Q: Did the Girdle of Melian Fulfill More Than One Purpose?
ANSWER: The Girdle of Melian was a barrier that Melian (one of the Maiar, and wife of Thingol Greycloak) created around most of the realm of Doriath in the form of “an unseen wall of shadow and bewilderment”, according to The Silmarillion, after Thingol’s army defeated Orcs that invaded eastern Beleriand. A similar invasion in west Beleriand was more successful, leaving Cirdan and his people besieged in their coastal cities of Brithombar and Eglarest.
In 2017 a reader sent the following questions to me: “Did the Girdle of Melian serve any other purposes other than create a defensive barrier for the Kingdom of Doriath? As Melian was Maia, did she have the power to slow down fading for the Elves of Doriath?”
Let me address the second question first. As one of the loyal Maiar, Melian would not have done anything contrary to the laws of Ilúvatar, and that includes the decrees of the Valar acting on Ilúvatar’s behalf. The issue of fading had not yet become urgent for the Elves of Middle-earth so it’s not clear to me that Melian would have been concerned with it. But as the Valar had invited the Elves to migrate to Valinor and had included in that invitation a “gift” of preservation, it was not a forbidden act. Hence, had Melian wished I think she would have been free to use her power to preserve and rejuvenate the people of Thingol.
On the other hand, Cirdan’s aging seems to imply that he wasn’t benefiting from any delay in his normal life cycle. We only encounter his physical appearance once in the stories, when he greets the departing Elves at the end of The Lord of the Rings. There he has a very long beard, unlike Celeborn and Elrond, both of whom are quite ancient (Celeborn being older than Elrond but presumably younger than Cirdan).
Melian was a very powerful Maia. The stories seem to imply that Melkor could never have prevailed against her after his return to Middle-earth. He had already diminished himself by passing much of strength to Ungoliant, and he had also distributed a great part of his strength to his followers and throughout Arda itself (so Tolkien mused in one of his private essays, published in Morgoth’s Ring). In this conception, Melian’s relative strength versus Melkor was substantial, but her relative strength compared to all of the Valar (and perhaps all of their Maiar followers in Aman) would have remained small.
Given that Celebrimbor and the Mirdain were able to create powerful rings (with Sauron’s help) that slowed the effects of time for the Elves (in at least two realms, Rivendell and Lothlorien), it seems reasonable to assume Melian could have had a similar effect upon Thingol’s people. But Tolkien never discusses the idea. Also, Sauron and the Mirdain specifically invested a great part of their strength in Rings of Power, externalizing their strength – an act that Tolkien said in Letter No. 211 had the effect of increasing the potency of said strength or power. Melian never created such an artifact. Hence, her capacity to influence the fading of the Sindar of Doriath would have been limited by her (unmeasured and unmeasurable) native strength.
I don’t believe Tolkien intended to imply that Doriath, or even just Menegroth, was in some way a mini-Valinor on Earth. Beren, Turin. Morwen, and Niniel do not appear to have suffered the ill effects that Tolkien eventually concluded would have befallen mortals who visited Aman. Nor does Tolkien mention any differential perception of the passage of time by mortals who passed through Doriath. Hence, I find it doubtful that Melian used her power to prevent or slow the Elves’ fading.
You could argue that since Melian did not extend her girdle around Brethil (where the Second House of the Edain eventually settled) that she may have been pre-emptively excluding mortals from her power. But The Silmarillion says that Thingol summoned all of his people to withdraw into the forests of Region and Neldoreth. That command appears to imply that Melian could not protect any more land than that. Nan Elmoth, for example, lay outside the girdle and Eol chose to settle there instead of living within the safety of the girdle.
So in my opinion Melian was not delaying the effects of time within the boundaries of her girdle.
As for your first question, The Silmarillion says that the Girdle could not prevent Beren’s passage because “doom greater than [her] power shall send him” (as Melian reportedly said to Thingol). The Girdle therefore functions as a figurative test for mortals, allowing only a worthy one to pass. After Beren’s great deeds Thingol became friendlier toward mortals and he allowed Turin and his family to enter Doriath. Even Hurin, while still under Melkor’s influence, was able to pass through the Girdle and visit Thingol in Menegroth. So I think there was a certain secondary purpose to the Girdle, that it allowed friends and worthy people to pass through. It was a first line of defense.
But given that Thingol maintained border wardens who had to defend Doriath against occasional attacks, it seems that the Girdle was only partially effective. Turin spent three years with the border wardens. And Carcharoth was easily able to pass through the Girdle because of the power of the Silmaril he had swallowed. Melian’s power was not great enough to completely prevent Melkor’s power from entering Doriath. In one passage The Silmarillion says she included a small part of the Sirion within the Girdle because she revered Ulmo and she wanted Thingol to have power over at least a part of the river.
By that I infer that Thingol did indeed exercise a certain power (by his will) over the land; he decided who should pass or not. Hence, it does seem as though Melian was not simply protecting Doriath, but also enhancing Thingol’s native strength. The Girdle may not have increased the potency of Thingol’s native power, but it acted as an extension of his power. This may be a very subtle indication on Tolkien’s part of Melian submitting her will to her husband’s will. That would dovetail with Tolkien’s Christian beliefs.
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Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
To me, one of the common themes of Tolkien’s literature (and therefore, a major spur to the questions that arise in readers’ minds) regards characters’ utilization of their innate power. (I hesitate to say “supernatura” as within the bounds of the story all these powers are natural.) When we look at Melkor/Morgoth, Gandalf, Galadriel, Sauron, the Valar, the healing hands of the King, the Light of the Trees, the forging of Silmarils and Rings of Power, and yes, the Girdle of Melian, the analysis can be boiled down to characters’ use of Ilúvatar’s gift of power.
These powers are clearly finite. Consistent with Tolkien’s Judeo/Christian beliefs, only the Creator can have infinite power. There are also real limits to characters expanding their power. For example, conquest ultimately spreads the villains’ powers too thinly. Those limits are probably stated most clearly when we look at the fates of those who try to possess The One, and those who reject the opportunity. Tolkien’s heroes and heroines seem far more focused and circumspect in the way they use their power. This relative humility/limited ambition is both admirable and rewarded.
I think Tolkien would have treated a multi-purpose Girdle as a tragically flawed/over-reaching use of power, and the story would have played out quite differently.
Yes. It lifted AND separated. 😛 Sorry I couldn’t resist.
Off topic.
You remember The Quest of Entwives in an Tolkien Forum years ago from a user named Teleporno? I think i finally found the Entwives, they area being burned in Ithilien:
”Here they washed themselves and drank their fill at the in-falling freshet. Then they sought for a resting-place, and a hiding-place: for this land, fair-seeming still, was nonetheless now territory of the Enemy. They had not come very far from the road, and yet even in so short a space they had seen scars of the old wars, and the newer wounds made by the Orcs and other foul servants of the Dark Lord: a pit of uncovered filth and refuse; trees hewn down wantonly and left to die, with evil runes or the fell sign of the Eye cut in rude strokes on their bark.
Sam scrambling below the outfall of the lake. smelling and touching the unfamiliar plants and trees, forgetful for the moment of Mordor, was reminded suddenly of their ever-present peril. He stumbled on a ring still scorched by fire, and in the midst of it he found a pile of charred and broken bones and skulls. The swift growth of the wild with briar and eglantine and trailing clematis was already drawing a veil over this place of dreadful feast and slaughter; but it was not ancient. He hurried back to his companions, but he said nothing: the bones were best left in peace and not pawed and routed by Gollum.”
LOL! Yes, I remember the discussion well. I think I will write about the Entwives in my next post and see if I can move your comment over there.
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Q: Did the Entwives Survive?
Pip Willis shared this fragment of a map painted by his father and annotated by J.R.R. Tolkien. This copy of the map fragment has been brightened.
ANSWER: One of the first question and answer articles I wrote for this blog was “What Happened to the Entwives?”, which I published on November 11, 2011. The Entwives are a popular topic among Tolkien fans. Their story, and the story of the Ents’ long search for them, comprise one of the most moving parts of The Lord of the Rings. In two letters, Nos. 144 (1954) and 338 (1972), J.R.R. Tolkien remained doubtful about their fate. His last words on the topic seem rather definitive to me: “I think in Vol. II pp. 80-811 it is plain that there would be for Ents no re-union in ‘history’…”
However, some fans no doubt recall the insanely frustrating “I Found the Entwives!” discussion from the Minas Tirith forum (now) many years ago. An anonymous forum member, Teleporno, claimed to have found a passage somewhere in “Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit” that indicated what happened to the poor Entwives. Many people reread the chapter but no one could figure out what Teleporno was referring to. Teleporno soon vanished into the ether and we don’t know what happened to him or her.
A BLOG READER LEFT AN INTRIGUING COMMENT
A few days ago Lindis posted the following comment on “Did the Girdle of Melian Fulfill More Than One Purpose?”:
These paragraphs are found early in the chapter. I have read them many times. I will not debate whether there could be a hidden reference to Entwives in the passage. Clearly the author is including “scars of the old wars” in the narrative landscape, so the recency of the most detailed section does NOT negate an interpretation of the text that favors placing the Entwives here.
AND THEN A WONDERFUL THING HAPPENED ON QUORA
But J.R.R. Tolkien himself suggested an alternative hypothesis to another fan. Someone asked the Quora community what happened to the Entwives. Now, this happens in many online discussion groups. But a Quora member, Pip Willis, shared a fascinating map fragment. Mr. Willis updated his answer in May 2017 with additional comments and photos. Sometime in 1970-71 his father painted a Middle-earth map based on the Christopher Tolkien map published in The Lord of the Rings. The senior Mr. Willis took the map to J.R.R. Tolkien himself in 1971, and Tolkien wrote on a woody area near the Sea of Rhun “Here May Be Entwives”.
In his account Pip Willis says Tolkien wrote “Here be the Entwives” but the map clearly reads “Here May Be Entwives”. So, does this mean Entwives survived the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men (with Sauron)? Not necessarily. But Tolkien plainly left open the possibility. He may only have provided a devoted reader with a whimsical response, suggesting that the reader’s imagination is more important than the author’s definitive statement. A mythology, and a history, is made more interesting by unknowns that crowd the landscape. They drive us to inquire more, learn more, and potentially to fill in the gaps. Of course, the studious historian wants to paint an accurate picture. But for millions of hopeful fans, the less accurate picture allows everyone to paint a part of the story for themselves.
There is the Art in J.R.R. Tolkien’s story-telling. He shared just enough with us to allow us to decide some things for ourselves. So while I cannot provide a definitive answer, or even a firm opinion, on whether the Entwives survived the dreadful war that destroyed their homeland, I can say that Tolkien himself left a glimmer of hope. Perhaps that is enough.
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We know for sure that Melian enhanced Thingol:
“Great power Melian lent to Thingol, who was himself great among the Eldar; for he alone of all the Sindar had seen with his own eyes the Trees in the day of their flowering, and king though he was of Úmanyar, he was not accounted among the Moriquendi, but with the Elves of the Light, mighty upon Middle-earth.”
So much in fact that he appeared as one of the Maiar himself (this empowering of a lesser being by one of the divines is actually not only common for ‘evil’ Ainur, but the Valar themselves may have done such things, Huan if he wasn’t a Maiar himself, could have been a creature specially enhanced by the Valar, besides there are differences between permanent power up and simply ‘channeling’ a higher beings power temporarily, like Sauron boosting his servants the Nazgul on Pelennor). It may well be that this power in more subtle ways influenced other Elves of Doriath, or that the girdle itself was a combination of ‘magic’ with Thingol being given control on equal terms with Melian (maybe he put some of his elven magic, but also gained abilities beyond those of ordinary Elf thanks to his change in the light of Aman emanating from Melian herself and after seeing Two Trees). Already before girdle was set Melian’s power seemed to have influenced the land itself. Doriath was flourishing:
“Though Middle-earth lay for the most part in the Sleep of Yavanna, in Beleriand under the power of Melian there was life and joy.”
…
“Now as has been told the power of Elwë and Melian increased in Middle-earth, and all the Elves of Beleriand, from the mariners of Círdan to the wandering hunters of the Blue Mountains beyond the River Gelion, owned Elwë as their lord; Elu Thingol he was called, King Greymantle, in the tongue of his people. They are called the Sindar, the Grey-elves of starlit Beleriand; and although they were Moriquendi, under the lordship of Thingol and the teaching of Melian they became the fairest and the most wise and skilful of all the Elves of Middle-earth.”