In our previous episode, we detailed the fall of Minas Tirith, the beginning of the Quest
for the Jewel, and the tragic death of Finrod Felagund, at the hand of the Dark Lord’s
most capable lieutenant.
Yet this would not be the end of the tale of Beren and Lúthien, for as long as even
a fool’s hope remained, they would strive ever onwards to ensure they could someday
find solace in each other’s arms for the woes unmatched they had been and would yet
be forced to endure.
The consequences of their Quest were to have such far-reaching consequences; as the foundation
of the Union of Maedhros, right down to inspiring the love of a certain Aragorn, son of Arathorn
and Arwen, daughter of Elrond, during the Third Age of Middle Earth.
Those of you into tabletop gaming likely have seen many a world changing quest like this,
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In order to capture Lúthien, Sauron sent all of his werewolves including their great
sire Draugluin, yet Huan would not yield before them.
The great hound of the Valar gave not an inch and slaughtered each and every assailant who
came to take the woman he so deeply adored.
Sauron watched on as his servants were brought low by the hound and knew that the situation
would require his own intervention.
The future Dark Lord took the form of a great and formidable wolf as he engaged Huan in
combat.
Yet even he could not defeat the Hound of the Valar and was forced to yield the island.
This left Tol-in-Gaurhoth in the hands of Lúthien who cleared the taint of the land
and freed Beren.
The pair then buried Finrod and left the island behind them.
Unfortunately, now that the danger has seemingly dissipated, the ever-loyal Huan had to return
to his master Celegorm, depriving them of a formidable ally in the struggle to come.
Yet this loyalty was to be tested as Celegorm and Curufin crossed paths with Beren and Lúthien
near the Forest of Brethil.
They aimed to kill Beren and take Lúthien captive, however, Huan was unwilling to allow
such a foul act to be committed.
Beren then took from Curufin his horse and knife Angrist and gave him permission to return
to his people humbled.
Yet the malice of Curufin remained, and he took from his brother his bow and fired upon
Lúthien, forcing Beren to dive before the arrow.
Beren was wounded and was about to be killed, but Huan drove off the brothers.
He also brought with him an herb that Lúthien used to save the life of her love.
Following that, they returned to Doriath.
In Doriath, Beren entrusted the life of Lúthien to the guardianship of Huan, as he knew he
had to return to the North to finish his quest of taking the Silmarils from the Dark Lord
Morgoth.
He now believed this would be his final act, and as such, he sang the farewell Song of
Parting, yet aid came unbidden as Huan and Lúthien returned to his side.
Huan spoke for only the second time, stating that Beren would no longer be able to save
Lúthien from her fate.
“From the shadow of death, you can no longer save Luthien, for by her love she is now subject
to it.”
So he allowed her to accompany him further as they took upon themselves the guise of
Draugluin and the bat-like messenger of Sauron, known as Thuringwethil, to pass through the
Anfauglith without being accosted.
As the pair reached the very gates of Angband weary beyond belief, a previously unknown
threat lay before them.
Following the retreat of the Elves from the Ard-Galen, a venomous new warden had been
placed before the fortress - a wolf of immense proportions Carcharoth also called the Red
Maw, who had already heard news of Draugluin’s demise and hence was suspicious of the pair.
Yet Lúthien through her magic was able to command the wolf to sleep and the duo was
able to descend to the very depths of Angband, before coming face to face with the Dark Lord
in his throne room.
This hall patrolled by Balrogs was filled with horrors never witnessed before by the
eyes of the free peoples, and the very strength of the gaze of Morgoth robbed Lúthien of
her disguise.
Yet Lúthien’s courage shone through once more as she was undaunted by the vile horrors
which she now faced and instead of cowering beneath the weight of her doom, she offered
to sing for the Dark Lord.
As she evaded his sight, she began to sing a piece of such unimaginable beauty and blinding
power, that Morgoth was forced to dream of the Void and alongside the rest of his court
fell into a deep darkened slumber.
Beren recognized what must be done and put aside his disguise, taking from its sheath
the blade of the son of Feanor Angrist and taking from Morgoth’s crown a Silmaril.
Yet this mere man deigned that if he could garner a single Silmaril he could bring with
him all three.
His very blade was to betray him, however.
Angrist snapped with a sharp fragment of the finely wrought blade striking the cheek of
the Dark Lord, which caused him to arouse and awaken the legions of Angband from their
slumber.
The gravity of their situation became clear to Beren and Lúthien immediately, which caused
them to flee with all haste to the surface.
Yet they had merely left the frying pan and emerged instantly into the flame, as Carcharoth,
who was created to take on the Hound of the Valar Huan, was now awake and furious of the
deception of Lúthien.
Beren attempted to drive him off using the light of the Silmaril, which momentarily tempered
his rage with a sliver of fear.
Yet this was not to last, as the blackened spirit of the beast drove him once more into
a rage.
Carcharoth grasped the right hand of Beren within his great maw severing it and consuming
the Silmaril.
This seared the innards of the mighty wolf and he fled South, emitting such howls of
madness as to drive fear into the heart of any of the free peoples he was to encounter.
According to our chronicler: “So terrible did he become in his madness that all the
creatures of Morgoth that abode in that valley fled far away for he slew all living things
that stood in his path, and burst from the North with ruin upon the world.”
Carcharoth was designed as such a beast of chaos and ruin that his very fangs were laced
with a potent and fatal venom, which left Beren mortally wounded.
The Quest it seemed was to end in heartbreak and despair, yet unbidden came Thorondor with
his eagles, and from the blackened skies of the Anfauglith they saved the duo from the
grasps of the legions of Angband.
They bore Beren and Lúthien South passing above the glimmering jewel of the hidden city
of Gondolin, yet even this heartening sight could not assuage Lúthien’s despair for
the imminent passing of the great love of her life.
The eagles left the pair in the glade where they had first met in Doriath and Huan came
once more to their side.
There they tended the son of Barahir, as he lay wracked by dreams of such pain and anguish
that a lesser man would have been taken by them.
Just as the despair of Lúthien reached its apex, the eyes of Beren fluttered open and
he unexpectedly awoke.
The name Erchamion which meant “the One-handed” in Sindarin was bestowed upon the most valorous
of men.
There they dwelt for a time in such happiness and joy, yet Beren could not set aside his
oath to Thingol and he returned Lúthien to his father.
News of their return had spread far and wide in the interim so therefore upon their arrival
in Menegroth, they had garnered a sizable welcome.
They recounted the tales of adversity and woe which had befallen them since they had
initially departed.
Astonished by the perseverance and strength a mere man had displayed in the face of an
impossible task, Thingol softened in his attitude towards the son of Barahir.
He now held it in his thoughts that no power of elf or man, Maiar, Valar, or any other
such being upon the face of Arda could stand between the fate of his daughter and this
man of Dorthonion.
Before the very throne of her father, Beren took the hand of Lúthien and all seemed well
for a time, yet their peace and joy were not to last.
For from the North came the howling Carcharoth, the Red Maw, as he devastated the lands he
made his way through.
As he was empowered by the Silmaril of Feanor even the Girdle of Melian could not prevent
his entry into Doriath.
A party was assembled to confront the foul beast before he brought ruin and devastation
upon the land that Thingol as King had sworn to defend.
The company consisted of Huan, captain of the marchwarden rangers Mablung, chief of
marchwarden rangers Beleg Strongbow, Beren Erchamion, and Thingol himself.
As they rode out to meet with a being of such immense power that the outcome of any encounter
remained firmly upon a knife’s edge, a great darkness fell upon the heart of Lúthien who
now saw all colour, beauty, and life drained from the world.
Near the Northern waterfalls of Esgalduin, the party met with the great wolf.
Carcharoth launched his immense frame upon the King, yet Beren placed himself between
Thingol and the taker of his right hand.
In doing so he saved the King of Doriath’s life but was mortally wounded himself.
The great wolf was eventually slain by Huan, however, the Great Hound of the Valar gave
his own life in the process, bading a fond farewell to his dear friend Beren.
Following this morose parting, Mablung ripped open the stomach of the wolf and took from
Carcharoth the Silmaril, placing it in the one remaining hand of the son of Barahir.
Beren turned to look Thingol in the eye and bade him take from him the Silmaril.
The king eventually acquiesced and Beren uttered his lat words “Now the Quest is achieved
and my doom full wrought.”
The survivors of the party brought his body back to Menegroth and Lúthien came forth
to meet the company.
She now felt grief unequaled and asked of her love to wait for her beyond the Western
Sea and despite his dire condition, his eyes fluttered open once more so that he could
look upon her one last time.
With his death, the Quest for the Silmaril was at an end, yet the Tale of Beren and Lúthien
was yet to reach its final conclusion.
Beren’s spirit lingered within the Hall of Mandos, in the hopes that he may one day
yet see Lúthien upon the dimmest shores of the Outer Sea, so that he could bestow upon
her one final farewell.
For from those shores the spirits of all Men were to depart the world never to return,
as was the necessity of the Gift of Ilúvatar.
Heartbroken beyond all belief, the very spirit of Lúthien left her body and made its way
to the Halls of Mandos, where she knelt before the Vala themselves and sang a song of such
woe and sorrow so as to move even Mandos to pity.
Yet even with the power afforded to him, Mandos could not alter the fates of the Children
of Ilúvatar, so he turned to Manwe who further sought the counsel of Ilúvatar so moved was
he by the plight of Beren and Lúthien.
This counsel allowed two choices to Lúthien.
For her valor, the extraordinary nature of the labours she had achieved throughout her
lifetime and the grief she had been forced to bear throughout she could be permitted
to stay in Valinor.
There all of her pain and sorrow, which she had endured throughout her life would be forgotten.
There was one important caveat for this option however, Beren could not follow her along
such a path.
The second option would be a return to Middle Earth with Beren, where she would live out
a mortal life with no guarantee of joy.
They would both be subject to a second death, following the end of their mortal lives.
Despite this, she chose to face such a second brush with death for the sake of Beren.
In doing so she forsook the Undying Lands and so it came to be that Lúthien Tinúviel
and Beren Erchamion, would live out a mortal life together as the fairest of the Elves
forsook her gift of immortality for the love of a man.
Soon after this exceptional decision on Lúthien’s part, which had been taken in the aftermath
of the return of a Silmaril, word reached Maedhros of their Quest.
In an act that none of the sons of Feanor had up until this point been able to replicate,
Maedhros had become convinced that Morgoth was far from the invincible foe they had once
imagined him to be.
This brought hope to the fiercest of the sons of Feanor, who now believed it possible to
end for good and all the dominion of Morgoth.
This alliance of the Great Houses of the Elves and Edain would come to be known as the Union
of Maedhros.
Yet despite the hopes which had inspired its creation the Union was to bring naught more
than Unnumbered Tears, as the Doom of Mandos promised to Feanor could not so easily be
overturned even in the face of a united front of the finest of both Elf and Man.
However, this is the story for our next documentary on the history of the First Age.
The next few videos in this series will be dedicated to the continued battles of the
War of the Jewels, but we are planning to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi,
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