 Lúthien Cúthalion the White is of the line of the Teleri and whence the
Nandorian noble family descended from Denethor of old.
Luthién was born upon the banks of the seven rivers of Ossiriand of
the people of Denethor. As a young elf she traveled with the rest of her
kinsfolk to Menegroth, the dwelling of Thingol and Melian, and lived
there many years in peace. She ever loved water and its music, and had her
deepest longing in traveling to the West and the Bay of Balar, thence
to find passage to the White City of the Teleri, Alqualondë, and to sing
with the shipwrights of the Falmari upon its hallowed shores. Thence she did
come, in her old days, from the mouth of the Sirion to the City of the
Teleri upon the confines of Aman, the city of Olwë, Haven of the Swans.
She there learned much, and rejoiced to be there among the elves of her
lineage and ancestry for the rest of her life, in joy.
But in her young heart before she did leave Middle Earth after the
third age, there dwelt the longing to wander in Ossiriand and the fair lands
of Middle Earth, especially in her homeland of the rivers. She was wont to
sing so that even the waters of the river would stay still to hear her,
and the birds of the trees would be silent. Through the Ruin of Beleriand,
and the machinations of Morgoth in the Fifth Battle when she dared not any
longer travel into Ossiriand she took refuge in Doriath, Melian’s
Girdle, which no evil yet could penetrate. She bore much grief in those times,
which she does not speak of, though it ever weighs upon her mind. The
ruination of the beauty of Middle Earth gave her such torture, and also
was she most saddened by the death of Thingol, and the departure of Melian
to the Undying Lands.
In that time the greatests of pain was her deep love for the heir of
Thingol, named Dior Aranel the beautiful who knew not of her love and
so wed another, and who was slain by the sons of Fëanor for the Silmaril
he bore. She fled the Thousand Caves from that second slaying of elf by
elf, and Dior with his wife and sons were slain. Lúthien took Dior’s only
daughter, Elwing “Star Spray” and saved her from peril at the hands of
Fëanor’s sons, and the people of Doriath traveled South to the mouth of
the Sirion. She there dwelt with the elves of Doriath that was no more for
long ages, and witnessed the voyage of Eärendil.
She made great friendship with Cirdan the Shipwright, and his
kinsfolk, and Elwing and her sons. Then came that horrible time of the third and last elf slaying, for the oath of Fëanor, and she bravely fought Maedhros
and Maglor, though many died around her, with them her father, the chief
steward of Thingol and the last of her family, and the remnant of
Doriath was all but destroyed. Elwing and her sons were gone, when the battle
ended, and the sons of Fëanor had the victory, for Cirdan the shipwright
from Balar and Gil-galad the high king could not reach Sirion fast
enough. The remaining elves of Doriath then traveled to the Isle of Balar,
there to learn that Elwing had cast herself into the sea with the Silmaril, and her two sons Elrond and Elros had been taken captive.
Lúthien grieved in silent sorrow for her dear friend and her sons,
but they were not to be slain, for Maedhros took pity on them and raised
them as he did his own. And Elwing was borne up from the sea, with the
Silmaril on her breast, and there passed into Valinor with Eärendil her husband. Left alone with the ache of sorrow upon her, Lúthien did pass many long years in Balar, always with her face turned West to the glory of the
Valar until the coming of the rings of power and the third age.
Only then did she rise herself and once again take up her haunts in
Middle Earth, travelling East to Rivendell to reunite with her dear
friend’s son Elrond the half-elven. She there stayed, and is there well
known for her solemn countenance and loved for her beautiful voice,
which sounds so like the bright sun upon the clear waters of her river of old
the Gelion. She has joined in the last remnant of the elves to protect
Middle Earth from the evil one who has again arisen, and when her part has
been played she has vowed to travel the miles to the Grey Havens and there
embark to the Lands of the Valar, beyond the sundering seas, as has
been her dream and wish for so long in her heart. She holds ever the love
for white birds, and often they are seen to accompany her on her travels,
far away from the water where they live.
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