Eöl

Eöl Welcomes Aredhel by Ted Nasmith

Eöl (Years of the Trees – First Age 345), known as the Dark Elf, was originally part of the royal house of King Elu Thingol. Eöl was unhappy in his homeland of Doriath, and when the Girdle of Melian was raised around the kingdom, he left to dwell in the dark forest of Nan Elmoth, east of his homeland.

Eöl was a skilful craftsman and master swordsmith. Among his greatest works were two swords made from the iron of a meteorite, Anglachel and Anguirel. Anglachel he gave to Thingol as payment for dwelling in Nan Elmoth, and it would later become the sword borne by Túrin Turambar. Eöl's smithcraft was especially admired by the Dwarves, and he shared a rare friendship with the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost in the Blue Mountains.

In the early third century of the First Age, Eöl came upon Aredhel, the sister of King Turgon and called the White Lady of Gondolin. She had become lost in Nan Elmoth, and Eöl used his enchantments to draw her deeper into the wood and ensnare her. She became his wife, and in the year 320 bore him a son, Maeglin.

In the summer of First Age 345, Eöl travelled into the Blue Mountains to feast with the Dwarves of Nogrod, and returned home to find that his wife and son had left two days earlier. Mounting a horse, he gave chase, and eventually discovered them at the ford called the Brithiach. Realizing that Aredhel was returning to Gondolin with his son, Eöl followed them. He found his way to the Dry River, and that secret way led him to the gates of Gondolin itself. There he was captured and taken to the King.

Turgon at first welcomed Eöl as a kinsman, but under the King's Law one who had found the way to the Hidden City was not permitted to leave, on pain of death. Enraged at the loss of his freedom, Eöl chose death, for himself and his son, and cast a poisoned javelin at Maeglin. Aredhel stepped in front of her son, and the poison in the dart soon killed her. In punishment for his crime, the Gondolindrim cast Eöl over the steep cliff of the Caragdûr.

Genealogy

 EÖL = Aredhel
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  Maeglin

See Also

• Images of Eöl
• Family-Tree of the Eldar and Atani