The Power of the Ring by Stratford Caldecott

Author:Stratford Caldecott
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780824550004
Publisher: The Crossroad Publishing Company
Published: 2012-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

Given its centrality in Tolkien’s mythology as the link between the world of today and the Elder Days when the world was flat, between mythical time and historical time, the drama of Númenor and its progeny lies at the heart of his work. Shaped like a great five-pointed star, the island known as the “Land of Gift” represents the mingling of earth and heaven in the midst of the sea—another image of buried and fragmented light. But the tragedy of Númenor points in two directions: forward and back. Forward lies the story of Aragorn and Arwen, familiar from The Lord of the Rings. For Aragorn is the heir of Elendil, leader of the survivors from Númenor. He bears on his brow the “Star of the Dúnedain,” which recalls his ancestor Eärendil, the father of the first king of Númenor, Elros, the brother of Elrond. But backward, behind both these stories, lies the tale of Beren and Lúthien, and with this we come even closer to the source of Tolkien’s inspiration.

Set in the First Age, the story tells how love first binds together Man and Elf. In brief, Beren, a mortal man, falls in love with Lúthien, the daughter of the Elf-King Thingol and Melian, one of the angelic Maiar who had entered Arda in the beginning with the Valar. To get rid of this unwelcome and unworthy human suitor, Thingol sends him on an impossible quest: to bring him a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. On his way to recover the holy jewel, Beren is cast into a pit by Morgoth’s lieutenant Sauron, to be devoured by werewolves. Lúthien, however, has followed after him (contrary to every stereotype of passive womanhood) and rescues him with the aid of her ancestral magic and Huan, the hound of the Valar. The three achieve the quest together: it is Lúthien who captivates Morgoth and puts him to sleep while Beren cuts loose the Silmaril. Together they escape from Morgoth’s fortress only to be confronted at the gate by its most dreadful guardian: the wolf Carcharoth, who swallows the hand that holds the Silmaril and later slays Beren himself.

The tale continues. Lúthien follows Beren to the underworld of the dead and sings to the Lord of Death, Mandos himself, the most beautiful song in the world, a song that weaves together the griefs of the Two Kindreds. If the world is founded on song, this is its central theme. Moved to tears, Mandos appeals to the Lord of the Valar to make an exception to the normal rules that separate the destinies of Men and Elves. For love of Beren, Lúthien has rejected the fate of the Elves in favor of a human death, in order to be with him forever. Her decision will open the way for others, including Arwen, to choose the same destiny. The couple is rewarded with a brief return to life in Middle-earth before their final journey into the unknown. In time they died once more, although “none marked where at last their bodies lay.

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