Beleg

The marchwarden

Beleg was a Grey-elf of Doriath, and of all the folk of Thingol the most skilled in woodcraft, tracking and archery. He commanded the marchwardens who kept the northern borders of the realm beyond the Girdle of Melian, and his great bow Belthronding, of black yew, gave him the name Cúthalion, Strongbow. His closest companion in arms was Mablung, and the two of them were the only Elves of Doriath who went out to the wars of the Noldor against Morgoth. They fought in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in the host of Fingon, and before that Beleg rode with Thingol and Mablung on the hunting of Carcharoth, when Beren was mortally wounded.

Túrin

When Túrin son of Húrin was sent to Doriath as a boy, Beleg became his teacher, and the friendship between them was the closest of Túrin's life. He taught the boy the bow and the ways of the forest, and when Túrin was grown the two hunted Orcs together on the northern marches. After Túrin killed Saeros and fled the realm rather than face judgement, it was Beleg who came before the king and, with the Elf-maiden Nellas as a witness, showed that Túrin had been provoked. Thingol pardoned Túrin, and Beleg went out to find him and bring the news.

Among the outlaws

Beleg searched long, and when he found Túrin's band of outlaws in the woods south of the Teiglin, Túrin was away; the outlaws seized Beleg, bound him and would have killed him, until Túrin returned and cut him loose in shame. Túrin refused the pardon. He would not go back to Doriath while he had no honour to bring with him, and Beleg went home alone, sorrowing. He asked Thingol for leave to guard Túrin as best he could, and chose from the armoury the sword Anglachel, forged by Eöl of a black iron that fell from the sky. Melian warned him that the blade held its maker's malice and would not love his hand, and gave him lembas for the road, the first time the waybread was ever entrusted to a mortal's need.

Dor-Cúarthol

Beleg found Túrin again on Amon Rûdh, in the halls of the Petty-dwarf Mîm, and this time stayed. With the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin on Túrin's head and Beleg's bow beside him, the outlaws became a real force; the land between Teiglin and Sirion was cleared of Orcs and men flocked to the Bow and Helm, so that the country was called Dor-Cúarthol. It could not last. Mîm hated Beleg for the Elf's presence in his home, and when he was captured by Orcs he bought his life by betraying the hill. Amon Rûdh was stormed, Túrin was taken alive in chains, and Beleg was left for dead. Mîm would have finished him, but Beleg rose and drove the Dwarf off; Andróg, dying, cut Beleg's bonds.

Death in Taur-nu-Fuin

Healed of his wounds, Beleg went after the Orcs alone, tracking them north through the ruin of Dorthonion, now the forest of dread called Taur-nu-Fuin. There he found Gwindor, an Elf of Nargothrond escaped from the mines of Angband, and together they followed the Orc camp to the edge of Anfauglith. In a storm at night Beleg crept in, shot the wolf-sentinels, and carried the sleeping Túrin out of the camp. As he cut the last bonds, Anglachel slipped and pricked Túrin's foot; Túrin awoke, saw a figure with a drawn blade standing over him, and, thinking himself among enemies, seized the sword and killed Beleg with it. Lightning showed him the face of his friend. Túrin did not move or speak for a long while, and it was Gwindor who buried Beleg with his great bow and led Túrin away, mute and wandering, toward Ivrin. Anglachel he took with him, and in Nargothrond it was reforged as Gurthang, the Iron of Death.

Legacy

Beleg's death is the central grief of the tale of the Children of Húrin, and the deed that Túrin never forgave himself. Loyal beyond reason, he went out from the one safe realm in Beleriand three times to follow a proud and unlucky friend, and the blade that killed him went on to kill Glaurung, Brandir, and Túrin himself.

Slain by Túrin in the dark of Taur-nu-Fuin in F.A. 489, mistaken for an enemy; buried there with his bow.