#girdle of melian

[aredhels]

And Melian put forth her power and fenced all that dominion round about with an unseen wall of shadow and bewilderment: the Girdle of Melian, that none thereafter could pass against her will or the will of King Thingol, unless one should come with a power greater than that of Melian the Maia.

@spring-into-arda Back to Middle Earth Month Basketball Championship Match 5: prompt “defence”

[aureentuluva70]

Apparently the name Doriath actually just means "Land of the Girdle". But the girdle was never created up until the early first age, and Doriath itself had been around long before then. So what would it have been called before the girdle was made? Did it even have a name prior to that?

[sesamenom]

interesting how in the FA "beyond lay the wilderness of Dungortheb, where the sorcery of Sauron and the power of Melian came together, and horror and madness walked", then in the TA the Fangorn-Lorien-Mirkwood triangle of Weird Sorcery Forests exists between the domains of saruman, galadriel, necromancer-sauron, and radagast

[anghraine]

Speaking of Sauron, I've been amusing myself by thinking about how a disproportionate number of people who super ruined his day are descendants of Melian:

Lúthien, obviously, kicked his ass.

Elwing retaining Lúthien's Silmaril and giving it to Eärendil led to the utter defeat of Morgoth's forces including Sauron.

Tar-Telperiën and her nephew Tar-Minastir, descendants of Elwing's son Elros, were responsible for the vast Númenórean fleet that crushed Sauron's attempts to seize Eregion in the Second Age.

Tar-Minastir's descendant Pharazôn (a usurper and terrible person, but nevertheless) led a massive force against Sauron that intimidated Sauron's armies into giving up. Sauron tricked Pharazôn and managed to take out Númenor, only to end up drowning with it, and was significantly damaged and limited by the event.

Meanwhile, a different descendant of Elros, Elendil, survived! He led Númenórean dissenters away just in time to establish sprawling Númenórean-controlled kingdoms in Middle-earth.

Elendil and the Elvish king Gil-galad proceeded to defeat Sauron in single combat after a long siege. The effort killed them but also took out Sauron himself for a very, very long time. Elendil's son Isildur cut the Ring away from Sauron's body as repayment for the deaths of Elendil and Isildur's younger brother Anárion.

Anárion's children produced various lines of descent that would go on to include the Stewards of Gondor, resolute enemies of Mordor who recruited the Rohirrim into Team We Hate Sauron.

Isildur's and Anárion's descendant Aragorn spent decades criss-crossing the map to spike various evil plans, like when he torched the Corsair fleet as Thorongil and disappeared into the night only to turn up decades later to threaten Sauron with Elendil's reforged sword.

The Ring ended up in the hands of Frodo, who would be only too happy to turn it over to Aragorn as Isildur's heir. Aragorn promptly rejected the idea, crucially leading to Frodo remaining as Ringbearer while Sauron came to mistakenly believe Aragorn had the Ring and meant to use it.

The only time Frodo was ever truly captured by Men (the people easily assumed to be the greatest danger to the quest) was by Anárion's descendant Faramir. Faramir could have taken the Ring with disastrous results for everyone but Sauron, but instead shrugged off the temptation and laughed at it before helping Frodo on his way.

Sauron understandably panicked about the Aragorn situation and sent his forces to Gondor earlier than planned, despite knowing at that point that the Steward Denethor was much better prepared than he'd hoped. Faramir used his abilities to lead a retreat across favorable ground that inflicted large casualties on Sauron's armies, as planned. This tactic functionally sacrificed Faramir and Denethor but bought enough time for the Rohirrim and Aragorn's mainly southern Gondorian armies to arrive and turn the tide of the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Sauron's forces in that battle were defeated. Again.

Aragorn exploited Sauron's understandable fixation on him by making a flashy frontal assault as (unofficial) king of the Dúnedain to distract Sauron's attention from the real threat (three hobbits making their way to Mount Doom). This was 100% successful. Through a series of good and bad choices on the part of the hobbits, the Ring was destroyed and Sauron with it.

Bad day all around for Sauron! Aragorn, meanwhile, married Elrond's daughter and became overlord of Sauron's allies with Faramir as his prime minister.

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

when i say f.a. 503 for dior was the absolute worst year of anybody's life, i'm not exaggerating in the least. like could there be more objectively traumatic experiences? of course. but the utter stress that overtakes me at just the thought of finding myself in his position? the fucking executive and administrative and directorial problems i would have to deal with? the number of things that would be dependent on me to sort out? the sheer responsibility that would suddenly be on my shoulders? quite frankly i'm in awe of him for willingly stepping up to the task at all, to say nothing of how well he handled it with all the odds against him

[mamawasatesttube]

<- experiencing shrimp emotions (listening to the return of the king ost: battle of the pelennor fields)

[afanofmanyhats]

One of my favorite things about Tolkien's writing is that he has a very specific, recurring trope. For lack of a better term, I'm dubbing this the Tolkien Wife-Guy.

This is mainly obvious in the Silmarillion, but Tolkien loves to write couples where the man is a notable individual- nobility, commits a great deed, or both- but the wife is at least equally notable, if not more beloved or powerful. Manwe is the king of the Valar and Eru's main representative in Arda? Everyone loves Varda more, and Melkor fears her more than his own brother. Elu Thingol is the king of the Silvan Elves? His wife is Melian, whose Girdle is the magic that keeps Morgoth's forces at bay. Beren is a chief among the Edain, who befriends animals and survives one of the most nightmarish places in Beleriand? His wife is Luthien.

Even in Lord of the Rings we see this occur, though the couples are on more even footing. Tom Bombadil is... Tom Bombadil, but Goldberry is the River-daughter, and Tom adores her above everything else, and the hobbits are completely taken in with her when she's their host. Similarly, while Celeborn is a mighty lord among Elves, Galadriel is one of the only Noldor in Middle-earth who saw the Two Trees, and her hair inspired Feanor to make the Silmarils, not to mention her own accomplishments in the war against Morgoth. Aragorn is the king of Gondor and Arnor, but Arwen is the Evenstar of the Elves, the descendant of three(?) different royal Elven lines. And Faramir becomes the Steward of Gondor and is one of the noblest men alive, but Eowyn killed the Witch-king, so you know. She got the grander moment for the saga.

But with (most) of these couples, we never get the impression that the man views his wife as Less-Than, or as a junior partner. Thingol is the main exception to this in how he dismisses Melian's counsel, and that's made out to be his foolishness within the text. Otherwise, Manwe treats Varda as his co-ruler, Beren never tries to downplay Luthien's achievements, and I'm pretty sure most of Tom Bombadil's dialogue is about how gorgeous Goldberry is. It's really sweet.

All of these examples really testify to how much Tolkien loved his wife. People rightly point to Beren and Luthien as the prime example of that, but I think you can find it in these other couples too. Even though Edith is mainly known to history as Mrs. Tolkien, it's evident to me that Jirt saw her as a whole person worthy of admiration outside of being his wife.

[self-destructinganimal]

One of my favorite Elrond & Elwing headcanons is that Elwing, who was a very small child when she had to flee the destruction of Doriath, tells Elrond and Elros stories of how beautiful it was. She tells them stories she herself had been told of happier times when Melian ruled with her girdle of protection. She tells them stories of an enchanted realm that was once their families legacy.

As refugee children, these stories of a home, and a protected realm were something special to the twins and when Elrond hears those stories he dreams of rebuilding Doriath. He sees the loss on his mother's face and he imagines building a realm of enchantment where flowers bloom and birds sing as they did when Lúthien walked among them, or when Melian taught the nightingales to sing. He dreams of building this for his mother, so that she might feel joy again.

Elrond builds all this later when he founds Rivendell, and it grows from a camp for refugees (something that he knows well), into the place he always dreamed of building for those who have their homes and happiness ripped away from them. A place where flowers bloom and hurts are healed. A place that is protected by enchantments laid by Melian's scion who commands even the river in its defense.

No one questions why the stars shine brighter on Imladris than any other realm, they also know why the birds congregate there in such large numbers.

The little refugee and survivor rebuilt Doriath, and wove his own little barrier of protection around it.

And his mother smiled across the sea.

[mask131]

I am re-reading the Silmarillion, and something strikes me. The women of Tolkien's world have been talked about TO DEATH especially with all the recurring debates surrounding the Rings of Power series.

As we all know, Tolkien was not a "feminist" in the modern sense of the word. He had a very male-centric point of view and appreciation of the world, he had male-driven and male-centered stories, and actual women characters were sparse and rare. There are only five really big female characters in "The Lord of the Rings" - the quintet of Galadriel, Eowyn, Goldberry, Lobelia and Shelob. [No, don't talk to me about Arwen, she only really was a character in the movies, in the book she's just there in the appendix and she was literaly an afterthought of Tolkien to act as Eowyn's romantic double...]

Consider this. Galadriel, Eowyn, Goldberry, Lobelia and Shelob. This tells you everything you need to know about Tolkien's women, in good and bad.

The Silmarillion has the same motif of having a lot of female characters, only for most of them to be just footnotes, secondary characters with no lines, under-developped one-liners... with in a contrast a handful of super-cool, super-badass, complex and developed heroines at the center of the plot.

Aka, on the bad side, when listing the Valar, while Tolkien gives an interesting personality, great domains and cool attributes to all the male ones, half of the female ones are just... there. And do one stuff. And never appear again. I mean come on... Vana and Nessa? Estë and Vairë were done dirty... That's the actual type of "non-feminism" Tolkien has. It isn't about him hating women or trying to be offensive in his depictions - it is about him just, not putting as much thought, effort and care into his female characters as his male ones, a bit the same way he creates the vast expanses of the East and South of Middle-Earth and then never bothers actually developing more of it or seeking to tell tales of it - but that's for another discussion about Tolkien's "racism". Here we talk about women.

But here's the thing, aka the good side... When Tolkien does find the time and care to develop and flesh out a female character, by Iluvatar he goes all out! Again, we are back on what I said earlier: the women of Lord of the Rings can be counted on one hand... but these fingers are Galadriel, Eowyn and Shelob, so you can't claim he isnt writing powerful, important or uninterestng female characters. Which leads me to my original remark - as usual I get driven away in digressions of all sorts and kinds.

Have you ever noticed that Melkor's greatest enemies, the ones he fears the most, and his most effective foes... are women? Tolkien might not like to put them front and center of his tales, and he might have been a man of the early 20th century England in culture and mind, but boy does he has something to say about how women are actually the first enemies of the literal embodiment of evil and destruction! I mean think about it. Varda of the Stars, and Yavanna of the trees. Nienna has her ambiguous relationship to him - her tears work against him, and yet without her plea for him he likely would not have been released from the dungeons of Mandos. You have Melian with her Girdle, and Luthien with her Hound. And of course most of all Arien, guardian of the Sun, not only one of the rare fire spirits that Melkor couldn't corrupt (despite him basically ruling over all fire), but that frightens him so much he keeps hiding away and doesn't even dare to attack her... [I also reblogged some times ago a post praising the brilliance of Tolkien keeping the old European sun-moon motifs but switching the genders. The weaker, inconsistant, lustful, whimsical, disorderly, untrustworthy Moon is now a male principle, while the steady, dangerous, strong, powerful and beautiful Sun is a woman.]

It is actually REALLY easy to do a feminist retelling of Tolkien's work. Melkor doesn't fear Manwë as much as Varda. Aulë's works and servants get corrupted by Melkor, while Yavanna's do not. Melian and Luthien actively works against him. He friggin' pisses himself when the Woman of the Sun shows up. Sure, there are some evil female characters that serve him down the line and are relegated to the "obscure footnotes and undescribed secondary characters" zone - Thuringwethil the vampire or queen Beruthiel. I coul also dropped deleted characters from early drafts, like the ogress Fluithuin. But among them stands Ungoliant... THE only true female big bad on the dark side of Arda. THE badass, nightmarish, creepy eldritch abomination. And who ends up double-crossing Melkor, almost KILLING him, and again making him basically shit in his pants - as Varda and Arien do.

The first enemies of Morgoth are not the Valar, or the Maiar, or the Elves... It's women.

[serene-faerie]

I wasn’t going to say anything originally, but I’m still really annoyed with that one reblog on my bingo card post.

So let me make this very clear:

MELIAN IS NOT A SELFISH NARCISSIST FOR ABANDONING DORIATH

I can’t believe this needs to be said, but apparently it must. Not only is it such a bad faith argument, but it’s completely wrong.

Melian was going through a tremendous amount of grief that was completely alien to her as a Maia. First, Lúthien became mortal and left Doriath to live a mortal life, and Melian has to deal with the fact that one day, she’s going to outlive her own daughter. Then she gets a chance to be a mother again when she and Thingol adopt Túrin, but despite her best attempt to raise him well, he runs away and ends up dying by his own sword. Which means she’s lost another child of her own.

She’s going through the kind of grief that no parent deserves to endure. Túrin may not be her biological son, but his death would’ve really hurt her, without a doubt.

Then, Thingol is suddenly murdered by the dwarves after a fight over the Nauglamir. Her beloved husband, the one she gave up Aman for, is dead, and by this point, Lúthien and Beren are both getting old and they’re also going to die in a couple of years. Melian is realizing that she’s going to basically outlive her entire family.

Can you imagine how that must feel for a Maia like Melian? She must’ve been going through so much pain and grief and heartache. I bet that this is when her Girdle around Doriath begins to fail— the Girdle doesn’t fall yet, but the sheer depth of Melian’s grief is enough to start weakening it.

Being in Beleriand would’ve been completely unbearable for her now. It actively starts to hurt her very spirit, and her powers weaken. I think she realized that if she stayed any longer, her powers would fail her, and she would probably fade away.

Melian didn’t abandon Beleriand because she was selfish. She left Beleriand because she realized that she could no longer live there without the one thing that made her powers flourish— her family.

I’m begging you, have some compassion for female characters and read through the book again PLEASE!

[outofangband]

I think Morwen’s intelligence, cunning and perception are often underestimated; I’m very sleepy right now so this is not as eloquent as I’d like but, during the first chapter, Morwen is consistently shown to be right, or nearly right, regarding her predictions of Beleriand’s future. She correctly states that the girdle of Melian will be one of the longest lasting defenses, she’s correct about the fact that Morgoth won’t be defeated until the Valar intervene.

No wonder Húrin wants to confide in her and seek her advice.,,

She alone detects the difference in the number of Thingol’s guards when Niënor joins them. She’s incredibly shrewd and perceptive (I do think much of this is hyper vigilance)

There’s a lot one can infer too. Morwen survived under extremely bleak conditions for decades in occupied Hithlum. Obviously Aerin’s aid was lifesaving to her* but her survival not to mention planning both Túrin’s escape and her own.

I’ve made so many more definitive posts about Morwen, this one is more just thinking aloud, but I just love Morwen so much. She’s so smart, so cunning. She’s a survivor in every sense.

*just want to make sure I emphasize this, I don’t ever want to minimize Aerin’s aid and the courage and sacrifice of that aid (if my thousands of posts about it aren’t enough indication…)

[red-raven-reading]

Eregion headcanon. Everyone sees the very intense energy between Celebrimbor and Annnatar - not knowing all the toxic behind the scenes behaviour of Annatar - and they think of Thingol and Melian.

Here's a great elf lord setting up his kingdom and actually working with dwarves (properly!) as he rises above his blood-soaked history. People want to follow him just like they once wanted to follow Thingol, who came back from being missing and led them to build one of the strongest kingdoms in Beleriand, despite being 'lower' kindred than the Noldor. You don't get much lower than being a Feanorian after the First Age.

They see Annatar with his wisdom and his power so eager to help them, and they think of Melian, a Maia like him, who created her girdle that protected them from evil for centuries.

Yes, they realise that there won't be any new Lúthien running around (unless Annatar shifts form some mutter very lowly) but they see the resemblance, and they whisper about a new golden age for elves. A new safe haven for all elves despite their heritage...

Annatar hears all this and revels in it. He hates Lúthien and delights in making a mockery of her parents' memories. He pushes to seduce Celebrimbor more because he loves to hear this speculation and hope.

Poor Celebrimbor is just trying to make some rings and is completely oblivious to everyone's gossip. He does, however, notice that Annatar is acting really strange and keeps trying to get him to walk in forest glades. Jokes on him though, Gil-galad and Galadriel have been trying to get him out of his forge and "get some fresh air" for centuries, and he's immune.

[tathrin]

@aroace-moron​ okay but now I want some unhinged written-at-four-am Silmarillion High School or University AU, where Galadriel is like a grad student or something and Finrod is her overly-perky breezing-through-it-all brother and Thranduil is the precious(ly annoying) freshman and Celeborn is this quiet dork who is just massively crushing on her so tired and Thingol is the stern, irritated principal and Melian is this unflappable teacher whose lessons no one ever fully understands but my stars is it interesting??? and Thranduil’s dads are constantly embarrassing him because Oropher shoots his mouth off in every PTA meeting and also they keep making-out like teenagers whenever he turns around omg dads stop!? and...

#this is so cool! #first of all #i love how you write thranduil and his dads #'then they started flirting ugh disgusting so i left' #amazing #thranduil as a teenager is a concept I have not yet considered before #but yes #you nailed it #also Galadriel and Melian's relationship is so cool??? #i too wish to be tutored by a magical being only for her to randomly collapse tell me the king is dead and the kingdom falling #than that she might meet me again if i don't fuck up or die or something and then #disappears #i like to think that i would mourn #but the last few weeks of my last school year have proven to me that my reaction would more likely be 'sorry am i dismissed? are you just #gonna leave? what about class???' #galadriel is a lot more tactful than I am i think #sorey that was a lot of random thought it is 4am and I am not sure why exactly i'm awake #just kinda woke up #huh #anyway #amazing work as always! #take your time but I will definitely read it

Is the Galadriel and Doriath wip current or Galadriel reminiscing?

It is set in the final years of Doriath, and focuses on both Galadriel's role as Melian's student and her future fate as well as on Celeborn and Thranduil's youthful friendship, and it ends just after the Second Kinslaying.

It's very wip-y, in the sense of being mostly "here's a quick transcription of ideas" rather than actual writing, and I'm honestly not sure when I'll get back to it...but here's the beginning at least. It's the most detailed part, although even still it's mostly just sketched-out scene-notes with some bits of actual rough-draft prose at the end.

Melian and Galadriel in the former's garden in Doriath in a courtyard outside the palace that spills out into the wild forest; Melian is teaching Galadriel how to feel the world within her, both of them barefoot on the grass, feeling the flow of the song rise up through the soles of their feet. A peaceful, soft, quiet moment…

Thranduil and Celeborn walk along one of the castle walls, Thranduil skipping on the actual wall and Celeborn scoffing at him from the walkway; they pass two guards, who laugh; no one is taking the guard duty particularly seriously, because they all know Menegroth is safe from harm. 

Thranduil says that his father doesn't think it's good that they allow Galadriel and Finrod to come here; Celeborn is shocked (and deeply crushing on Galadriel), why!? Thranduil shrugs and says that Oropher doesn't think that it's good to have Noldor here when a Silmaril is; his other father, he adds while Celeborn is drawing an outraged breath to argue, pointed out that neither Galadriel nor Finrod are Fëanor's sons and should not be judged by their deeds. Oropher admitted that was true, but points out that they are still his kin—and perhaps for their own sake, should be kept far from such possible temptation. Other dad was amused by this; does Oropher really think that just the sight of some pretty jewel will overcome them? At that point, Thranduil says, wrinkling his nose, they started saying mushy stuff about being overcome by your beauty, and that's when he left. Celeborn laughs and calls him a child. Thranduil scowls.

Meanwhile, inside the hall, Thingol and the dwarves clash over the necklace; we open at the end of the argument, when tempers have already flared. Thingol towers over one of the dwarves, trying to intimidate him; another dwarf steps behind him and swings a hammer, cutting him down at the knees; he falls with a cry of surprise and the dwarf raises the hammer over him again…

Melian gasps and falls, Galadriel half-catching her and sinking to the ground with her mentor in her arms. "Teacher!" she cries (look up Sindarin), startled and afraid; what could fell a Maia? Melian smiles sadly, her eyes far away. "Fear not for me, Galadriel. This is the day I have long foreseen come at last, and the darkness that follows will be for you to face, and not for me. I depart these lands now, and leave Middle-earth for a time in the keeping of the elves alone."

In the halls, one dwarf stares in shock and horror at another; what have you done? The second lowers his bloody hammer and says that Thingol would have kept their treasure for his own. Should they have let him? Are the elves to forever be their betters, because they were made first? We are the forgotten children, unwanted by the song; it is up to us to seize our place in Arda, to make our own place in the song. Will you be forever second-best to the elves?

No, the first agrees; he takes the necklace. No, we will not let our work be stolen or our souls unvalued. Not by the elves, and not even by the Valar themselves. We are dwarves, and we know our worth as well as we know the worth of our treasures; we will not let our value be dismissed. But come! We must away before the other elves learn what we have done, or it will not be our treasures but our lives that pay the wages of this working! They flee.

"Depart!" Galadriel cried, her voice ringing raw and hollow through the garden. "But why? Wherefore should you leave this place?"

"I follow my beloved Thingol's spirit, my dear student. I know that I shall find him again someday on the other side of the Halls of Mandos; for he has left this land, and my daughter is long lost beyond the Gift of Men; and now comes the time where I depart for the Blessed Realms, and return to my own teacher and my kind and kin."

Galadriel gasped, her mind reeling beneath the weight of Melian's words. It was too much; too much all at once. She seized on the simplest, cruelest part: "Thingol is dead?"

"His life's blood even now spills across Menegroth's stone," Melian murmured. She rose, and drew Galadriel up with her. The queen seemed taller now, somehow, but more insubstantial too; she stood like a pillar of cloud before the breeze and smiled down gently at the bewildered elf-maid standing lost and lonely before her. "I say again, do not be afraid, my brightest and dearest student. I will not say that we shall meet again, for far and away will come the chance that may one day lift the Ban that bars you from those blessed shores; and thin even as the blade of a silver knife that chance is. You may well fail it; you may not even live to face the test. " She clasped one of Galadriel's hands between both of her own and stroked the bare fingers gently. "But if you do come across fire and destruction to the moment of your measure, and you can overcome both power and pride, then I foresee that the Ban upon your head will be lifted and the Seas will open to bear you home again."

"I do not think that Aman will ever let me call it home again," Galadriel whispered.

Melian cupped her face between her hands. "Ask your heart again in later Ages where your home lies, and despair not before then," she said, and bent low to kiss Galadriel on her brow. "Now farewell, my dear. Farewell, and let not your heart be hardened. On the other side of every nightfall there is a dawn, and the light in you will never go out so long as you will it still to shine. That much, I promise you."

"Melian—" Galadriel began to say, but the queen was no longer there; only a shimmer of light where she had stood, a gleam of mist that might once have been a smile and a faint echo of a distant song; but she was gone, and Galadriel stood now alone.

Around the borders of Doriath, the girdle of power that had long defended the great green lands flickered and began to fade, following the flight of its maker. The earth beneath Galadriel's bare feet shivered at the loss of power, but Galadriel did not feel it; she had heart then only for her tears.

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Full article: here.

This connects with the Elrond = Sauron theory, here and here.

Melian of the Valar and Anger Issues:

In his interview to Decider, explaining the kiss, Robert Aramayo also talks about this:

Specifically, Adar namedrops Melian, one of Elrond’s most important ancestors. Aramayo explained how hearing this father of the orcs talk so intimately about Melian was meant to perfectly unsettle the young(er) elf. “It shows a real deep understanding for the history of Middle-Earth. You know, there’s something about Melian, isn’t there? The ‘Girdle of Melian,’ the sort of the protective sphere that she [creates], the power of her, and what she sort of represents in the lore and stuff,” Aramayo said. “So it’s impressive that he would bring it up in that moment.”

Why is this strange? Firstly, Elrond and his future daughter Arwen never get compared to Melian herself in the lore, but rather to her Half-Maia daughter, Lúthien (Arwen is pretty much described as “Lúthien 2.0.”, and even her love story with Aragorn is Lúthien x Beren, part 2).

According to Rob, the mention of Melian by Adar is what triggers his anger, and what causes Elrond to act OOC in that scene. Which doesn't make any sense, because Elrond would be proud and honored by such a comparison, actually (and it has nothing to do with his beauty).

The only character who would get this triggered by the mention of Melian is Sauron himself, because:

1) His fellow Maia was a thorn in his side (and Morgoth's) for pretty much the entire First Age and the War of Wrath;

Beyond lay the wilderness of Dungortheb, where the sorcery of Sauron and the power of Melian came together, and horror and madness walked. Of Beren and Lúthien, Part I

2) Melian's daughter (Lúthien) was responsible for Sauron's most humiliating and spectacular defeat by bringing Huan (the Hound of Valinor), with her to Tol-in-Gaurhoth (Isle of Werewolves, where Finrod, Galadriel's brother, died protecting Beren from the werewolves). This is when Sauron shapeshifts into a giant werewolf to fight Huan, and gets defeated.

Halbrand/Mairon: Whose dagger was it, Galadriel? Who is it you lost? Galadriel: My brother. Halbrand/Mairon: What happened to him? Galadriel: He was killed. In a place of darkness and despair [Tol-in-Gaurhoth]. By servants of Sauron [werewolves]. Is that enough for you? Galadriel tells Halbrand about her brother’s, Finrod, death, 1x05 

(Sorry not sorry, I had to). 

In the lore, Sauron disappears for a very long time after this defeat, and “Rings of Power” already mentioned how he was tortured beyond belief by Morgoth (this implies that, after losing a strategic stronghold to “a girl and her dog”, Sauron most likely was imprisoned and tortured by Morgoth somewhere). 

Lúthien/Beren parallel:

The "tent/kiss scene" itself, in 2x07, is a parallel to Beren and Lúthien, and the quest to retrieve one Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown, which would lead to their fight with Sauron (and Finrod’s death later on):

But Thingol looked in silence upon Lúthien; and he thought in his heart: 'Unhappy Men, children of little lords and brief kings, shall such as these lay hands on you, and yet live?' Then breaking the silence he said: 'I see the ring, son of Barahir, and I perceive that you are proud, and deem yourself mighty. But a father's deeds, even had his service been rendered to me, avail not to win the the daughter of Thingol and Melian. See now! I too desire a treasure that is withheld. For rock and steel and the fires of Morgoth keep the jewel that I would possess against all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms. Yet I hear you say that bonds such as these do not daunt you. Go your way therefore! Bring to me in your hand a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown; and then, if she will, Lúthien may set her hand in yours. Then you shall have my jewel; and though the fate of Arda lie within the Silmarils, yet you shall hold me generous.' Thus he wrought the doom of Doriath, and was ensnared within the curse of Mandos. And those that heard these words perceived that Thingol would save his oath, and yet send Beren to his death; for they know that not all the power of the Noldor, before the Siege was broken, had availed even to see from afar the shining Silmarils of Fëanor. For they were set in the Iron Crown, and treasured in Angband above all wealth; and Balrogs were about them, and countless swords, and strong bars, and unassailable walls, and the dark majesty of Morgoth. But Beren laughed. 'For little price,' he said, 'do Elven-kings sell their daughters: for gems, and things made by craft. But if this be your will, Thingol, I will perform it. And when we meet again my hand shall hold a Silmaril from the Iron Crown; for you have not looked the last upon Beren son of Barahir.' Then he looked in the eyes of Melian, who spoke not; and he bade farewell to Lúthien Tinuviel, and bowing before Thingol and Melian he put aside the guards about him, and departed from Menegroth alone. Of Beren and Lúthien, Part I

Here, "Thingol" is Adar, who presents "Elrond" (Beren) with the choice of handing over the Silmaril (Nenya) in exchange for Lúthien (Galadriel): "The Ring for Galadriel's life. What is it to be?"

Which means, the comparison with Melian is odd ("You [Elrond] have the beauty of your foremother, Melian of the Valar"), because there is no direct parallel between Elrond/Melian happening here.

Then, why is Elrond parallelling Beren in this scene? He’s a Half-Elf who decided to retain his immortality (Half-Elves get to do that, and that’s why Arwen chooses mortality to be with Aragorn). He’s not a mortal man like Beren, nor is he in love with an she-Elf of legendary beauty and power.

There is another character who can make sense in this context, and that’s Halbrand (Sauron’s human form). Mostly now that the executive producers of the show, Charlotte Brändström, revealed that Galadriel was in love with Halbrand (direct parallel with Lúthien x Beren).  

Morgoth’s crown is also nearby (we know that Adar not only has it, but actually show it to Galadriel in this very tent, in 2x06), and the Balrog is also there (at the mines of Moria, in Khazad-dûm).

Interestingly enough, Sauron is the one who mentions Beren in Season 2 of “Rings of Power” (and he must have been dying inside talking about it): 

Yes. You are right. Of course. Men are capable of great frailty. But when the darkness falls, there are always some who rise forth and shine. Eärendil, Tuor, Beren, son of Barahir. Sauron/Annatar tries to persuade Celebrimbor to forge the Nine rings of power, 2x05

And the plot thickens because Eärendil is Elrond’s father, and son of Tuor (Elrond’s grandfather who married Elwing, Lúthien and Beren’s granddaughter). “Rings of Power” Season 2 pretty much went through all of Elrond’s genealogy, in scenes with Sauron and Adar.

After Beren and Lúthien rescued a Silmaril from Morgoth's Iron Crown, this was later given to their descendant Elwing, wife of Eärendil. Both took it to Aman, and the Valar decided to rise it as a new star. In a vessel appointed by Elbereth, Eärendil rose in the horizon as a sign of hope for Elves and Men. And this is the light that shines in both Galadriel’s mirror and the Phial of Galadriel (which she gives to Frodo to help him in his quest to destroy the One Ring = Sauron).

And to further strength the parallel between Nenya/Silmaril in the “tent scene” of 2x07, the fate of Fëanor’s Silmarils is also connected to the Three Elven rings of power: 

“Fire” = Maedhros threw himself into a fissure of fire in the earth, carrying his Silmaril with him. “Narya” is the “Ring of Fire”, and its current ring-bearer is Círdan (but it will pass onto Gandalf, later). 

“Air”: connects to Eärendil becoming a star in the skies. “Vilya” is the “Ring of Air”, and even though, his current ring-bearer is Gil-galad, it will belong to Eärendil’s heir: Elrond.

“Water”. Maglor casted his Silmaril into the sea, and wandered along the shores of the world singing laments over the loss of the Silmaril. “Nenya” is the “Ring of Water”, and will be forever held by Galadriel, herself. In time, she’ll, too, suffer with “sea longing” (which many assume it’s only the desire to return to Valinor, but there might be more to it). Like Maglor, she’s also known for singing laments (“Namárië”, also called “Galadriel's Lament”).

In “Rings of Power”, Galadriel met Halbrand (the “mortal man” she fell in love with) in the middle of the sea.

[hailturinturambar]

“Now the world runs on swiftly to great tidings. And one of Men, even of Beor's house, shall indeed come, and the Girdle of Melian shall not restrain him, for doom greater than my power shall send him; and the songs that shall spring from that coming shall endure when all Middle-earth is changed”

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien

[quixoticanarchy]

how does melian actually make it back to valinor? if having a child and sustaining the Girdle for so long leaves her in the state of being bound to her physical form, how does she leave? by the helcaraxë? does some other spirit or creature ferry her somehow? and when she gets to valinor and holes up in Lórien, why doesn’t she bring tidings or try to intercede on behalf of everyone she left? lúthien is still alive at that point even… why does it take 2 more kinslayings and eärendil’s personal errand?

one theory I had to link these questions is, it’s so taxing for her to return and she’s in such a terrible state that she can’t really talk to anyone or plead for anyone. maybe she spent the rest of her power turning into a bird to fly back even when she shouldn’t be able to change form, and she’s in lórien afterwards to try and recover. or a darker theory: she does plead for help from the Valar for middle-earth and is rebuffed (like ulmo). or she’s bitter about everything and just ignores the rest of the world while grieving, whatever the fallout, and everyone in valinor also ignores her. melian is kind of inscrutable at the best of times which makes her interesting, but a little maddening