond. When she discarded her raiment- believing the two to be trustworthy- Celegorm became enamoured of her, and offered her aid if she would return with him to Nargothrond. However this was all a ruse, and he and his brother not only knew of Beren and Felagund’s capture, but purposed to let them die and keep the kingdom and Lúthien for themselves.

<p class="MsoNormal">                This would have come to pass, if Lúthien’s story had not turned the heart of Huan. Together, they headed further towards Tol-in-Gaurhoth. And there she sang, and Beren heard her, but so too did Sauron, and seeking to claim her as the prisoner of Morgoth, he sent out his wolves one by one, each mightier than the last. Huan dispatched all of these, even unto Draugluin, the Lord of Werewolves.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">And then Sauron himself appeared in the form of the mightiest of all wolves, and sought to take back the bridge to Tol-in-Gaurhoth. And being afeared, Huan lept aside, and Lúthien fell back- but even as she did so, she cast a fold of her cloak over his eyes, and thus gave Huan the upper hand. And although fiercely and savagely he fought, Sauron could not win, and he handed over mastery of Tol-in-Gaurhoth to Lúthien before fleeing, and Lúthien cast down the walls of the tower there. And descending into the dungeon where all his party lay slain, she found Beren catatonic in grief for Felagund, and they were reunited.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">After that, in the forest of Brethil, the lovers came across Celegorm and Curufin, recently fled from Nargothrond, and the two brothers once again attempted to run off with Lúthien. But Beren got the upper hand, and bade them walk to their kin, as he claimed their horses for the use of Lúthien, and the two rode away. But Curufin took the bow of Celegorm, and loosed two shots at Lúthien, and would have struck her had Huan not caught the first, and Beren not taken the second blow in her stead.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">Lúthien used her skill to heal Beren of his mortal wound, and together they returned to Doriath. But Beren had yet to fulfil his oath to Thingol, and so he left for Morgoth’s realm once again. But Lúthien trailed Beren once more, riding on the back of Huan. Along their journey, Lúthien and Huan took the skins of Thurwingethil- the vampire messenger of Sauron- and Draugluin, and so disguised they continued on through Taur-na-Fuin, meeting up with Beren.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">Using her magic yet again, Lúthien clad Beren in the skin of Draugluin, and together they bade farewell to Huan and set out for Thangorodrim. Once at the gate they were met by Carcharoth, who stopped them and moved to attack, but Lúthien unveiled great power, and shining with a power beyond her own bade him sleep, and so he did.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">Once inside Thangorodrim, Morgoth undid Lúthien’s disguise, though Beren still walked as Draugluin. She convinced Morgoth that she was there to offer her talents to him, and began to dance before his throne. And the moment he let the beauty of Lúthien’s dance overtake his own, more evil desires for her, her power over him was set, and soon the entirety of his court was in a deep slumber. Quietly, Lúthien woke Beren, and he began wresting a silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. He successfully freed one from the crown, but he attempted to release another, and broke his dagger, waking Morgoth, and the two fled in a panic. They met no resistance, save Carcharoth, who bit off Beren’s right hand and was driven mad by the pain the hallowed gems caused him.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">Lúthien once again saved Beren, sucking the poison from where his hand once was and healing him with the last of her power. Rescued by three giant birds set to watch by Huan, they returned to Doriath, where upon they told Thingol of the success of the quest for the silmaril. And although the silmaril was not present, Thingol conceded, and Beren and Lúthien were wed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">But Carcharoth still ran madly along the edges of Doriath, and had to be dealt with. The wolf was slain, and the silmaril retrieved, but at the cost of Huan and Beren. In grief, Lúthien died, and her spirit travelled to the Halls of Mandos, where she had bidden Beren’s spirit to wait. And there she sang, and Mandos was moved to pity for the first and only time. Consulting with Manwë, he offered her a choice: dwell in Valinor until the end of Ëa, forgetting the troubles of her life, but living alone; or to return to life with Beren, but share the Gift of Men with him, and die alongside him.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">And so she chose, and Lúthien and Beren were returned to life, and lived their days on Tol Galen, in the realm of Dor Firn-i-Guinar. She went on to live to age 3,777, becoming the mother of Dior Eluchil, heir to Doriath, and the second-to-last bearer of the Nauglamir- and the third-to-last bearer of that silmaril.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">It is said that her line shall be unbroken unto the end of Ëa, and that her like shall never be seen again unto the remaking of the world.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">So why should I be L'<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">ú 'thien?

<p class="MsoNormal">                Beyond my love for this particular character, I consider myself a bit of an amateur Tolkien historian. If the above abridged history doesn’t show that, let me clarify- I shortened this twice before posting. I am hugely in love with the lore of this universe, and being in an RP role would just make the nerdy stuff that I already do official.

<p class="MsoNormal">Despite my relative newness to the server-end of this mod, I am highly familiar with both this mod, and with servers as a whole. I have been a member of several RP heavy servers, and have been administrator on several non-RP servers. I have also been playing this mod, on and off, for about two years in single player.

<p class="MsoNormal">In the slightly more nerdy realm of things, I have a beginner’s understanding of both Quenya and Sindarin- the latter of the two being more pertinent here. I also have experience as an actor- both modern theatre and Shakespearean, as well as improv, and I have a particular fondness for story-writing and poetry.

<p class="MsoNormal">While I cannot tear down buildings through thought alone, I can hold my own when it comes to raising them, though I have an affinity for more fantasy/medieval/elvish styles than anything else.

<p class="MsoNormal">In short, while I understand if the answer is no, I would really love to bring my passion for this world to the server. Navaer, Mellon-nin!

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<p class="MsoNormal">IGN: MadMechem <ac_metadata title="Application for Lúthien Tinúviel, Princess of Doriath"> </ac_metadata>