Blind Read Through: J.R.R. Tolkien; The Silmarillion, Of The Ruin of Doriath, Part 1

“It is told that a seer and harp-player of Brethil named Glirhuin made a song, saying that the Stone of the Hapless should not be defiled by Morgoth nor ever thrown down, not though the sea should drown all the land; as after indeed befell, and still Tol Morwen stands alone in the water beyond the new coasts that were made in the days of the wrath fo the Valar. But Húrin does not lie there, for his doom drove him on, and the Shadow still followed him.“

Welcome back to another Blind Read! This week Húrin, Túrin’s father, returns to the story as the second of the great kingdoms of the First Age topple.

Tolkien introduces us to this chapter by letting us know that Morgoth had been watching the events closely in Doriath and “In all ways Morgoth sought most to cast an evil light on those things that Thingol and Melian had done, for he hated them, and feared them.“

After twenty-eight years, Morgoth released Húrin from his captivity in Angband, “and he feigned that in this he was moved by pity as for an enemy utterly defeated.“

But Húrin was a marked man. He had been in captivity for so long that no one believed that he wasn’t a thrall of Morgoth. So he went to his people in Hithlum, but they shunned him in fear that he might lead an army to their front door because why would Morgoth suddenly release him after twenty-eight years if not to use him?

They were right to be scared because the agents of Morgoth watched his every move from a distance unbeknownst to Húrin.

Turned away from his people, Húrin turned to Gondolin, but the same fate held him there. Gondolin stayed hidden from him against Throndor, the great eagle’s wishes. Turgon decided too late to trust Húrin, and he never saw the human again. Still, his curse stuck with the Elf because, under the view of Morgoth’s spies, Húrin cried out to the mountains where the hidden entrance was to let him in, “and now Morgoth smiled, for he knew now clearly in what region Turgon dwelt.” We are told a few sentences later, “This was the first evil that the freedom of Húrin achieved.“

The despair of Húrin deepens and he stumbles around until he finally comes upon a large stone, “But Húrin did not look at the stone, for he knew what was written there.” Namely the memorial for his children. Sitting at the stone, he finds Morwen, spent and ready to pass away. She doesn’t seem surprised to see him, almost as if he were a shade coming to her in the twilight. They speak for a moment and watch the sunset together, holding hands as she passes away.

He builds a monument for her, and this monument is the opening quote of this chapter.

Húrin’s loss and desperation is where the story of Doriath’s fall begins. Húrin travels the land and eventually comes across the ruin of Nargothrond, the house of Finrod Felagund, where Glaurung the dragon made a home and gathered all the treasures of the Elves together. An old character reemerges as we find him sitting on the stores of Gold. It is Mîm, the petty dwarf who betrayed Túrin.

They exchange words, and Húrin slays him. “Then he entered in, and stayed a while in that dreadful place, where the treasures of Valinor lay strewn upon the floors in darkness and decay; but it is told that when Húrin came forth from that wreck of Nargothrond and stood again beneath the sky, he bore with him out of all that great hoard but one thing only.” Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, made for Felagund by Nogrod and Belegost, is one of Finrod’s most prized possessions.

Taking the prize, Húrin traveled to Doriath, eventually stood before Thingol, and threw Naulamîr at the King’s feet. He disparaged Thingol for not protecting his family, and by throwing the necklace at his feet, he intimated that Felagund was willing to go and fight, whereas Thingol thought he was too important; thus, Thingol was a coward and a breaker of promises.

Thingol accepted the jibes, but Queen Melian stood and spoke to Húrin, telling him the truth of the matter, that they did everything they could for Húrin’s family, short of imprisoning them to restrain them. She finished, “With the voice of Morgoth thou dost now upbraid thy friends.“

Húrin realizes his mistake and understands that the only thing keeping him alive was his anger, so “it is said that Húrin would not live thereafter, being bereft of all purpose and desire, and cast himself at last into the western sea; and so ended the mightiest of the warriors of mortal Men.“

But the damage had been done. Nauglamír was now in Menegroth at Thingol’s feet. The power of the Silmarils burned in Thingol’s memory as he looked at Nauglamír, “and it came into his mind that it should be remade, and in it should be set the Silmaril.”

Thingol went to the Dwarves and asked them to reforge the necklace, which they did in earnest. But the power of Fëanor’s creation created corruption, much like the One Ring in the Third Age. The Dwarves wanted nothing more than to keep Nauglamír once they forged it; “By what right does the Elvenking lay claim to the Nauglamír that it was made by our fathers for Finrod Felagund who is dead?“

I’ve looked for it before, but this is the tipping point between Dwarves and Elves. They are mortal enemies when we see them in the Third Age (The Lord of the Ring and The Hobbit). So, where did that rift begin? So far in the First Age, they have pretty much worked together. The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains even forged Nauglamír for an Elven King and then did it again to add a Silmaril for Thingol.

So what caused the rift? The fire of Fëanor. The Silmarils hold the light of Valinor, and for these Elves, it is the last vestige of the beauty of that land for them. So few are still alive that even looked upon the light of the trees of Valinor before the Sun or the Moon, and the only three left in Beleriand are Thingol, Melian, and Morgoth.

The Simarils remind them of the innocence of youth. A time when there was no strife and the music of the Ainur filled the world. They recalled a time of beauty and creation.

So when the people of Beleriand looked upon it, they felt that love and innocence and fought for it, even if they didn’t realize why. And what happens when you desire something so much, and you have no idea why? What happens when someone else tries to take this thing you love?

“The then lust of the Dwarves was kindles to rage by the words of the King; and they rose up about him, and laid hands on him, and slew him as he stood. So died in the deep places of Menegroth Elwë Singollo, King of Doriath, who alone of all the Children of Ilùvatar was joined with one of the Ainur; and he who, alone of the Forsaken Elves, had seen the light of the Trees of Valinor, with his last sight gazed upon the Silmaril.“

Join me next week as we conclude “Of the Ruin of Doriath!”