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Old 09-14-2004, 10:01 PM   #23
Lostgaeriel
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Song of Beren and Lúthien

I think this must have been the chapter where I fell for Strider – his love of the outdoors and of poetry – what a combination! The Song of Beren and Lúthien is my favourite poem in the book.

Quote:
As night fell and the light of the fire began to shine out brightly he began to tell them tales to keep their minds from fear. He knew many histories and legends of long ago, of Elves and Men and the good and evil deeds of the Elder Days. They wondered how old he was, and where he had learned all this lore.

‘Tell us of Gil-galad,’ said Merry suddenly, when he paused at the end of a story of the Elf-Kingdoms. ‘Do you know any more of that old lay that you spoke of?’

‘I do indeed,’ answered Strider. ‘So does Frodo, for it concerns us closely.’ Merry and Pippin looked at Frodo, who was staring into the fire.

‘I know only the little that Gandalf has told me,’ said Frodo slowly. ‘Gil-galad was the last of the great Elf-kings of Middle-earth. Gil-galad is Starlight in their tongue. With Elendil, the Elf-friend, he went to the land of—’

‘No!’ said Strider interrupting, ‘I do not think that tale should be told now with the servants of the Enemy at hand. If we win through to the house of Elrond, you may hear it there, told in full’

‘Then tell us some other tale of the old days,’ begged Sam; ‘a tale about the Elves before the fading time. I would dearly like to hear more about Elves; the dark seems to press round so close.’

‘I will tell you the tale of Tinúviel,’ said Strider, ‘in brief—for it is a long tale of which the end is not known; and there are none now, except Elrond, that remember it aright as it was told of old. It is a fair tale, though it is sad, as are all the tales of Middle-earth, and yet it may lift up your hearts.’
So why does Aragorn choose the tale of Tinúviel, of all the tales of the old days? (Or why does Tolkien choose to include in verse, only this particular tale?)

Only in the last few years did I link Aragorn’s choice of song with the following from Appendix A:

Quote:
‘The next day at the hour of sunset Aragorn walked alone in the woods, and his heart was high within him; and he sang, for he was full of hope and the world was fair. And suddenly even as he sang he saw a maiden walking on a greensward among the white stems of the birches; and he halted amazed, thinking that he had strayed into a dream, or else that he had received the gift of the Elf-minstrels, who can make the things of which they sing appear before the eyes of those that listen.
‘For Aragorn had been singing a part of the Lay of Lúthien which tells of the meeting of Lúthien and Beren in the forest of Neldoreth. And behold! there Lúthien walked before his eyes in Rivendell, clad in a mantle of silver and blue, fair as the twilight in Elven-home; her dark hair strayed in a sudden wind, and her brows were bound with gems like stars.
For a moment Aragorn gazed in silence, but fearing that she would pass away and never be seen again, he called to her crying, Tinúviel, Tinúviel! even as Beren had done in the Elder Days long ago.
‘Then the maiden turned to him and smiled, and she said: “Who are you? And why do you call me by that name?”
‘And he answered: “Because I believed you to be indeed Lúthien Tinúviel, of whom I was singing. But if you are not she, then you walk in her likeness.”
So although this Ranger had no photograph or miniature portrait of Arwen to carry in his pocket, he could bring her image to his mind by singing this song – not only because he was singing this same song when he met her, but because she looks like Lúthien of whom he is singing. At this point in the journey from Bree to Rivendell he probably could use Arwen’s encouragement or the inspiration of her beauty.

Of course at the end of Book 2, Chapter VIII Lothlórien, Aragorn’s ability to bring Arwen’s image before his eyes is mentioned again.

Tolkien gives us the story of Beren and Lúthien early in the book to foreshadow the ‘fair, though sad’ tale of Aragorn and Arwen yet to come.
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