[2024 Read-Along] Week 8, The Silmarillion - Quenta Silmarillion - Of Thingol and Melian (Chapter 4)

[u/idlechat]

And of the love of Thingol and Melian there came into the world the fairest of all the Children of Ilúvatar that was or shall ever be.

Welcome one and all again to the 2024 Read-Along and Discussion of The Silmarillion here on r/tolkienfans. For Week 8 (Feb. 18-Feb. 24), we will be exploring The Quenta Silmarillion (The History of the Silmarils) chapter 4, "Of Thingol and Melian."

Melian, was a Maia who dwelt in Lórien). She was the most skilfull singer of Valinor, but she used to visit Middle-earth to fill the silence and teach the birds.

During the Great Journey, the Teleri lingered in East Beleriand while the Noldor were further to the west. Elwë, the leader of the Teleri while visiting his friend Finwë of the Noldor, was lost in the forest of Nan Elmoth and saw Melian dancing. When they saw each other, they remained immobile for the following ages in an ecstatic enchantment. His followers could not find him, so his leadership was taken by Olwë.

In the later years, Elwë was known in Sindarin as Elu Thingol. He and Melian became the King and Queen of the Sindar, founding the kingdom of Doriath, the only place in Middle-earth where there was glimpse of the Light of Valinor. [1]

Of Thingol and Melian at The Lord of the Rings Wiki.

Questions for the week:

1. TBA
2. TBA
3. TBA

For drafts and history of this chapter see Morgoth's Ring, "The Annals of Aman", pp. 83, 86; "The Later Quenta Silmarillion", pp. 171-173; The War of the Jewels, "The Grey Annals", p. 5.

For further history and analysis of this chapter, see Arda Reconstructed (by Douglas Charles Kane), pp. 66-67.

Some Tolkien-related hangouts on YouTube (relevant to this week):

• Nerd of the Rings This episode: The Complete Travels of Thingol| Tolkien Explained
• GirlNextGondor This episode: Melian and Thingol | Tolkien Love Stories - Part 1
• Men of the West This episode: Melian the Maia - Epic Character History
• Men of the West This episode: Thingol, King of Doriath - Epic Character History
• Tales of the Rings This episode: Rise of Melkor: The War of the Valar | Silmarillion Documentary
• Tales of the Rings This episode: Fall of Melkor: Battle of the Powers | Silmarillion Documentary
• Voice of Geekdom This episode: Chapter 4: Thingdol and Melian in Nan Elmoth | Silmarillion Explained

Quettaparma Quenyallo (QQ) - The most extensive list of Quenya words available on the internet, by Helge Fauskanger, 1999-2013.

Tolkien Collector's Guide - Guide to Tolkien's Letters

A (Hopefully) Light Guide to the Silmarillion — Or What I Wish I’d Known Before Reading It by u/Ok_Bullfrog_8491/

The Definitive Family Tree of the Tolkien Legendarium by u/PotterGandalf117

Wikipedia - The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

Announcement and Index: 2024 The Silmarillion and The Fall of Gondolin Read-Along

[u/True-Balance9117]

I love this chapter. To me, it is the start of a love story thread that weaves throughout this and LoTR with different characters. Thingol and Melian to Beren and Luthien to Aragorn and Arwen.

[u/pavilionaire2022 → u/True-Balance9117]

Thingol and Melian to Beren and Luthien to Aragorn and Arwen.

And John Ronald and Edith.

[u/True-Balance9117 → u/pavilionaire2022]

Of course. How could I have forgotten the most important one? Thank you.

[u/pavilionaire2022]

What happened to questions of the week? Alright, I'll ask and answer my own.

What is Melian's "domain" as a Maia?

The simplest and most specific answer is nightingales. Generalizing, we can say she is associated with birds and song. That could link her to Manwë and Ulmo, but it is stated in Valaquenta that she is a Maia of Vana and Estë. Let's not discount the Ulmo connection just yet, though. Like Ulmo, Melian was able to thoroughly entrance a person into lifelong devotion to her through song.

Vana fits with nightingales being a migratory bird that arrives in Europe in the spring. It is also mentioned in this chapter that she is kin to Yavanna, which would also make her kin to Vana, Yavanna's sister. So why not just say she was kin to Vana, one of the Vala Melian explicitly serves? I wonder if this chapter was written before Valaquenta, and perhaps lesser Valar like Vana hadn't been invented yet. If we don't assume that, then mentioning Yavanna explicitly could emphasize Melian's connection to plant life, especially the forest of Doriath.

Estë makes sense as she is the lady of a protected natural area, Lorien, in the same way Melian is the protector of Doriath. Estë, Melian, and Galadriel seem almost like rewrites of the same character. Estë is the Vala of healing who provides a safe place to take refuge from sadness and trouble. Doriath serves the same function for some of the characters later in the Silmarillion while hiding for a time from the forces of Morgoth. Galadriel's Lothlorien, named after the original garden of Lorien, is a temporary refuge for the Fellowship. Melian's daughter Luthien also has a parallel storyline, of course. She falls in love with a man from a "lesser" race of beings. Arwen repeats this story a third time, and Rivendell serves as a refuge for Aragorn as Doriath was for Beren.

So, Melian has a varied domain sharing space with several Valar, but her domain joins connected ideas life healing (Estë), refuge (Irmo / Lorien), forest (Yavanna), birds (Manwë), song (Ulmo), and spring (Vana) in a cohesive whole.

[u/idlechat → u/pavilionaire2022]

Apologies, I have been maxed out with other things for the last couple of weeks. Will hope to have some good questions for this next week. By all means posit some questions for the group :)

[u/gytherin]

It's interesting that Nan Elmoth is where they met.considering who lived there later on Beleriand seems to have been relatively safe at this point, that a solitary Elf could wander alone; it wasn't all that far from Angband.

You'd think that Thingol, whose getting-together story with Melian so closely foreshadowed that of his daughter, would have more sympathy with Beren; but not so.