Beren y Lúthien

Beren and Lúthien's account was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J. R. R. Tolkien. The author wrote the story during the year following his return from France and from the Battle of the Somme in late 1916. Essential to the story and having never been altered, the central element of the story is the fate that overshadows Beren's love. and Lúthien, since Beren was a mortal man and Lúthien an immortal Elf, whose father, a great lord Elf, in clear opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he had to carry out if he wanted to marry Lúthien. This is the core of the legend, which ends up leading to the absolutely heroic attempt by Beren and Lúthien to steal a Silmaril from the most evil of all beings: Melkor, also called Morgoth, the Dark Enemy. In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the extensive work in which it was interwoven. To illustrate a part of the process through which this Middle Earth "Great Account" evolved through the years, Christopher has narrated the story in his father's words, offering, in the first place, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts illustrating how the narrative has changed.