Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silmarillion, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Unity vs. Division
Fate, Doom, and Free Will
Pride and Arrogance
Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession
Inevitable Loss
Myth and Memory
Summary
Analysis
Melian and Thingol rule over all the elves of Beleriand, called the Sindar, and have a daughter named Lúthien. Though much of Middle-earth is still sleeping under Yavanna’s spell, Melian fills Beleriand with life.
For a time, Thingol and Melian unite the scattered elves of Beleriand under one name and one rule. Melian gives new life to the sleeping land, beginning an era of growth in Middle-earth.
Themes
During Melkor’s captivity, some dwarves leave their mountain halls in the east and cross the mountains into Beleriand. The elves, amazed to find other creatures on Middle-earth with language, called them the Naugrim. The dwarves learn the elves’ language and form a tentative friendship, trading and sharing knowledge. Melian guesses that there won’t be peace in the world forever, so Thingol commissions the dwarves to build him an underground fortress that he calls Menegroth. The elves aid in the construction, adding images of the beauty of Valinor and nature.
During this time, there is peace and unity in Beleriand even between different races. The dwarves—who Ilúvatar warned would not always get along with the elves and men—are allies of the elves. Still, Melian’s foresight warns her that this era of peace won’t last forever. As a Maia, she saw the vision of Arda and understands the world’s cycles of growth and decline. Consequently, she is able to prepare for the inevitable future loss.
Themes
Near the end of Morgoth’s captivity, the dwarves report to Thingol that the evil beasts of the north have multiplied. The dwarves forge weapons for the Sindar, and they drive the wolves and orcs out of Beleriand. The Nandor are defenseless against the orcs, so Denethor (the son of Lenwë) leads his people to Beleriand for Thingol’s protection. Prosperity follows, and the Sindar develop runes for record-keeping.
In Morgoth’s absence on Middle-earth, his evil creatures have evidently thrived. Still, since he is not there to lead them, they are much more easily driven back by the dwaves and elves that now claim Beleriand, especially since the elves and dwarves work together to oppose them.
Themes
After Ungoliant destroys the Trees and is betrayed by Morgoth, she flees into Beleriand. Melian forces her from the Sindar’s forests to the mountains in the north. Morgoth’s orc armies march into Beleriand and begin plundering Thingol’s scattered people. Cut off from Círdan, Thingol joins with Denethor to kill the orcs in the first battle of the Wars of Beleriand.
Morgoth’s return to Middle-earth brings war and division. Though Melian is able to drive Ungoliant out of their lands, Morgoth’s armies split up the Sindar, isolating them in small groups and making it difficult for them to form a united army.
Themes
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After Denethor is killed in the battle, many of his people, now called the Laiquendi, or Green-elves, become secretive and refuse to participate in the war. When Thingol returns from battle, he learns that the orcs have trapped Círdan’s forces near the sea. Thingol brings all the Sindar he can contact into the forests around Menegroth, and Melian uses her power to create the Girdle (an impassable ring of confusion) around the land. The land is afterwards called Doriath, the guarded kingdom.
With Morgoth’s armies scattered across Beleriand and breaking up the Sindar, Thingol attempts to unite as many elves as he can in Doriath, a single fortified realm. There, the elves within the Girdle are safe from danger and division, though they are at the same time necessarily closed off from their allies outside the forest.
Themes
