Nuin

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Nuin
Hisildë
David Greset - Murmenalda - the awakening of the first Men.jpg
"Murmenalda - the awakening of the first Men" (Nuin in the middle) by David Greset
Biographical Information
Other names"Father of speech"
LocationGreat Lands (Palisor & Murmenalda)
Affiliation
LanguageIlkorin
Birth Presumably Palisor
DeathKilled by Goblins in the Battle of Palisor
Notable forAwakening the first two Men (Ermon and Elmir), and teaching them speech
Physical Description
GenderMale
GalleryImages of Nuin

Nuin was one of the Hisildi, the Dark Elves who were ruled by the mysterious fay , according to the early version of the legendarium in the The Book of Lost Tales.

History[edit | edit source]

"Nuin, Father of Speech" by Tom Loback. Art for the back cover of Parma Eldalamberon 10.

Nuin is said to be very wise and loved to travel with his folk. Once he wandered far to the east of Palisor until curiosity led him to a strange place, with a mountainous wall. He found a passage which led to a valley inside a mountainous circle, Murmenalda, the Vale of Sleep. There he saw sleeping forms, others alone, other entangled into the arms of others. Frightened, he went back to Tû and told his tale, and Tû replied to him that they were the Younger Children of Ilúvatar.[1]

The story, known as "Gilfanon's Tale", stops and its development is known only from outlines. According to them, Tû warned Nuin that it was not yet the time of Men to wake yet as they needed light, but Nuin visited the valley often and pondered on the figures. Accidentally he stumbled against a sleeper who stirred, and then he was overcome with curiosity and awoke the first pair of Men, Ermon and Elmir, right before the first rising of the Sun from the West. Men were dumb and frightened, but Nuin taught them speech, some Ilkorin tongue, and thus was the Father of Speech. In another note, Nuin fights alongside Ermon in a fight against Fankil but he is killed by Goblins, a result of the betrayal of Men.[2]

Christopher Tolkien laments that "Gilfanon's Tale" remained unfinished and wondered whether his father consciously rejected the concepts of the story outright, or left it on hiatus, until his ideas were replaced by those of the later Silmarillion (Of Men).

See also[edit | edit source]

References