Information AboutBeren |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BEREN | |
| middle-earth edain | |
| characters in the silmarillion | |
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STORY Beren was the son of Barahir and Emeldir . He was a Man of the royal House Of Bëor of Dorthonion , and the most accomplished hero and adventurer of the First Age . The battle of the Dagor Bragollach occurred during his youth, bringing about the ruin of his kingdom. The young Beren lived with his father and ten loyal followers in the highlands of Dorthonion, and the twelve of them performed many acts of bravery, to the great frustration of Morgoth , the Dark King of Angband . After the ruin of the Outlaws of Dorthonion, Beren was forced from the land of his birth by Sauron and Draugluin . He crossed into Doriath , where he saw and fell in love with Lúthien , princess of the Sindar and daughter of Thingol and Melian . Thingol haughtily refused to give Lúthien's hand in marriage. He said that he would allow the marriage to take place only if Beren brought back a Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth . The task was intended to be impossible, but Beren and Lúthien, with the aid of Finrod of Nargothrond and Huan the Great Hound (both of whom died protecting Beren), braved many perils (even besting Sauron, then Morgoth's most powerful lieutenant) and captured a Silmaril. However, as they escaped from Angband , the great wolf Carcharoth , whom Morgoth had personally bred, awoke. Beren held out the Silmaril, hoping that its radiance would avert the beast, but he was mistaken. Carcharoth bit off his hand swallowed it and the Silmaril (thus Beren was called Erchamion, One-hand), and proceeded to run rampant through Doriath. Lúthien and the unconscious Beren were rescued by the Eagles of Manwë . Beren participated in the hunting of Carcharoth, where the beast was slain and the Silmaril recovered; the quest was accomplished, but in the process Beren was mortally wounded. Lúthien's love for Beren was so strong that, hearing of his death, she laid down and died. Her soul went to the Halls of Mandos , where she managed to charm Mandos into granting her a wish. Both she and Beren were restored to life, but both of them would die the death of Men, and go beyond the walls of Arda to a place unknown. Thus Beren and Lúthien lived again, and dwelt on Tol Galen in the middle of the river Adurant in Ossiriand . There they stayed apart from other mortals; Beren was involved with the events of the First Age only one further time, when he waylaid a group of Dwarves who had destroyed Doriath and stolen the Nauglamír (and the Silmaril with it). Lúthien bore Beren a son, named Dior , Thingol's heir, considered to be one of the fairest beings to ever live, for in him flowed the blood of Men, the blood of Elves, and the blood of the Ainur . Through his descendants, the blood of Beren and of Lúthien was preserved among the Eldar and the Edain . The name of Beren's sword was ''Dagmor''. EVOLUTION The story of Beren and Lúthien, though mentioned only briefly in '' The Lord Of The Rings '', was a central part of the Legendarium . Tolkien once referred to it as "the kernel of the mythology" ('' The Letters Of J. R. R. Tolkien '', 165). He went on to say that it "arose from a small woodland glade filled with ' Hemlock s'", which he visited while serving in the Humber Garrison in 1918 (during World War I ). In the earliest versions of the ''), Beren was a Gnome (a Ñoldorin Elf ), son of Egnor (which might have been an early name for Aegnor ). Inspiration It is widely believed that the story, as well as the characters, has been inspired from the day when Edith Bratt danced for young Tolkien. This event was recorded in the narrative when the outlaw Beren met by chance the Elf princess dancing in Doriath and fell in love with her. Therefore Edith has been the inspiration of Lúthien and Beren can as well be a Mary Sue character based on himself. Beren is also is the analogue of Culhwch in the Welsh folktale, Culhwch And Olwen . The surname ''Tolkien'' derives from the German Toll-kühn meaning 'Foolishly brave' {Link without Title} . The name Beren in Elvish means also 'brave' and some believe that this is intentional by the author. When Tolkien's wife died, he had her headstone engraved ''EDITH MARY TOLKIEN Lúthien 1889 – 1971'', and when he died two years later he left orders for his own name to be written ''JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN Beren 1892 – 1973'' REFERENCES IN ADAPTATIONS The BBC Radio Adaptation of ''The Lord of the Rings'' includes a scene from '' The Fellowship Of The Ring '' in which Aragorn summarizes the story of Beren and Lúthien for Frodo Baggins and his companions. Frodo later comes to realise the connection between their story and that of Aragorn and Arwen . '' ( 2001 ) does not mention the story at all in its original theatrical version. The Special Extended Edition of the film contains a brief mention of the story. During the journey from Bree to Rivendell Frodo hears Aragorn singing quietly to himself one night and asks who the woman is of whom he is singing. Aragorn replies that he is singing of Lúthien. When Frodo asks what happened to her Aragorn replies, "she died". This is true enough, and can be seen as a reflection of Aragorn's concern over Arwen's renunciation of immortality for his sake, but clearly fails to address the real context of the story or its similarity to that of Aragorn and Arwen. Fans who hoped that a more complete explanation of the story might be given in '''' ( 2003 ) were disappointed. THE LINE OF BEREN |
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