The Lay of Leithian
Encyclopedia
The Lay of Leithian is an unfinished poem
written by J. R. R. Tolkien
. It tells the Tale of Beren and Lúthien
, the story of the love of the mortal Man
Beren
and the immortal Elf
maiden Lúthien
. The poem consists of over 4200 verse
s. It was published after Tolkien's death in The Lays of Beleriand
. Its precedents are found in the Welsh tale of Culhwch and Olwen
in the manuscripts, the Red Book of Hergest
and the earlier White Book of Rhydderch
.
in earlier versions of Tolkien's legendarium
. This similarity may have been intentional.
The author translated the title as release from bondage, without making explicit who was released from what form of bondage. There are, accordingly, several possible interpretations.
One likely meaning of the title might be found at one of the key moments in the poem, the point at which one of the Silmarils, the magical gems of Fëanor
, is cut from the crown of Morgoth
by Beren:
Behold! the hope of Elvenland
the fire of Fëanor, Light of Morn
before the sun and moon were born,
thus out of bondage came at last,
from iron to mortal hand it passed.The Lays of Beleriand
, p. 362
This moment is also central to the over-arching story-line of The Silmarillion
, in which the gem is used to bring hope to the scattered peoples of Middle-Earth and is ultimately set in the heavens by the mariner Eärendil
as a sign of their coming salvation.
The name of the poem is therefore likely an attempt to underscore the importance of the Lay relative to other tales from the first age. Though honor, bravery and vengeance drive the Elven hosts forward to war with Morgoth
, it is only love that can overcome all obstacles to wrest a Silmaril
from his crown.
Another interpretation is that Lúthien is released from the bonds of the Eldar to the physical world (the world that is, Arda
). In The Silmarillion
it is said that Lúthien alone among the elves has died indeed, and left the world. By contrast, it is basic to Tolkien's Christian and Catholic conception of Arda that Men, the younger children of Ilúvatar (God), by means of the Gift of Men (death) are able to escape the confines of the world. Note the comfort offered by the mortal King Elessar to his elvish bride Arwen
as his death approaches: "we are not bound forever to the circles of the world."
Indeed, the theme of release from imprisonment runs like a thread throughout the story: Lúthien
's escape from Doriath
, her release from Nargothrond
with the aid of Huan
, Beren
's release from Gaurhoth Isle. In every instance it is love that is the liberating factor: Lúthien
's love for Beren
drives her on to find some escape from imprisonment by her father, Huan
's love for Lúthien
is what frees her from Nargothrond
, Beren
's rescue by Lúthien
. One could hazard an interpretation of the title as being suggestive of the immense power of love.
Hence, the theme might find an echo in line 2978 of Canto X, spoken by Beren
:
Thy love me drew from bondage drear,
but never to that outer fear,
that darkest mansion of all dread,
shall thy most blissful light be led.
the Man Beren fled into the elvish realm of Doriath
. There he met the Elf-maiden Lúthien and they fell in love with each other. Thingol
, the father of Lúthien, did not want his daughter to marry a mortal man. Therefore he asked Beren for a Silmaril
, one of the hallowed jewels which the Dark Lord Morgoth
had stolen from the Elves, as the bride price
. With the help of Huan and Finrod Felagund
, Beren and Lúthien defeated Sauron
and came to Angband, where they stole a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown. The unfinished poem ends when they encounter the wolf Carcharoth
at the gate of Angband.
Besides the main story the poem also tells of many events which happened before, like the meeting of Thingol and Melian, the oath of Fëanor, the return of the Noldor
, the war of Beleriand
and the duel of Fingolfin
and Morgoth.
. It is written in rhyming couplet
s.
who had read the poem in 1929. In the 1950s, after the publishing of The Lord of the Rings
, he resumed working on the poem, of which he rewrote many passages, particularly of the second canto which was expanded and split into two. Nevertheless the poem never reached a complete or definite form.
who had asked for further material of his fictional world after the success of The Hobbit
. As Tolkien did not add any further information on the text the reader who was given it believed the poem to be an attempt to retell the prose version, which he thought to be a Celtic tale. Despite praising the prose he criticized the poem wherefore it was rejected. In 1985 the poem was published posthumously in The Lays of Beleriand
, the third volume of The History of Middle-earth
. The two versions of the poem are given independently, and the development of them is commented on in detail by Christopher Tolkien
.
Unfinished work
An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
written by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
. It tells the Tale of Beren and Lúthien
The Tale of Beren and Lúthien
The Tale of Beren and Lúthien is the story of the love and adventures of the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf-maiden Lúthien, as told in several works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place during the First Age of Middle-earth, about 6500 years before the events of his most famous book, The Lord...
, the story of the love of the mortal Man
Man (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
Beren
Beren
Beren is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion. Huan spoke to him.-Character overview:...
and the immortal Elf
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...
maiden Lúthien
Lúthien
Lúthien Tinúviel is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian, The Lord of the Rings and the Grey Annals, as well as in other material.-Character overview:Lúthien is a Telerin ...
. The poem consists of over 4200 verse
Verse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
s. It was published after Tolkien's death in The Lays of Beleriand
The Lays of Beleriand
The Lays of Beleriand, published in 1985, is the third volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume book series, The History of Middle-earth, in which he analyzes the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R...
. Its precedents are found in the Welsh tale of Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose...
in the manuscripts, the Red Book of Hergest
Red Book of Hergest
The Red Book of Hergest is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preserves a collection of Welsh prose and poetry, notably the tales of the Mabinogion, Gogynfeirdd poetry...
and the earlier White Book of Rhydderch
White Book of Rhydderch
The White Book of Rhydderch is one of the most notable and celebrated manuscripts in Welsh. Written in the middle of the fourteenth century it is the earliest collection of Welsh prose texts, though it also contains some examples of early Welsh poetry...
.
Title
The title of the poem, leithian, is an Elvish word which derives from leithia, meaning "release". The title bears a strong resemblance to the word Leithien, the name for EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in earlier versions of Tolkien's legendarium
Legendarium
Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...
. This similarity may have been intentional.
The author translated the title as release from bondage, without making explicit who was released from what form of bondage. There are, accordingly, several possible interpretations.
One likely meaning of the title might be found at one of the key moments in the poem, the point at which one of the Silmarils, the magical gems of Fëanor
Fëanor
Fëanor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium who plays an important part in The Silmarillion. He was the eldest son of Finwë, the High King of the Noldor, and his first wife Míriel Serindë...
, is cut from the crown of Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
by Beren:
Behold! the hope of Elvenland
the fire of Fëanor, Light of Morn
before the sun and moon were born,
thus out of bondage came at last,
from iron to mortal hand it passed.The Lays of Beleriand
The Lays of Beleriand
The Lays of Beleriand, published in 1985, is the third volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume book series, The History of Middle-earth, in which he analyzes the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R...
, p. 362
This moment is also central to the over-arching story-line of The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
, in which the gem is used to bring hope to the scattered peoples of Middle-Earth and is ultimately set in the heavens by the mariner Eärendil
Eärendil
Eärendil the Mariner is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is depicted in The Silmarillion as a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the morning star across the sky.-Etymology:...
as a sign of their coming salvation.
The name of the poem is therefore likely an attempt to underscore the importance of the Lay relative to other tales from the first age. Though honor, bravery and vengeance drive the Elven hosts forward to war with Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
, it is only love that can overcome all obstacles to wrest a Silmaril
Silmaril
The Silmarils are three brilliant jewels which contained the unmarred light of the Two Trees in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The Silmarils were made out of the crystalline substance silima by Fëanor, a Noldorin Elf, in Valinor during the Years of the Trees...
from his crown.
Another interpretation is that Lúthien is released from the bonds of the Eldar to the physical world (the world that is, Arda
Arda
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in a period of prehistory, wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings and related material once existed...
). In The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
it is said that Lúthien alone among the elves has died indeed, and left the world. By contrast, it is basic to Tolkien's Christian and Catholic conception of Arda that Men, the younger children of Ilúvatar (God), by means of the Gift of Men (death) are able to escape the confines of the world. Note the comfort offered by the mortal King Elessar to his elvish bride Arwen
Arwen
Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in his novel, The Lord of the Rings, usually published in three volumes. Arwen is one of the Half-elven who lived during the Third Age.-Literature:...
as his death approaches: "we are not bound forever to the circles of the world."
Indeed, the theme of release from imprisonment runs like a thread throughout the story: Lúthien
Lúthien
Lúthien Tinúviel is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian, The Lord of the Rings and the Grey Annals, as well as in other material.-Character overview:Lúthien is a Telerin ...
's escape from Doriath
Doriath
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Doriath is the realm of the Sindar, the Grey Elves of King Thingol in Beleriand. Along with the other great forests of Tolkien's legendarium such as Mirkwood, Fangorn and Lothlórien it serves as the central stage in the theatre of its time, the First Age...
, her release from Nargothrond
Nargothrond
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Nargothrond , called Nulukkhizdīn by the Dwarves, was the stronghold built by Finrod Felagund...
with the aid of Huan
Huan
Huan may refer to:* a prominent Chinese surname in Chinese history* a Chinese given name* Duke Huan of Qi, a Chinese duke* Huan , a fictional hound from J. R. R...
, Beren
Beren
Beren is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion. Huan spoke to him.-Character overview:...
's release from Gaurhoth Isle. In every instance it is love that is the liberating factor: Lúthien
Lúthien
Lúthien Tinúviel is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian, The Lord of the Rings and the Grey Annals, as well as in other material.-Character overview:Lúthien is a Telerin ...
's love for Beren
Beren
Beren is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion. Huan spoke to him.-Character overview:...
drives her on to find some escape from imprisonment by her father, Huan
Huan
Huan may refer to:* a prominent Chinese surname in Chinese history* a Chinese given name* Duke Huan of Qi, a Chinese duke* Huan , a fictional hound from J. R. R...
's love for Lúthien
Lúthien
Lúthien Tinúviel is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian, The Lord of the Rings and the Grey Annals, as well as in other material.-Character overview:Lúthien is a Telerin ...
is what frees her from Nargothrond
Nargothrond
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Nargothrond , called Nulukkhizdīn by the Dwarves, was the stronghold built by Finrod Felagund...
, Beren
Beren
Beren is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion. Huan spoke to him.-Character overview:...
's rescue by Lúthien
Lúthien
Lúthien Tinúviel is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian, The Lord of the Rings and the Grey Annals, as well as in other material.-Character overview:Lúthien is a Telerin ...
. One could hazard an interpretation of the title as being suggestive of the immense power of love.
Hence, the theme might find an echo in line 2978 of Canto X, spoken by Beren
Beren
Beren is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion. Huan spoke to him.-Character overview:...
:
Thy love me drew from bondage drear,
but never to that outer fear,
that darkest mansion of all dread,
shall thy most blissful light be led.
Synopsis
After the ruin of his land in the Battle of Sudden FlameDagor Bragollach
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, the Dagor Bragollach was the fourth battle of the Wars of Beleriand...
the Man Beren fled into the elvish realm of Doriath
Doriath
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Doriath is the realm of the Sindar, the Grey Elves of King Thingol in Beleriand. Along with the other great forests of Tolkien's legendarium such as Mirkwood, Fangorn and Lothlórien it serves as the central stage in the theatre of its time, the First Age...
. There he met the Elf-maiden Lúthien and they fell in love with each other. Thingol
Thingol
Elu Thingol is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion, The Lays of Beleriand and Children of Húrin as well as in numerous stories in the many volumes of The History of Middle-earth...
, the father of Lúthien, did not want his daughter to marry a mortal man. Therefore he asked Beren for a Silmaril
Silmaril
The Silmarils are three brilliant jewels which contained the unmarred light of the Two Trees in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The Silmarils were made out of the crystalline substance silima by Fëanor, a Noldorin Elf, in Valinor during the Years of the Trees...
, one of the hallowed jewels which the Dark Lord Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
had stolen from the Elves, as the bride price
Bride price
Bride price, also known as bride wealth, is an amount of money or property or wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a woman upon the marriage of their daughter to the groom...
. With the help of Huan and Finrod Felagund
Finrod Felagund
Finrod Felagund is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. He appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian and the Grey Annals, as well as other material....
, Beren and Lúthien defeated Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
and came to Angband, where they stole a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown. The unfinished poem ends when they encounter the wolf Carcharoth
Carcharoth
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Carcharoth , Sindarin for "The Red Maw", was the greatest werewolf that had ever lived. He was also called Anfauglir...
at the gate of Angband.
Besides the main story the poem also tells of many events which happened before, like the meeting of Thingol and Melian, the oath of Fëanor, the return of the Noldor
Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor are Elves of the Second Clan who migrated to Valinor and lived in Eldamar. The Noldor are called Golodhrim or Gódhellim in Sindarin, and Goldoi by Teleri of Tol Eressëa. The singular form of the Quenya noun is Noldo and the adjective is Noldorin...
, the war of Beleriand
Battles of Beleriand
In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, there were many battles between the Elves of Beleriand and the forces of Morgoth.These battles are often referred to as the Battles of Beleriand, but also as the War of the Jewels as the Silmarilli were behind them all.#The First Battle of Beleriand was...
and the duel of Fingolfin
Fingolfin
Fingolfin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, appearing in The Silmarillion.-Internal history:He was a High King of the Noldor in Beleriand, second eldest son of Finwë, full brother of Finarfin, and half-brother of Fëanor, who was the eldest of Finwë's sons. His mother was...
and Morgoth.
Analysis
The poem consists of over 4200 lines of iambic tetrameterIambic tetrameter
Iambic tetrameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of four iambic feet. The word "tetrameter" simply means that there are four feet in the line; iambic tetrameter is a line comprising four iambs...
. It is written in rhyming couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s.
Writing
Tolkien worked on The Lay of Leithian from the summer of 1925 until September 1931, when he abandoned it with only thirteen of the seventeen planned cantos completed. During the composition he made many amendments of the already existing parts of the poem, partially based on the criticism of his friend C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
who had read the poem in 1929. In the 1950s, after the publishing of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, he resumed working on the poem, of which he rewrote many passages, particularly of the second canto which was expanded and split into two. Nevertheless the poem never reached a complete or definite form.
Publishing
In 1937 Tolkien sent the current version of The Lay of Leithian together with a prose version of the yet unfinished part of the poem to his publisher Allen & UnwinAllen & Unwin
Allen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was...
who had asked for further material of his fictional world after the success of The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
. As Tolkien did not add any further information on the text the reader who was given it believed the poem to be an attempt to retell the prose version, which he thought to be a Celtic tale. Despite praising the prose he criticized the poem wherefore it was rejected. In 1985 the poem was published posthumously in The Lays of Beleriand
The Lays of Beleriand
The Lays of Beleriand, published in 1985, is the third volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume book series, The History of Middle-earth, in which he analyzes the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R...
, the third volume of The History of Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through to 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. Some of the content consists of earlier versions of already published...
. The two versions of the poem are given independently, and the development of them is commented on in detail by Christopher Tolkien
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher Reuel Tolkien is the third and youngest son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien , and is best known as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T. The J...
.
In popular culture
- The Austrian band SummoningSummoning (band)Summoning is an Austrian black metal band. They are known in part due to their extensive use of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology as lyrical subject.-Biography:...
, known for its Tolkien-themed lyrics, released a song titled "MenegrothOath Bound-Notes:*The name Oath Bound was selected because of its relationship with the Silmarillion theme the album has, which is in reference to the Oath of Fëanor....
" which is a setting of part of the Lay.
External links
- Lay of Leithian at the Tolkien Gateway, with a Canto-by-canto analysis