Tevildo: Difference between revisions

| titles=His highness (by [[Umuiyan]])

| position=Prince of Cats

| race=[[Cats|Cat]]

<center>{{Quote|Now Tevildo was a mighty cat—the mightiest of all—and possessed of an evil sprite, as some say, and he was in Melko’s constant following; and that cat had all cats subject to him, and he and his subjects were the chasers and getters of meat for Melko’s table and for his frequent feasts.|[[Vëannë]] to [[Eriol]] in ''[[The Book of Lost Tales Part Two]]'', "[[The Tale of Tinúviel]]"}}</center>

'''Tevildo''', also known as the '''"Prince of Cats"''', was said to be the mightiest of all [[Cats|cats]] ''”and possessed of an evil [[Sprites|sprite]], as [[Vëannë|some]] say'',” according to the early version of the [[legendarium]] in ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]''.

Tevildo was said to be a mighty [[Cats|cat]] with a golden collar, which gave him much of his evil power. He was considered a prince of the servants of Melko and dwelled in a castle on a cliff “''not utterly distant''” from [[Angband|Angamandi]]. He was also said to harbour fierce and large rats that he allowed to dwell in dark holes “''for his own private sport and suffered not their numbers to dwindle''.” While his subjects feared the dogs that dwelled in the woods nearby, he had a particular scorn for [[Huan]], the Captain of Dogs, for Huan once tasted his fur even as Tevildo paid him for it with a gash from his great claws. Though Tevildo was still prideful and wished to do harm on Huan.

During the [[Quest for the Silmaril]], [[Beren]] was captured by Melko and was sent to work as a thrall catching birds and beasts in Tevildo’s kitchens. Upon meeting Beren for the first time, Tevildo took an instant disliking of him due to smelling that he prefered dogs over cats. He also initially assumes that Melko sent Beren for the cats “''to make meat of him''.” When Melko’s intent is made clear, Tevildo boasts in scorn that no race is better at catching birds and beasts than his subjects. However, despite this, Tevildo gives to Beren a test to prove his skill as a thrall, tasking him to catch three fierce rats in three days. Beren fails and attains nothing but a bitten finger. When Tevildo was made aware of Beren’s failure, he had him punished with a few scratches and made him a scullion. So miserable did Tevildo make Beren that he wished he never saw Tinúviel.

Later on in the narrative, Tevildo is roused from his sleep when Tinúviel is brought before him by [[Umuiyan]] the Doorcat. Angry at being disturbed, Tevildo accuses Tinúviel of having dealings with dogs. To which Tinúviel confirms, claiming that she had recently escaped from “''a certain very mighty dog whose name''” he knows well. This immediately gains Tevildo’s full attention and he orders Umuiyan to bring her to the kitchens where he eats with his greatest thanes. When Umuiyan falls asleep instead, Tevildo orders for him to be thrown from the castle where the cliff is the most sheer. After that, Tevildo roughly brings Tinúviel to the kitchens himself, unintentionally reuniting her with Beren. When Tinúviel tries to give hope to Beren, Tevildo tries to shut her up, but is instead condemned by Tinúviel. Beren manages to accidentally ruin some dishes upon being made aware of Tinúviel’s presence. For which he is scratched by [[Miaulë]], Tevildo’s cook. After that, Tevildo ponders if he should bring her to Melko, but decides rather to listen to what news she has. Therefore, Tinúviel takes advantage of this and, appealing to his ego, speaks to Tevildo of Huan laying injured in the woods nearby. Due to Tevildo never believing anything unless he wants it to be true, he falls to Tinúviel‘s ruse and follows her with two of his thanes, with one of them being [[Oikeroi]].

An hour later, when they come upon the seemingly wounded Huan in the [[Withered Dale]], Tevildo makes a plan to come on him on all sides, thus he falls right into Huan’s trap. Huan manages to kill Oikeroi and chase the other thane away, leaving Tevildo to fiercely fight Huan on his own. Huan comes so close to killing Tevildo, but is then struck in the eye, giving Tevildo the opportunity to escape up a tree. Huan negotiates with Tevildo, denying him access to the ground unless he frees Beren and Tinúviel. Huan then forced him to toss down his golden collar (a dishonour in it of itself) and to reveal the spell which held the stones of his castle together and filled his subjects with evil power beyond their nature. Tinúviel spoke the words of the spell and commanded the now shrunken cats to release every prisoner and thrall they had ever taken. However, it is revealed that Tevildo’s only prisoners were Beren and an aged [[Gnome]] named Gimli. Tinúviel leads Beren and Huan away. Eventually, Melko learned that Tevildo had lost his power over the cats and he cursed and banished him. Despite this, however, Tevildo still desired to recapture Beren and Tinúviel, slay Huan, and regain Melko’s favor, yet was never able to fit his own fear of Melko was so great that all he could do was sit in his hall wondering what to do.<ref name="LT2I">{{LT2|I}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|His purr was like the roll of drums and his growl like thunder, but when he yelled in wrath it turned the blood cold, and indeed small beasts and birds were frozen as to stone, or dropped lifeless often at the very sound.|[[Vëannë]] to [[Eriol]] in ''[[The Book of Lost Tales Part Two]]'', "[[The Tale of Tinúviel]]"}}

''Tevildo'' is [[Qenya]]. Although it is not given a literal translation, it is said to derive from the root TEFE related with "hate" or "hatred".<ref name=Names>{{LT1|Appendix}}, entry "Tevildo"</ref>

As Tolkien developed his mythology, Tevildo's place in the narrative was replaced by that of the Necromancer, [[Thû]], who was in turn later became [[Sauron]] in the later [[legendarium]]. Thû was the "Lord of Werewolves", in contrast to Tevildo's position as "Prince of Cats"; the cat-versus-dog theme prominent in the "[[Tale of Tinúviel]]" was thus eliminated in later writings.{{fact}}

Also note worthy is ''[[:Wikipedia:Cath Palug|Cath Palug]]'', a monstrous cat in Welsh legend. In some Arthurian stories there is also mentiones of a fight between King Arthur himself and a evil cat (that is some times named Cath Palug and sometimes unnamed). In some stories Arthur is victorious, but in others the king is killed by the cat.

{{References}}