Lungorthin

From Tolkien Gateway
Lungorthin
Balrog
Anastasiya Cemetery - Lungorthin.jpg
"Lungorthin" by Anastasiya Cemetery
Biographical Information
Titles"Lord of Balrogs"
PositionBalrog lord
LocationAngband
AffiliationMorgoth
BirthCreation of the Ainur
Physical Description
GenderMale
WeaponryWhistling whips
GalleryImages of Lungorthin
"But Lungorthin Lord of Balrogs
on the mouth smote him, and Morgoth smiled:
‘Nay, fear when thou feelest, when the flames lick thee.
and the whistling whips thy white body
and wilting flesh weal and torture!’
"
The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of the Children of Húrin, Lines 96-100

Lungorthin was a Lord of Balrogs according to an early version of the legendarium.

History[edit | edit source]

Lungorthin is mentioned only once, in The Lay of the Children of Húrin; after Húrin was captured by Morgoth, Lungorthin smote him on the mouth.[1]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

According to Christopher Tolkien, it is likely that Lungorthin is not another name for Gothmog, as the name Gothmog was mentioned in the earliest Middle-earth writings, as well as the final version of Tolkien's mythology.

The thane of Morgoth who smote him on the mouth (version I, 59) now becomes Lungorthin, Lord of Balrogs (96)——which is probably to be interpreted as ‘a Balrog lord’, since Gothmog, reappears in the ‘Silmarillion’ tradition.
The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of the Children of Húrin, Christopher Tolkien’s Commentary on Part I of the second version

The name Lungorthin is in Noldorin, according to Eldamo, but its meaning is unclear. LUNG in Sindarin means “Heavy.” GAR means “fenced.” or means “above.”[2]

Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]

In Tolkien's first version of The Lay of the Children of Húrin, Túrin son of Húrin & Glorund the Dragon, "Lungorthin, Lord of Balrogs" had no name and race, being referred to instead as an unknown thane of Morgoth who smote Húrin on the mouth.

There are no references to Lungorthin in J.R.R. Tolkien's later legendarium and as such, Lungorthin may have been abandoned as he never appeared within any of Tolkien's writing after The Lay of the Children of Húrin.

References