Beren and Lúthien: Into Morgoth’s Lair

Beren was one of the survivors of the Dagor Bragollach (“Battle of Sudden Flame”), during which Morgoth conquered the northern lands of Middle-earth. He was among the group of men led by his father Barahir. One day, while Beren was away from their camp on watch duty, the group was betrayed by Gorlim, who revealed their location under torture. Morgoth’s soldiers attacked, killing Barahir and his companions. After his death, Gorlim’s spirit appeared to Beren and told him what had happened.

Fueled by grief and vengeance, Beren used his survival skills to track the orc band that had killed his father. He snuck into their camp and killed the orc chieftain who was holding Barahir’s severed hand. Beren took his father’s hand, which bore a ring, and escaped. He then wandered the forests of Dorthonion in northern Beleriand for four years.

Fearless in the face of death, he fought off all the servants Morgoth sent after him. Eventually, Morgoth dispatched a larger force led by Sauron to hunt him down. Forced to flee Dorthonion, Beren traveled to the Elven realm of Doriath. There, he encountered Lúthien, the daughter of King Thingol and the Maia Melian. He saw Lúthien singing and dancing, and instantly fell in love. Calling her “Tinúviel” (meaning nightingale), Beren won her heart in return.

However, King Thingol disapproved of their love. Though he promised not to harm Beren, he disrespected him and found him unworthy of Lúthien despite the ring he bore, which had belonged to Barahir. To preserve his oath, Thingol gave Beren an impossible task: to bring him a Silmaril, one of the three jewels created by Fëanor and stolen by Morgoth, now set in his iron crown.

Accepting the quest, Beren left Doriath and set off for Angband, Morgoth’s fortress. Thingol, fearing for his daughter, imprisoned Lúthien in a house high in the trees to stop her from following Beren. However, Lúthien escaped and pursued him. On his journey, Beren reached the Elven stronghold of Nargothrond and met Finrod Felagund, a friend of his father. Finrod agreed to help Beren on his mission, even though the sons of Fëanor, Celegorm and Curufin, had recently forced him from his kingdom.

As they neared Angband, Sauron and his servants intercepted them, and they were captured and imprisoned on the isle of Tol-in-Gaurhoth. One by one, their companions were killed until only Finrod and Beren remained. When Beren was about to be killed, Finrod broke his chains and died defending him.

Meanwhile, Lúthien had been captured by Celegorm and Curufin and taken to Nargothrond, but she escaped with the help of Huan, the hound of Valinor. Huan was fated to speak three times before his death and to be slain by the greatest werewolf ever to walk the earth.

Lúthien and Huan reached Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Huan defeated Sauron’s werewolves, and when Sauron himself appeared in wolf-form, Huan defeated him as well. Sauron fled, and the prisoners—including Beren—were freed. Huan spoke for the second time, telling them their fates were bound together.

Although Beren still wished to complete the task alone, Lúthien insisted on accompanying him. Using magic, they took on the forms of Thuringwethil (a vampire bat) and Draugluin (a werewolf slain by Huan), allowing them to enter Angband undetected.

Once inside, Lúthien sang a magical song that put Morgoth and his entire court to sleep. Morgoth fell from his throne, and his crown—with the three Silmarils—rolled away. Beren used his knife to cut out one Silmaril from the crown. As they attempted to escape, they were confronted at the gates by the monstrous wolf Carcharoth, bred by Morgoth to kill Huan.

Carcharoth attacked, biting off Beren’s hand and swallowing the Silmaril. But the pure light of the Silmaril burned Carcharoth from within, and he went mad with pain, rampaging through Beleriand.

Beren and Lúthien returned to Doriath and softened Thingol’s heart with the tale of their deeds. He finally accepted Beren as Lúthien’s husband. But Beren’s mission was not yet over. He and Huan joined a hunting party to track down the rampaging Carcharoth. Both Beren and Huan were mortally wounded in the battle, but they succeeded in killing the beast. Before dying, Beren saw the Silmaril recovered from Carcharoth’s belly and gave it to Thingol. Huan spoke his third and final time before dying.

Lúthien mourned Beren deeply and died soon after. Her spirit reached the Halls of Mandos, where she sang of her sorrow and fate—of never seeing Beren again. Moved by her song, Mandos was filled with pity for the first and only time. He granted Beren and Lúthien a second life.

Lúthien chose mortality and left her divine lineage behind. Together with Beren, she settled in Ossiriand, on the Green Isle of Tol Galen.