Editing Thingol (section)

== Analysis ==

In [[Tolkien's constructed languages]], Thingol is [[Sindarin]] for "grey cloak", "greymantle", while the [[Quenya]] form of his name, Singollo, has the same meaning.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, annotated index entry for "Thingol"</ref> The medievalist and [[Tolkien research|Tolkien scholar]] [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes that while the name Elwë ("the star") indicates light, this is dimmed by the character's second name, the light being "cloaked or mantled over".{{sfn|Flieger|1983|p=85}} Further, Flieger comments that the softening of "Singollo" to "Thingol" can also be taken as a diminishment, reflecting the "sound shifts that occur as light-infused Quenya modifies to twilight Sindarin".{{sfn|Flieger|1983|p=85}}

Flieger states that Thingol's actions may seem unjustified thematically, but they make sense in terms of his politics and dynastic needs. She contrasts him with Beren, who though a [[Man (Middle-earth)|Man]] is constantly drawn towards the light. With the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, perhaps threatening his kingdom, Thingol's mood darkens. After he learns of the Elf-on-Elf [[Kinslaying]] at Alqualondë perpetrated by the Noldor on the Teleri, Thingol (Teleri himself) bans the use of their language Quenya in his lands, and Sindarin becomes the most prevalent Elven tongue in Middle-earth. He takes successively darker actions, moving further and further from the light, so that even when he receives the Silmaril from Beren, he knows neither how to appreciate it nor how to use it.<ref name="Flieger 1983">{{harvnb|Flieger|1983|pp=120–130}}</ref>

Robley Evans, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', draws a parallel between Thingol and Fëanor: like him, he turns away from the Light, and chooses to remain in Middle-earth with Melian, who could stop time and its changes.<ref name="Degenerative">{{cite journal |last=Evans  |first=Robley |year=1987 |title=Tolkien's World Creation: Degenerative Recurrence |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=14 |issue=1 |at=article 55 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2327&context=mythlore}}</ref> Evans states that Thingol's marriage with Melian seems to "promise a model union of diverse created beings" on first impression. He comments that Thingol is however the "complementary opposite of Fëanor in Tolkien's structural counterpoint" in that he is ultimately destroyed by his own version of Fëanor's oath; the act of claiming the Silmaril recovered by Beren places his kingdom under the Doom of [[Mandos]]. This warned that the Elves would come to harm if they continued their rebellion against the Valar.<ref name="Degenerative"/>

The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] writes that Thingol forms part of the tightly-woven plot of ''The Silmarillion'', each part leading ultimately to tragedy. There are three Hidden Elvish Kingdoms, including Doriath, founded by Thingol and his relatives, and they are each betrayed and destroyed. The Kingdoms are each penetrated by a mortal Man, in Doriath's case Beren; and the sense of Doom, which Shippey glosses as "future disaster", hangs heavy over all of them in the tale.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=287–296}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ [[Tom Shippey]]'s analysis of the Hidden Kingdoms of Beleriand{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=287–296}}
|-
! Hidden<br/>Kingdom 
! [[Elves in Middle-earth|Elvish]] Kings<br/>(all relatives) 
! Man who penetrates<br/>the Kingdom
! Result 
|-
| [[Nargothrond]] || [[Finrod]] || [[Túrin Turambar|Túrin]] || City destroyed
|-
| [[Doriath (Middle-earth)|Doriath]] || Thingol || [[Lúthien and Beren|Beren]] || City destroyed
|-
| [[Gondolin]] || [[Turgon of Gondolin|Turgon]] || [[Tuor and Idril|Tuor]] || City destroyed
|}

The medievalist [[Marjorie Burns]] states that Thingol gains "great power" through his marriage to Melian, writing that she resembles [[Rider Haggard]]'s infinitely desirable [[Arthurian]] muse, Ayesha of his 1887 novel ''[[She: A History of Adventure]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0-8020-3806-7 |page=123}}</ref>

The scholar of religion Lisa Coutras compares Melanie Rawls's account of Thingol and Melian to Lisa Hopkins's analysis of Tuor and Idril. Rawls presents Thingol as a prideful king who rarely listens to his wife's counsel, even though she has immense foresight and wisdom; this helps to bring about the downfall of his kingdom. Hopkins discusses the hero [[Tuor]], who is all the wiser for listening to his wife Idril.<ref name="Coutras193">{{cite book |last=Coutras |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrLIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA193 |title=Tolkien's Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-earth |publisher=[[Springer Nature|Springer]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-1375-5345-4 |page=193}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Rawls |first=Melanie |year=1984 |title=The Feminine Principle in Tolkien |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=10 |issue=4 |at=Article 2 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol10/iss4/2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hopkins |first=Lisa |year=1996 |title=Female Authority Figures in the Works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=21 |issue=2 |at=Article 55 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol21/iss2/55}}</ref>