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The Silmarillion, sometimes referred to as âthe Bible of Middle-earth,â1 is filled with hundreds of characters whose lives span from before the breaking of the first silence with the Music of the Ainur until the end of the Third Age. Amidst the myriad characters, several characters emerge as the most significant to be found in this collection of tales of Middle-earth.
FĂ«anor, greatest of all the Children of IlĂșvatar, crafter of the eponymous Silmarils whose pride leads directly to many of the great tragedies and horrors of the First Age.
Melkor, later called Morgoth, the main antagonist of The Silmarillion and chief adversary of the Valar and all they create.
Beren and LĂșthien, the first pairing of mortal man and immortal elf whose âheroic-fairy-romanceâ (Letter 131) was inspired by Tolkienâs love for his wife Edith.
TĂșrin Turambar, the tragic figure of all tragic figures, the great and proud warrior whose doom destroyed his family, great kingdoms, and his own life.
EĂ€rendil, Elrondâs father, the half-elven mariner who sailed to Valinor to entreat the Valar for their aid against Morgoth and who was transformed into a star sailing through the skies of Middle-earth.2
ButâŠIâm not writing about any of them today. At least, not primarily. No, today Iâm focusing on a character whose fate weaves in and around the lives of many of these major characters but who finds himself a bit overshadowed by them all: Tuor, TĂșrinâs cousin and EĂ€rendilâs father.
A mighty warrior and great hero in his own right, Tuorâs doom serves as an excellent foil to that of TĂșrin Turambar, whose more famous ill fate is a dark mirror of Tuorâs tale.
Three Were Given to the ElvesâŠIn Marriage
In Tolkienâs legendarium there are three identified âunions of the Eldar and the Edain3: LĂșthien and Beren; Idril and Tuor; Arwen and Aragorn.â4 Though Idril and Tuor were âthe second union of Elves and Men,â5 they are by default the least-prominent and least well-known of the three. After all, Tolkien himself referred to the tale of Beren and LĂșthien as the âchief of the stories of The Silmarillionâ (Letter 131). And the story of Arwen and Aragorn is essential to the story of The Lord of the Rings and the conclusion of the Third Age. Though important characters in their own right, Tuor and Idril canât help but be overshadowed a bit by these other two pairings of mortal and immortal.
Who is Tuor, then? And how does this second of three unions of men and elves figure into the larger story of The Silmarillion?
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