Far from the shadow lands of the dark lord Morgoth, Luthien, princess of Doriath felt
the terrible pain of her beloved Beren, as he withered away in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Sauron’s
deadly island fortress.
At once she wished to come to his aid, enlisting the help of her friend Daeron the Minstrel,
but he betrayed her, revealing her plans to Thingol and commissioning the creation of
a beautiful house within a large tree.
Housing Luthien there and removing any way for her leave the home.
But she refused to give up and used magic to grow her hair long, then using it as material
to make an enchanted robe cast with a spell placing any who looked upon her to sleep.
She also fashioned a rope, using it to climb down and escape.
While travelling through the forest she was discovered by Huan the wolfhound of Valinor,
once a hunting companion of the Vala Orome, who’d been made ageless, tireless and sleepless,
even granted the gift of speech, though was only allowed to speak only 3 times during
his life.
It was prophesized When the Noldor elves still lived in valinor,
Orome gave Huan to his friend Celegorm, son of Feanor, to protect him and serve by his
side.
Huan was so powerful the spell of Luthien had no effect on him, and so he captured the
elven maiden and brought her before his master.
Celegorm and Curufin, who’d been opposed to Finrod’s journey with Beren, then used
the situation to their advantage.
Struck by her beauty and seeing the tremendous merits in marrying the daughter of King Thingol,
Celegorm sent a letter to Doriath telling them of Luthien’s arrival and of their impending
marriage.
Yet so lovely a creature was Luthien, that even the Hound Huan loved her, and so he spoke
for the first time, helping her escape from captivity.
When they arrived at Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Luthien sang a song that could be heard throughout
the area.
It even reached Beren as he wallowed in the darkness of his prison.
The man then summoned the last of his strength and sang his own song, which Luthien heard.
But Sauron too learned of her location and send his werewolves to stop them.
One by one Huan battled and tore apart these enemies, until Sauron sent Draugluin, first
and oldest of their kind, and Lord of the werewolves of Angband.
He engaged in a great battle with Huan but could not best him, and so Draugluin fled,
escaping back to his master and warning him of Huan’s presence before dying from his
injuries.
Sauron then took the form of a werewolf and went to confront the beast himself, engaging
in yet another terrible battle, transforming into a snake and his own form during the fighting
but still Huan would not relent, defeating the Lord of the Isle and forcing him into
surrender.
Yet as soon as Huan released him he changed form into a bat and flew away.
Luthien then searched and found beren in his prison, and the two were at last reunited.
They then buried Finrod and left the area.
Huan the hound, satisfied that he’d done his duty to Luthien, returned to nargothrond
to continue serving Celegorm, though the son of Feanor no longer had the same love for
the creature he’d once felt.
In addition to Huan, many of the prisoners Luthien had freed from Sauron’s prisons
returned to Nargothrond, and as they were loyal to the deceased king Finrod, persuaded
the Noldor that the sons of Feanor had evil in their hearts and were wrong to have spoken
against the king.
And so both Celegorm and Curufin were banished from the realm, sent to find refuge with their
brothers in the east.
Beren meanwhile continued on his mission to claim a silmaril, and while he desired that
Luthien remain behind or return to Doriath for her own safety, she outright refused,
insisting that they not be parted.
Yet once again conflict found them, as the sons of feanor happened upon them in the forest,
and again tried to steal Luthien away.
Although Huan the Hound once again turned on his master during the engagement, protecting
Beren and Luthien, Beren was gravely injured while diving in front of his beloved, taking
an arrow in the chest for her protection.
Huan then chased the sons of Feanor away and returned with special herb, which added to
the magic of Luthien saved Beren’s life.
Continuing on their journey, Huan brought them the skin of the Werewolf Draugluin and
the Batfell Thuringwëthil, speaking for the 2nd time and advising that they used them
as disguises, then saying goodbye because he could go no further.
As they travelled into Angband Luthien also used her magic to put any who gazed upon them
to sleep.
Even Carcharoth, servant of Morgoth and the most powerful werewolf to exist fell to her
enchantment as he looked upon them.
Beren and Luthien then snuck through the fortress of Angband, into Morgoth’s chamber and even
the Dark Lord could not resist Luthien’s spell, entranced by her beauty and put to
sleep by her magic.
Beren then cut a simaril from the iron crown, and was so elated by his success, he attempted
to take a second simaril, in the hopes of collecting all three.
However his blade broke as he cut the second jewel, causing a shard of steel to cut Morgoth’s
cheek stirring him from sleep.
Beren and Luthien, forgetting about the other jewels, than hastily made their escape from
the fortress.
However Carcharoth, now awoken, confronted them as they escaped and so Beren pulled out
the simaril, hoping it’s brilliant light would scare the creature away.
The werewolf instead bit off Beren’s hand, swallowing the simaril and immediately turned
to madness as it burned his insides.
Carcharoth went on a rampage through the forest, ignoring Beren and Luthien.
Just then, as all of Angband awoke, threatening to destroy them, the Eagles of Manwe arrived,
after Huan the Hound spread word for the animals of the forest to keep watch on the couple.
The Eagles carried the man and elf maiden to safety and Luthien’s magic again saved
Beren’s life.
The couple having ended their mission in failure, then returned to Doriath, presenting themselves
before king and telling of their astonishing adventure.
Although Beren had not succeeded in bringing back the Simaril, Thingol was marvelled by
the story, seeing clearly that this was no ordinary human, and that indeed he was worthy
of marrying his daughter.
With Beren now accepted among them, the King organized a great hunt, travelling into the
forests of Doriath to slay the beast Carcharoth, who was slaughtering everything in his path.
Alongside the King, Beren joined in the hunt, along with Huan the Hound and many other Lords
and heroes of Doriath.
As they searched for the creature, Carcharoth was the first to attack, leaping out to kill
the king.
Yet beren leaped before him with a spear which was knocked aside as the creature bit into
the human’s chest.
Huan then charged forth against the werewolf engaging in a viscious battle as Beren lay
dying.
And while Carcharoth was defeated, Huan suffered terrible injuries, using the last of his strength
walk over to Beren and lay by his side, speaking for the third and final time to bid farewell
before dying.
One of Thingol’s men then cut open the werewolf beast and removed the simaril placing it in
Beren’s hand, so he might fulfil his vow and present the jewel to the King.
Although he was so badly injured Beren could no longer speak, he held on to life just long
enough to gaze upon Luthien one last time before dying.
As was the fate of men, Beren’s spirit was transported to the Halls of Mandos where he
would wait for a time before leaving the world entirely.
Yet even before the mighty Valar Beren was steadfast, refusing to proceed into the afterlife
until he saw Luthien again and said a proper goodbye.
Luthien meanwhile could not live without her love and so died shortly after Beren, her
spirit then going to the Halls of Mandos, to be among the elves who would be reborn
in Arda.
There she sang a beautiful song of sorrow which moved Mandos to pity.
And so he went to seek council from Manwe, Lord of the Valar, who consulted with their
creator Eru to determine the fate of Beren and Luthien.
And so she was offered a choice.
Either Luthien could continue on to the Elven afterlife, or else she could be reborn alongside
beren in middle earth, destined to live a mortal life, and share in the fate of men.
Rejecting the gift of immortality, she chose to live a life with Beren and so they spent
the rest of their lives together, living in Tol Galen of Ossiriand, and having a son they
named Dior, who would be the heir of King Thingol.
Dior was believed to be the one of the most beautiful beings to ever live, because in
his veins ran the blood Men, Elves, and even the blood of the Ainur, through his grandmother
Melian.
Only once more did Beren involve himself in the affairs of Beleriand, gathering together
a group of Green-Elves and Ents, to ambush the Dwarves of Nogrod, who’d destroyed Doriath
and killed King thingol.
Stealing from him the neckless Nauglamir.
Once Thingol was avenged and the treasure recovered, Beren gave the beautiful prize
to his wife Luthien and the two continued to live together for many years, dying a peaceful
death at the same time in their older age.
For thousands of years the tale of Beren and Luthien inspired and enthralled the peoples
of middle earth, standing as a shining example of a love so strong none could stand between
them.
Further it was the first known marriage between a human and elf, creating a bloodline that
would endure until the end of the world.