Editing Lúthien and Beren (section)

== Context ==

Lúthien was a [[Teleri]]n ([[Sindar]]in) [[princess]], the only child of [[Thingol|Elu Thingol]], king of [[Doriath (Middle-earth)|Doriath]], and his queen, [[Melian (Middle-earth)|Melian]] the [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]], making her half-royal, half-divine. She was born in the [[Years of the Trees]], according to the [[Grey Annals]]. At her birth, the white flower ''niphredil'' bloomed for the first time in Doriath.
Lúthien's romance with the [[Man (Middle-earth)|mortal man]] Beren is considered the "chief" of the Silmarillion tales by Tolkien himself; he called it "the kernel of the mythology".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#165 to the [[Houghton Mifflin]] Co., 30 June 1955 }}</ref> [[Elrond]] was Lúthien's great-grandson and [[Aragorn]] was descended from her via Elros and the Royal Family of [[Númenor]]. She is described as the Morning Star of the Elves and as the most beautiful daughter of the one god, [[Ilúvatar]]. Beren was the son of Emeldir and Barahir, a man of the royal House of Bëor of Dorthonion.<ref name="ch19" group=T/>

In contrast, Lúthien's descendant [[Arwen]] was called ''Evenstar'', the Evening Star of the Elves, meaning that her beauty reflects that of Lúthien. Lúthien was first cousin once removed of [[Galadriel]] (also Arwen's grandmother), whose mother, Eärwen of [[Alqualondë]], was the daughter of Thingol's brother. The story of Lúthien and Beren is mirrored in ''[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]''.<ref name="Tale" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix A: [[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]</ref><ref name="Bowman 2006">{{cite journal |last=Bowman |first=Mary R. |title=The Story Was Already Written: Narrative Theory in "The Lord of the Rings" |journal=Narrative |date=October 2006 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=272–293 |doi=10.1353/nar.2006.0010 |jstor=20107391|s2cid=162244172 }}</ref>