Hello :) 

and thank you for both taking the time to read my short addition to Lúthien's tale, and for responding. I agree with your supposition that Tolkien found it harder to write about Lúthien as time went on. What I find fascinating is his continued elevation of her, and his reduction of Beren. That is the real tragedy, that Beren really does not deserve Lúthien. He offers her nothing, does not really get to know HER he just loves her from seeing her. Well .. yes. Of course he would. She is like Aphrodite. Beren becomes such a tragic figure that he, like Jonah, damns everyone around him. He is not even allowed to be the hero (or one of them) in his own story. 

I want the story to be a great love story. It can be fixed to make it just that, without destroying any of the beauty of the tale. But that is/was Tolkien's job, not mine. What I am left with is not a love story. It is a story of a woman who fate makes do certain things (because she would not love Beren as he is - and still be credible in her wisdom and insight). 

The tragedy for me is that she is, without doubt, the greatest female character ever written, or she should be. But Tolkien hobbles her by making her love someone not worthy and making her sacrifice all for what? The fact that she loves a being who has never shown us (or her) why she loves him. How can a man who loves her decide that a second Silmaril is what he wants when she is next to him and has risked so much to be there? 

Anyway ... rant over :) She gets a chance to decide her own path .. to Beren, with Beren .. or not. And, as I say, maybe the real Beren is not what the story shows us. Maybe that is who she loves and who is now, also free. 

Once again, thank you. 

Paul