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Tolwen   M191

Tolwen was born in the First Age of the Sun, one of Thingol Greycloak's subjects. She was captured by Morgoth's servants during the wars of Beleriand, and taken to his dungeons and tormented until her spirit broke. Morgoth, in his malice, reshaped the young elf-woman until she was lost to Morgoth's will. She became one of his servants, a killer in the night, hunting her kinfolk. Morgoth armed her with the fell demon sword Gurthiant. Gurthiant was bound to her very essence. To be parted with it would mean her agonising death. She served Morgoth all too well, slaying many Elves and Men in those distant bloody days.

Tolwen was captured by the Eldar during the final wars in Beleriand, and taken before the Vala Orome. Orome saw the horror that had been wrought by the Great Enemy on the elf-maiden, and he pitied her. Though he could not break the hold the sword had on her, he could heal her body and her mind. Returned to sanity, Tolwen remembered the murders she had commited and the blood she had spilled. She swore, then, that she would not rest until she had saved enough lives to pay for the lives she had taken. Even though Orome offered her sanctuary in the Undying Lands, she chose to return to Middle Earth. All through the Second Age, she wandered Eriador and Lindon, helping travellers and elven warriors alike. She went to Mordor along with the Last Alliance, working tirelessly, healing the wounds of the warriors of the west.

Centuries later, she encountered the Ents again, and heard of the loss of the Entwives. She agreed to aid the Ents in their search and eventually took up residence in Fangorn forest, lending her aid in whatever manner she could. She made a home there, healing lost travellers and unfortunate adventurers until the end of the Third Age. She dwelled in Lorien for a while, and then Rivendell. Some hold that she accompanied the elf lord Gildor Inglorion on his travels through Middle Earth. In the end, she accompanied Gildor and Galadriel and Elrond and the last of the Eldar to the Uttermost West, her oath finally fulfilled and her burden set aside. As the great elven ship passed through the straight way, she cast the sword Gurthiant away into the starry depths, where it fell to dust, borne away on the night winds.