Celegorm

Lineage and youth

Celegorm was the third son of Fëanor and Nerdanel, called Turkafinwë by his father and Tyelkormo, the hasty riser, by his mother, and known as the Fair for his looks. In Aman he was a friend of Oromë and hunted often in the woods of the Vala, from whom he learned the speech of birds and beasts. Oromë gave him the great hound Huan, the wolfhound of Valinor, who followed him into exile. Celegorm swore the Oath with his brothers and was the most reckless of them.

Himlad

In Beleriand Celegorm and his younger brother Curufin, with whom he was always paired, held Himlad, the land between the rivers Aros and Celon south of Himring, and guarded the Pass of Aglon. Their neighbour to the south was the Dark Elf Eöl of Nan Elmoth, and it was Celegorm and Curufin whom Aredhel went to visit when she left Gondolin and lost her way. Celegorm fought with credit in the Dagor Aglareb, and in F.A. 455, when the Dagor Bragollach broke the Siege and Aglon was overrun, he and Curufin fled west with their followers and were received in Nargothrond by their cousin Finrod.

Nargothrond and Lúthien

In Nargothrond the brothers gathered a following and grew powerful. When Beren came asking Finrod's help on the quest of the Silmaril, Celegorm and Curufin reminded the people of Nargothrond of the Oath and spoke so darkly of what would follow that Finrod went out with only ten companions, and the brothers hoped he would die and leave them the realm. Then Lúthien, seeking Beren, came into the woods near Nargothrond, and Huan found her and brought her to his master. Celegorm was struck by her beauty; he took her into Nargothrond, kept her prisoner, and sent to Thingol proposing to marry her, meaning to seize the lordship of Doriath by it. Huan would not stand for it. The hound freed Lúthien, bore her away on his back, and helped her free Beren from Sauron at Tol Sirion.

When the news reached Nargothrond, the people turned against the brothers, and Orodreth drove them out. Riding north with only Huan and their household, they met Beren and Lúthien in the forest. Celegorm rode at Beren to trample him; Beren dragged Curufin from his horse; Huan turned on Celegorm and left him for ever. Curufin shot at Lúthien from horseback as they departed and Beren took the arrow. Celegorm and Curufin rode to Himring and told Maedhros what they had done.

Death in Doriath

When the Silmaril came to Dior after Beren and Lúthien died, it was Celegorm above all who stirred his brothers to demand it, and when Dior returned no answer the sons of Fëanor fell on Menegroth in the winter of F.A. 506. In the fighting in the Thousand Caves Celegorm and Dior slew each other. His servants, in vengeance, took Dior's young sons Eluréd and Elurín and left them in the forest to die, a deed that even Maedhros repented and tried to undo.

Legacy

Celegorm is the most dishonoured of the sons of Fëanor. His treatment of Lúthien turned Nargothrond and Doriath against the house of Fëanor at the moment when the Union of Maedhros most needed them, and his death in Doriath completed the ruin he had helped to begin. Huan's abandonment of him is the judgement the tale passes.

Slain by Dior in Menegroth during the Second Kinslaying, F.A. 506.