‘Ah, wise lady!’ said Finrod. 'I am an Elda, and again I was thinking of my own people. But nay, of all the Children of Eru. I was thinking that by the Second Children we might have been delivered from death. For ever as we spoke of death being a division of the united, I thought in my heart of a death that is not so: but the ending together of both. For that is what lies before us, so far as our reason could see: the completion of Arda and its end, and therefore also of us children of Arda; the end when all the long lives of the Elves shall be wholly in the past.
'And then suddenly I beheld as a vision Arda Remade; and there the Eldar completed but not ended could abide in the present for ever, and there walk, maybe, with the Children of Men, their deliverers, and sing to them such songs as, even in the Bliss beyond bliss, should make the green valleys ring and the everlasting mountain-tops to throb like harps.’
Then Andreth looked under her brows at Finrod: 'And what, when ye were not singing, would ye say to us?’ she asked.
Finrod laughed. 'I can only guess,’ he said. 'Why, wise lady, I think that we should tell you tales of the Past and of Arda that was Before, of the perils and great deeds and the making of the Silmarils! We were the lordly ones then! But ye, ye would then be at home, looking at all things intently, as your own. Ye would be the lordly ones. “The eyes of Elves are always thinking of something else,” ye would say. But ye would know then of what we were reminded: of the days when we first met, and our hands touched in the dark. Beyond the End of the World we shall not change; for in memory is our great talent, as shall be seen ever more clearly as the ages of this Arda pass: a heavy burden to be, I fear; but in the Days of which we now speak a great wealth.’ And then he paused, for he saw that Andreth was weeping silently.
'Alas, lord!’ she said. 'What then is to be done now? For we speak as if these things are, or as if they will assuredly be. But Men have been diminished and their power is taken away. We look for no Arda Remade: darkness lies before us, into which we stare in vain. If by our aid your everlasting mansions were to be prepared, they will not be builded now.’
'Have ye then no hope?’ said Finrod.
'What is hope?’ she said. 'An expectation of good, which though uncertain has some foundation in what is known? Then we have none.’
'That is one thing that Men call “hope”,’ said Finrod. ’Amdir we call it, “looking up”. But there is another which is founded deeper. Estel we call it, that is “trust”. It is not defeated by the ways of the world, for it does not come from experience, but from our nature and first being. If we are indeed the Eruhin, the Children of the One, then He will not suffer Himself to be deprived of His own, not by any Enemy, not even by ourselves. This is the last foundation of Estel, which we keep even when we contemplate the End: of all His designs the issue must be for His Children’s joy. Amdir you have not, you say. Does no Estel at all abide?’
–J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth X: Morgoth’s Ring, “Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth”
“I was young and I looked on his flame, and now I am old and lost. He was young and his flame leaped towards me, but he turned away, and he is young still. Do candles pity moths?”
We may have been mortal when first we met the Elves far away, or maybe we were not: our lore does not say, or at least none that I have learned. But already we had our lore, and needed none from the Elves: we knew that in our beginning we had been born never to die. And by that, my lord, we meant born to life everlasting,without any shadow of any end.
“ Few days after her encounter with Finrod, Andreth awaited for her beloved in the wintry forest. Old as she was, the heat of her love for the elf still burned in her breast, and it could be said this whim of her youth kept her from the cold grasp of death. Aegnor hastened to find his lady, now burdened with age. Bound to eternity, he would not age as she. But this did not mean doom could not reach him either. They held each other at last, in the concealed woods. If it would be for one last time, then be it. Their love would burn for eternity.”
Andreth was a wisewoman from the House of Bëor. She was called Saelind by the Elves, for she was wise in thought and learned in the lore of Men. Andreth was deeply in love with the Noldorin Elf-lord Aegnor. During the Siege of Angband Aegnor saw young Andreth in the reflection of Aeluin and they fell in love with each other. However, he could not reciprocate her love since, according to the law of the Eldar, no marriages could happen during times of war. It is said that for her sake, he would not take any Elven bride. Both remained unwed and childless.
Adanel was a Wise-woman who helped preserve the tale of Man’s original sin, when, soon after awakening, some Men chose to worship Melkor instead of Eru. She passed this story along to her niece, Andreth, who became known for her wisdom, as well. Adanel married Belemir and bore Beren, the great-grandfather of Beren Erchamion.
Andreth was the eldest daughter of Boromir, Lord of Ladros. She was raised by her aunt, Adanel, and surpassed her aunt in wisdom. After falling in love with the elven prince, Aegnor, Andreth vowed to never marry as she could not marry the person she truly loved. She was a close friend of Finrod Felagund and often discussed with him the lore of Elves and Men.
Emeldir the Man-hearted was a matriarch of House Bëor who led the women and children of her family to safety during the aftermath of the Dagor Balloch. Due to her bravery, she was given the nickname of “Man-hearted.” She married Barahir and bore the famous Beren Erchamion.
Beldis was a woman of House Bëor. She married Handir, the Lord of the Haladin, and bore a son, Brandir, who was permanently lame. She nurtured her son’s interest in nature instead of combat. She cautioned her son against aligning with Túrin Turambar, but her son fell under the curse of Turín and died by his sword. Her son was the last Chieftain of the Haladin.
Morwen Eledhwen was the Lady of Dor-Lómin and married Húrin of House Hador. She bore three children: Túrin Turambar, Lalaïth, and Nienor. She was described as being elven-like in beauty and possessed a stern, stoic manner. She was separated from her husband and remaining children during an Easterling attack on her land. She lived under elven protection until she was eventually reunited with her husband.
Rían was the cousin of Morwen Eledhwen. She was described as being gentle of heart, a lover of trees and wild flowers, and was known to compose and sing songs. She followed Emeldir to safety during the Dagor Balloch where she wed Huor whose brother, Húrin, married Morwen. When her husband unexpectedly died in battle, Rían gave birth to a son, Tuor, leaving him in elven care before dying of grief.
