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warrioreowynofrohan · 3 years

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The Leithian Reread - Canto VIII (Lúthien in Nargothrond)

(Trigger warning: discussion of attempted rape.)

Lots of things going on in this canto!

The beginning of this canto is the first introduction of Huan to the story - though he must have been in Nargothrond when Beren was there, he is not mentioned there. Throughout the rest of the poetic Leithian, when Hian is mentioned, variations on the phrase “voices like the deeptoned bells / that ring in Valmar’s citadels” will occur; it’s the poetic equivalent of a musical motif.

The action of the chapter begins with Celegorm and Curufin, who are (purportedly) hunting wolves to defend Nargothrond and (in actuality) seeking news of Finrod and Beren. They’ve moved from betrayal and usurpation in their previous appearance to now being willing to personally murder Finrod if they get the chance: Curufin says to his brother that if by chance they come across Finrod and he has a Silmaril - I need declare no more in words; but one by right is thine (and ours), the jewel of light; another may be won - a throne. The eldest blood our house dost own. The last line is interesting in being an outright statement that Celegorm and Curufin are acting in part out of resentment around the kingship. It’s not hard to extrapolate from The Silmarillion’s statement that not all Maedhros’ brothers agreed with his abdication to connect it with Celegorm and Curufin’s later actions in Nargothrond, but I don’t recall if the prose version of the Leithian there explictly makes that connection. The poetic version does.

In the course of the wolf-hunt, the brothers come upon Lúthien, who is caught by Huan. The half-Maia-half-elf who later manages to enchant and defeat, among others, Sauron, Carcharoth and Morgoth can do nothing against Huan - even the magic sleep-cloak has no effect. Importantly, Lúthien does not know that these are soms of Fëanor - they introduce themselves only as “lords of Nargothrond”, and she would not know what they look like. Indeed, it’s not clear if there was ever any direct meeting between them and any of the Doriathrim prior to this point. Mablung and Daeron went to the Mereth Aderthad and so would have met some of the Noldor, but Celegorm and Curufin were not there (among his brothers, Maedhros brought only Maglor with him to that conference, likely out of concern that the others would cause trouble). Thus, Lúthien has no reason not to trust them - all se knows is that they are liegemen of her cousin Finrod. (She and Finrod would be, I think, first cousins once removed - she Thingol’s daughter, and he’s a grandson of Thingol’s brother Olwë.) She would know Finrod personally, given that he has spent time in Doriath, and she knows about the Ring of Barahir and Finrod’s debt to Beren, so this meeting would seem very fortunate, and an obvious avenue to pursue for finding allies.

Notably and disturbingly, the narrative here indicates that Celegorm and Curufin both lust after Lúthien, though Celegorm (the elder of the two, and unmarried) is the one they ultimately try to force her into marriage with. It is not usual for wedded elves to desire anyone other than their spouse (Finwë is the only case of remarriage, and so far as we’re told the only case of an elf wanting to remarry, and that was after his previous spouse had specifically said she never wanted to return to life), so that’s an additional red flag in their behaviour being well outside Elven norms.

I think there’s something important in Lúthien’s character revealed by the lines Of her escape and the marvellous mantle she did shape she lightly tells, but words her fail recalling sunlight in the vale, moonlight, starlight in Doriath ere Beren took the perilous path. Lúthien’s not interested in her own accomplishments, she’s not proud; she speaks lightly of her (magically, very impressive) escape. She cares about being with the person she loves, not about being regarded as a hero. And that’s immediate contrast with Celegorm and Curufin’s conversation earlier in the chapter about how to use the wolf-hunt to make themselves look good to the Nargothrondim. It also forms a parallel to Beren’s conversation with Finrod in Canto VI, where he speaks briefly (‘recounted soon’) of his deeds as a guerilla in Dorthonion, but ‘words him fail’ when remembering Lúthien - the same phrase used above. The two people who achieve what is probably the greatest deed in the history of Beleriand do not care about their reputations, fame, or glory, but simply about each other.

On the journey back to Nargothrond, Lúthien and Hian are both troubled and suspect that their travel is deliberately slower than it could be. Their suspicions are correct, and upon arrival at Nargothrond Lúthien is made a prisoner. This is done openly - it was not hid in Nargothond that Fëanor’s sons held her in bond - and Orodreth is aware that their goal is to force her into marriage in order to force Doriath to ally with them. For elves, there is no distinction between sex and marriage - they are one and the same; ‘political marriage’ does not exist - so, yes, this is a rape attempt. It manages to get even creepier by the implication that although the forced marriage would be to Celegorm, as stated in the Silmarillion, Curufin is also pursuing Lúthien physically. Or that’s the obvious conclusion from the earlier line Curufin looked with hot desire on Lúthien combined with the later line, after Lúthien has befriended Huan, Curufin thereafter never near might win to Lúthien, nor touch that maid, but shrank from Huan’s fangs afraid.

And this brings us to what is, for me, the central question of this Canto. Given that Celegorm and Curufin’s behaviour here is deeply un-elvish - rape is essentially unimaginable to elves, and the a t would kill any elf who committed it, along with their victim - why does no one do anything to stop it? Why does all Nargothrond, Arafinwëans and Fëanorians alike, go along with it? It must haunt them, later, that they did - not only with regards to Lúthien, but because if she had bern able to escape just one day earlier than she did, Finrod would still be alive. Nobody can decieve themselves that theur actions didn’t matter - the intervention of any one person on her behalf, in helping her escape, could have tipped the balance, could have enabled her to get to Tol-in-Gaurhoth just that little bit sooner. The strongest explanation I can think of for their mass inactions is that 1) they’ve decided that attacking Tol-in-Gaurhoth would be doomed to defeat and 2) they think Lúthien being imprisoned in Nargothrond is marginally better than her running off to Tol-in-Gaurhoth and getting imprisoned by Sauron, which is what would happen if she got out. After all, nothing terrible has happened to her yet.

As I’ve discussed before, Celegorm and Curufin’s plan, in addition to being immoral, is idiotic on so many levels. As stated above, the only possible consequence of a marriage between Celegorm and Lúthien is the death of both of them, which would absolutely start a war with Doriath. (Does Celegorm recognize this? Almost certainly not. Rapists tend not to regard themselves as rapists. He’s most likely decieving himself with some idea of ‘she’ll come around eventually’.) There is no reason for Thingol, in any circumstance, to respond to this plan by allying with the Fëanorians, and every reason for him to regard it as an act of war. Even in a hypothetical circumstance where Lúthien consented, Thingol would still have no reason to ally with them. Marriage alliances among humans are based in the concept of inheritance - the couple’s child will eventually succeed to the throne - and that’s a moot point among a race of immortals. Even in the event of Thingol’s death, the chances of the Doriathrim accepting a Fëanorian as their king are nil. The. Fëanorians. Can. Gain. Nothing. From. This.

The downward spiral of the Fëanorians, halted for 400 years by Maedhros’ choices, begins again in the Leithian, and one of its hallmarks is that their actions are not only evil, but counterproductively evil. Anything they do that is related to the Oath tends both towards evil and towards making their own situation worse. Celegorm and Curufin are lucky that Lúthien escapes. Indeed, one has to wonder if Huan’s assistance was not solely on Lúthien’s behalf, but also a means of saving his master’s life in the only way he still could.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #the lay of leithian #leithian reread #lúthien #celegorm #curufin #nargothrond #huan #cw: attempted rape

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