Azure A's List: Lord of the Rings

• Eru Ilúvatar is a deity in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Silmarillion as the creator of all existence (called Eä in Elvish). In Tolkien's invented language of Elvish, Eru means "The One", or "He that is Alone"^[1] and Ilúvatar signifies "Father of All".
• Eru is transcendent, and completely outside of and beyond the world.
• Eru alone can create independent life or reality by giving it the Flame Imperishable. All beings not created directly by Eru, (e.g. Dwarves, Ents, Eagles), still need to be accepted by Eru to become more than mere puppets of their creator.
• Eru created alone the Elves and Men. This is why in The Silmarillion both races are called the Children of Ilúvatar. The race of the Dwarves was created by Aulë, and given sapience by Eru. Animals and plants were fashioned by Yavanna during the Music of the Ainur after the themes set out by Eru. The Eagles of Manwë were created from the thought of Manwë and Yavanna. Yavanna also created the Ents, who were given sapience by Eru. Melkor instilled some semblance of free will into his mockeries of Eru Ilúvatar's creations (Orcs and Trolls).

  • Orcs a mockery of Elves, and Trolls a mockery of the Ents.
• When Gandalf died in the fight with the Balrog in The Fellowship of the Ring, it was beyond the power of the Valar to resurrect him; Ilúvatar himself intervened to send Gandalf back.
• Discussing Frodo's failure to destroy the Ring, Tolkien indicates in Letter 192 that "the One" does intervene actively in the world, pointing to Gandalf's remark to Frodo that "Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker", and to the eventual destruction of the Ring even though Frodo himself fails to complete the task.

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• The Ainur are the immortal Spirits existing before Creation in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe. These were the first beings made of the thought of Eru Ilúvatar.
• Those of the Ainur who felt concern for the Creation entered it, and became the Valar and the Maiar, the guardians of Creation.

• They are angelic powers, the Ainur that chose to go into the World (Arda) and complete its material development after its form was determined by the Music of the Ainur (Ainulindalë).
• This World, fashioned from his ideas and expressed as the Music of Ilúvatar, was refined by thoughtful interpretations by the Ainur, who then created their own themes based on each unique comprehension. No one Ainu understood all of the themes that sprang from Ilúvatar. Instead, each elaborated individual themes, singing of mountains and subterranean regions, say, from themes for metals and stones. The themes of Ilúvatar's music were elaborated, and the Ainur added creative touches to blend with the themes of other Ainur. Melkor, however, added discordant themes: he strove against the Music; his themes became evil because they sprang from selfishness and vanity, not from the enlightenment of Ilúvatar.
• Ilúvatar gave the Ainur a choice — to dwell with him, or to enter the world that they had mutually created. Those that chose to enter the world became known as the Valar, the 'Powers of Arda', though the Elves generally reserved that term for the more powerful of them. (The lesser Valar they called the Maiar.)
• The Valar dwelt originally on the Isle of Almaren in the middle of the world, but after its destruction and the loss of the world's symmetry, they moved to the western continent of Aman and founded Valinor. The war with Melkor continued: the Valar realized many wonderful subthemes of Ilúvatar's grand music, while Melkor poured all his energy into the corruption of fell beings like Balrogs, dragons, and orcs.

  • The original world as built by the Valar is called Arda Unmarred (Quenya, Arda Alahasta). This world was effectively destroyed by the wars of the Valar and Melkor, and only Valinor still resembled it in part. Arda Unmarred was a flat symmetrical world with everlasting light.
• Summoned by the Valar, many Elves abandoned Middle-earth and the eastern continent for the West, where the Valar concentrated their creativity. There they made the Two Trees, their greatest joy because it gave light to the beauty of Valinor and pleased the Elves.
• At Melkor's instigation, however, Ungoliant destroyed the Trees. Fëanor, a Noldorin Elf, had with great forethought and love captured the light of the Two Trees in three Silmarils, the greatest jewels ever created.

  • nulltheir last flower and fruit were made by the Valar into the Moon and the Sun. -- 2012-04-22
    Ungoliant: the first great spider, ancestor of Shelob, and possibly a fallen Maia. -- 2012-04-22
    
• The Valar, now including even Ulmo, remained aloof from Middle-earth, allowing the rise of the Morgoth's lieutenant, Sauron, to power as a new Dark Lord.
• With the Akallabêth, the destruction of Númenor, Aman was removed from the earth (though not from the World, for Elvish ships could still reach it). In the Third Age the Valar sent the Istari (or wizards) to Middle-earth to aid in the battle against Sauron.
• Aulë is given lordship over the matter that composes Arda and is a master of all the crafts that shape it. He created the Dwarves, who call him Mahal, the Maker. During the Music of the Ainur, Aulë's themes concerned the physical things of which Arda is made; when Eru Ilúvatar gave being to the themes of the Ainur, his music became the lands of Middle-earth. Other of his works include Angainor (the chain of Melkor), the Two Lamps and the vessels of the Sun and Moon.
• Yavanna
• is responsible for the Kelvar (animals) and Olvar (plants). It was she who requested the creation of the Ents, as she feared for the safety of the trees once her husband had created the Dwarves. The Two Lamps are created by Aulë at Yavanna's request, and their light germinates the seeds that she had planted. Following the destruction of the Two Lamps by Melkor and the withdrawal of the Valar to Aman, Yavanna sang into being the Two Trees of Valinor.

• Melkor

   

  The First Dark Lord. His name means "he who arises in might" and he was the first of the Ainur to be created by Eru Ilúvatar. In origin he was the spiritual brother of Manwë, and the most powerful of the Valar, as he possessed all aspects of Eru's thought, whereas all the others possessed only some. He turned to evil, and was taken back to Valinor in the Angainor chains after the Awakening of the Elves in Cuiviénen, where he remained on parole for three ages. But after the poisoning of the Two Trees and the theft of the Silmarils, he fled from Valinor. He was no longer counted among the number of the Valar, and Fëanor, one of the leaders of the Noldor Elves, called him "Morgoth Bauglir", The Great Enemy, by which name he was known in Middle-earth ever after. He was cast out of Arda at the end of the War of Wrath.
• In The Book of Lost Tales (the earliest form of Tolkien's legendarium), the Valar are frequently referred to as "Gods," indicating a polytheistic system in Tolkien's original cosmology. However, Ilúvatar is present as the supreme Creator God who brings the Valar into existence and is shown to be a being of a higher order. It is thus unclear whether the Valar are truly gods or simply thought of as such by the people of Arda. In any case, Tolkien eventually abandoned this description of the Valar, defining them simply as "Powers" in his later works.

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• The wizards were Maiar, spirits of the same order as the Valar, but lesser in power.
• The wizards already appeared old when they entered Middle-earth. They were "clothed" in the bodies of old Men, as the Valar wished them to guide the inhabitants of Middle-earth by persuasion and encouragement, not by force or fear. However, they aged very slowly and were in fact immortal. Physically they were "real" Men, and felt all the urges, pleasures and fears of flesh and blood.
• Although immortal, their physical bodies could be destroyed by violence—thus Gandalf truly died in the fight with the Balrog, beyond the power of the Valar to resurrect him; Eru Ilúvatar himself intervened to send Gandalf back.

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• Because the Sun, Moon, stars, and other objects orbited the planet in the cosmology of Middle-earth they were considered part of Arda, leading to Arda sometimes being called the 'Solar System' of Middle-earth. The term for the Earth itself, excluding these celestial bodies, was Ambar or Imbar.
• Originally the Earth (Arda) was flat, the continents were surrounded by a mighty ocean (or perhaps by space)
• There was also a separate continent south and east of Middle-earth called the Dark Land. Another separate continent to the east of Middle-earth was the relatively small Land of the Sun, so called because when the world was flat the Gates of the Sun were near there, and it would be scorched.
• After the destruction of Númenor, Arda was made round. Aman was taken out of the world, and could only be reached by the Elves, following the straight road that was granted to them.

• Arda Unmarred

   

  The original world as built by the Valar is called Arda Unmarred (Quenya, Arda Alahasta). This world was effectively destroyed by the wars of the Valar and Melkor, and only Valinor still resembled it in part. Arda Unmarred was a flat symmetrical world with everlasting light.
• Arda Marred (Quenya, Arda Hastaina) is the name given to the world as it is: the world after the wars of the Valar and Melkor,
• a cruel and evil world with plagues, extreme colds, heat, and other concepts which do not exist in Arda Unmarred.
• Arda Marred also broke the design of Elvish immortality: in Arda Marred Elves slowly fade, until at last they are naught but wraiths. Only in Valinor was this fading delayed, which is one reason all Elves had no choice but to go to Valinor in the end. One of the special abilities of the Rings of Power was that they could delay time, and as such were used by Elrond and Galadriel to preserve their realms. After the loss of the One Ring the Elves had no choice left and therefore in the Fourth Age the last Eldar left for Valinor.
• After the Dagor Dagorath, Morgoth will be slain, and the world broken; a new world will then be created, which will be Arda Healed (Quenya, Arda Envinyanta). This world will resemble Arda Unmarred, but will be even better, since it will also incorporate all the good aspects of Arda Marred.

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• The first sources of light for all of Arda were two enormous Lamps: Illuin, the silver one to the north and Ormal, the golden one to the south. These were cast down and destroyed by Melkor. Afterward, the Valar went to Valinor, and Yavanna sang into existence the Two Trees, silver Telperion and golden Laurelin shedding light comparable to moon and sun. Telperion was referred to as male and Laurelin female.
• Each tree was a source of light: Telperion's silver and Laurelin's gold. Telperion had dark leaves (silver on one side) and his silvery dew was collected as a source of water and of light. Laurelin had pale green leaves trimmed with gold, and her dew was likewise collected by Varda.
• One "day" lasted twelve hours. Each Tree, in turn, would give off light for seven hours (waxing to full brightness and then slowly waning again), so that at one hour each of "dawn" and "dusk" soft gold and silver light would be given off together.
• Jealous Melkor, later named Morgoth by Fëanor, enlisted the help of the giant spider-creature Ungoliant (the first great spider, ancestor of Shelob, and possibly a fallen Maia) to destroy the Two Trees. Concealed in a cloud of darkness, Melkor struck each Tree and the insatiable Ungoliant devoured whatever life and light remained in them.
• Again Yavanna sang and Nienna wept, but they succeeded only in reviving Telperion's last flower (to become the Moon) and Laurelin's last fruit (to become the Sun). These were assigned to lesser spirits, male Tilion and female Arien, after the 'genders' of the Trees themselves.
• Galathilion, was identical to Telperion except that it gave no light of its own being. It had many seedlings, one of which was named Celeborn
• a seedling of Celeborn was brought as a gift to the Númenóreans, that was known as Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor.

• when Sauron took control of the island he had king Ar-Pharazôn chop it down.

   

  Fortunately Isildur managed to save a single fruit of that tree. Of this fruit later came the White Tree(s) of Gondor.
• The Two Trees of Valinor existed at a time when the only other source of light was the stars (which had been created for the Elves' benefit by Varda from the dew collected from the Two Trees).

  • Varda kindled the first stars before the Ainur descended into the world, and later brightened them with the gold and silver dew from the Two Trees.
• The whole of the history of the First Age is strongly affected by the desire of many characters to possess the Silmarils that contain the only remaining unsullied light of the Trees.
• The trees are a manifestation of the axis mundi, a common mythological element where heaven and earth connect bringing the order and brilliance of the divine to earth, in this case, Ilúvatar to Middle-earth. The axis mundi is a compass that sets the rest of the world in order, balance, and direction. If it is hurt or destroyed, chaos will ensue.

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• The Silmarils (Quenya pl. Silmarilli, radiance of pure light^[1]) are three fictional brilliant jewels composed of the unmarred light of the Two Trees in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The Silmarils were made out of the crystalline substance silima
• The Silmarils are not mere jewels which shine with a great light. The three Silmarils are in some sense both alive and sacred. How Fëanor, admittedly the greatest of the Noldor, was able to create these objects is not fully explained.
• The Silmarils themselves are said to produce their own light, which comes from the Two Trees, but also to reflect the light of any other lights that come near them.
• Fëanor, son of Finwë, one of the first Elves (Eldar) in Eä, created the Silmarils from the light of the Two Trees. The Silmarils were hallowed by Varda, so that they would burn the hands of any evil creature or mortal who touched them (with the exception of Beren).
• Together with Ungoliant, the rebellious Vala Melkor destroyed the Two Trees. The Silmarils then contained all the remaining unmarred light of them. Therefore the Valar entreated Fëanor to give them up so they could restore the Trees, but he refused. Then news came that Melkor had killed Fëanor's father Finwë, the High King of the Noldor, and stolen the Silmarils. After this deed, Melkor fled from Valinor to his fortress Angband in the north of Middle-earth. Thereafter he wore the Silmarils in his iron crown.
• Fëanor was furious at Melkor, whom he named Morgoth, "Dark Enemy of the World", and at the Valar's perceived desire to take the gems for their own purposes. Together with his sons he swore the Oath of Fëanor, which bound them to fight anyone who withheld the Silmarils from them. This terrible oath resulted in much future trouble including mass-murder and the war of Elf against Elf.
• One of the Silmarils was recovered by Beren and Lúthien through great peril and loss. It was later taken to the Valar in the West
• The Valar then set this Silmaril as a star in the sky. The other two gems remained in Morgoth's hands, and were taken from him by a servant of Manwë at the end of the War of Wrath. However, soon afterwards, they were stolen by Fëanor's two remaining sons, Maedhros and Maglor, as they tried to fulfill the oath they had sworn so many years ago. But the jewels burned their hands, in denial of their rights of possession, as they had burned Morgoth's hands before. In agony, Maedhros threw himself and his Silmaril into a fiery pit, and Maglor threw his Silmaril into the sea.^[2] Thus the Silmarils remained in all three elements — in the sky, earth and water - and would never be recovered except by the reforming of the earth.

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• a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the morning star across the sky.
• Eärendil the Mariner
• Eärendil later became the leader of the people who lived there, and married Elwing, daughter of Dior the son of Beren and Lúthien. They had two sons, Elrond and Elros.

  • Lúthien, the half-elven, half-divine (Maia) princess, described as the Morning Star of the Elves and their most cherished. Beren was her mortal husband who stole a Silmaril back from Morgoth's iron crown to prove his worth to her father. When Lúthien became mortal for Beren, she wore the Silmaril around her neck and it hastened their end, as Lúthien's beauty combined with the brightness of the Silmaril was too much for mortal lands to bear.
• At this time Elwing had in her possession the Silmaril that Beren had wrested from Morgoth. News of this came to the sons of Fëanor that were still living, and they attacked the people living in Arvernien, and killed most of them. Elwing, rather than be captured, threw herself with the Silmaril into the sea. The Silmaril was not lost, however. According to The Silmarillion:
• For Ulmo bore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek Eärendil her beloved. On a time of night Eärendil at the helm of his ship saw her come towards him, as a white cloud exceeding swift beneath the moon, as a star over the sea moving in strange courses, a pale flame on wings of storm.

• Hearing of the tragedy that had befallen in Arvernien, Eärendil then sought after Valinor, and he and Elwing found their way there at last. Eärendil thus became the first of all mortals to set foot in Valinor. Eärendil then went before the Valar, and asked them for aid for Men and Elves in Middle-earth, to fight against Morgoth; the Valar accepted his plea.

   

  Because Eärendil had undertaken this errand on behalf of Men and Elves, and not for his own sake, Manwë forbore to deal out the punishment of death that was due.
• Also, because both Eärendil and Elwing were descended from a union of Elves and Men, Manwë granted to them and their sons the gift to choose to which race they would be joined (a gift that was further passed to the children of Elrond, who became known as the Half-elven). Elwing chose to be one of the Elves. Eärendil would have rather been one of the Men; however, for the sake of his wife, he chose to be one of the Elves.

  • Moreover, having sailed to the Undying Lands with the power of the Silmaril, Eärendil was not permitted to return to mortal lands. Thereafter (after the War of Wrath) he was set aloft, to sail forever the heavens in his ship Vingilot, the Silmaril of Beren and Lúthien on the prow. (The elvish origin account of the 'star' we know today as the planet Venus.) 
    
    
    
    
    In Middle-earth, he was seen as the evening star, and the light of his Silmaril was captured in the Phial of Galadriel. (Later gifted to Frodo.)
• Now when first Vingilot was set to sail in the seas of heaven, it rose unlooked for, glittering and bright; and the people of Middle-earth beheld it from afar and wondered, and they took it for a sign, and called it Gil-Estel, the Star of High Hope.
• The Valar, having listened to Eärendil's plea, went with a mighty host to Middle-earth, and overthrew Morgoth. Eärendil took part in the battle, riding on Vingilot beside Thorondor and the Eagles. He struck down the great dragon Ancalagon and cast him down onto Thangorodrim, the event which, along with the sheer devastation caused by the War of Wrath, led to the Ruin of Beleriand.

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• He describes Gandalf as the last of the wizards to appear in Middle-earth, one who: "seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff". Yet the Elf Círdan who met him on arrival nevertheless considered him "the greatest spirit and the wisest" and gave him the elven Ring of power called Narya, the Ring of Fire, containing a "red" stone for his aid and comfort.
• he was one of the Maiar of Valinor, specifically, of the people of the Vala Manwë; and was said to be the wisest of the Maiar. He lived in the gardens of Irmo under the tutelage of Nienna, the patron of mercy.
• Gandalf hid the ring well, and it was not widely known until he left with the other ring-bearers at the end of the Third Age that he, and not Círdan, was the holder of the third of the Elven-rings.
• Gandalf returned to Dol Guldur in T.A. 2850^[21] "at great peril" and learned that the Necromancer was indeed Sauron returned.
• The following year^[21] the White Council was summoned, and Gandalf urged that Sauron be driven out. Saruman, however, reassured the Council that Sauron's evident effort to find the One Ring (a necessary component of his resurgence) would fail, as the Ring would long since have been carried by the river Anduin to the Sea; and the matter was allowed to rest. But at this time Saruman himself began actively seeking the Ring near the Gladden Fields where Isildur had been killed, not far from Dol Guldur.
• It was on this Quest of Erebor that Gandalf found his sword, Glamdring, in a troll's treasure hoard, and that Bilbo found the One Ring, in a chance meeting with the creature Gollum (though at the time it was thought to be a lesser ring).

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• Dagor Dagorath represents the coming End of the World, and is often referred to as simply "The End".
• According to the Second Prophecy of Mandos,
• Morgoth (the source and personification of evil in Tolkien's Middle-earth universe) will discover how to break the Door of Night, and will destroy the Sun and the Moon. For the love of these, Eärendil will return from the sky and shall meet Tulkas, Eönwë, and Túrin Turambar on the plains of Valinor.
• There the forces of the Valar shall fight against Morgoth. Tulkas will wrestle with him, but it will be by the hand of Túrin that finally death and destruction will be dealt to Melkor. Túrin will run his black sword Gurthang (Iron of Death) through Melkor's heart, thus avenging the Children of Húrin (Chîn Húrin, in Tolkien's invented language of Sindarin) and all Men. Then the Pelóri Mountains will be levelled, the three Silmarils will be recovered from the Earth, sea, and sky, and Fëanor's spirit shall be released from the halls of Mandos to give them to Yavanna, who will break them and rekindle the light of the Two Trees. The battle will end and renew Arda's existence: all the Elves shall awake and the Powers will be young again. Also, according to Dwarven legends, they will help their maker Aulë recreate Arda in all its glory again. It is also thought that at that time, the substance that was used to create the Silmarils will be revealed.
• Following this, there will be a Second Music of the Ainur. This song will sing into being a new world. The Children of Ilúvatar (or, in the published Silmarillion, Men only) will sing it with the Ainur. It is unknown what the fate of the old races, or of the old world, will be in the new one. Even the Ainur do not know anything of the second world or the Second Music. All the Ainur know is that the Second Music will be greater than the First Music.
• In some of his later writings Tolkien made changes which might indicate that no Vala had definite knowledge of what would happen at the end of the world, beyond that a Last Battle would be fought between the forces of Light and Darkness. However, other contemporaneous texts continue to show further updates to the Second Prophecy of Mandos and thus it is uncertain what Tolkien's final views on the matter may have been.

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• The legacy that Lúthien left behind can be most clearly seen throughout the later ages in those who stem from her ancestry, including the Royal Family of Númenor, being the line of Elros of which Arathorn and his son Aragorn were descended, and Elrond Half-elven who was Lúthien's great-grandson. She is described as the Morning Star of the Elves, a term meaning that she was the most beautiful of all her people at the height of their glory. In contrast, Lúthien's descendant Arwen is called Evenstar, the Evening Star of the Elves, meaning that her beauty reflects that of Lúthien Tinúviel. Lúthien is also first cousin once removed to Galadriel; as Galadriel's mother, Eärwen of Alqualondë, is the daughter of Thingol's brother.
• Lúthien is half-elven royalty through her father Elu Thingol and half-divine (of the race of the Valar) through her mother Melian the Maia.
• At her birth, the white flower niphredil is said to have bloomed for the first time in Doriath.
• She fell in love with Beren, a Man of the House of Bëor. Their first meeting was in the forest of Neldoreth, which lay within the guarded realm of Doriath, hidden kingdom of Lúthien's father Elu Thingol and his Queen Melian. The kingdom was fenced by a barrier known as the Girdle of Melian which was formed by the power of Lúthien's Maia-mother and barred the entry of any save those granted access by the King and Queen. This meant that none except that privileged minority could find and even see the secret and hidden lands sheltered within. Their relationship was doomed from the beginning as Lúthien was not just the cherished only daughter of Thingol, the first and most powerful Elven-king in Beleriand, but also the daughter of a Maia, who had existed since before time and creation itself. Beren on the other hand, was a mortal man on the run from the Dark Lord Morgoth and an outlaw, without father and exiled from the land of his kin. Whilst Lúthien had lived for thousands of years in the world already, Beren was young even by human standards.

• The Meeting of Beren and Lúthien

   

  Initially it was Beren who saw Lúthien dancing from afar under moonrise beside the Glades of Esgalduin in her father's forest. From the moment he saw her with his eyes he loved her, for she was the most beautiful of all Elves and Men, the fairest of all the Children of the World. Because of this he revealed himself in the shadows wishing to be near enough to Lúthien to touch her, but Daeron her companion, noticed Beren and believed him to be a wild animal. Thus he shouted for Lúthien to flee, but at first she stood there unmoving, as she had never experienced fear or pain in her life and was confused. Then she saw Beren's shadow and was disturbed, making her dash away quickly. But as she hid in the foliage Beren reached out and touched her arm. To this Lúthien ran away in shock
• he longed for her in his heart calling her Tinúviel, an Elvish (Sindarin) name which means "Daughter of Twilight" signifying Nightingale and searched for her. Then after a period of watching her from afar, it happened that one day in summer when Lúthien was dancing on a green hill surrounded by hemlocks, she started singing and the sheer beauty of her voice awakened Beren from his enchantment. Then he ran to her out of the shadows and again she turned and tried to escape in fright but he called to her crying "Tinúviel" since he did not know any other name for her, and when Lúthien gazed upon him for the first time she reciprocated his love and was thus chained with his curse and burdens. He kissed her on the lips, but she slipped away from him and he fell into a deep sleep of grief and bliss. But in his hour of despair, when he was groping to see the light of her countenance once more, she appeared before him, and in the Hidden Kingdom set her hand in his and cradled his head against her breast. From then on they met secretly and conducted a clandestine relationship, and none before or after were as happy as they were, walking through the woods together hand-in-hand.
• Though Melian warned her husband against it, 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. He did not kill him outright since he had promised Lúthien that he would spare his life, and because of his renown. Beren left Menegroth immediately and Lúthien remained grieving.

• The Vision and Imprisonment of Lúthien

   

  Afterwards Lúthien had a vision in which she saw Beren lying suffering in the hellish pits of the Lord of Wolves, and horror weighed upon her heart. She sought the counsel of her mother who told her that Beren was indeed captive in the dungeons of Sauron, the Dark Lord's evil Regent. Because of this Lúthien decided that she must risk her life to save him, and face Sauron herself. She asked her friend Daeron for help, who thinking it was best for she whom he loved, betrayed her secret to Thingol. In angry love and fear the King had her locked in a prison up in the branches of the great beech tree of Doriath and had it patrolled by guards. Daeron was filled with remorse and so Lúthien forgave him. However she devised a plan to escape. Since her mother was a Maia (an angelic being) this conferred on Lúthien as half-Maia, great magical abilities. She grew her locks long and from them devised a spell that made her hair become a cloak that had the power of inducing sleep. With this she beguiled the guards and ran out of her prison.
• However en route to rescuing Beren she was found by Huan the Hound of Valinor, and taken to his master Celegorm and his brother Curufin. Celegorm became enamoured of her beauty and plotted to force her into marriage to himself.

• Huan took pity on her and decided to rebel against his master and free her. He was allowed to speak with words only three times ere he died, which was prophetically said to be by the "greatest wolf of all". Despite this he counselled her with words and together they escaped from Nargothrond.

   

  They came to Sauron's Isle. Here Lúthien sang for Beren to hear. He answered her call, thinking that it was a figment of his imagination and in his grief at the loss of his friend sang in answer. Then Sauron hearing that Lúthien was there became filled with malice. He had heard of her beauty and wished to bring her prisoner to Morgoth, his master as a pretty toy to play with. So he sent wolf after wolf to slay Huan, but each time the hound killed them. Finally he sent his most powerful werewolf Draugluin, who Huan also defeated. After this Sauron decided to finish Huan off himself. Filled with confidence that he was the one that would finally kill the famed hound, he transformed himself into the most powerful werewolf ever born. In this form Huan wavered and leapt aside, but Lúthien remained to face him. Sauron lunged for her, but she lifted a fold of her enchanted cloak and struck him, momentarily disorienting him and Huan then attacked him. The two fought for long, but Huan eventually won despite Sauron changing into many different shapes and forms. Finally Lúthien commanded him to leave and to surrender the lordship of the Isle to her or have his body ruined and destroyed by the terror of the wrath of Huan. Sauron gave up the keys of the tower and changed into a hideous vampire, before he flew away into the night-sky, shamed and defeated.
• Then Lúthien took control of the island and by her powers destroyed the Tower and freed the prisoners. Lúthien found Beren lying beside the dead body of Felagund and so thought him dead. She fell down into a state of grief, but then became reunited with Beren at the rising of the sun as he awakened and realized that his lover was there. They buried Finrod Felagund there on his Isle. Afterwards Huan returned to Celegorm his master but the lovers walked the woods once more in joy.
• But Beren became worried for Lúthien and pleaded with her to return to her father, since it was not fitting for an Elvish princess to live in the woods like a bandit of mortal men. Lúthien refused and confessed her undying love for Beren but just as they went to embrace the Sons of Fëanor, Celegorm and Curufin appeared.
• Huan then forsook his master and fought on the side of Beren and Lúthien. Beren stole one of their horses and at the command of Lúthien spared their lives. However as they fled Curufin aimed a shot of his bow at Lúthien. Beren at this point jumped in front of the arrow and took the blow. Huan chased the brothers until they vanished and came back to aid Lúthien. By Lúthien's magic and love Beren was restored to life. As she slept he gave her into the care of Huan and journeyed to Angband.
• When Lúthien awoke she was distraught and together she and Huan assumed the form of Thuringwethil, the vampire servant of Morgoth and Draugluin the Werewolf. She found Beren and gave him the hide of the great Werewolf. In the form of vampire (which Lúthien took) and werewolf they entered Angband. At the gates, however, Carcharoth the mightiest werewolf of all confronted them. However Lúthien suddenly became possessed by the ancient angelic power in her blood and forced him into a deep slumber. Together they reached the Throne of Morgoth and here the Dark Lord saw through Lúthien's disguise and stripped her of it. Lúthien then declared herself and offered to sing for Morgoth and filled with an evil lust for her he accepted. But when she began to sing Morgoth and his entire court fell into deep sleep. After this she sprang into the air and placed her cloak over Morgoth's eyes, shielding Beren and herself from him.
• She awoke Beren and after he had thrown away his disguise he cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown using Angrist. But Beren tried to get all three Silmarils, so he attempted to cut another one from the crown but his blade broke, and struck Morgoth's cheek and awakened him. At this Beren and Lúthien fled away, with the whole army of Morgoth's servants still slumbering. When they reached the gates Carcharoth attacked them. Beren wanting to protect weakening Lúthien thrust the Silmaril into the wolf's face to threaten him. The wolf then bit off Beren's entire hand and swallowed the Silmaril.
• In terror and pain he fled leaving Lúthien cradling a mortally wounded Beren in her arms, with the hosts of Angband on their heels. The Wolf's fangs were poisonous and so Lúthien sucked the venom out with her lips and with her failing power tried to restore him. But just when all hope seemed lost the Eagles of Manwë came and bore them up into the sky away from the angry hordes. They had come at the summons of Huan and they carried the two into the realm of Doriath and laid them on the ground.
• Here Lúthien waited by Beren's side and healed him. Then together they entered Doriath and stood before the throne of Lúthien's father. Beren told Thingol that the quest was, indeed, fulfilled, and that he held a Silmaril in his hand. When Thingol demanded to see it, Beren showed him his stump. When he heard their story he was amazed and thought Beren to be above all other mortal men. Because of this he allowed them to marry, and they did so before his throne that day. But at this time Carcharoth was ravaging all living beings on the borders of Doriath, in a crazed fit because of the burning jewel in his stomach. And so Beren, Thingol, Huan the Hound of Valinor, Mablung of the Heavyhand and Beleg Strongbow went out with other Elves to defeat the beast. In this Beren was assaulted by the wolf. Huan then leaped to his aid and killed the beast, but died soon after from mortal wounds, by his friend Beren's side. Then Beren was carried to Doriath where he died in Lúthien's arms, after she bade him to await her by the great sea in the afterlife.
• n grief, Lúthien lay down and died as well, going to the Halls of Mandos, where the spirits of the dead await re-embodiment in Valinor (for Elves) and departure from the circles of the world entirely (for Men). There she sang a song of woe before the throne of Mandos Lord of the Dead, of the tribulations and suffering of both Elves and Men, the greatest ever sung, so touching that Mandos was moved to pity for the only time. As a result he summoned Beren from the houses of the dead and Lúthien's spirit met his once again by the shores of the sea. Lúthien knew that this would be their final meeting, since Beren could not remain on the earth beyond his time and she was thus faced with the prospect of eternal widowhood. Mandos consulted with Manwë, King of Arda. Even Manwë could not change the fate of Men, and so he presented Lúthien with the only choice possible: to live in the immortal land of Valinor, where she could forget all her grief and enjoy eternal happiness along with her people and the Gods (Valar) but without Beren, or to return to the land of Middle-earth together with Beren as a mortal herself, accepting the Doom of Men and sharing in whatever unknown fate awaits them outside the Circles of the World. She chose this latter option. With this she accepted death as a mortal woman, and although it was not the fate of her race, she turned creation upside down for her love of Beren and relinquished everything for him and became a mortal woman.
• By nature she was still Elven, and was so in everything except eternal life, meaning that her child would still have immortal blood through her.
• Beren reclaimed the Nauglamír, and Beren and Lúthien kept the necklace and the great jewel until the end of their lives. It is said that the beauty of Lúthien combined with the splendour of the gem and necklace was to make her home of Tol Galen the fairest land ever to have existed east of Valinor, and that the Silmaril hastened Beren's and Lúthien's end, since Lúthien's beauty with the Silmaril around her neck was too bright for mortal lands to bear.^{[citation needed]} Lúthien Tinúviel gave up her life along with her husband Beren in the fair, green land of Ossiriand where their son and grandchildren had been born. The Elves never recovered from her death; since she alone of the Quendi had left the world, they have lost she whom they treasured most, forever.
• Elrond the Half-elven and Arwen Evenstar are descendants of Lúthien, as is Aragorn a descendant of Elrond's brother Elros. According to legend, her line will never be broken.

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• The Ents appear in The Lord of the Rings as ancient shepherds of the forest and allies of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. The Ent who figures most prominently in the book is Treebeard, one of the oldest creatures in Tolkien's world. At the time The Lord of the Rings takes place, there are no young Ents (Entings) because the Entwives (female Ents) were lost. The Ents are akin to Huorns, whom Treebeard describes as trees that have become animated or, conversely, as Ents who have grown more "treeish" over time.
• Ents are an old race that appeared in Middle-earth when the Elves did. They were apparently created by Eru Ilúvatar at the behest of Yavanna: when she learned of Aulë's children, the Dwarves, she foresaw that they would fell trees, and desired creatures to serve as Shepherds of the Trees to protect the forests from Dwarves and other perils. Although the Ents were sentient beings from the time of their awakening, they did not know how to speak until the Elves taught them. Treebeard said that the Elves "cured us of dumbness", that it was a great gift that could not be forgotten. ("They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves did.")
• Ents exhibit wide variation in personal traits (height, heft, colouring, even the number of digits), as they came to resemble somewhat the specific types of trees that they shepherded. Quickbeam, for example, guarded Rowan trees and bore some resemblance to rowans: tall and slender, smooth-skinned, with ruddy lips and grey-green hair.
• Treebeard boasted of their strength to Merry and Pippin; he said that Ents were much more powerful than Trolls, which Morgoth made in the First Age in mockery of Ents.
• The Sindarin word for Ent is Onod (plural Enyd).
• Almost nothing is known of the early history of the Ents. After the Dwarves were put to sleep by Eru to await the coming of the Elves, Aulë told his wife Yavanna, "the lover of all things that grow in the earth,"^[8] of the Dwarves. She replied, "They will delve in the earth, and the things that grow and live upon the earth they will not heed. Many a tree shall feel the bite of their iron without pity."^[9] She went to Manwë and appealed to him to protect the trees, and they realized that Ents, too, were part of the Song of Creation. Yavanna then warned Aulë, "Now let thy children beware! For there shall walk a power in the forests whose wrath they will arouse at their peril."^[9] The Ents are called "the Shepherds of the Trees".

• Treebeard says that the Entwives began to move farther away from the Ents because they liked to plant and control things, while the Ents liked to let things take their natural course, so they moved away to the region that would later become the Brown Lands across the Great River Anduin, although the male Ents still visited them. The Entwives, unlike the Ents, interacted with the race of Men and taught them much about the art of agriculture.

   

  Apparently the male Ents and female Entwives exhibited a marked degree of sexual dimorphism; the male Ents all resemble wild forest trees that they guard (oaks, rowans, etc.), but the Entwives guarded agricultural plants, and it would thus seem to be implied that they resembled the various agricultural plants and trees they guarded: Treebeard remarks that their hair was the hue of ripe corn (grain).

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• Ungoliant means "dark spider" in the fictional Sindarin language. It is a loan word from Quenya: Ungwë liantë. She is also known as Gloomweaver (Sindarin: Gwerlum, Quenya: Wirilomë).

• Ungoliant aided the evil Vala Melkor in his attack upon the Two Trees of Valinor, draining them of their sap after Melkor had injured them. She also drained the wells of Varda, extinguishing the source of light for the world. Afterward this light persisted only within the Silmarils of Fëanor. Ungoliant helped Melkor evade the Valar by shrouding them both in her impenetrable darkness, causing blindness and confusion amongst the hosts of the Valar that attempted to intercept them.^[1]

   

  Melkor had promised Ungoliant that he would yield anything she wished in return for her aid, but betrayed this promise by attempting to withhold the Silmarils from her. This angered Ungoliant, who, having grown immensely powerful from ingesting the life force of the Two Trees, trapped Melkor in her webs. At this point he gave out a cry of such fear and intensity that it was heard in the depths of Angband, and the Balrogs rushed to the aid of their master, scourging Ungoliant with their whips of flame.^[2]

   

  Ungoliant fled to the Ered Gorgoroth in Beleriand. At some point she gave birth to Giant Spiders, including the character Shelob in The Lord of the Rings. In The Silmarillion, it is stated that when she went into hiding her hunger was so influential that she would mate with spiders only to devour them later, with her offspring to be used as food once they were fully grown.

   

  According to The Silmarillion, Ungoliant's unremitting hunger drove her to devour herself, although an alternative sketch of Eärendil's voyage suggests that he slew her in the south.

• Shelob was an "evil thing in spider form...[the] last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world",^[1] living high in the Ephel Dúath mountains that border Mordor.
• "But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness."
• Her descendants (upon whom she would often feed) include the Giant Spiders who captured and were defeated by Bilbo Baggins's Dwarf allies in Mirkwood in The Hobbit.
• Shelob's lair was Torech Ungol, below Cirith Ungol ("Pass of the Spider").
• As Tolkien admitted in a letter to his son, Shelob "is of course only 'she + lob'," - lob being an archaic English word for spider, influenced by Old English loppe or "spider". The word is not related to "cob" nor "cobweb". Old English attercoppe (meaning "spider") is derived from atter meaning "poison" and coppe meaning "head"; Tolkien used "attercop" as well as "cob" and "lob" in The Hobbit, where Bilbo Baggins sings songs taunting the giant spiders in Mirkwood: "Attercop, Attercop, Old Tomnoddy" and "Lazy Lob and Crazy Cob".

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