12-02-2018, 04:16 AM | #35 | ||||||||
Salt Miner
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: gone to Far Harad
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Melian:Thingol :: Lúthien:Beren :: Arwen:AragornMelian is far above Thingol; Lúthien is far above Beren, as Thingol observed and objected; Arwen is far above Aragorn, as Elrond observed, and though Elrond was wise enough not to object, he set very lofty goals for Aragorn, which his foster-son met in full. In wisdom and advice, Melian:Thingol :: Galadriel:CelebornCeleborn indeed filled the role of Thingol in many ways, and Galadriel filled that of Melian, even emulated her in setting some bound or “girdle” upon Lórien. But it was in her gentle rebuke of Celeborn when he decried Gimli’s entry into Lórien that Galadriel most resembled Melian, her mentor in Middle-earth; and unlike Thingol, Celeborn heeded Galadriel: perhaps he really was Celeborn “the Wise”. Tolkien is sometimes accused of being a misogynist. Not so: it’s the men who always marry up, wedding women stronger, wiser, older, and richer than they. In retrospect, Melian might have been searching or waiting for Thingol when they met. She bore him a daughter, Lúthien, and so the race of the Maiar was mingled with that of the Eldar. But it did not remain with the Eldar: Lúthien married Beren, and the lineage of the Maiar was among Mortals only: for there is no doubt Dior Eluch*l Lúthien’s son was mortal, or that his two sons lost in the Second Kinslaying were mortal: Mandos says as much in the Valar’s debate of what was to become of Eärendil and Elwing. Only if one of Elrond’s sons followed his father into the Uttermost West would any of that lineage remain among Elves except for Elrond and his parents. Quote:
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Thingol’s pride is driving his ill-advised course of action. I say “ill-advised,” because Melian objects to it, but not in front of Beren. It seems to have been an aside overheard in the court, and Lúthien seems to have witnessed it: Quote:
I take that as Melian’s rebuking Thingol, and none too gently: Galadriel was kinder to Celeborn in Lórien. Thingol’s response was haughty, even towards his wife, and their daughter heard it and understood it. No one asks, “How old is Lúthien?” Pretty old! Older probably than Arwen when she married Aragorn, and she was nearly 3000 years old. Lúthien understood in all their layers of meaning her mother’s rebuke of her father, and her father’s dismissive reply. She ain’t some flighty young teenage chick running on overstocked hormones and adrenaline. Her decision to follow Beren is indeed based upon deep love and affection, but she arrived at it in cold deliberation and logic as much as in warmest emotion. Quote:
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I think Thingol is suffering from pride and an inflated opinion of himself. It eventually gets him killed by the Dwarves of Nogrod in his own fortress, which they helped him build; and ignoring Melian’s counsel to return the Silmaril leads to the ruin of both Doriath and the mixed company of Eldar and Edain at the Mouths of Sirion; but it also permits Eärendil’s embassy to Valinor. Quote:
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By the way, Melian doesn’t wait in Doriath to meet her grandson, Dior. She leaves before he arrives. Of all the descendants of Melian and Lúthien on Elrond’s side, the only ones to know their grandparents are Elrond’s children, who knew Galadriel and Celeborn well. Dior never meets Melian. Elwing never meets Lúthien. Elrond never meets Dior. Elrond’s children never meet Elwing. Arwen’s children never meet Elrond. |
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