Thingol

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Thingol
Beren & Lúthien

Elu Thingol or Elwë Singollo is a fictional character in

Maia, Melian
.

Scholars have written that Thingol turns away from the light, so that when he receives a

Silmaril
, he is unable to appreciate it. They have stated, too, that he fails to take advantage of his marriage to Melian, instead ignoring her advice about the Silmaril, leading to the downfall of his kingdom.

Fictional history

Further information: Sundering of the Elves
Valar and travel to Valinor (green arrows to the left), but some refuse, causing the first Sundering of the Elves.[2] When the Noldor return to Beleriand (red arrows to the left), Thingol is suspicious of them and refuses to fight the common enemy Morgoth
alongside them.

In

Elf of the Light as he has seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor.[T 4][T 5][3]

Nargothrond
are to its northwest and southwest respectively.

Thingol and Melian have a daughter,

Dark Lord Morgoth had stolen and set in his crown; but even that quest succeeds.[T 6]

Thingol fights several wars with Morgoth.

Nargothrond, the Nauglamír, at Thingol's feet. Melian sees Húrin's thought, and deals with him gently; Húrin is sorry, and gives Thingol the Nauglamír. Thingol gets some Dwarves to set his Silmaril in the necklace. The Dwarves do so, but come to covet the unequalled work, and ask Thingol if they may keep it as payment. Thingol angrily refuses; offended, the Dwarves kill him and sack Menegroth. The Sons of Fëanor, who had sworn a terrible oath to recover the Silmarils on behalf of their father, later destroy Doriath to recover the Silmaril; they kill Dior, Thingol's grandson, the second and last King of Doriath.[T 9]

Analysis

In

Tolkien's constructed languages, Thingol is Sindarin for "grey cloak", "greymantle", while the Quenya form of his name, Singollo, has the same meaning.[T 10] The medievalist and Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger writes that while the name Elwë ("the star") indicates light, this is dimmed by the character's second name, the light being "cloaked or mantled over".[4] Further, Flieger comments that the softening of "Singollo" to "Thingol" can also be taken as a diminishment, reflecting the "sound shifts that occur as light-infused Quenya modifies to twilight Sindarin".[4]

Flieger states that Thingol's actions may seem unjustified thematically, but they make sense in terms of his politics and dynastic needs. She contrasts him with Beren, who though a

Kinslaying at Alqualondë perpetrated by the Noldor on the Teleri, Thingol (Teleri himself) bans the use of their language Quenya in his lands, and Sindarin becomes the most prevalent Elven tongue in Middle-earth. He takes successively darker actions, moving further and further from the light, so that even when he receives the Silmaril from Beren, he knows neither how to appreciate it nor how to use it.[5]

Robley Evans, writing in

Mandos. This warned that the Elves would come to harm if they continued their rebellion against the Valar.[6]

The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey writes that Thingol forms part of the tightly-woven plot of The Silmarillion, each part leading ultimately to tragedy. There are three Hidden Elvish Kingdoms, including Doriath, founded by Thingol and his relatives, and they are each betrayed and destroyed. The Kingdoms are each penetrated by a mortal Man, in Doriath's case Beren; and the sense of Doom, which Shippey glosses as "future disaster", hangs heavy over all of them in the tale.[7]

Tom Shippey's analysis of the Hidden Kingdoms of Beleriand[7]
Hidden
Kingdom 		Elvish Kings
(all relatives) 		Man who penetrates
the Kingdom 		Result
Nargothrond
Finrod
 Túrin City destroyed
Doriath
 Thingol Beren City destroyed
Gondolin
Turgon
 Tuor City destroyed

The medievalist

Arthurian muse, Ayesha of his 1887 novel She: A History of Adventure.[8]

The scholar of religion Lisa Coutras compares Melanie Rawls's account of Thingol and Melian to Lisa Hopkins's analysis of Tuor and Idril. Rawls presents Thingol as a prideful king who rarely listens to his wife's counsel, even though she has immense foresight and wisdom; this helps to bring about the downfall of his kingdom. Hopkins discusses the hero

Tuor, who is all the wiser for listening to his wife Idril.[9][10][11]

The House of Thingol

Family of Thingol
Maia
Thingol
(Elwë)		ElmoOlwëCírdan
the shipwright
GaladhonEärwenFinarfin
Lúthien
GalathilCelebornGaladrielAngrodEldalótëFinrodAegnor
DiorNimlothOrodreth
ElurédElurínElwingGil-galadFinduilas
ElrosElrondCelebrían
Elendil
IsildurAnárion
ArveduiFíriel
AragornArwenElladanElrohir
Eldarion
Colour key:
Colour Description
 
Elves
 
Men
 
Maiar
 
Half-elven
  Half-Elven who chose the fate of Elves
  Half-Elven who chose the fate of mortal Men

References

Primary

  1. ^ Tolkien 1994, p. 21, "Fingolfin...acknowledged the high-kingship of Thingol"; p. 380, Thingol is acknowledged high-king by Círdan and his following; p. 410, the Grey-elves of Mithrim acknowledged Thingol as high-king.
  2. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  3. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 4 "Of Thingol and Melian"
  4. ^ a b Tolkien 1977, ch. 10 "Of the Sindar"
  5. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 21 "Of Túrin Turambar"
  6. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 19 "Of Beren and Lúthien"
  7. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 13 "Of the Return of the Noldo"
  8. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 15 "Of the Noldor in Beleriand"
  9. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 22 "Of the Ruin of Doriath"
  10. ^ Tolkien 1977, annotated index entry for "Thingol"

Secondary

  1. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1
    .
  2. ^ Flieger 1983, p. 73.
  3. ^ Shippey 2005, p. 283.
  4. ^ a b Flieger 1983, p. 85.
  5. ^ Flieger 1983, pp. 120–130
  6. ^ a b Evans, Robley (1987). "Tolkien's World Creation: Degenerative Recurrence". Mythlore. 14 (1). article 55.
  7. ^ a b Shippey 2005, pp. 287–296.
  8. ISBN 978-0-8020-3806-7
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-1375-5345-4
    .
  10. ^ Rawls, Melanie (1984). "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien". Mythlore. 10 (4). Article 2.
  11. ^ Hopkins, Lisa (1996). "Female Authority Figures in the Works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams". Mythlore. 21 (2). Article 55.

Sources

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