(Sorry for any sloppiness, I wrote this at 11PM-1AM).
¨Gather round, ye folk of Middle-Earth, and listen to the story of a man and woman that defied everything, even one of the Valar...¨
¨Long ago, in a land that has long since disappeared into the vastness of the sea, there was a small band of men, the last remains of a mighty kingdom, led by a brave man named Barahir and his son Beren. His land had been razed by the Dark Lord Morgoth, and his band was all that remained of it. One day, a member of his part was kidnapped and brought before a servant of the Dark Lord, one whose name you may know: Sauron. He tricked the man with promises and found the location of Barahir´s camp before killing him. Typical of the Dark Lord, not holding up to his promises.¨
¨Anyways, Beren was spying on the patrols of the Dark Lord when he came upon a phantom of the dead man, who warned him of his betrayal and urged him to return to his camp. He snuck up to it and slayed the orc´s leader, claiming a mystical ring he got from an Elf King years before. For 4 years he stayed in that desolate place, harassing the enemy and inspiring such fear that orcs fled upon rumor of his approach. Sauron filled the land with dark things of all sorts, giant spiders, great, evil wolves, and hordes of cruel orcs. But none could touch Beren, for his skill was greater than any they had. Somehow he found his way into the elven land of Doriath, where we meet the second protagonist of our story.¨
¨Beren was tired, he entered Doriath grey and bowed, for such was the torment he endured. But then he saw a woman, the most beautiful of Eru´s many children to ever walk the earth. All memory of pain disappeared, but soon she did too. This woman was Luthien, the daughter of the Elf King Thingol and the Maia Melian. He fell in love on first sight, and cried out in vain. ´Tinuviel, Tinuviel!’ he shouted, but she did not come. He wandered long before they once more saw each other, and then they fell in love in each others arms, but then she disappeared again! He fell into a deep depression, and nothing could cure this, but his beloved Tinuviel.¨
¨She came back to him, and he was lifted from his grey hell, and for a time, their joy was unrivalled throughout history. But a jealous bard saw them, and they were brought before Thingol to speak. Beren spoke little at first, but soon said that Luthien was fairest of all the World's Children. This stunned the court of the King, and in a rage he declared that Beren could have the hand of his daughter if he did the impossible: retrieve a Silmaril from Morgoth´s crown and bring it back. Normally, a normal man would back down, but Beren was no normal man. He accepted this challenge, and set off to the south, to the land of Felagund, a friend of his father. Barahir had saved Felagund in a great battle, and earned a favor that Beren intended to cash in on. Within Felagund´s underground city, he recounted his story to the King, who pledged to aid him. Soon, this tale spread throughout the city, and two of Feanor´s sons came forward.¨
¨Feanor was an Elf smith whose skill was so great that he made the Simrails, jewels that contained the light of the Sun itself. He and his sons swore an oath to take them back when Morgoth stole them, and even now it drove them to greed. In a heated argument, they said that this quest of Beren would bring only ruin to the realm, and turned the King´s people against him. Seeing himself forsaken, he gave the crown to his brother, and left with Beren and ten loyal comrades. They travelled north, but were caught by the home of Sauron and caught after a long battle of magic between the Elf King and the Great Deceiver. They were cast into a dark pit, and were doomed to die. That was, of course, until Luthien came.¨
¨Luthien had learned of the imprisonment of her beloved through her mother Melian, and went out to save him. But the same jealous bard discovered her, and she was imprisoned with Doriath. But through magic, she escaped, until she met the same two sons of Feanor. They took her to the land of Felagund, where she met a mighty hound of the Valar named Huan during her imprisonment there. It was said he would not die till he faced the mightiest wolf to walk Arda. He was faithful to the sons of Feanor, but was more faithful to Luthien, and helped her escape.¨
¨By now, the companions of Beren and Felagund were slain, all by a foul wolf that crept in darkness of the pit. When it came for Felagund, however, he gathered all his might, and killed the wolf before dying from his wounds. Luthien came to Sauron´s realm and sang a song that nothing could hold back. Beren heard it, and replied with a song in praise of the stars before sinking into darkness by the corpse of his friend. Sauron saw the daughter of Melian as she sang, and knew that his reward would be great if he caught her. So he sent forth a hound, but time it went forth, it was slain by mighty Huan. Finally, he Sauron sent forth the mightiest of all of Morgoth´s wolves, and it too was slain. So Sauron took to the field of battle himself, and tried to use dark magic and brute force to defeat Huan, to no avail. He too was defeated, and fled north.¨
¨With her magic, Luthien threw down the walls and towers of Sauron´s foul castle, and freed the slaves there, but Beren wasn´t among them. Huan and Luthien found him mourning by the body of Felagund, and brought him out of the darkness, and buried the body of King Felagund.¨ Dimitri stopped for a moment and gazed up at the stars. He was nearing the pinnacle of the story. ¨Back in Felagund´s lands, the twins had a hard time keeping order, for the slaves of Sauron brought tales of Beren and Luthien back to their land. The King´s brother exiled them and they rode towards Sauron´s home, now since Huan returned to the side of his master. The sons of Feanor resolved to kill Beren and Luthien as revenge, and rode off to find them with 10 companions.¨
¨Beren and Luthien went north, towards the great fortress of Morgoth. They were near the borders of Doriath when Beren decided that Luthien should stay in the safety of the land, but she refused. She said that regardless of the road he picked, she would go with him. Even as they spoke, the Sons stalked them. In a swift stroke, one grabbed Luthien and the other rode down Beren, but he leapt up, grabbed the Elf, and slammed him into the ground, throttling him. The other son turned about, spear ready to end Beren, but then the faithful Huan sprang upon him. Beren swiftly took both their gear and bade them to flee. So they did, but even as they did, the bitter Son fired an arrow meant for Luthien, but struck Beren in the chest instead.¨
¨Luthien tended to his wound, and returned to Doriath with him once he was better. But torned between love and oath, Beren left her one morning for her own safety, and went once more on his quest. But Luthien followed him nonetheless, so great her love. Beren tried in vain to stop her, but then Huan spoke and convinced him otherwise. Seeing no other option, Luthien and Huan used their magics to craft two disguises: a great wolf for Beren and a vampire for Luthien. They passed through all dangers until they reached the impenetrable gates of Angband. It was guarded by a wolf of great size and strength named Carcharoth, the Red Maw.¨
¨News had reached Carcharoth of the death of Beren´s form, and doubt filled his tormented form. He bade them to stop, and denied them entry until Luthien stepped forth, radiant and terrible, and put him to sleep. Then, they crept into Angband and came before Morgoth to commit the greatest deed of Men and Elves. Beren maintained his form, slunking beneath the Dark Lord´s throne, but Luthien was stripped of her cruel disguise. But she kept up her courage and offered her services as a ministrel would. Morgoth accepted with dark intent, but soon fell victim to Luthien´s magics and then all of Angband fell asleep. Beren worked quick, taking a knife and cutting a Silmaril from Morgoth´s crown, but then made the mistake of trying to take all three of the jewels from the crown.¨
¨As he pryed the second jewel from the crown, Beren´s blade broke and a shard sliced Morgoth´s cheek. All of Angband´s stirred with their master, and the two fled in terror. But their escape was blocked by the Red Maw, and Luthien had not the time nor energy to cast a spell to save them. Gathering his courage, Beren thrust the jewel he carried in the eyes of the Wolf, and ordered him to flee. The Red Maw responded by eating Beren´s extended hand, jewel and all, and was met with a pain that drove it to madness. It roared in pain and ran south, towards Doriath, in a madness that was remembered as the most dreadful the land had ever seen. Morgoth and his armies awoke, and the quest would have ended there, had it not been for the intervention of the eagles of the West, who watched over Angband in that time.¨
¨The eagles brought Beren, Luthien, and Huan to Doriath, but Beren was struck with a most foul wound, and death would have certainly come to him had it not been for Huan. When he was healed, the three wandered the wild for many a time, bringing hope to the Elven kingdoms, but they grew closer and closer to Doriath. The realm of Doriath had come across hard time, for their light, Luthien, disappeared into the north, and they were beset by the madness of Carcharoth. With haste, Beren and Luthien returned to the halls of her father. Thingol demanded that Beren show him the Silmaril, and when Beren held aloft his hands, Thingol realized that this Man was unlike any other, and perceived that their doom could not be withheld.¨
¨Thingol called upon the mightiest of his realm for a hunt of Carcharoth, for he grew closer by the day, and Beren joined him. For many days, they tracked him to a dark valley, and then the hunt ended. For Huan had grown impatient, and battled the Maw, slaying him before being slain himself. In the chaos, Beren was injured mortally, and died there. His body was carried with Huan´s back to Doriath, and so his spirit passed reluctantly into the west. Soon Luthien followed close behind, and sang a song so fair and sorrowful that it moved even the Valar to sadness. She was given a choice: stay in Valianor without Beren as an immortal, without grief or troubles till the end of time or go with Beren back into the east. She chose the later. And so, the tale of Beren and Luthien ends.¨
¨We may all draw a lesson from this tale. We face an evil that is much greater than us, and have endured much hardship thus far. We are no mighty heroes, but neither were Beren and Luthien, and see what they achieved. We sons and daughters of Middle-Earth are greater in number and armed with mighty powers and a desire for revenge. Who knows what we can achieve if we merely trust in the strength of ourselves and commit ourselves to the defeat of the giant and our return to our homelands. We shall be the Berens and Luthiens of our time. We will emerge victorious and we will return home.¨ Dimitri said, ending his tale with an oath he swore quietly long ago.
