Beren
He was the protagonist of one of the greatest love stories of the Olden Days, whose adventures were the beginning of the end of Morgoth himself.
The figure of Beren the Empty Hand or the One-Handed within Tolkien’s legendarium is one of the most important. His personal history and romance with Lúthien made up one of the most exciting and vital stories of the Olden Days in Middle-earth.
His influence on the significant events of the First Age was such that, unknowingly, he was the trigger for what would end up being the defeat of Morgoth and his reign of terror in Beleriand.
The Ring of Barahir and the promise of Finrod
Beren’s background was fundamental to his destiny. He was the son of Barahir, head of the House of Bëor, one of the three great Edain lineages.
After the Dagor Bragollach, Barahir rescued the elven king Finrod from an orc attack from which he had no escape. Finrod, as thanks, gave him the ring of his father, Finarfin. This ring would later be known as the Ring of Barahir (the same ring that Aragorn would wear thousands of years later).
This ring also contained Finrod’s firm promise that if Barahir or any of his kin needed help, the elven king would not deny it.
Sometime later, Morgoth attacked the House of Bëor and his domain, Dorthonion. Gradually the people left their homes, and finally, only twelve men remained to accompany Barahir in the defense. Among them was his son Beren.
This group, as if it were a commando, dedicated itself to wandering all over Ortogonio massacring any creature in the service of Morgoth that was found. In this way, Barahir and his company became an obsession of Morgoth himself.
Finally, Sauron, Morgoth’s lieutenant and chief servant ambushed Barahir party, and the orcs killed them. However, Beren saved himself because he was not there on that occasion. He went to the battle site and avenged his father, retrieving the Ring of Barahir.
For years he wandered near Dorthonion, hiding from a Sauron who sought him relentlessly. He never managed to find him. Tired of living like that, Beren decided to go south and saw the elven forest of Doriath in the distance, never trodden by a mortal.
Before that vision, something pushed him to go there. On that journey, he had to cross the valley of Nan Dungortheb, where he fought against the giant spiders’ descendants of Ungoliant, whose memory he never explained to anyone.
Finally, he reached the edge of the forest. However, Doriath was protected by the spell of the Melian Belt, and no outsider could enter the realm without getting lost. Despite all this, something greater than Melian herself accompanied Beren, who could enter the thicket without getting lost.
The great love story with Lúthien
It was there, in the forest of Doriath, that Beren met Lúthien, daughter of the Sindar Elf King Thingol (formerly known as Elwë, one of the three Elven emissaries, the first to go to Haman thousands of years before); man and elf fell in love and thus presented themselves before the king.
Thingol refused the marriage, as no mortal deserved his daughter descended from the highest class among the Eldar.
To avoid this, and without appearing to be a stubborn refusal, he imposed a condition for accepting the liaison: Beren had to recover one of the three Silmarils (the most beautiful jewels created by the elves, specifically by Fëanor) in Morgoth’s possession.
The Dark Lord had them in his crown, which he never took off.
An impossible undertaking that guaranteed the death of Beren so that Thingol would not see his daughter married to a mere mortal.
Finrod’s duty
To marry Lúthien, Beren had to go to Angband, Morgoth’s abode, and pluck at least one of the Silmarils from his crown. That was the most extraordinary task entrusted to a mortal, something Beren knew to be impossible.
For that reason, and knowing the story of his father and Finrod, he decided to turn to the elven kingdom of Nargothrond for help. Finrod recognized the ring and Beren as the son of Barahir, so he offered to help him despite the danger of the mission. He accepted his destiny as long as he was to fulfill the promise.
Only ten elves accompanied their king.
During the journey, they had to pass Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Sauron’s watchtower. To do so, they used magical arts to disguise themselves as orcs. However, Sauron discovered them, and they were all captured. Morgoth’s lieutenant tortured them; one by one, the elves were devoured by the lycanthropes.
Only Finrod and Beren were left alive. At that moment, the fatal destiny of the elf king was fulfilled. He died saving Barahir’s son from the attack of the lycanthropes, whom he also killed.
Thingol’s daughter had searched for her beloved since his departure from Doriath, and her travels led to her meeting with Beren. Alone and at the mercy of Sauron, Beren despaired. However, he was rescued by Lúthien and Valinor’s wolf-dog named Huan. There, Huan defeated the father of the lycanthropes and Sauron himself, who left his body and fled as a spirit to Angband.
Tol-in-Gaurhoth was left under the command of Lúthien herself, who, through her powers inherited from her mother (who was a Maiar), broke the spell of the fortress and freed all the captives.
The journey to Angband
What happened next was the most incredible feat of the Olden Days, matched only by the adventures of Eärendil (who curiously would marry Elwing, the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien).
Again through the skill of elven magic, the pair entered Angband taking the forms of Thuringwethil (Sauron’s messenger bat) and the lycanthrope Draugluin. At the gates of Morgoth’s fortress, they encountered another lycanthrope, Carcharoth, whom Lúthien put to sleep with his magic.
After delving into the depths of horror, they reached the depths of Angband, where Morgoth sat on his throne. The Vala did not succumb to the deception and removed their disguises, exposing the pair.
At that moment, the Dark Lord had morbid thoughts at the sight of Lúthien, who took advantage of the moment of distraction to intone a song and lull Morgoth himself to sleep.
With his knife, Beren approached and tore one of the Silmarils from the crown. Seized by greed, for his mind was enraptured by the beauty of the jewels, he tried to tear off another. His knife broke, and Morgoth awoke from his spell.
Beren and Lúthien escaped as all the creatures of Angband slowly awoke from the elven magic. When they reached the gates, they were met again by Carcharoth, fully awake, who attacked the pair.
Beren confronted the lycanthrope but could not prevent him from biting off the hand he carried the Silmaril and swallowing it. Carcharoth, tortured by the pain the jewel caused in his guts, fled so the couple could escape, thanks to the Eagles, who arrived at that precise moment.
Return to Doriath
Once again, in the presence of King Thingol, Beren and Lúthien finally manage to convince him to accept the union. The Sindar king finally agrees, moved by his daughter’s story.
Finally, Beren and Lúthien could be together.
In those same days, Carcharoth arrived in the forest pushed by the madness of the Silmaril, thanks to which he was able to cross the spell of Melian without problems and began to wreak havoc in the kingdom.
Feeling guilty, Beren set out to hunt down the lycanthrope, an undertaking in which King Thingol and other elven warriors accompanied him. During the search, Carcharoth attacked by surprise and left Beren seriously wounded.
Huan’s appearance led to combat in which the wolf-dog and the lycanthrope killed each other. Inside the stomach, they found the Silmaril, tightly gripped by Beren’s severed hand.
The damage, however, was done. Beren died of his wounds. Lúthien made him promise to wait for her on the shore of the Western Sea before leaving the mortal world. He promised.
Lúthien, unable to bear the pain, left Middle-earth and met Beren in Aman, with whom they went to Mandos’ quarters. There, the elf princess moved Vala himself.
Finally, Eru-Ilúvatar decided to bring Beren back to the world of the living to give the most extraordinary couple ever seen live in the imperishable lands.
He was the only mortal to have such an honor in all of Arda’s existence.