| Melian | |
|---|---|
| Tolkien character | |
| In-universe information | |
| Aliases | Queen of Doriath, Queen of the Sindar, Queen of the Teleri, Queen of Beleriand |
| Race | Maia |
| Book(s) | The Silmarillion The History of Middle-earth The Children of Húrin Beren & Lúthien |
Melian is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and in several stories within The History of Middle-earth series. An early version of Melian is found in The Book of Lost Tales II, part of The History of Middle-earth, where her characterization differs significantly. The final version of the character is presented as a Maia, a lesser class of powerful divine beings in Tolkien's legendarium known as the Ainur, who takes the form of an Elf and becomes the loyal queen consort of Elu Thingol.
Melian is an important character in the First Age of Middle-earth, and an essential part of the ancestral backgrounding of the interracial romances between her daughter Lúthien and the mortal Man Beren, as well as that of her descendants Aragorn and Arwen. Commentators have analysed the character's mystical nature, as well as her role as a forerunner of the Elf-queen Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings.