A review by ceallaighsbooks
Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“…There they stayed
resting in deep and mossy glade;
there lay they sheltered from the wind
under mighty beeches silken-skinned,
and sang of love that still shall be,
though earth be foundered under sea,
and sundered here for evermore
shall meet upon the Western Shore.”

TITLE—Beren and Lúthien

AUTHOR—JRR Tolkien

EDITOR—Christopher Tolkien

PUBLISHED—2017

PUBLISHER—HarperCollins

GENRE—literary fantasy

SETTING—Arda (fantasy world)

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—high European fantasy worldbuilding and language systems, gods & elves & men & orcs & werewolves & dwarves & evil cats, intensely beautiful & tragic friendships & relationships, Dooms & Oaths, curses, vengeance & loyalty, epic love story, excellent Halloween adventure vibes, powerful magical goddess elf MC & her love interest Beren (who gives big Ken energy), fairy tale themes & motifs, historical & mythological background to THE HOBBIT & THE LORD OF THE RINGS—Sauron has somewhat surprisingly his biggest on-the-page role & most speaking lines in this story compared to all of Tolkien’s other books in which he features

“‘Whom do ye serve, Light or Mirk?
Who is the maker of mightiest work?
Who is the king of earthly kings,
the greatest giver of gold and rings?
Who is the master of the wide earth?
Who despoiled them of their mirth,
the greedy Gods! Repeat your vows,
Orcs of Bauglir! Do not bend your brows!
Death to light, to law, to love!
Cursed be moon and stars above!
May darkness everlasting old
that waits outside in surges cold
drown Manwë, Varda, and the sun!
May all in hatred be begun
and all in evil ended be,
in the moaning of the endless Sea!’
…
Backwards and forwards swayed their song.
Reeling and foundering, as ever more strong
Thû’s chanting swelled, Felagund fought,
and all the magic and might he brought
of Elfinesse into his words.”

— from Thû’s (aka Sauron) and Felagund’s (aka Finrod—Galadriel’s brother) rap battle

Summary:

Tolkien’s youngest son collects, compiles, and guides the reader through all of Tolkien’s writings that encompass the tale of Beren & Lúthien—probably one of the most well-known stories from his legendarium outside of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit—from early drafts, through the verses of the Lay, to the final editions and alterations variously written in Tolkien’s idiosyncratic prose and epic poetry styles.

My thoughts:

I had so much fun rereading this book with The Fellowship of the Readers Bookclub this summer. I completely forgot what a dark story it is with a surprisingly large number of Halloween-y, goth vibes, and that the character of Sauron has his most time on the page, and the most of his overall dialogue, in this story as well. And as always, seeing the evolution of the story from the fairytale-esque first draft featuring “the appalling Tevildo Prince of Cats”, to the Lay itself, and then to the version published in THE SILMARILLION was enormously fascinating and rewarding.

I would recommend this book to fans of incredibly intricate fantasy worldbuilding and lore expertly told through a writing style that captures the weight of history. This book is best read after having already read THE SILMARILLION and possibly the Appendices to THE RETURN OF THE KING—which means you should also probably read the whole trilogy first. 😁 I would also highly recommend reading the edition illustrated by Alan Lee.

Final note: Can’t wait to read THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN with the bookclub next!

“…but out away beyond the ken
of mortal sight the eagle's eye
from dizzy towers that pierced the sky
might grey and gleaming see afar,
as sheen on water under star,
Beleriand, Beleriand,
the borders of the Elven-land.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Season: mid-Autumn // Halloween

Further Reading—

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS & the APPENDICES
• THE SILMARILLION
• THE UNFINISHED TALES
• THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN
• THE FALL OF GONDOLIN
• then you might as well get started on THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH, Volumes I-XII

Favorite Quotes—

from Christopher’s commentary:

“'If there is a future for such enquiries, I want to make as sure as I can that any later research into JRRT's "literary history" is not turned into a nonsense by mistaking the actual course of its evolution. The chaos and intrinsic difficulty of many of the papers (the layer upon layer of changes in a single manuscript page, the vital clues on scattered scraps found anywhere in the archive, the texts written on the backs of other works, the disordering and separation of manuscripts, the near or total illegibility in places, is simply inexaggerable. ...)”

“It goes back a long way in my life, for it is my earliest actual recollection of some element in a story that was being told to me—not simply a remembered image of the scene of the storytelling. My father told it to me, or parts of it, speaking it without any writing, in the early 1930s. The element in the story that I recall, in my mind's eye, is that of the eyes of the wolves as they appeared one by one in the darkness of the dungeon of Thû.”

“In a letter to me on the subject of my mother, written in the year after her death, which was also the year before his own, he wrote of his overwhelming sense of bereavement, and of his wish to have Lúthien inscribed beneath her name on the grave. He returned in that letter, as in that cited on p. 29 of this book, to the origin of the tale of Beren and Lúthien in a small woodland glade filled with hemlock flowers near Roos in Yorkshire, where she danced; and he said: 'But the story has gone crooked, and I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos.'”

from the texts of the story:

“…and there Tinúviel danced until the evening faded late, and there were many white moths abroad. Tinúviel being a fairy minded them not as many of the children of Men do, although she loved not beetles, and spiders will none of the Eldar touch because of Ungweliante—but now the white moths flittered about her head and Dairon trilled an eerie tune, when suddenly that strange thing befell.”

“Now Tevildo was a mighty cat—the mightiest of all—and possessed of an evil sprite, as some say, and he was in Melko's constant following; and that cat had all cats subject to him, and he and his subjects were the chasers and getters of meat for Melko's table and for his frequent feasts. Wherefore is it that there is hatred still between the Elves and all cats even now when Melko rules no more, and his beasts are become of little account.”

“Now Tinúviel took the wine and water when she was alone, and singing a very magic song the while, she mingled them together, and as they lay in the bowl of gold she sang a song of growth, and as they lay in the bowl of silver she sang another song, and the names of all the tallest and longest things upon Earth were set in that song; the beards of the Indravangs, the tail of Karkaras, the body of Glorund, the bole of Hirilorn, and the sword of Nan she named, nor did she forget the chain Angainu that Aulë and Tulkas made or the neck of Gilim the giant, and last and longest of all she spake of the hair of Uinen the lady of the sea that is spread through all the waters.”

“Nigh was Tinúviel now to those places, but she entered not that dark region, and regaining heart pressed on, and by reason of the greater magic of her being and because of the spell of wonder and of sleep that fared about her no such dangers assailed her as did Beren before; yet was it a long and evil and weary journey for a maiden to tread.”

“"Nay, get thee gone,' said Tevildo, ‘thou smellest of dog, and what news of good came ever to a cat from a fairy that had had dealings with the dogs?’”

“'Wherefore this surliness, Karkaras?’ said Tinúviel.”

“…In his sleep

he felt a dreadful darkness creep

upon his heart, and thought the trees

were bare and bent in mournful breeze;

no leaves they had, but ravens dark

sat thick as leaves on bough and bark,

and croaked, and as they croaked each neb

let fall a gout of blood; a web

unseen entwined him hand and limb,

until worn out, upon the rim

of stagnant pool he lay and shivered.”

“…The woods

that northward looked with bitter feuds

he filled and death for Morgoth's folk;

his comrades were the beech and oak,

who failed him not, and many things

with fur and fell and feathered wings;

and many spirits, that in stone

in mountains old and wastes alone,

do dwell and wander, were his friends.”

“There magic lurked in gulf and glen,

for far away beyond the ken

of searching eyes, unless it were

from dizzy tower that pricked the air

where only eagles lived and cried,

might grey and gleaming be descried

Beleriand, Beleriand,

the borders of the faery land.”

“‘Be he friend or foe, or demon wild

of Morgoth, Elf, or mortal child,

or any that here on earth may dwell,

no law, nor love, nor league of hell,

no might of Gods, no binding spell,

shall him defend from hatred fell

of Fëanor's sons, whoso take or steal

or finding keep a Silmaril.

These we alone do claim by right,

our thrice enchanted jewels bright.’”

“Then Felagund took off his crown

and at his feet he cast it down,

the silver helm of Nargothrond:

‘Yours ye may break, but I my bond

must keep, and kingdom here forsake.

If hearts here were that did not quake,

or that to Finrod's son were true,

then I at least should find a few

to go with me, not like a poor

rejected beggar scorn endure,

turned from my gates to leave my town,

my people, and my realm and crown!'”

“‘The wolf is hungry, the hour is nigh; no more need Beren wait to die.’”

“There men bewailed their fallen king, crying that a maiden dared that thing which sons of Fëanor would not do.”

“To Morgoth's hall, where dreadful feast

he held, and drank the blood of beast

and lives of Men, they stumbling came:

their eyes were dazed with smoke and flame.

The pillars, reared like monstrous shores

to bear earth's overwhelming floors,

were devil-carven, shaped with skill

such as unholy dreams doth fill:

they towered like trees into the air,

whose trunks are rooted in despair,

whose shade is death, whose fruit is bane,

whose boughs like serpents writhe in pain.”

“‘Long are the paths, of shadow made

where no foot's print is ever laid,

over the hills, across the seas!

Far, far away are the Lands of Ease,

but the Land of the Lost is further yet,

where the Dead wait, while ye forget.

No moon is there, no voice, no sound

of beating heart; a sigh profound

once in each age as each age dies

alone is heard. Far, far it lies,

the Land of Waiting where the Dead sit,

in their thought's shadow, by no moon lit.’”

“…And she came to the halls of Mandos, and she sang to him a tale of moving love so fair that he was moved to pity, as never has befallen since.”

“And this doom they chose, that thus, whatsoever sorrow lay before them, their fates might be joined, and their paths lead together beyond the confines of the world. So it was that alone of the Eldalië Lúthien died and left the world long ago; yet by her have the Two Kindreds been joined, and she is the foremother of many.”

“…to Sauron captain of the host,

the lord of werewolf and of ghost,

most foul and fell of all who knelt

at Morgoth's throne. In might he dwelt

on Gaurhoth Isle…”