Melian

From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.

Melian was a Maia of the race of the Ainur. She served both Vána and Estë, before she left for Middle-earth she dwelt in Lórien tending the trees that grew in the Gardens of Irmo. Among all of his people none were more wise, more beautiful, nor 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. 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. She was the mother of Lúthien, making her one of the two known Ainur said to have borne children, as Ungoliant is said to be a spirit (what else but a maia) who had followed Melkor in rebellion, then turned to her own purposes. Melian's main line of descent is of the half-elven, and through her daughter the Maian blood passed to both Elves and Men. In Doriath she used her powers to guard and defend the city with a protection called the Girdle of Melian, but she predicted that one person would breach this defense. When Beren arrived as foretold, she counseled Thingol against sending Beren for a Silmaril, a quest which would eventually lead to Doriath's ruin. During her stay in Doriath she become a friend and mentor of Galadriel. After Thingol's death, she allowed her body to "die," leaving Middle-earth for Valinor, where she mourned the loss of her husband and daughter.

[edit] Line of the Half-elven

           Finwë = Indis                              Eru Ilúvatar
                 |                                        |
             Fingolfin = Anairë    Galdor      Thingol = Melian
                      |             |                 |
                      |             |          (1)    |
                 Turgon = Elenwë   Huor   Beren = Lúthien
                        |   (2)     |           |
                    Idril ======= Tuor        Dior = Nimloth
                             |                     |
                             |                -------------
                             |                |           |
                          Eärendil ======== Elwing   Eluréd and Elurín
                                       |
                                ------------------
                                |                |
                              Elros            Elrond = Celebrían
                                |                     |
                        Kings of Númenor              |
                                :                     |
                        Lords of Andunie              |
                                :                     |
                             Elendil                  |
                                :                     |
                         Kings of Arnor               |    
                                :                ----------------------
                   Chieftains of the Dúnedain    |                    |
                                :       (3)      |                    |
                             Aragorn ========= Arwen  Elladan and Elrohir
                                         |
                                         |--------------|
                                     Eldarion   Unnamed Daughters

The marriages between Men and Elves are numbered. The italicized are the Half-elven