"Behold, O King, I give thee the wondorous jewel thoudidst desire, and it is but a little thing found by the wayside, for once, methinks thou hadst one beyond thought more beautiful, and she is now mine."

The Book of Lost Tales Volume 2

I have already read all the versions of this tale, but it is one of Tolkien's best---is that a thing? Because all his works are great. We know the Tale of Tinuviel by another name, Beren and Luthien. Tolkien began writing this book in 1917 and I think it is safe to say that this story meant the most to him since it was inspired by the love he had for his wife, Edith. His son, Christopher Tolkien explains that he wrote, and rewrote this tale and even provided an image of the first notes. There is evidence of Tolkien erasing parts of the story and crossing about passages.

Since I have already discussed Beren and Luthien and its other versions a few times, I want to really focus on Tinuviel or Luthien. She is known for being the most beautiful of all. Her beauty is even described in Lord of the Rings because Arwen is said to look like her. But her beauty is not everything. She is probably one of the most courageous characters in Tolkien's legendarium.

"Nay," saith Melko, "such things are little to my mind; but as thou hast come this far to dance, dance, and after we will see," and with that he leered horribly, for his dark mind pondered some evil."

The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2

Melko is powerful but uses it for evil and Tinuviel confronts him face to face without showing fear. She even manages to trick him. However, it is insinuated in some versions that she knows that her journey to help Beren could end badly, and even faced with the worst, still, she goes, not faltering. While Beren loses his hand and ultimately gets the Silmarils, Tinuviel makes the most sacrifices, in my opinion. She knows what Melko could do to her and it would be pain and trauma beyond comprehension. As the quote states above, "for his dark mind pondered some evil." He already had plans for her and she knows it. Instead of succumbing to fear, she looks evil in the eyes and keeps to her plan.

I love this tale. This one is in the Book of Lost Tales and Eriol begins to tell the tale to the children, but it is Veanne who takes over because she wants it told correctly. When she is done, tears are streaming down her face.

Until next week, my loves!

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