How Was Lúthien Tinúviel Able To Sing Morgoth and His Minions To Sleep?

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Q: How Was Lúthien Tinúviel Able To Sing Morgoth and His Minions To Sleep?

ANSWER: In The Silmarillion, Lúthien Tinúviel was said to be the greatest of elven enchantresses. A reader submitted the following question in March 2023:

I was recently going thru the Silmarillion for the nth time, and something occurred to me. When Lúthien sings Morgoth to sleep, did she manage to do so because she had higher potency than most due to her Maiar heritage, or given similar circumstances, would any sufficiently skilled elf be able to replicate her feat?

That is, could a sufficiently powerful elf (or man for that matter) also put an entity of Melkor’s power into a trance, or is it something unique to Luthien due to Mairaric potency?

Well, that’s a complicated issue for which there is no canonical answer that I have seen. Here is the passage in question:

Then Beren and Lúthien went through the Gate, and down the labyrinthine stairs; and together wrought the greatest deed that has been dared by Elves or Men. For they came to the seat of Morgoth in his nethermost hall that was upheld by horror, lit by fire, and filled with weapons of death and torment. There Beren slunk in wolf’s form beneath his throne; but Lúthien was stripped of her disguise by the will of Morgoth, and he bent his gaze upon her. She was not daunted by his eyes; and she named her own name, and offered her service to sing before him, after the manner of a minstrel. Then Morgoth looking upon her beauty conceived in his thought an evil lust, and a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart since he fled from Valinor. Thus he was beguiled by his own malice, for he watched her, leaving her free for awhile, and taking secret pleasure in his thought. Then suddenly she eluded his sight, and out of the shadows began a song of such surpassing loveliness, and of such blinding power, that he listened perforce; and a blindness came upon him, as his eyes roamed to and fro, seeking her.

All his court were cast down in slumber, and all the fires faded and were quenched; but the Silmarils in the crown on Morgoth’s head blazed forth suddenly with a radiance of white flame; and the burden of that crown and of the jewels bowed down his head, as though the world were set upon it, laden with a weight of care, of fear, and of desire, that even the will of Morgoth could not support. Then Lúthien catching up her winged robe sprang into the air, and her voice came dropping down like rain into pools, profound and dark. She cast her cloak before his eyes, and set upon him a dream, dark as the outer Void where once he walked alone. Suddenly he fell, as a hill sliding in avalanche, and hurled like thunder from his throne lay prone upon the floors of hell. The iron crown rolled echoing from his head. All things were still.

As a dead beast Beren lay upon the ground; but Lúthien touching him with her hand aroused him, and he cast aside the wolf-hame. Then he drew forth the knife Angrist; and from the iron claws that held it he cut a Silmaril.

As he closed it in his hand, the radiance welled through his living flesh, and his hand became as a shining lamp; but the jewel suffered his touch and hurt him not. It came then into Beren’s mind that he would go beyond his vow, and bear out of Angband all three of the Jewels of Fëanor; but such was not the doom of the Silmarils. The knife Angrist snapped, and a shard of the blade flying smote the cheek of Morgoth. He groaned and stirred, and all the host of Angband moved in sleep.

Your Question Raises Other Questions about Elvish Enchantment

One question tends to lead to another. For example, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that some resurrected Eldar (like Glorfindel) could have become as powerful as at least minor Maiar. But then, some of the Eldar were natively quite powerful – including Fëanor and Fingolfin. Fingolfin, you may recall, challenged Morgoth to single combat and wounded him several times before Morgoth killed him. That duel was considered one of the mightiest feats of elvendom in wartime.

On the other hand, by the time Fingolfin fought Morgoth and Beren and Lúthien invaded Angband, Morgoth had become fairly weak compared to his earlier might. His bargain with Ungoliant cost him dearly, as he imbued her with much of his power. And Morgoth had also divested much of his strength in his attempt to identify himself with Arda.

So it’s reasonable to ask if Lúthien could have put Morgoth to sleep when he was still Melkor-strong (so to speak).

And then I think it’s also fair to ask if Lúthien’s spells required specific knowledge that could have benefited any elven enchantress had she learned the same spells. That is, if Arwen or Galadriel had only learned that specific spell (and not yet accrued all their other wisdom and power) when they were still young, would they also have been able to put Morgoth and his minions to sleep?

What I think

In my opinion Lúthien benefited from a unique set of circumstances. She was indeed half-Maia, but she had also been tutored by her mother Melian for a very long time.

Lúthien was also quite ancient by the time she and Beren met. She had aged more than, say, either Arwen or Galadriel had during the Third Age. Galadriel, of course, was still quite ancient herself (having been born in Valinor). And she was certainly more powerful at the end of the Third Age thanks to both her age and her possession of one of the Three Elven Rings of Power than she had been in Beleriand in the late First Age.

But Lúthien also approached Morgoth’s fortress in disguise. He wasn’t expecting a powerful enemy to sneak into his throne room and attack him with magic. So I doubt his guard was up. He had spent centuries in Angband since returning to Middle-earth and no one had ever threatened him there in that time.

The Valar did indeed seize Morgoth from his throne rooms in both Utumno and Angband during their conflicts with Morgoth, but Beren and Lúthien’s quest was nothing like one of the extremely violent battles between Morgoth and the armies of Aman.

I believe stealth gave Lúthien an opportunity and an advantage to weave her magic. Morgoth wouldn’t have realized what was happening. He had no reason to think Lúthien was anything but a prisoner when he pierced her disguise as she entered his throne room. And she wasn’t openly defiant, given that she offered to sing for him.

And the way the story is told, Morgoth was distracted by Lúthien’s beauty. He was thinking he was in total control of the situation.

Conclusion

I think if Lúthien had approached Morgoth in another way, another situation, where he was more wary, she wouldn’t have succeeded in mesmerizing him. And so it’s probably not fair to assume that any other elven enchantress would have been as successful as Lúthien. When would another elf have been able to approach him in similar circumstances?

People who were brought before Morgoth’s throne were usually captured in battle. They would have been tormented by their captors and perhaps filled with despair. Hurin was the only person said to openly defy Morgoth before his throne after being captured, and yet he had no power to use against Morgoth.

I think one must concede that Lúthien’s heritage played a part in her successful strategy. But also her long years of study and practice, as well as her determination to see Beren complete his quest. Her love for him was extraordinary, as she gave up everything for him.

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