Silmarillion: Luthien Tinuviel

Lúthien Tinúviel, daughter of Thingol and Melian, singing in the forest of Neldoreth.

But wandering in the summer in the woods of Neldoreth [Beren] came upon Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, at a time of evening under moonrise, as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin. Then all memory of his pain departed from him, and he fell into an enchantment; for Lúthien was the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. Blue was her raiment as the unclouded heaven, but her eyes were grey as the starlit evening; her mantle was sewn with golden flowers, but her hair was dark as the shadows of twilight. As the light upon the leaves of trees, as the voice of clear waters, as the stars above the mists of the world, such was her glory and her loveliness; and in her face was a shining light.

(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, chapter 19: Of Beren and Lúthien)

Then suddenly her feet were stilled,
and through the woven woods there thrilled,
half wordless, half in elven-tongue,
her voice upraised in blissful song
that once of nightingales she learned
and in her living joy had turned
to heart-enthralling loveliness,
unmarred, immortal, sorrowless.

Ir Ithil ammen Eruchín
menel-vîr síla díriel
si loth a galadh lasto dîn!
A Hîr Annûn gilthoniel,
le linnon im Tinúviel!

(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lay of Leithian recommenced, Canto III continued)

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Well, this is my vision of her, as much as I can do Lúthien justice. I never knew there were images that could even come close to doing justice to the description, and I realize I am gushing, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think this model is phenomenally beautiful, with exactly the right blend of strength and beauty (as ~Qitian pointed out so aptly, '[f]rom the beginning of the story, she seems to be predestined to be your usual damsel in distress - and refuses to comply with that expectation' followed by a long list of Lúthien's feats and other interesting remarks. Click here for the artwork as much as the mini-essay) to go through with her quest. Even if my idea of her is somewhat more doe-eyed than ~Qitians.

I owe great, great thanks to the model, the beautiful model, ~Odessa11stock for letting me use this image as stock even though it was not intended as that. Thank you.

Of course I can't stop here, of course the other stockers who provided resources for creating this also deserve credit.

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