| This article refers to the wife of Húrin. For other namesakes, see Morwen (disambiguation). |
Morwen was an Adan of the House of Bëor, the daughter of Baragund, wife of Húrin Thalion, and mother of Túrin Turambar.[1]
Morwen was tall, dark-haired, bright-eyed, majestic, and the most beautiful mortal woman of her time - so beautiful, in fact, that people called her Eledhwen ("the Elven-fair"). She was also a proud and stern woman of few words.
Biography[]
Morwen was born in Ladros in the northeast of Dorthonion to Baragund and an unnamed wife. She married Húrin of the House of Marach. After the Dagor Bragollach, she and her folk moved northeast through the Ered Wethrin and after enduring great losses and finally came to Dor-lómin in Hithlum and were well received by the folk there. It was here that she and her husband had their three children, Túrin, Niënor Níniel, and Urwen.[2]
Morwen with her son Túrin, by Marya Filatova
Húrin went off to fight in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad but never returned as the battle was lost. After the defeat of the Union of Maedhros, the savage Easterlings came to Hithlum to claim their new land as a reward for fighting for the Dark Lord. The Easterlings were cruel and took many slaves including the young and old. Morwen resisted the new Easterling lords that took over Húrin's land, and sent Túrin away to Doriath and the court of King Thingol, to prevent him from being taken as a slave. However, none of the Easterlings dared take Morwen's home, for her incredible beauty led them to believe she was a magical witch and in league with Elves, although she had neither such power nor intimate connections.[3] After most of the danger had passed, she went to Doriath looking for Túrin. Niënor followed her against her commands, but she was accepted by Thingol.[2][4]
Morwen was alarmed at not finding her son in Doriath, and after staying for a while, she and Mablung left to search for Túrin. Niënor followed against Morwen's will for a second time. While they sought for Túrin in the forest, Glaurung the dragon came upon them. He gave Niënor amnesia with his dragon magic and left. When Mablung found Niënor, she ran off into the woods, and was not seen by Morwen again. Morwen returned to Doriath after this sad incident.[2][4]
The Death of Morwen, by Alan Lee
Morwen met her husband Húrin once again after the death of Túrin and Niënor. At their children's grave, Húrin found Morwen, old, ragged, tired, and sorrowful. They spoke their last words together, and then Morwen died with the setting of the sun and was buried with her children.[5][6]
Their graves remained after the drowning of Beleriand at the end of the First Age on the isle of Tol Morwen off the coast of Forlindon, which was named after her.[7]
Etymology[]
The name Morwen is Sindarin for "Dark Maiden", from mor ("dark") and -gwenn or -wen ("maiden"). Her epithet Eledhwen means "Elf-maiden", from eledh ("elf").[8] Eledhwen is interpreted as "Elfsheen".[9]
In other versions[]
In earlier versions of Tolkien's legendarium, Morwen was known as Mavwin.
- The House of Hador was previously known as the House of Marach.
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| Gildis |
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| Galdor |
| Hareth |
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| Handir | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morwen |
| Húrin |
| Huor |
| Rían |
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| Tuor |
| Idril |
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| Túrin |
| Urwen |
| Niënor |
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| Eärendil |
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| Elrond |
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Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ሞርወን |
| Arabic | موروين |
| Armenian | Մորւեն |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Морвэн |
| Bengali | মরভেন (Morwen) মরভেন এলেদেন (Morwen Eledhwen) |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Морвен (Morwen) Морвен Еледвен (Morven Eledven) |
| Chinese | 莫玟 |
| Georgian | მორვენი |
| Greek | Μορωεν |
| Gujarati | મોર્વેન (Morwen) મોર્વેન એલેડવેન (Morwen Eledhwen) |
| Hebrew | מורוון אלדוון |
| Hindi | मोर्वेन |
| Japanese | モルウェン |
| Kannada | ಮೊರ್ವೆನ್ (Morwen) ಮಾರ್ವೆನ್ ಎಲೆಡ್ವೆನ್ (Morwen Eledhwen) |
| Kazakh | Морвен (Cyrillic) Morven (Latin) |
| Korean | 모르웬 (Morwen) 모르웬 엘레드웰 (Morwen Eledhwen) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Морvэн |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Морвен (Morwen) Морвен Еледвен (Morven Eledven) |
| Marathi | मॉरवेन |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Морвэн |
| Nepalese | मोरवेन |
| Pashto | موروېن |
| Persian | موروون |
| Punjabi | ਮੋਰਵੇਨ |
| Polish | Morwena |
| Russian | Морвен (Morwen) Морвен Эледвен (Morwen Eledhwen) |
| Sanskrit | मोर्वेन् |
| Sinhalese | මෝර්වන් |
| Tamil | மொரவென் |
| Telugu | మొర్వెన్ |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Морвен |
| Urdu | موروان |
| Uzbek | Морвен (Cyrillic) Morвen (Latin) |
| Yiddish | מאָרווין |
References[]
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVII: "Of the Coming of Men into the West"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXI: "Of Túrin Turambar"
- ↑ The Children of Húrin, Narn i Chîn Húrin, The Tale of the Children of Húrin, IV: "The Departure of Túrin"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Children of Húrin, Narn i Chîn Húrin, The Tale of the Children of Húrin, XIV: "The Journey of Morwen and Niënor to Nargothrond"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXII: "Of the Ruin of Doriath"
- ↑ The Children of Húrin, Narn i Chîn Húrin, The Tale of the Children of Húrin, XVII: "The Death of Túrin"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Introduction"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin names
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"