Melian

Melian is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and in several stories within The History of Middle-earth series. An early version of Melian is found in The Book of Lost Tales II, part of The History of Middle-earth, where her characterization differs significantly. The final version of the character is presented as a Maia, a lesser class of powerful divine beings in Tolkien's legendarium known as the Ainur, who takes the form of an Elf and becomes the loyal queen consort of Elu Thingol. Melian is an important character in the First Age of Middle-earth, and an essential part of the ancestral backgrounding of the interracial romances between her daughter Lúthien and the mortal Man Beren, as well as that of her descendants Aragorn and Arwen. Commentators have analysed the character's mystical nature, as well as her role as a forerunner of the Elf-queen Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings. Fictional biography Melian is an angelic being, a Maia close to the godlike Valië, the Queen of the Earth, Yavanna. She originally tended fruit trees in the gardens of Lórien and served the Valier Este and Vana prior to her departure for Middle-earth. She is defined by her beauty, her connection to the natural world, her gifts of foresight and wisdom, and especially her "angelic and haunting singing". It is said that she arrives in Middle-earth to teach its birds to sing, and dwells in the forest of Nan Elmoth, to the east of Doriath in Beleriand. Because she is from Valinor, her face carries the strength and splendour of the light of Valinor when she arrives in Middle-earth, much like the Noldor who had seen the light of the Two Trees. In Nan Elmoth, she meets her future husband, the Elf Prince Elwë, while she is singing with the nightingales one day. It was then that Elwë, being "filled with love" for Melian, falls under an enchantment and utterly forgets his people the Sindar, wishing instead to spend the rest of his years with her. Taking the form of an elf and thus subjecting herself to the limits of physical embodiment, Melian spends many years in solitude with Elwe, who is thought lost to his people in Nan Elmoth until the couple re-emerge into Middle-earth society.