Thingol

Elu Thingol or Elwë Singollo is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion, The Lays of Beleriand and The Children of Húrin and in numerous stories in The History of Middle-earth. The King of Doriath, King of the Sindar Elves, High-king and Lord of Beleriand, he is a major character in the First Age of Middle-earth and an essential part of the ancestral backgrounding of the romance between Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. Alone among the Elves, he married an angelic Maia, Melian. Scholars have written that Thingol turns away from the light, so that when he receives a Silmaril, he is unable to appreciate it. They have stated, too, that he fails to take advantage of his marriage to Melian, instead ignoring her advice about the Silmaril, leading to the downfall of his kingdom. Fictional history In The Silmarillion, Thingol is introduced as Elwë, one of the three chieftains (with Finwë and Ingwë) of the Elves who depart from Cuiviénen, the place where the Elves awaken, with the Vala Oromë as ambassadors to Valinor, and who later become Kings. Upon his return, he persuades many of his people to follow him west to Valinor. This host becomes known as the Teleri. Some of the Teleri go to Valinor. Thingol meanwhile meets Melian the Maia, an angelic immortal, and falls in love with her; they create an enchantment which keeps his people from finding him. Others of the Teleri reach the northwestern region of Beleriand, but choose to remain there to look for Thingol, who had disappeared there. They later inhabit the forest realm of Doriath, when Thingol reappears and sets up his Kingdom of Doriath and his city of Menegroth; they are among the Sindar or Grey Elves of Beleriand. Alone of his people, he is an Elf of the Light as he has seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor.