Silmarillion - Chapter 19 - Of Beren and Luthien - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Aiwendil · 10-28-2007, 10:47 AM

If the Quenta Silmarillion began with mythology and proceeded into history, it has now moved on from history into drama. With ‘Beren and Luthien’ we begin the Great Tales, the sagas of the late first age on which Tolkien expended so much time and thought. In the 1950s, he seems to have come to conceive of the longer versions of these later tales as forming a complete work unto themselves, which he called the Atanatarion; of this the first part was to be the ‘Narn Beren ion Barahir’ or the ‘Narn e•Dinuviel’.

The tale of Beren and Luthien is, of course, too vast for a single post to do more than scratch its surface. Like the subsequent chapters, ‘Beren and Luthien’ is really a Great Tale in itself and easily the equal of a novel in literary significance. The chapter-long version has a certain fairy-tale beauty, but it is really only a concise summary of the story – which is told (minus the ending) in its full glory in the ‘Lay of Leithian’. In my opinion, this (and particularly the partial revision of the 1950s) is among Tolkien’s greatest works, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the concise version.

The ‘Lay of Leithian’ is a curious name; it is sub-titled ‘Release from Bondage’, and this seems to be the meaning of the Sindarin ‘Leithian’. ‘Release from Bondage’ is certainly not an obvious title for the tale of Beren and Luthien, but I think it provides a key insight into one of the most important themes of the work. In a way, the tale is about a series of escapes or rescues. There is, centrally (and with respect to the rest of the Silmarillion, most importantly), the release of a Silmaril from bondage in Angband. But consider the other ‘releases’ in the story: Luthien’s escape from her tree-house, her escape from Nargothrond, the rescue of Beren from Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the release of Beren and Luthien from Mandos, and finally the release of Luthien from her Elvish immortality.

Another theme that runs strongly through the tale is that of oaths and oath-breaking. There was a thread some time ago in the Books forum that considered the significance of oaths in Tolkien’s work, focusing primarily on LotR. But consider the various oaths taken and the various fates of the oath-takers in ‘Beren and Luthien’: Finrod’s oath of friendship to Barahir (which leads him to his death), Gorlim’s broken oath of loyalty to Barahir, Beren’s oath to avenge his father (in the ‘Lay’), Thingol’s oath to Luthien not to kill Beren (of which he keeps the letter but not the spirit), Beren’s oath to win a Silmaril from Angband, and of course the oath of Feanor which runs through this and many other tales.

There is so much more that could be said concerning Beren and Luthien that any attempt to say it here would be futile. But if there is any interest in discussing this chapter, there is certainly a vast range of topics to be explored.

‘Beren and Luthien’ is probably second only to ‘Turin’ in terms of the number of treatments Tolkien gave it. The earliest version is found in the ‘Book of Lost Tales’, but even here there are three different revisions that differ in important respects. One very interesting feature here is that, while in the earliest version Beren is a Man as in the Silmarillion, in the revised version he is made a Noldorin Elf (a ‘Gnome’). At times the Lost Tales ‘Beren and Luthien’ diverges wildly from the story’s later incarnations (for example, here instead of Sauron we have Tevildo the Prince of Cats) but at other times we find enduring features already in place (as in the first encounter of Beren and Luthien in the forest).

The story then received its most vivid treatment in the ‘Lay of Leithian’ of the 1920s; in notes accompanying this work Tolkien can be seen working out much of the structure and detail of the story. Shorter versions in the Silmarillion tradition followed in the ‘Sketch of the Mythology’, the ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’, and the 1937 ‘Quenta Silmarillion’, as well as the beginning of a longer prose version based on the poem. In the 1950s another re-telling of the story appeared in the ‘Grey Annals’ and Tolkien embarked upon a revision of the ‘Lay of Leithian’ – which, despite getting no further than Beren’s first glimpse of Luthien, contains some of Tolkien’s finest verse.

Additional reading:
HoMe II - ‘Lost Tales’ versions
HoMe III – 1920s ‘Lay of Leithian’ and abortive 1950s revision
HoMe IV, V – ‘Sketch of the Mythology’, ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’, and ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ versions.
HoMe X – See ‘Myths Transformed’ for the note regarding the Atanatarion and the ‘Great Tales’.
HoMe XI – ‘Grey Annals’ version.

10-28-2007, 10:47 AM	#1
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	Silmarillion - Chapter 19 - Of Beren and Luthien If the Quenta Silmarillion began with mythology and proceeded into history, it has now moved on from history into drama. With ‘Beren and Luthien’ we begin the Great Tales, the sagas of the late first age on which Tolkien expended so much time and thought. In the 1950s, he seems to have come to conceive of the longer versions of these later tales as forming a complete work unto themselves, which he called the Atanatarion; of this the first part was to be the ‘Narn Beren ion Barahir’ or the ‘Narn e•Dinuviel’. The tale of Beren and Luthien is, of course, too vast for a single post to do more than scratch its surface. Like the subsequent chapters, ‘Beren and Luthien’ is really a Great Tale in itself and easily the equal of a novel in literary significance. The chapter-long version has a certain fairy-tale beauty, but it is really only a concise summary of the story – which is told (minus the ending) in its full glory in the ‘Lay of Leithian’. In my opinion, this (and particularly the partial revision of the 1950s) is among Tolkien’s greatest works, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the concise version. The ‘Lay of Leithian’ is a curious name; it is sub-titled ‘Release from Bondage’, and this seems to be the meaning of the Sindarin ‘Leithian’. ‘Release from Bondage’ is certainly not an obvious title for the tale of Beren and Luthien, but I think it provides a key insight into one of the most important themes of the work. In a way, the tale is about a series of escapes or rescues. There is, centrally (and with respect to the rest of the Silmarillion, most importantly), the release of a Silmaril from bondage in Angband. But consider the other ‘releases’ in the story: Luthien’s escape from her tree-house, her escape from Nargothrond, the rescue of Beren from Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the release of Beren and Luthien from Mandos, and finally the release of Luthien from her Elvish immortality. Another theme that runs strongly through the tale is that of oaths and oath-breaking. There was a thread some time ago in the Books forum that considered the significance of oaths in Tolkien’s work, focusing primarily on LotR. But consider the various oaths taken and the various fates of the oath-takers in ‘Beren and Luthien’: Finrod’s oath of friendship to Barahir (which leads him to his death), Gorlim’s broken oath of loyalty to Barahir, Beren’s oath to avenge his father (in the ‘Lay’), Thingol’s oath to Luthien not to kill Beren (of which he keeps the letter but not the spirit), Beren’s oath to win a Silmaril from Angband, and of course the oath of Feanor which runs through this and many other tales. There is so much more that could be said concerning Beren and Luthien that any attempt to say it here would be futile. But if there is any interest in discussing this chapter, there is certainly a vast range of topics to be explored. ‘Beren and Luthien’ is probably second only to ‘Turin’ in terms of the number of treatments Tolkien gave it. The earliest version is found in the ‘Book of Lost Tales’, but even here there are three different revisions that differ in important respects. One very interesting feature here is that, while in the earliest version Beren is a Man as in the Silmarillion, in the revised version he is made a Noldorin Elf (a ‘Gnome’). At times the Lost Tales ‘Beren and Luthien’ diverges wildly from the story’s later incarnations (for example, here instead of Sauron we have Tevildo the Prince of Cats) but at other times we find enduring features already in place (as in the first encounter of Beren and Luthien in the forest). The story then received its most vivid treatment in the ‘Lay of Leithian’ of the 1920s; in notes accompanying this work Tolkien can be seen working out much of the structure and detail of the story. Shorter versions in the Silmarillion tradition followed in the ‘Sketch of the Mythology’, the ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’, and the 1937 ‘Quenta Silmarillion’, as well as the beginning of a longer prose version based on the poem. In the 1950s another re-telling of the story appeared in the ‘Grey Annals’ and Tolkien embarked upon a revision of the ‘Lay of Leithian’ – which, despite getting no further than Beren’s first glimpse of Luthien, contains some of Tolkien’s finest verse. Additional reading: HoMe II - ‘Lost Tales’ versions HoMe III – 1920s ‘Lay of Leithian’ and abortive 1950s revision HoMe IV, V – ‘Sketch of the Mythology’, ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’, and ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ versions. HoMe X – See ‘Myths Transformed’ for the note regarding the Atanatarion and the ‘Great Tales’. HoMe XI – ‘Grey Annals’ version.