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
Though Húrin’s children are dead, Morgoth’s revenge on Húrin isn’t over. He frees Húrin after 28 years and allows him to leave Angband. He wanders near Gondolin, where the great eagles spot him, and Thorondor tells Turgon that he’s nearby. Turgon assumes that Húrin has finally surrendered and become Morgoth’s servant, then later changes his mind and sends the eagles back out to look for him, but Húrin is already gone. Húrin, at a nearby mountain, shouts aimlessly to Turgon and is overheard by spies, revealing Gondolin’s general region to Morgoth.
Morgoth’s curse is not yet finished and likely won’t be until Húrin and Morwen (whose fate is still unknown) are dead. Turgon is one of the Noldor and subject to their curse—he is always wary of betrayal, especially now that Gondolin is one of the last remaining elven cities. However, his reluctance to trust Húrin is what allows Morgoth to discover Gondolin’s location. Had Turgon sent Thorondor to bring Húrin quietly into the city, Morgoth’s spies might not have seen.
Themes
Húrin, believing he hears Morwen’s voice, travels to Brethil and visits the gravestone of his children. Morwen, now old and tired, is there waiting for him. They sit together, holding hands, and Morwen dies in the night. Húrin buries her and carves her name on the other side of the stone.
Morwen’s part in Morgoth’s curse is to discover the graves of her children and die not knowing how they died. If she suffered more than that during her wanderings, the elven narrator doesn’t know.
Themes
Driven by fate and his desire for revenge, Húrin travels on to the ruins of Nargothrond, where he meets the dwarf Mîm who took possession of the treasure inside once Glaurung left. When Mîm challenges him, Húrin reveals who he is and that he knows that Mîm betrayed Túrin. Though Mîm begs for his life, Húrin kills him and takes one object from Nargothrond: the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, made for Finrod.
The narrator claims that fate drives Húrin, and perhaps it does—Húrin is influenced by years of Morgoth’s torment and the burden of his children’s fates. His choices, though his own, are impaired, and his direction is determined by the lives of his children. He goes to take revenge on those who wronged Túrin.
Themes
Finally, Húrin goes to Doriath and throws the Nauglamír at Thingol’s feet, calling it his “fee” for caring for his wife and children. Thingol forgives Húrin for his bitterness, and Melian explains to him the visions Morgoth showed him aren’t the whole truth—Húrin’s family was loved and cared for while they were in Doriath. Realizing the truth, Húrin picks the Nauglamír up and hands it to Thingol as a genuine gift and a “memorial” for himself. He understands that his fate is fulfilled and Morgoth’s revenge is complete, but now he is finally free from him. He leaves and isn’t seen again; it’s said that he throws himself into the sea.
Melian reveals an unknown aspect of Morgoth’s curse on Húrin—not only did he show Húrin visions of his children suffering, but he changed the truth and made their fates seem even worse than they were, hoping to turn Húrin against Thingol. Now Húrin is the last of his family left—with Melian’s revelation of Morgoth’s interference, Húrin’s madness is healed and the curse is ended. The elves don’t know what happens to him after, but it’s likely that he joins his family in death.
Themes
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Thingol decides that the Nauglamír should be remade and set with the Silmaril, which he thinks about incessantly and wants to carry with him. When the work is finished, the dwarf craftsmen argue that they have more of a claim to the necklace than he does, since their people made it. Thingol realizes that they want the Silmaril and demands that they leave Doriath, but the dwarves, enraged, band together and kill him. The dwarves flee with the Silmaril, but guards pursue and kill them, then return the Silmaril to Melian. Two of the dwarves escape to their people in Nogrod and accuse Thingol of trying to cheat and kill them. Nogrod sends an army towards Doriath, seeking revenge.
Greed—especially for the Silmarils—spreads. Thingol becomes obsessed with his Silmaril, as Fëanor was and many of his sons still are. Thingol is right to guess that the dwarves want the Silmaril, but he provokes their violence with his pride and vitriol. Now that one of the Silmarils is out of Angband and back within reach of the people of Beleriand, the bloodshed begins again, starting with the deaths of Thingol and the dwarves and escalating to a war between Nogrod and Doriath.
Themes
Melian knows that Thingol’s death will be followed by the doom of Doriath. Though she’s a Maia, she took on the form of an elf for Thingol, and after his death a “change” comes over her. Her power fades from the land, leaving Doriath vulnerable to attack without the protection of the Girdle. She instructs Mablung to contact Beren and Lúthien, then disappears from Middle-earth back to Valinor. The dwarf army invades Doriath, kills Mablung, and steals the Silmaril.
Thingol’s death signifies Doriath’s fated destruction. The narrator is unclear whether Melian intentionally withdraws her power from the Girdle or whether, in her grief, she is incapable of upholding the enchantment. Either way, Doriath’s defenses die with Thingol, and Melian leaves Middle-earth, abandoning Doriath to destruction.
Themes
At that time, Beren and Lúthien still live in Tol Galen in Ossiriand. Their son Dior is married to Nimloth, a relative of Celeborn, and their children are named Eluréd, Elurín and Elwing. The news of the dwarf army reaches Beren, who leads Dior and a group of elves to ambush them as they leave Doriath. The dwarves who survive the initial attack are driven into the forest by the Shepherds of the Trees and not seen again. Beren kills the Lord of Nogrod and carries the Silmaril back to Lúthien.
Thingol didn’t even possess the Silmaril for one mortal lifetime before it was stolen—Beren and Lúthien are still alive and residing peacefully, away from the conflict of the elven realms. Though Beren’s quest is long over, he finds himself yet again fighting for possession of the Silmaril. Like the last time, he doesn’t seek to keep it for himself, but takes it for Lúthien.
Themes
It’s said that Lúthien wearing the Silmaril is the greatest beauty ever seen outside of Valinor and that Tol Galen becomes fair and fruitful with it there. Dior travels to Menegroth with his wife and children to rule the Sindar. Later, a lord of the elves in Ossiriand brings Dior a coffer containing the Silmaril, indicating that Beren and Lúthien have died and gone somewhere beyond the world. The wise believe that the Silmaril led to their early deaths, since Lúthien’s beauty as she wore it was “too bright for mortal lands.”
Though the Silmarils provoke greed and violence, Lúthien’s possession of the Silmaril is a reminder that the jewels themselves are blessed, created by holy light. The Silmaril’s hastening of Lúthien’s death is not necessarily the curse that it appears to be—death, even for mortals, isn’t something to be feared, but merely a transition. By her early death, she and Beren are called beyond the world to the unknown place where the souls of mortals meet Ilúvatar.
Themes
Rumor spreads among the elves of Beleriand that Dior now wears the Silmaril, and the sons of Fëanor plan to attack Doriath and reclaim it, though they didn’t dare to take it when Lúthien wore it. During the attack, Dior kills Celegorm, and Curufin and Caranthir both die. Dior and Nimloth are killed, and their two sons are taken by Celegorm’s servants and left to die in the forest. Afterwards, Maedhros tries to save Eluréd and Elurín, but he can’t find them. Doriath is destroyed, though some of the Sindar escape with Elwing and the Silmaril.
The narrator gives no reason why the sons of Fëanor didn’t attack Lúthien, but it can be inferred that they were hindered by something like respect—Lúthien becomes legendary while she still lives, and the sons of Fëanor must have been wary of attacking the elf who could enchant Morgoth. They have no such qualms about destroying Doriath, though they still fail to recover the Silmaril.
Themes
