The Girdle of Melian

dresdencodak:

“Silmarillion Chapter 4: Of Thingol and Melian”

“Then an enchantment fell on him, and he stood still still; and afar off beyond the voices of the lómelindi he heard the voice of Melian, and it filled all his heart with wonder and desire. He forgot utterly all his people and the purposes of his mind, and following the birds under the shadow of the trees he passed deep into Nan Elmoth and was lost. But he came at last to a glade open to the stars, and there Melian stood; and out of the darkness he looked at her, and the light of Aman was in her face.”

Thingol and Melian are the High King and Queen of Beleriand, and functionally all of Middle-Earth in their day.  Melian is a Maia, the race of spirits that include Sauron.  Tolkien gives very little description of her, so I decided to keep a slightly otherworldly appearance, with horns like a faun or forest spirit. She’s actually much wiser than her husband and much more joyful, so I wanted to make sure that imagery held.

Thingol is the King of the Sindar, the “Grey Elves” who stayed in Middle-Earth (though Thingol himself made the journey to Aman once).  As the tallest of the Men and Elves and one of the mightiest in battle, I wanted to keep his form larger and imposing.  Older Elves can grow beards, and I’ve decided that any male Elf who was among the first to awaken (this includes Thingol) will be sporting a beard.

 Previous Silmarillion entries:

1. Ainulindalë - The Music of the Ainur
2. Valaquenta - Account of the Valar and Maiar in according to the lore of the Eldar
3. The Monsters of Middle-Earth
4. The Free Peoples of the First Age
5. Silmarillion Chapter 1 - Of the Beginning of Days
6. Silmarillion Chapter 2 - Of Aulë and Yavanna
7. Silmarillion Chapter 3 - Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor

stoneofthehapless:

Thingol by ~Marya Filatova

“But when Elwë awoke from his long trance, he came forth from Nan Elmoth with Melian, and they dwelt thereafter in the woods in the midst of the land….His people gathered about him in joy, and they were amazed; for fair and noble as he had been, now he appeared as it were a lord of the Maiar, his hair as grey silver, tallest of all the Children of Ilúvatar; and a high doom was before him.” 

— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, “Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië”

markedasinfernal:

Menegroth, by elontirien

markedasinfernal:

“Beren, you are a mere human…”

By Maureval

thranduilinmirkwood:

Entrance into Menegroth.

Menegroth also known as the Thousand Caves and Caves of Menegroth, Menegroth was the capital city of the land of Doriath which was home to King Thingol and Queen Melian of the Sindarin people, during the First Age of the Sun.

Within it was the beautifully decorated Hall of Thingol where sat his throne and where he dispensed his judgments. It was there that Thingol was s…lain by the Dwarven craftsmen of Nogrod. The quest of Beren to gain a Silmaril begins at Menegroth. It is also here that Luthien the fair was born. It was later sacked by the Sons of Fëanor in pursuit of one of the Silmarils taken from Morgoth’s Iron Crown prior to the War of Wrath.

In the years after the War for Sake of the Elves, the Sindar were scattered all over Beleriand in havens such as Falas or in the woodlands at Region and Neldoreth. Their leader, King Thingol, was urged to build a home for his people, so he had the Dwarves of Belegost to aid in the construction of a new fortress. It was dug into the western wall of the ravine above the River Esgalduin and had only one entrance high above the river accessible by a large stone bridge. It was named Menegroth or the Thousand Caves because of the extensive number of caverns and chambers within all hewn of stone and beautifully decorated with carvings of beech trees and birds. These were many different places including armories, treasures, smithies, and living quarters for both the Elves and Dwarves.

During the Years of the Trees, Doriath received peace for a long while as Thingol prefered isolation and ordered his people not to mingle in the affairs of the Noldor, or any conflict relating to Morgoth. Only with his kin in Nargothrond did Thingol remain in contact with.

Sometime during mid First Age, Beren Erchamion asked Thingol’s daughter, Luthien, for her hand in marriage, but the King demanded that Beren was to go on a quest to retrieve a Simiril from Morgoth’s Iron Crown. Luthien accompanied him on the quest to Angband and they succeeded and eventually retrieving the jewel; but the stakes were high. Carcharoth, a wolf guarding the Gates of Angband, bit off Beren’s hand in which he was holding the Simiril. The wolf ventured to Menegroth, ravaging the lands in his path, and broke through its boundaries. He was confronted by the brave Huan, the Great Hound of Valinor, on the north-east banks of Esgalduin and was killed in the brawl. The Simiril was found in the wolf’s stomach, after swallowing it in Beren’s hand, and was given to King Thingol.


Years later, Hurin Thalion brought the famed Nauglamir as a gift to Thingol. Thingol contemplated a plan to set the Simiril into the Nauglamir. He offered a reward to the Dwarven craftsmen of Nogrod if they succeeded in setting the stone into the Nauglamir. A great desire for the Simiril possesed the Dwarves and they formed a greed to own both the jewel and the Nauglamir. They finished the work and subsequently claimed the treasure for themselves, slayed Thingol, and fled Menegroth.

The news spread fast and the Dwarves were hunted for and then slain. Two escaped and and told a tale of lies about their betrayal and their brethren being slaughtered by the Elves. The Dwarves of Nogrod formed a great army and rose in anger at the elves and invaded the now unguarded Doriath. This led to the Battle of the Thousand Caves in which many were slain on both sides. Mablung, the leader of the guard, was slaughtered at the doors of the treasure chamber where the Nauglamir was held. The Dwarves of Nogrod were then waylaid at Sarn Athrad on their return by the Laiquendi led by Beren. Their King was slain by Beren in single combat and the remainder of their host were felled by Ents.

markedasinfernal:

Daeron, minstrel and chief loremaster of Thingol, lover and twice betrayer of Lúthien.

Daeron, by ebe-kastein