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Who Were the Real Heroes of Middle-Earth?

© Michael Martinez

Probably the most moving story in all the Tolkien legendarium is that of Beren and Luthien. They are the true heroes of Middle-earth, the first and only people among Elves and Men to achieve any palpable result against Morgoth in the ill-fated War of the Silmarils. They are also the only heroes of the First Age to actually be given any significant consideration in the pages of The Lord of the Rings. Many Tolkien fans know that Beren and Luthien were a metaphor for the romantic relationship between Ronald Tolkien and Edith Bratt, but seldom is the impact of the reality of their romance upon Tolkien's stories taken up in full consideration by scholar or critic. Tolkien was three years younger than Edith, as Beren was the equivalent of thousands of years younger than Luthien. But it was Tolkien's guardian, Father Francis Morgan. Father Francis had cultivated Ronald's education and intended for him to achieve something greater in life than simply to settle down with a girl and have a family. He seemed to feel that Ronald's relationship with Edith threatened the pursuit of higher education. Thingol felt Luthien deserved a better mate than a mere Man, especially one whose house had been ruined in war. Father Francis succeeded in separating Ronald and Edith for a period of three years, but when the young man reached his majority he wrote to Edith and assured her his feelings were as strong as ever. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien's biographer, writes "there had been declarations and promises...that Ronald felt could not be lightly broken. Morever Edith had been his ideal in the last three years, his inspiration and his hope for the future. He had nurtured and cultivated his love for her so that it grew in secret, even though it had to be fed solely on his memories of their adolescent romance and a few photographs of her as a child...." (Carpenter, "Biography", p. 68). Their early romance had included private, secretive excursions, much as Beren and Luthien had met secretly in Doriath, especially after Father Francis first learned of the relationship and demanded that Ronald break it off. As Beren in the woods of Doriath, Ronald began his "payment of anguish for the fate that was laid on him" when he had to say good-bye to Edith for three years. "Three years is awful" Ronald wrote in a diary he kept at times when he was feeling low.

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