Beren & Lúthien
For the next couple, there is, in contrast to Aegnor and Andreth, at least a happy ending: Beren and Lúthien.
She is the only child of the Elf King Thingol of Doriath and his wife Melian, one of the powerful Maiar. Doriath was the great realm of the Woodland or Grey Elves (Sindar) in Beleriand. Beren, on the other hand, is a Man from the house of Bëor, who were allied with Galadriel’s older brother Finrod.
Despite all the protective measures around Doriath, Beren gets lost in the forest of the Sindar in the year 464 of the First Age. There he meets Lúthien and the two fall in love with each other. When their romance is discovered, Beren asks Thingol for his daughter’s hand. However, Thingol deems Beren completely unsuitable and sends him on a suicide mission: Beren is to bring Thingol one of the three Silmarils.
The Silmarils are three beautiful gemstones, forged by the greatest Elven smith and High King of the Noldor Feanor. However, the Dark Lord Morgoth has seized the gems and embedded them in his own crown. Beren is thus to retrieve a treasure of the Elves from the hands of their mightiest adversary.
Of course, Beren still wishes to marry Lúthien. Accordingly, he sets out and gets support from Finrod, who at that time reigns as king over the realm of Nargothrond.
Despite the Elven help, Beren almost fails. Ultimately, Lúthien comes to his aid. She, together with the mighty hunting dog Huan, has managed to bring Morgoth’s lieutenant Sauron (yes, that Sauron) to his knees.
Although Beren and Lúthien manage to get their hands on a Silmaril, they lose it when a huge wolf bites off Beren’s hand. Back in Doriath, King Thingol allows them to marry anyway, as he believes their story.
Unfortunately, Beren dies shortly thereafter, and Lúthien appears before Mandos himself, the keeper of the place where the souls of the dead go. Her song moves him so much that she and her beloved receive a second, but mortal life. Beren and Lúthien are happy for the rest of their days and even have a half-Elven son named Dior – Elrond’s maternal grandfather.
Túrin & Finduilas
Galadriel’s brother Finrod dies in the attempt to retrieve a Silmaril for Beren. Until then, he had been the king of Nargothrond. The Elven realm from which the princess Finduilas comes. She is the sister of Gil-Galad, the later High King of the Noldor from the Second Age, in which the Amazon series The Rings of Power also takes place.
Finduilas meets the Man Túrin, son of Húrin, in 490 of the First Age. However, he comes to Nargothrond together with her fiancée and does not initially realize that the princess has fallen in love with him. When he finally realizes it, he wants to stay away from her, as he is friends with her fiancée.
Gwindor, on the other hand, still tries to win Finduilas back – without success.
Five years later, Morgoth’s armies under the leadership of the first dragon Glaurung attack Nargothrond and destroy the realm. Gwindor orders Túrin to protect Finduilas. But he does not hear him because the dragon has him under its spell.
Ultimately, the Elven princess falls into the clutches of Orcs and is murdered by a group of Men. Túrin sets out to search for her after some misleading leads but unfortunately finds only her grave mound.
