A breakdown of Tolkien’s ‘Of Maeglin’, Chapter 16 in The Silmarillion. As usual I share a mini summary with my thoughts, 10 tidbits and 5 quotes!

A Mini Summary and Some Personal Thoughts

If you’re looking for a tragic + gripping tale, just turn to Chapter 16 of The Silmarillion. In it we first meet Aredhel, the sister of Turgon. She grew restless of Gondolin and left against her brother’s wishes. But she gets lost along the way, only to be found by Eöl in the woods – cause that’s where most elven couples are formed, you know?

However, this marriage sadly doesn’t end well. Aredhel and Eol have a son, Maeglin, who goes 12 years without a proper name. Adrehel and Maeglin eventually escape to Gondolin together, but Eöl follows them. Tthe ending is extremely tragic – there’s death and poison, oh, and Maeglin gets obsessed with his cousin. So there’s that…

Let’s get into the tidbits!

Ten Tidbits About ‘Of Maeglin’

Aredhel: ‘But Aredhel, having sought in vain for her companions, rode on, for she was fearless and hardy of heart, as were all the children of Finwë.’

1. Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, the White Lady of the Noldor, was the daughter of Fingolfin, and the sister of Turgon.

You may remember Turgon from the last chapter, the guy who helped build Gondolin. He’s also in this chapter, but the focus is much more on Aredhel.

2. Aredhel left Gondolin, but on the way she was lost.

• Aredhel ‘wearied of the guarded city of Gondolin, desiring ever the longer the more to ride again in the wide lands and to walk in the forests, as had been her wont in Valinor’. So after 200 years she left Gondolin. ‘Turgon’s heart was heavy at her going’, worried about the many perils in Middle-earth.
• Turgon sent her to see their brother Fingon. But she decided she wanted to see the sons of Feanor so she went to Doriath. However, Thingol wouldn’t see her because he didn’t allow the Noldor into his lands (except for those from the house of Finarfin, like we learned last chapter). Her and her company went sent to go see Celegorm and Curufin, but the road was ‘perilous’.
• Aredhel got lost, straying from her company when the riders ‘became enmeshed in shadows’. They looked for her, but couldn’t find her, and the evil creatures of Ungoliant pursued them ‘and they hardly escaped with their lives’. But she kept going and made it to the land where Celegorm and Curufin lived. Celegorm’s people welcomed her and she stayed there, waiting for Celegorm to return. After a year went by and he still hasn’t returned, she grew restless (again). And that’s how she came to wander in the lands of Eöl.

Eöl: ‘Of old he was of the kin of Thingol, but he was restless and ill at ease in Doriath, and when the Girdle of Melian was set about the Forest of Region where he dwelt he fled thence to Nan Elmoth. There he lived in deep shadow, loving the night and the twilight under the stars.’

3. Eöl was of the kin of Thingol and ‘lived in deep shadow’ in Nan Elmoth. 

When someone is described as one who ‘lived in deep shadow’, it doesn’t give you the best feeling. I also just wanted to point out he also was ‘restless’ like Aredhel. There seemed to be a lot of that going around.

4. Eöl had friendship with the dwarves, and devised a metal called Galvorn.

In Nam Elmoth Eöl preferred to deal with the dwarves than with Elves. He grew a friendship with them and learned of metalwork. Remember mithril from The Lord of the Rings? Well, Eöl basically designed its predecessor – a metal as hard as the steel of the Dwarves, but so malleable that he could make it thin and supple. He named it galvorn.

Eöl sees Aredhel: ‘And it came to pass that he saw Aredhel Ar-Feiniel as she strayed among the tall trees near the borders of Nan Elmoth, a gleam of white in the dim land. Very fair she seemed to him, and he desired her; and he set his enchantments about her so that she could not find the ways out, but drew ever nearer to his dwelling in the depths of the wood.’

5. Eöl took Aredhel as his wife.

Eöl saw Aredhel amongst the trees, cause the woods are always the best place for an Elf to find their mate. It’s interesting how his story seems similar to Melian and Thingol’s, though there’s a much darker feel to these developments than Chapter 4 had. Eöl took Adrehel as his wife, and she bore him a son 

Meaglin: Aredhel bore to Eöl a son in the shadows of Nan Elmoth, and in her heart she gave him a name in the forbidden tongue of the Noldor, Lómion, that signifies Child of the Twilight; but his father gave him no name until he was twelve years old. Then he called him Maeglin, which is Sharp Glance, for he perceived that the eyes of his son were more piercing than his own, and his thought could read the secrets of hearts beyond the mist of words

6. Maeglin was born to Eöl and Aredhel. 

Aredhel gave him a secret name, Lomion, meaning Child of the Twilight. But his father waited 12 years to give him the name Maeglin, meaning Sharp Glance. So I don’t know what he was called for the first 12 years of his life…but maybe that’s the blink of an eye to the elves, so isn’t such a big deal as it seems to someone with a human perspective.

7. Maeglin and Aredhel escaped while Eöl was away, but Eöl came back sooner than expected and chased after them, following them to Turgon’s Kingdom.

• While Eöl was away, Maeglin urged his mother that they should leave and escape
• Maeglin and Aredhel were welcomed by Turgon, and
• But Eöl came back sooner than expected, and when he did he was super upset to find his wife and son gone. He pursued them across the Himlad where he was waylaid by the riders of Curufin, and taken to their lord, but allowed to leave. He followed them to Turgon’s kingdom.

8. Eöl was brought before Turgon’s people and told he must remain in their Kingdom.

• Eöl brought before Turgon’s people and told he must remain in their Kingdom, but he refused and commanded Maeglin to come with him. Turgon said: Whether you will it or will it not, my doom is law. This choice only is given to you: to abide here, or to die here; and so also for your son.’

9. Eöl and Aredhel end in tragedy

Eöl tries to kill Maeglin, actually kills Aredhel, and is later cast over the side of a cliff. Yes, it’s super dramatic.

Idril: ‘for she was golden as the Vanyar, her mother’s kindred, and she seemed to him as the sun from which all the King’s hall drew its light.’

10. Maeglin thrives, except for in one thing – his love for Idril.

Maeglin became obsessed with Idril, desiring to marry her. But I love how Tolkien says she ‘loved him not at all’: ‘he loved the beauty of Idril and desired her, without hope. The Eldar wedded not with kin so near, nor ever before had any desired to do so. And however that might be, Idril loved Maeglin not at all; and knowing his thought of her she loved him the less.

5 Fav Quotes from ‘Of Maeglin’

I am your sister and not your servant, and beyond your bounds I will go as seems good to me. And if you begrudge me an escort, then I will go alone.

How sassy is this response from Aredhel?! Hehe, I love it.

In that wood in ages past Melian walked in the twilight of Middle-earth when the trees were young, and enchantment lay upon it still. But now the trees of Nan Elmoth were the tallest and darkest in all Beleriand, and there the sun never came; and there Eöl dwelt, who was named the Dark Elf.

I like this contrast, of how Melian used to walk among these trees when they were young and full of enchantment, but now Eöl dwelt there with the trees tall and dark and a sun that never came.

‘You have my leave, but not my love,’ said Curufin

This just really stuck with me.

In the telling of these tales there was awakened in Aredhel a desire to see her own kin again, and she marvelled that she had grown weary of the light of Gondolin, and the fountains in the sun, and the green sward of Tumladen under the windy skies of spring;

I love how this paints the role of tales, and how they can have the power to awaken such strong desire in someone.

Thus it was in Gondolin; and amid all the bliss of that realm, while its glory lasted, a dark seed of evil was sown.

Such an ominous note to end a chapter on.

Further Study

I love listening to podcasts to gain more insights and thoughts on Tolkien’s works. Here a couple I listened to about this chapter:

• The Prancing Pony Podcast Episode 026 – You’re the One That I Want
• The Tolkien Professor’s Silmarillion Seminars

The Silmarillion Second Breakfast Book Club

That’s Chapter 16, ‘Of Maeglin’! If you’ve missed any previous posts on The Silmarillion in our Second Breakfast Book Club, then check out the Reading Schedule. You can find updates on future chapters there as well. Next up, Chapter 17!