Beren and Lúthien 101 - Why this story matters!

Welcome to Tolkien's most cherished tale! The "kernel of the mythology", the "chief of the stories of the Silmarillion", the tale of Beren and Lúthien. Today we'll explore the earliest origins of this story, all the different versions of it, and all the reasons why Beren and Lúthien matter so much to Professor Tolkien and his wife Edith.
Check out the full story:
Beren & Lúthien 101 | Introduction - • Beren and Lúthien 101 ...
Beren & the Outlaws | Part 1 - • Beren & the Outlaws Un...
Lúthien Tinúviel | Part 2 - • Lúthien Tinúviel - Dau...
The Quest of the Silmaril | Part 3 - • The Quest of the Silma...
The Escape of Lúthien | Part 4 - • The Escape of Lúthien ...
Sauron's Island of Werewolves | Part 5 - • Sauron's Island of Wer...
Finrod Felagund Character Breakdown - • Finrod Felagund - Full...
The Wolfhound of Valinor | Part 6 - • The Wolfhound of Valin...
Inside Angband | Part 7 - • Inside Angband | Of Be...
The Hunt of the Wolf | Part 8 - • The Mightiest Wolf to ...
The Doom of Beren & Lúthien | Part 9 - • The Doom of Beren and ...
Learn more about the Half-elves of Gondor - • Half-Elves of Dol Amro...
Learn more about the cats of Queen Berúthiel - • The Black Númenóreans ...
#TheSilmarillion
#Lore
#Tolkien
#Middle-earth
Much love and many thanks to the artists who make the wonderful art. No Tolkien art is created by myself, and all credit goes to the individual artists. If an artist is not credited, it is because I cannot find the source of their image, but if any of your artwork is featured during this video, please drop a message or a comment and I can link your page in the description of my videos!
All content falls under fair use: any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, parody, or use a copyrighted work for educational purposes. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.
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Jenny Dolfen - goldseven.word...
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Much love, stay groovy, and navaer mellyn nin!

[@Harpyr1031]

The story of Berne and Lúthien is my favorite out of all of Tolkien’s works. I love that Lúthien isn’t just willing to sit back and takes an active role in fighting for the love of her life.

[@josephburgess3972]

I know that the song "Who wants to live Forever?" by Queen is for the soundtrack of Highlander, but when hearing it, I think of the story of Beren and Luthien. She didn't just give up immortality in the long-term sense. She also put her immortality on the line to save her love, who was mortal, of certain death.

[@breezeblock9145]

Sitting back like that Arwen lass, she kept quiet and let Aragorn h go gallivanting all around middle earth fighting and warring, she was a lazy fecker

[@BuzryHaproMandalorianHunter]

It’s a better love story then Twilight. (Just about any love story is better then that).

[@Baldwin-iv445]

​@@BuzryHaproMandalorianHunterI don't know I've seen some worse stories.

[@NarwhaI95]

wont lie the ending got me, we were so lucky to have a man like Professor Tolkien

[@skatemetrix]

I find the Beren and Luthien story to be one of Tolkien's best and often dreamlike lunging between nightmare to dream to nightmare and back to dream again. Beren arrives in Doriath as a man gone past utterly broken: he has nobody and barely survived the dark valley containing Ungoliant's offspring; so to see Luthien and to hear her singing would have been beyond heavenly for Beren. It may suggest that what Tolkien experienced in WW1 was much worse than anything he revealed either publicly or in his letters or to his friends, maybe it was blacker than black, more hellish than hell and that when he recovered in the UK again he somehow found the light. Though the history of the creation of the Beren and Luthien story is exceptionally thought-provoking and heart-pulling, I still firmly believe that the greatest of all Tolkien's stories is the expanded edition of the Fall of Gondolin as that... That is the ultimate in high fantasy, the secret city hidden by the vast mountains, and in the Silmarillion it has the most captivating couple: Tuor and Idril.

[@alanvenneman6323]

I have never heard the tale of Beren and Luthien before. After watching this I'm openly weeping. In fact, I'm still drying my eyes as I write this. The emotional vulnerability of JRR Tolkien hit me like a ton of bricks. Having never read the Silmarillion, I plan on reading every chapter before I watch a minute of the Rings of Power. Your channel gave me the inspiration for that - I've watched over half of your content in less than a week. On an even more personal note, I'll probably read B&L aloud to my lovely girlfriend who happens to sing and dance as well. Thank you for all the work you do summarizing and interpreting Tolkien's works! You truly bring them to life for all of us who have yet to read them. Now I must find a tissue...

[@tolkienuntangled]

Enjoy your read-through. Nothing like exploring the Silmarillion for the first time!

[@brettmuir5679]

Please please please spare yourself the filthiness that is Amazon's. The Rings of Power

[@TrueBronzo]

I’ve scoured the youtubes of many a Tolkien fandoms but none hold a candle to your content. Your delivery and insight are crafted with the most care and your attention to individual characters has no equal. Keep at it Dave of many colours and I will follow.

[@kylegordy113]

Truly, not to mention his curation of related art works is absolutely splendid.

[@sledgehammer301]

I have just finished the Beren and Lúthien section in the Silmarillion. Without doubt, perhaps one of the most beautiful story I have ever read, seen or heard. I particularly liked the loyalty, courage and power of Huan, the wolfhound, protecting Lúthien primarily and also Beren. I hope Hollywood never adapts it, they will only corrupt and defile such a good, decent, inspiring and wondrous story. They would befoul it, twist it, misshapen it, with their toxic perversions and filth and utterly ruin it. If you have been put off reading The Silmarillion, coz some slacked-jawed lump-head said "The Silmarillion is too hard to read" the I would strongly encourage you to ignore that and read it. It is such a good story and Beren and Lúthien part is the best. Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien. J.R.R. Tolkien The Silmarillion.

[@robertgreene9940]

Wow! The layers and time that Tolkien took to evolve adapt and change his masterpiece is amazing. Also, thank God for Christopher Tolkien making it his life's goal sifting through his father's life's work! So many layers and connections, its incredible! And what true story of his own love immortalized in his fictional characters. How on Earth did you become such an incredible expert on Tolkien? No other channel comes close to the depth you do with your knowledge and story telling!

[@astrotter]

This theme of chance encounters aided by music comes up again and again. Another romantic example, of course, is that of Lúthien's parents, Melian and Thingol (and you'd think Thingol would remember that sooner than he does). But you also have the hobbits' stumbling on the migrating elves in Fellowship, Maedhros responding to Fingon's song as he hung in torment, Lúthien's rescue of Beren from Sauron's dungeons, and Oromë's discovery of the Eldar singing at Cuiviénen. I'm sure there are others. It's such a lovely motif.

[@astrotter]

Sam and Frodo at the tower of Cirith Ungol, how could I forget that...

[@danielsalazar6211]

Thank you for your beautiful video. Few men experienced a love so powerful as that. Beren and Luthien love , is one for the ages.

[@tomk537]

I have been waiting for these series - what a great way to begin by framing the story in Tolkien’s life - it is clear now why Beren and Luthien seems like the center of the entire tale of The Jewels and The Rings

[@squashedeyeball]

Tinuviel, trying to teach cat-Beren how to behave and sound like a cat and do tricks, until even Huan is amazed, cracking jokes about the ordeal and laughing. All the while, they are preparing to invade proto-Angband in their suicidal quest lol. Can't tell you how much I loved this part from the oldest writings.

[@jandunn169]

Thank you so much for sharing this sad and incredibly beautiful tale with us from the life of Tolkien, and Beren and Luthien!!!!!! Have you heard of the Victorian writer William Sharp, who after meeting his own Edith began writing stories of Faery in Scotland under a female personna, Fiona Macleod??? Fiona Macleod wrote the libretto for a very popular English Opera "The Immortal Hour" around 1914. Tolkien most probably was aware of this opera during his lifetime.

[@athenahitchin7738]

When first read Bere and Luthien I totally felt how personal the love was and love knowing now how it was linked to Tolkien's old love. I also thought of Tristin and Isolde as being an influence on this work as there are points of parallel as well.

[@David_Fellner]

I've been fascinated with the name "Thû" ever since I first heard it on the Prancing Pony Podcast. There's just something about that single syllable that I find unsettling. It has this eerie, almost eldritch sound that implies much more dread than it lets on.

[@amberdawn2296]

As always Dave, wonderful stuff! Tolkien truly understood love, in all of it's manifestations. Luthien and Beren with romantic love; LoTR with the love of friendship. I would say he even understood the negative aspects of it, as an example: the love Finwe has for Feanor. Thank you for the video, I'm looking forward to this series :)

[@orylieth774]

I just read the tale of Beren and Luthien and it instantly became my favorite. Watching your video gave it even greater depth and meaning. Thank you!! ...and your cat was very beautiful!! Tolkien's dislike for cats is so strange ,I'm sure a lot of Tolkien fans are cat lovers, I wonder how he ended up feeling like that.

[@rickblaine9670]

I love, love, LOVE the "Farewell sweet earth and northern sky" poetry. One of my favorite pieces of literature of all time. Beren is looking at the remains of the Battle of the Sudden Flame, the testament to the Free People's last and most brutal defeat against Morgoth. He stands in the heart of a land so ravaged and ruined that it counts as basically Hell on Earth. Confronted with such a horrific sight and its implications, why shouldn't he, a mere mortal man, just give up and believe that yes, the world is an accursed, evil, rotten place? That Morgoth has won, that his corruption cut too deep, that all hope is lost? But no. No, he keeps his hope in spite of everything, because of one, simple, undeniable fact: that this scorched, ravaged, corrupted mess of a world still is the same one that Lùthien was born in. And, for Beren, this is more than enough proof that there MUST be some good at the heart of it. If this isn't the most beautiful declaration of love ever written, I don't know which is.

[@terrylayman1650]

Years ago, when I read through the entire History of Middle-earth as it was first published, I found the Lay of Lúthien was one of the most impressive creations. Thank you for giving a worthy Lay a worthy coverage.

[@dirkstegemann9413]

This is preposterous!! I just discovered this channel and playlist and cannot understand for the life of me why these videos don’t have thousands and thousands and thousands of likes?? Rainbow Dave, you really need to grow your audience, so more people can be amazed by your story-telling, your insights, your clarifications, your focus on interesting details, and your enthusiasm in general! Love your work! 🖖🏽

[@tolkienuntangled]

Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoy the channel.

[@MellowMutts270]

I am so excited for this series. The story of Beren and Luthien has captivated me since I was a youngling. There is just something that speaks to my soul in Tolkien’s writings. That said many youtubers have tried but I put my faith in you to do this tale justice. Others skim the surface but you dive deep with eloquence and passion and that energy is contagious. Side note I wonder if Tolkien liked dogs

[@stetsonstarkey]

This has potential to be your best series yet. I'm so excited and please keep up the great work! Once again, what really sets you apart is your storytelling. There are a ton of sources out there that will quote facts endlessly, but you bring a very unique passion and unparalleled storytelling. Thanks so much!

[@nurkoleptik_art]

Man, this is a tear jerker. Excellent video as always Dave

[@_spacegoat_]

I can't believe your videos don't have more views. This is the best Tolkien channel I've found....and I've found a lot. I hope you get name-dropped by someone famous so you get the recognition you deserve.

[@tolkienuntangled]

Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoy the channel.

[@ffnendhgrgd]

I like the idea of orcs having respect for cats, not eating them, and "tolerating" them as pets

[@lordofthehouseofstormcrows8615]

Well met RD! This story could have been a book all by itself. Huan the Hound is my favorite. The fact that his headstone says Beren and his wife's says Luthien. Great job as always! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK MELLON! ECTHELION!

[@josephburgess3972]

I always forget about the loyalty of Huan. Great part of the story in itself!

[@jonystyles9473]

Thingol also found Melian in the woods lool, Tolkien really liked this prologue of love, first shight in the woods haha xDD and possibly others, the Dark Elf... great video bro, keep it up

[@tolkienuntangled]

Thank man. You're absolutely right. I'll go into a lot of detail on Thingol's meeting with Melian in a few weeks when I get to my Luthien Tinuviel video

[@sharoncraker8393]

You wrapped this up so beautifully, it actually made me cry!

[@MichaelDG2023]

Thank you Dave, this was truly a work of love. I haven’t listened in a couple of weeks and it feels like coming home.

[@dannyfiumano6320]

19:37 onward...I just cried so hard

[@josephburgess3972]

I haven't watched this yet, at the time of writing this. I already pressed like because I already agree with the title.

[@EdoDoe613]

What a perfect way to start this series! Cannot wait for more! Thanks so much!

[@MzShaybutta]

You narrate this story beautifully and your elvish is flawless. Thank you. One of my favorite tales.

[@donya716]

thank you for all your series you rock in telling those stories , i hope this gives you more reasons to make more videos in the future

[@tolkienuntangled]

Thank you very much. I'm really glad you enjoy the videos!

[@jamesrossi1910]

Did you say 9-part series!!!! Woah! This is really exciting!

[@David_Fellner]

Hm, I missed that part. I'm glad to hear there'll be more of this, and it'll also help to space out the movie-book comparison series. I've been loving that series, but variety always helps.

[@kylegordy113]

Took a break from tolkien lore for a couple months. This channel was my favorite source when i started my deep dive into it a year or so ago. And i have to say, now coming back, this may genuinely be my favorite youtube channel period. This is exactly why i love youtube. Thank you for your hard work and amazing talent :) i think tolkien would be proud and gratuitous.

[@ransombaggins9301]

I'm so excited to watch this entire playlist. 💖 One of the best parts of one of the best legendariums ever.

[@sweety-samathedrama3042]

I like your videos. I just found your channel recently and after watching some videos I wanted to rewatch LotR! I read the books (not all Tolkien books though) a long time ago and had forgotten a lot or missed a lot of the deeper stuff (as always). I’m not good with connecting dots through different books, so your condensed telling is absolutely helpful in understanding the stories! And I love the art you’re showing!

[@sunnyp6869]

I'm so glad Rainbow Dave is back!

[@LilmissJ111]

Very good choice in a podcast!

[@beckyedgeworth9639]

Discovered your channel a few months ago and have been enjoying it so much. Tolkien and Edith with Beren and Luthien on their grave stone….😭😭😭 So glad you shared that. Wish you could provide audio versions of the books. Your voice is so soothing.

[@BjoernVT]

Great video as always! In my opinion (or I might have missed that part, as I watched it at work), you left out one detail of the family tree of Luthien and Beren, leading to Arwen and Aragorn and that is another mighty love story of the same fabric. The parents of Luthien were King Thingol of Doiath, whose spouse became Melian, the Maia, through whom he that did never see the light of Valinor got to be counted as one of the Calaquendi and thus not only the blood of Elves and Men is in Aragorn and Arwen, but also of the Maia. To me, this is a massively big part of the whole story :) Maybe because I totally love Melian :) Also this intermingling between the races always made me wonder, if there were indeed any relationships between elves and dwarves or dwarves and men, too ... would not that be a nice twist for the hobbits to come to be? (I doubt that the Pete Jackson version though), for them have not been explained in the song of the Ainur, if I remember correctly... What do you think?

[@keyboarddancers7751]

Elu Thingol aka Elwë Singollo was classed as Calaquendi because he was one of the Firstborn to go to Valinor with his younger brother Olwë so he did see the Two Trees. He returned to Middle Earth with his brother with a view to encouraging the host of the Teleri to come with him to Valinor but on a time, he met and fell in love with Melian the Maia in Nan Elmoth. He was content to see the light of the Two Trees in her eyes so he never returned to Valinor and became the King of the remaining Teleri (the Sindar) in Doriath. It's also worth pointing out that Galadriel's forbears were Noldor (her father, Finarfin), Teleri (her mother, Eärwen) and Vanyar (her paternal grandmother, Indis). Thus her grand daughter Arwen and the brethren Elladan and Elrohir were uniquely able to trace their lineage back to include the Half-Elven, all of the chief houses of Men and all of the houses of the Elves. How marvellous is that timeline!

[@tolkienuntangled]

I'm doing a whole segment on Melian and Thingol in the video after next week's 🙂

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

The way you organize information and present it is fantastic.

[@spudgun3268]

That was so absolutely beautiful. When you read that line near the end where Tolkien said "The story has gone crooked, & I am left" I actually began weeping. A good cry though. I hope every Beren finds their Luthien and every Tolkien their Edith in this world because that is a type of love which transcends any Hollywood depiction I can think of, in terms of how touching and striking it is in its beauty and grace. Thank you for this lovely video.

[@anthonya6044]

Help! I can't find the next video! Many thanks for the lovely work you do!

[@tolkienuntangled]

Here it is 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqHTiIF4nZKbeZI

[@Powderhound-cb8pb]

So happy I found this channel. Keep up the great videos. I can now look forward to hours of enjoyment while commuting to and fro. Thanks so much!!

[@charlesmartin1121]

It's interesting that there are only a few generations between Beren and Luthien and Arwen, but perhaps hundreds between them and Aragorn. Genetics in Middle Earth must be something else. Of course, that was a subject that Tolkien probably took a deem view of anyway.

[@Exit311]

You'd think that because of their longer-spanning generations, elves would become less evolved than men over time, but their mitochlorians make up for that

[@charlesmartin1121]

@@Exit311 An interesting speculation. I don't know about less evolved than men, since they seem to have a massive capability advantage over their mortal contemporaries. But in the real world long living, slow reproducing organisms are less adaptable to sudden environmental changes.

[@Exit311]

@@charlesmartin1121 Right, exactly. Of course they're massively OP compared to men. But given the seemingly completely homologous anatomy (see above video), the huge discrepancy in reproduction rates does suggest that they'll be outpaced over time. Maybe that's why they hightailed it over the Rainbow Bridge when they did. Zoom out a few orders of magnitude and the implications are even more interesting. Or they could be doing men a favor. Everyone's been running around with basically the same load out kit they started with, dealing with massive great-grandaddy issues, and fetishizing fragile swords. There's almost no forward progress and that's partially due to the simple presence of elves in Middle Earth. Magic has impeded science here, making it almost irrelevant. Or (as usual), they knew something men didn't and took off before more sea people showed up.

[@charlesmartin1121]

@@Exit311 Darn Sea Peoples. Always wrecking a perfectly nice age of great kings. Yeah it would be really funny if a delegation from Valinor returns in 500-1,000 years and finds those puny substandard mortal men have developed machine guns, nuclear power and the internet. And maybe the space technology or dimensional jumping capability to enable a successful second invasion of Aman. You make an interesting point about Tolkien and the world he created--namely it does not really progress in terms of technology. And only varies over time in regards to the relative power of it's beings (all the really top contenders coming from earlier ages). An interesting kind of reverse evolution. So maybe old Saruman was on the right track after all, he was just too enamored of predatory capitalism and polluting energy technologies.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

@@Exit311 Holy shit! XD XD XD

[@GulienIthilmir]

I don't remember when have I clicked so fast on a video last time. :D

[@rebeccalyn3208]

Same. Love getting ready for the day to a new video!

[@mypeeps1965]

I was so excited waking up to this! I have a video suggestion about Sauron and leaving Valinor for the last time. He had to be conflicted, if not, when do you think he changed? he'll he was known as "Mairon" at the time. Was he caught spying for Melkor? Did he leave anticipating coming back? Was he tricked into leaving by Melkor? When was the point of No Return, When did he cease being Mairon? Was it before he left or was there a certain or specific event where he felt like his fate was sealed🤔 I know there is nothing written per se but is there anything we can speculate about. I just think it's one of many fascinating questions that is not discussed enough. Take care DMC. There's a shirt and cool advertising in there 😎

[@tolkienuntangled]

I don't think Sauron ever made it to Valinor. As I understand it, he made the official jump to team Morgoth during the Years of the Lamps while living on the Isle of Almaren. We're told next to nothing about it, but I imagine that before Sauron openly betrayed the Valar, he was a living among them as a spy. I would speculate that before the destruction of the lamps, Sauron was hedging his bets between Melkor and Aulë. But then Melkor destroyed Aule's lamps and plunged Arda into darkness, so I guess Sauron made his choice and jumped ship. All this was happening before the Valar moved West to Valinor though.

[@mypeeps1965]

@@tolkienuntangledI knew that, and yet I didn't? I love the 1st Age! Thank you for your response. I find it hard to get a sense of TIME, especially in the 1st Age. Thousands of years skipped with nothing happening or reported to have happened, then floor falls out from under your feet. I love it! Thank you again for all that you do!

[@stetsonstarkey]

Thanks for doing this series, it's really amazing. I was not able to listen to everything on premiere, but I'm about to go to the old thing right now. Your content is absolutely amazing!

[@tolkienuntangled]

Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoy the videos. Enjoy Beren and Luthien!

[@asianbandit4054]

How am I only finding this channel now? Finrod and the story of Beren and Lúthien are my favorite

[@MrSebLD]

Thank you for this great high quality content, it's a real pleasure to watch your videos.

[@JerryBWagoner]

I stumbled across your channel by accident 4 days ago and I can honestly say that I have never been so entangled in online content. I'm a casual fan (read the 4 main books and of course watched the movies), but I have never been able to dig as deep as I wanted to in this world. you are bringing it to me and I thank you. 😊

[@pauladehollain8269]

This ending brought me to tears! You're so good at untangling Tolkien, I'm sure wherever he is, you make him proud :)

[@luckythebeaglemolly4354]

Thank you for your breakdown of one of my favorite books.

[@theladyprincess]

it's never gonna happen but who i had in mind for a time as beren and luthien for an adaptation would be caitriona balfe and sam heughan (from outlander), this chapter was my favourite from silm and i remember absolutely falling in love with it when i first read it at 15

[@danguillou713]

Looking forward to your version of this story. A bit more nervous about the coming amazon version. (Well, they haven’t said exactly what they’re going to cover, but this and Narn i hin Hurin seem like top candidates.) Be interesting to hear your thoughts on that. Cheers

[@artewilliams758]

wow..what beautiful words and truly a remarkable, wonderful man. What beautiful words, even when talking about his fair Edith - his "Luthien", had such a beautiful way with words. So touching at the end, so beautiful that it really does bring a tear to your eyes ...Bless you fair Beren and Luthien - bless you J R R Tolkien and fair Edith..

[@monitor-mindtheover-void6712]

Lets go! I think I'm quite ready for another adventures.

[@lanceholder7794]

Yay. Just finished the last playlist

[@cristopherfernandez5765]

As always I love your lores. You're very detailed which a non-book reader like me gives a lot more sense. I've tried listening to other lore KZbinrs they just mostly summarize it which confuses a non book reader 😆

[@queenberuthiel5469]

Lol. I didn't expect to be mentioned in this video. Then we, the professor and I, were no cat person.

[@raikosaarjoe5817]

Woah youve had 3x subs since I subed 2 months ago. Thats awesome. Keep going !

[@jonathanthomas4182]

This is why I strongly believe that if there is one part of the Silmarillion that needs to make it to the Big Screen it’s the story of Beren and Lutheran.

[@catherinetrinh3260]

As with Beren, Tolkien had to wait for years to be with his Luthien because he honored the agreement he made with his priest/mentor. Could it be that Tolkien wrote himself into his story?

[@catherinetrinh3260]

I should have waited until the end of this video to have get the answer to my question.

[@josephburgess3972]

@@catherinetrinh3260 I think the question is what we all felt. I think it is one of the few stories in The Silmarillion that gets more details compared to a lot of the other stories in the book. I think it comes from Tolkien's passionate love for his real love as his personal Luthien. I really like hearing Rainbow Dave talk about the changes in the story from Tolkien over the years. When I think on that fact, it makes me realize that it reflects upon Tolkien's love for his wife that naturally grew into the more completed written story of Beren and Luthien.

[@catherinetrinh3260]

@@josephburgess3972 Brilliant analysis!

[@jangolub8240]

He says he did. Did you even listen?

[@josephburgess3972]

@@jangolub8240 She replied saying the same. 😋 I pretty often start writing something about a video as I am watching. Very often I put my foot in my mouth. Hehehe

[@docopoper]

Beren and Luthien is just... the best story. I have a hard time ranking it and LotR beside each other. Neither is clearly the best, though they have very different tones.

[@chrisbatta6357]

I love your video’s and looking forward to this series! I’ve read a lot of Tolkien’s works and I have a question that may have been answered already. Why was Aragorn so surprised to meet Arwen? Wasn’t he living for many years with Elrond and hanging out exclusively with her brothers all that time? Why Didn’t he know of her existence or have met her at some time prior?

[@tolkienuntangled]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Arwen actually spent all of Aragorn's youth living on the other side of the misty mountains with her grandparents in Lothlorien. It wasn't until Aragorn was in his twenties that she returned to Rivendell and they met for the first time.

[@susanhoughton1104]

Thanks for this story. I have lived with the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings since long before the movies and they are a rich part of my history. However I have never been able to read The Silmarillion, to my sorrow. Maybe it’s time to try again.

[@ellanenish5999]

I totally agree his greatest tale

[@stevepilley]

very well explained:thank you

[@pentegarn1]

Thank you very much!!! The best werewolf story ever told.

[@fantasymind8899]

I've started crying now...thank you very much

[@tomk537]

RAINBOW DAVE!! One important question - is Beren ever described as handsome?? I think he must have had a certain ruggedness - maybe quite different from the genteel male elves Luthien knew - but it is clear Beren is spellbound by her beauty - is he ever called handsome for a mortal?!! What first attracts her to him? Was it just their doom??

[@tolkienuntangled]

He's never described in detail (apart from being tall and having the dark hair and grey eyes of the House of Bëor), but we are told that when he first met Luthien he looked as 'wild and wary as a beast', so he probably wasn't looking his best. I think you're right that it's fate and doom that most attract Luthien to Beren.

[@David_Fellner]

He certainly wouldn't have been looking good when they first met, what with having travelled nonstop halfway across Beleriand. I hope he found a lake or river to bathe in before they met in person! But aside from that, Lúthien was clearly content with his looks.

[@malcolmgower1005]

Beautiful

[@farahwyn8733]

Oh. Luthien and Beren.😅 I thought you posted a new book vs. movies video. Oh well. This is also great.

[@attykarly]

Omg yesssssss ive been waiting for this

[@francisgrizzlysmit4715]

this still makes me cry, truly Tolkien at his greatest

[@billmiller4972]

Tolkien lived from the height of the Victorian Empire through two bloody wars to the depressing years of the early 70s when Britain fell behind on every economic scale. This surely did leave traces in Tolkien's mind.

[@ZemiEmperor]

Amazing, thank you for the beginning of the series! May I ask you about how you go about preparing your episodes? And how long do it take you to create a 10-minute video?

[@tolkienuntangled]

I'm really glad you enjoyed the video! Each video takes about two days to research and write, and then a full day to record and edit the audio, and then about two days to actually make the video. So it's relatively time consuming. About five full days of work for each 30ish minute video

[@ZemiEmperor]

@@tolkienuntangled I knew it must be time consuming! But you should know there are some many of us who appreciate it a lot. And your voice and its intonation, the way you read it, is so pleasant to listen to! Do you read the entire script? It sounds so natural

[@tolkienuntangled]

@@ZemiEmperor thank you so much! People like you are why I make them. I tend to have a list of points to talk about and quotes from the books, and then I record myself just going through them

[@ZemiEmperor]

@@tolkienuntangled You're doing a great job! I'm subscribed now with the bell button turned on, and going throigh your previous episodes. Keep up the great work, we enjoy it!

[@gothngo2943]

My husband often calls me either Lúthien or Èowyn. 🥰 And my cats have been named Lord Gilgalad, Merry, Pippin, Smaug, Faramir... And Morgoth. And yeah, he's a beast. Lol (I also have a turtle named Gandalf the Green!)

[@aarontalksculture4946]

All these "spoilers" on these 100+ year old stories. Lol 🤣

[@davidthetraveler1466]

*unable to adequately express my admiration for this video due to emotions*

[@andrewsalvatore2174]

The luckiest man to walk this earth is the one who finds a love like Beren and Lúthien.

[@DeadlyAssets]

This is my favorite story of all time! let us hope Amazon keeps well away!

[@TETASARAIVACS]

Do you remember that ALSO Thingol and Melian first met in the woods, and she was singing and dancing? 😊

[@seanhartel5362]

Rainbow Dave did it, he finally did it.

[@арефнар]

Never in my life have I found a luthien and my conviction might be because of that, but guys, I do seriously think that the children of hurin is bigger and more engaging than beren and luthien, it at least is a contender for the "best".

[@tolkienuntangled]

Children of Hurin is a great story! I can't wait to get to it.

[@арефнар]

@@tolkienuntangled yeah, it would be cool and I'm sure it will be the "big one" on your channel as that story needs a hell lot of narration and you are one of the best narrators of tolkien out there. Big amount of luck!

[@karlkutac1800]

I liked when Arwen said to Aragorn, I am not Luthien. And then Aragorn says, I thought I brought forth a living vision, like Elven songs do.

[@andrewlohmann4946]

First off, I have to say that I love your video series. I really appreciate the thoroughness and depth of each one. So, I'm trying to wrap my mind around this notion of fea. I get that it differs for elves and humans (let's leave aside the dwarves). For the elves, they have immortality in the lands of Valinor, whereas for humans they pass into the unknown. And to the elves, they consider this passing as a gift for humans. In other words, it seems that at least a part of the elves envy this opportunity. However, as demonstrated for the first time by Luthien, the elves have the capacity and opportunity to "choose a mortal life," forsaking their immortality and having their fea pass into the unknown just like with men. Understandably, immortality would be a difficult thing to give up, being with one's family and other loved one's for an eternity. BUT it is the elves that consider this opportunity "a gift." And it seems like it is a gift available to all the elves, should they just choose to make that decision. So, the question for me is why don't more elves avail themselves of this gift? If the elves didn't consider it a gift, then the answer is obvious: Why give up immortality? But passing into the unknown is viewed as something positive by the elves, and so it escapes me why more elves other than Luthien (and later Arwen) would not choose this option. Any insights?

[@tolkienuntangled]

Great question, but the answer is elves cannot choose to give up their immortality. If Legolas or Celeborn or Galadriel (or anyone else) wanted to, they can't. The only reason Luthien and Arwen do, is because they're very special exceptions, and neither of them are 100% Elven. I go into a lot more detail at the end of this series, but Luthien doesn't choose mortality in the way Arwen does. She dies, and like all immortals, her Fëa goes West where it is held and judged by Mandos. But there, Luthien sings a song so beautiful that the inexorable Mandos is moved to pity. Luthien's case is so unique, and she is so special, that she is granted a second life with Beren, but only on the condition that her second life is a mortal one. So she doesn't really choose mortality, she earns it as a favour from the Valar. Arwen, on the other hand, is a bit different. Beren and Luthien had a son who was 50% Man, 25% Elf and 25% Maia. He married an elf and so his child (the granddaughter of Beren and Luthien) is 62.5% elf, 25% Man, and 12.5% Maia. And this granddaughter (Elwing) goes onto marry a guy called Earendil who is himself 50% elf 50% man, from the other First Age elf/man union. So the children of Earendil and Elwing are descendents of half elves from both their mother's and father's sides. And so the uniquely half elven children of Earendil and Elwing have the unique ability to choose whether they're counted among mortals or immortals. This is relevant to your question, because these two children are the half-elven Elrond and Elros. Elros chooses mortality, Elrond chooses immortality; but because Arwen is the daughter of Elrond (and thus granddaughter of Elwing and Earendil), she is also granted the ability to choose a mortal life. However, apart from her brothers, no other elf can do this. It's only because Arwen is a part of that half-elven family line that she make this choice.

[@andrewlohmann4946]

@@tolkienuntangled I appreciate you taking the time to respond. And your answer makes a lot of sense. So, let me follow up with another question on the topic (since I am a sociologist), with the caveat that I am pretty sure you cannot provide a concrete answer (but you did reference a theological conversation between Andreth and Aegnor (IIRC) so there may indeed be some reference material). /If/ elves could choose to forsake their immortality, would they? I imagine that the answer for the elves would be as much theological as it would be social, depending on the degree to which they felt connected to men (and thus may differ across the Ages).

[@samanthalouise37]

I could have cried listening to this 😢

[@ChrisGrahamkedzuel]

I'm not cryin, you're cryin.

[@thegoblonoid]

Well then, I guess I am a man of Mordor with my two black cats by my side. Will definatively name the next one Tevildo. Guess I don't agree with Tolkien on everything...

[@David_Fellner]

Hey, nobody can be right about everything. If this is the one area where Professor Tolkien was wrong, then he chose a pretty benign subject to err on. On a slightly related note, I've always thought that if I ever have a dog, I would like to name it Hornburg. Hornburg just sounds like a dog's name.

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

The cat thing is funny. And I once had a black cat named Arwen!

[@calico27]

I am sad to think that Tolkien lived his life without knowing true love from a cat. Because you cannot not love cats after having been loved by one.

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

Never was a big cat person... until I experienced exactly what you said. After seeing how much this stray cat wanted to love and be loved, it was impossible not to reciprocate. His name is now Frodo, by the way 😂

[@donaldjohnson1148]

@14:19 "Dude was not a cat person." I knew there had to be more than just genius writing as to why I like Tolkien! 🤭

[@stefanstoyanoff8206]

Im not crying... you're crying!

[@tomtripp5417]

The illustrations at 3:40 remind me of viggo and liv

[@dabrams84]

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING.

[@TheDantheman12121]

Your videos are really cool, but i am worried as idk if i watch these it might ruin future shows like the rings of power (i think that is the name.)

[@tolkienuntangled]

The Rings of Power were forged over a thousand years after the beginning of the Second Age, and all these Silmarillion stories (all the way up to the War of Wrath) happen in the First Age, so there's no way that they'll spoil anything in the Rings of Power TV show.

[@Chris850]

Thk for this video, it's amazing ❣❣❣ but what happened with Luthien after the death of Bener?

[@sektionobc9485]

The German nazgul sounds why better than the English

[@animalistic3706]

True