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It's All in the Family: The Elweans and Ingweans - Page 5

© Michael Martinez

The correct story of Thingol's death is provided only in notes associated with the previously unpublished "Wanderings of Hurin", in which tale Hurin is released by Morgoth to sow a path of death and destruction among the last enemies of Angband. Hurin unwittingly reveals to Morgoth's spies that Gondolin lies in the Echoriath, and not in the distant past as everyone had supposed for hundreds of years. Hurin then goes to Brethil, and he meets up with outlaws from Hithlum who declare their loyalty to him. He finds Morwen as she is dying and he buries her, and then he demands an accounting from the people of Brethil. In doing so, Hurin awakens a civil war among the Folk of Haleth and the last heirs of Haleth are slain. Hurin moves on to Nargothrond, where he finds Mim has seized Glaurung's hoard. Hurin slays Mim, who curses the treasure as he lays dying. With the help of the Hithlum outlaws and some of the former people of Brethil, Hurin takes the entire treasure (or a great part of it) to Doriath, and there insults Thingol. Melian heals Hurin, who then departs into the south with a great following of Men. Thingol is left with the treasure, and eventually he commissions the melding of the necklace and the Silmaril. At this point, Tolkien notes to himself, Thingol must be drawn out of the kingdom and slain, so that Melian will withdraw her protection and leave Doriath open to the Dwarves. Yet there is no narrative for this story. There are no statements by Thingol even in cryptic marginal notes where he makes any sort of boast to the Dwarves about having begun his life at Cuivienen. Thingol (Elwe) certainly began his life there. He was one of the three ambassadors Orome chose to visit Aman. But there is nothing in The Silmarillion or its late sources which implies that Thingol was a first generation Elf. And, in fact, since there were no siblings (brothers and sisters) among the first generation Elves, we can safely remove Thingol from the crowd. Finwe, because of his marriage to Miriel in Aman, cannot be identified with Tata. Hence, we are left only with Imin. And of Imin there is nothing said in The Silmarillion. "Quendi and Eldar" is a fairly late composition, dating to the late 1960s. It also departs from the "established" Silmarillion canon in a few ways, such as making Eol an Avarin Elf of the Tatyar (the second clan, from whom the Noldor were derived). In The Silmarillion, Eol is one of Thingol's kinsmen.

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