Girdle of Melian discussion

[Calandil]

Below is a list of quotes from the Silmarillion that seem to relate to this subject. They have been categorized into two groups of quotes: the first directly reference the Girdle of Melian and the second reference a similar type of mechanism or provide further insight into this mechanism. My remarks on the quotes are at the end.

Quotes Directly Relating to the Girdle of Melian [A]

[A1] "Therefore he withdrew all his people that his summons could reach within the fastness of Neldoreth and Region, and Melian put forth her power and fenced all that dominion round about with an unseen wall of shadow and bewilderment: the Girdle of Melian, that none thereafter could pass against her will or the will of King Thingol, unless one should come with a power greater than that of Melian the Maia." (p. 97; compare quotes B1 and B4)

[A2] "Between Mindeb and the upper waters of Esgalduin lay the no-land of Nan Dungortheb; and that region was filled with fear, for upon its one side the power of Melian fenced the north march of Doriath, but upon the other side the sheer precipices of Ered Gorgoroth, Mountains of Terror, fell down from high Dorthonion. ... there still, when she [Ungoliant] had passed away, her foul offspring wove their evil nets; and the thin waters that spilled from Ered Gorgoroth were defiled, and perilous to drink, for the hearts of those that tasted them were filled with shadows of madness and despair." (p. 121)

[A3] "Southward lay the guarded woods of Doriath, abode of Thingol the Hidden King, into whose realm none passed save by his will." (p. 121; compare quote A1)

[A4] "Nothing hindered him [Carcharoth], and the might of Melian upon the borders of the land stayed him not; for fate drove him, and the power of the Silmaril that he bore to his torment." (p. 184; compare quote B8)

[A5] "Who knows now the counsels of Morgoth? Who can measure the reach of his thought, who had been Melkor, mighty among the Ainur of the Great Song, and sat now, a dark lord upon a dark throne in the North, weighing in his malice all the tidings that came to him, and perceiving more of the deeds and purposes of his enemies than even the wisest of them feared, save only Melian the Queen? To her often the thought of Morgoth reached out, and there was foiled." (p. 205; compare quote B3)

[A6] "For if the Girdle of Melian be broken, then last hope is ended." (p. 216; compare quote B4)

Quotes for Comparison [B]

[B1] "And in that time also ..., the Enchanted Isles were set, and all the seas about them were filled with shadows and bewilderment. And these isles were strung as a net in the Shadowy Seas from the north to the south, before Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, is reached by one sailing west. Hardly might any vessel pass between them, for in the dangerous sounds the waves sighed for ever upon dark rocks shrouded in mist. And in the twilight a great weariness came upon mariners and a loathing of the sea; but all that ever set foot upon the islands were there entrapped, and slept until the Change of the World.... and of the many messengers that in after days sailed into the West none came ever into Valinor--save one only: the mightiest mariner of song." (p. 102; compare quote B3)

[B2] "Indeed Doriath alone would be his realm this day, but for the coming of the Noldor." (p. 112)

[B3] "'... by no vision or thought can I perceive anything that passed or passes in the West: a shadow lies over all the land of Aman, and reaches far out over the sea.'" (p. 127)

[B4] "'Not to our aid did they [the Noldor] come (save by chance); for those that remain in Middle-earth the Valar will leave to their own devices, until their uttermost need.'" (p. 127; compare quote A6)

[B5] "... as they drew near to the evil region of Nan Dungortheb, the riders became enmeshed in shadows, and Aredhel strayed from her companions and was lost." (p. 132)

[B6] "Very fair she [Aredhel] seemed to him [Eöl], and he desired her; and he set his enchantments about her so that she could not find the ways out, but drew ever nearer to his dwelling in the depths of the wood." (p. 133)

[B7] "Now Morgoth's power overshadowed the Northlands; but Barahir would not flee from Dorthonion, and remained contesting the land foot by foot with his enemies. Then ... all the forest of the northward slopes of that land was turned little by little into a region of such dread and dark enchantment that even the Orcs would not enter it unless need drove them, and it was called Deldúwath, and Taur-nu-Fuin, The Forest under Nightshade. The trees that grew there after the burning were black and grim, and their roots were tangled, groping in the dark like claws; and those who strayed among them became lost and blind, and were strangled and pursued to madness by phantoms of terror." (pp. 154-155)

[B8] "Yet Eärendil ... stood now most often at the prow of Vingilot, and the Silmaril was bound upon his brow; and ever its light grew greater as they drew into the West. And the wise have said that it was by reason of the power of that holy jewel that they came in time to waters that no vessels save those of the Teleri have ever known; and they came to the Enchanted Isles and passed their enchantment; and they came into the Shadowy Seas and passed their shadows; and they looked upon Tol Eressëa the Lonely Isle, but tarried not; and at the last they cast anchor in the Bay of Eldamar ..." (pp. 247-248)

It is interesting that almost all of these mechanisms seem to involve "shadows". Further, it seems that, although quote A1 states that the Girdle of Melian could not be breached "unless one should come with a power greater than that of Melian the Maia", and would thus be immune to attacks from large armies that did not have any particular member more powerful than Melian (as also indicated by quotes B2 and B4), a Silmaril could reverse the effects of the Girdle (quote A4) and other such mechanisms (quote B8). The "shadow" mentioned in quote B3 might be related to the Hiding of Valinor and to the failure of Morgoth to grasp Melian's purposes (quote A5), which might in turn be related to the Girdle of Melian; if so, the mental aspect of such barriers as exhibited in these quotes would arguably be a more important aspect of the Girdle of Melian and the Hiding of Valinor than the mere blockage of physical entry that they are more commonly associated with. The main problem left with this characterization of the Girdle of Melian is that Morgoth would seem to have easily been able to devastate Doriath by sending a dragon-pulled cart containing a host that included some of his mightiest servants into Doriath and giving the Dragon a Silmaril, which would overcome the effects of the Girdle. Unless Morgoth wanted to keep the Silmarils so much that he would forgo the takeover of Doriath for them, could not get a dragon to pull a cart, or did not know about this property of the Silmarils, all of which seem unlikely to me, I cannot see any good reason for Morgoth not to have done so.