Melian

Melian the Maia, by Elena Kukanova
Melian
Biographical information
Other names	Melyanna, Tóril, Gwendeling
Titles	Queen of Doriath
Birth	Before the Ainulindalë
Rule	Since YT 1152 to FA 504 (for about 3,837 years)
Death	FA 504 (vanished to Valinor)
Realms	Doriath, Valinor
Spouse	Elu Thingol
Weapon	Magic, voice
Physical description
Race	Ainur
Culture	Maiar (Guardians)

Melian "the Maia" was an Ainu of the race of the Maiar of Yavanna, wife of King Elu Thingol, Queen of Doriath, and mother of Lúthien Tinúviel. Melian was the fourth greatest and one of the most powerful of the Maiar. In Middle-earth, she was unsurpassed in both wisdom, beauty, and magical singing.

Biography

Before she came to Middle-earth, Melian served both Vána and Estë, and dwelt in Lórien tending the trees that grew in the Gardens of Irmo. Among all of her people none were wiser (with the exception of Ilmarë, Arien ,Olórin and Uinen), more beautiful, or more skilled in singing enchanting songs than Melian. She loved the deep shadows of the great trees. When the light of the Two Trees would mingle Melian would sing and the Valar would stop their work and listen. Nightingales went with her wherever she went, and she taught them their song. Of all the Valar she was most akin to Yavanna. When the Elves awoke on the shore of Cuiviénen she departed from Valinor and went to Middle-earth, where she filled its silence with her singing and the singing of her birds. During this time, she was the chief of the Guardians.

Melian encounters Elwë the woods of Nan Elmoth, by WilderWein77

While in the forest of Nan Elmoth she met and fell in love with the Elven-king Elu Thingol, and later she ruled the kingdom of Doriath by his side. For thousands of years, she used her powers to guard and defend the kingdom with a protection spell called the Girdle of Melian, but she predicted that one person would one day breach this defense. The Girdle functioned to bewilder any who attempted to enter Doriath, and was so potent that even Ungoliant was unable to breach it. She and her husband had a child, a daughter named Lúthien. During her stay in Doriath she became a friend and mentor of Galadriel. Melian wanted to know the cause of the exile of the Ñoldor. Galadriel only briefly narrated the story to her, leaving out the death of Finwë, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and the burning of the ships at Losgar. But eventually she and Thingol learned the truth.

Melian's main line of descent was of the Half-elven, and through her daughter the Maian blood passed to both Elves and Men. When Beren arrived as foretold, she counseled Thingol against sending Beren for a Silmaril, a quest which would eventually lead to Doriath's ruin. A friend of Mankind, she also aided Húrin's family by hosting Túrin in Doriath and later helped Beleg Cúthalion in his search for Túrin by giving him Lembas. When Húrin came to Doriath old and carrying a great grief and misery on him, Melian helped him see through his ills. After Thingol's death she left Doriath, visiting Beren and Lúthien for a time warning them of the Dwarves treachery, and the curse on the Mîm's treasure. Shortly there-after, she went back to Valinor, musing upon her sorrows in the gardens of Lórien whence she came.

Etymology

Melian is a Sindarin name, from the Quenya Melyanna, of which the roots are mel (love) and anna (gift). The name means "dear gift." Earlier versions of Melian's name were Gwenniel or Gwenethlin. Her rare title-name, Tóril, meant "queen."

Other versions

In some of J.R.R. Tolkien's earliest tales, Melian is a sprite or twilight spirit named Tindriel, then Wendelin, who served Palúrien. Tinwelint (later Thingol) finds her lonely in a glade of Hisilómë. She is Gwendeling or Gwenniel in "The Tale of Tinúviel" (written in 1917), found in the woods listening to the nightingales by Tinwelint, and running away when he first approaches her. This encounter foreshadowed Beren's first meeting of Lúthien, whom he would call "Nightingale", in the final versions of their own tale. Gwendeling marries Tinwelint later, and together they rule Artanor (later Doriath).

Tolkien once chose Tinfang to be Wendelin's son, but dropped the idea.

Gwendeling would be more powerful as Melian the Maia in later stages of Tolkien's mythology; the Maiar were not conceived of until some years after "The Tale of Tinúviel" was written.

House of Thingol

Thingol

Melian

Lúthien

Beren

Dior

Nimloth

Eluréd and Elurín

Elwing

Eärendil

Elros

Elrond

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	መሊኣን
Arabic	ميلايان
Armenian	Մելիան
Belarusian Cyrillic	Меліан
Bengali	মেলিঅন
Bosnian	Melijana
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Мелиан
Catalan	Mèlian
Chinese (Hong Kong)	美麗安
Danish	Melian (Maia og dronning af Doriath)
Georgian	მელიანი
Greek	Μέλιαν
Gujarati	મેલિઅન
Hebrew	מליאן
Hindi	मेलिअन
Japanese	メリアン
Kannada	ಮೆಲಿಯನ್
Kazakh	Меліан (Cyrillic) Melian (Latin)
Korean	멜리안
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Мэлиан
Lao	ມເລິະນ ?
Macedonian Cyrillic	Мелиан
Marathi	मेलिअन
Mongolian Cyrillic	Мелиан
Nepalese	मेलिअन
Pashto	مېلیان
Persian	ملیان
Polish	Meliana
Punjabi	ਮੇਲੀਅਨ
Sanskrit	मेलिअन्
Serbian	Мелиан (Cyrillic) Melian (Latin)
Sinhalese	මෙලිඅන්
Russian	Мелиан
Tajik Cyrillic	Мелиан
Tamil	மெலிஅந்
Telugu	మెలిఅన
Thai	เมลิอัน
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Меліан
Urdu	میلیان
Uzbek	Мелиан (Cyrillic) Melian (Latin)
Yiddish	מעליאַנאַ