Lay of Lúthien

This article is about the in-universe lay. For the chapter in The Lays of Beleriand, see The Lay of Leithian.

The Lay of Lúthien, also known as the Lay of Leithian: Release from Bondage or the tale of Tinúviel, was a lengthy sad tale made in the ann-thennath Elvish verse mode telling the story of Beren, Lúthien, and the Quest for the Silmaril.

First stanza

The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering.
Tinúviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
And in her raiment glimmering.

History

Sometime between the years 503 and 538 of the late First Age, the Lay of Lúthien was likely among many tales and songs that were made in the Havens of Sirion. It was said to be the second longest lay; only being beaten in length by Dírhaval's Narn i Chîn Húrin.

By the time of the late Third Age, the ending of the lay was forgotten and only Elrond in Rivendell could remember it "as it was told of old".

When Aragorn II saw Arwen in Rivendell for the first time, he sang an excerpt from the Lay of Lúthien telling of Beren and Lúthien's first meeting in the Forest of Neldoreth.

In the year 3018, Aragorn sang the same excerpt on Weathertop in the Weather Hills to distract Frodo Baggins, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, and Samwise Gamgee from their fears. Afterwards, Aragorn summarized the lay and explained its history and form to the hobbits. He also comments that his Westron-translated excerpt was "but a rough echo of" the original since the lay is difficult to translate.

In other versions

In June of 1925, a poem that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that year, Light as Leaf on Lindentree, appeared in a volume of The Gryphon Magazine, a Leeds University publication. The poem was revised and incorporated into an early version of the Narn i Chîn Húrin where one of Morwen's servants sang the poem as they entered Doriath with Túrin. In this version, Tolkien gave the poem many variations of names including As Light as Leaf on Lindentree, Light as Leaf on Linden-tree, As Light as Leaf on Linden-tree, and Light as Leaf on Linden. This scene in The Lay of the Children of Húrin was deduced by Christopher Tolkien as being the predecessor of the scene of Aragorn singing the excerpt "before the attack of the Ringwraiths" on Weathertop Hill.

Tolkien later reworked the poem into Canto III of The Lay of Leithian.

While writing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien made another variation of the poem's name, Light on Linden Tree, and revised it until it came close to the published version.

In an early version of the Rivendell chapters, Bilbo Baggins was to sing Tinúviel, an excerpt from the Lay of Lúthien which may possibly have been the same as Light as Leaf on Lindentree. Tolkien decided against this, having Bilbo sing an early version of The Short Lay of Eärendel: Eärendillinwë instead.

In adaptations

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In the first film of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, after passing through the Midgewater Marshes, Aragorn sings a song in Elvish while keeping watch during the night. He tells Frodo that it is "the lay of Lúthien, an Elf-maid who gave her love to Beren, a mortal" man.