Morwen

Morwen was the daughter of Baragund, the wife of Húrin and the mother of Túrin Turambar. Belonging to the House of Beor, she had two other children with Húrin - Lalaith, and Nienor.

Morwen was born in Ladros to Baradgund and an unnamed mother. She went on to marry Húrin of The House of Marach, with whom she had three children, Túrin, Lalaith, and Nienor. While Túrin and Nienor survived, Lalaith died in the plague that took over Morgoth when she was a young kid. [1] After Húrin left to fight Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Morwen remained in her husband's home. Húrin never returned as the battle was lost, but hordes of Easterlings invaded Hithlum and took over the land as their punishment for fighting against the Dark Lord. They were cruel and enslaved many people from the land, both young and old.

Morwen opposed the new Easterling lords and sent Túrin to seek refuge in Doraith, which was the only way to protect him against slavery at the hands of Easterlings. On the other hand, even though Easterlings took control of the entire land, they did not dare touch Morewen's home because they believed that she was a witch who had some special connection with the Elves when in reality, she had no such powers. She was in contact with a small group of Elves living in the mountains close to her house, but all she received from them was some minimal information. [2]

After the dangers of Easterlings had reduced, she went to Doriath in search of Túrin. Nienor followed Morwen even though she had ordered against it. She reached Doriath only to find out that her son had already left. On the other hand, Túrin came back to the north and freed Dor-Lómin, but it was a futile victory, as Morwen and Nienor had already left the land in search of him. When she realized her son was missing from Doraith, Morwen left to search for Túrin along with Mablung. Nienor followed her again even after being warned against it.

While searching for Túrin in the forests, they encountered Glaurung. He exercised his dragon magic on Nienor and gave her amnesia. After Malbung found Nienor, she ran into the woods and was never seen by Morwen again. Dejected by the whole incident, Morwen returned to Doraith. Morwen met her husband, Húrin at the grave of their children, Nienor and Túrin. Morwen sat there tired and depressed. She kept asking Húrin how Túrin found her sister, but he never answered her. They spoke their last words together before Morwen passed away along with the setting sun. Húrin dug a grave for her besides their children and buried her. [3] At the end of the First Age, Morwen's grave remained on the Isle of Tol Morwen, which was named after her.

She was tall, beautiful, and slender to the point where people used to call her Eledhwen. She had a stern and cold temperament and spoke very little, a personality trait that Túrin had inherited from her. He also inherited her tendency to restrict her thoughts and feelings only to herself.

The name Morwen comes from the Sindarin language and stands for "Dark Maiden".
In which, "mor" signifies for dark and "wen" means maiden. Her other name Eledhwen means "Elf-maiden".

1. ^The Six Degrees of Turin Turambar.
2. ^Tolkien & Female Characters.
3. ^Morwen Eledhwen Dies.