Who Is EOL? And Why Is He Known As The "Dark Elf"? | Middle-Earth Lore
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2024
- Today we look at the character of Eöl The Dark Elf from the works of Tolkien and delve into his life and just why he gained his nickname! We look at his origins as one of the Teleri and Sindar, and as the kin of Elu Thingol, through his leaving Beleriand after the raising the Girdle of Malian and making his home in Nan Elmoth. Also, we consider his unique skill as a smith, how he came to marry Aredhel, and their son Maeglin.
There are so many factors that led to Eol being known as the Dark Elf, and these are just some of everything we look at in this video today!
I hope you enjoy it!
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Thumbnail Art:
"Eol The Dark Elf" - (Artist Unknown)
"Maeglin Lomion and the Black Sword" - SaMo-art
Art in order of first appearance:
The Dark Elf - Mahrfra
Thingol and Melian in the Forest of Nan Elmoth - Kip Rasmussen
Beleriand Map - LamaArcana
Eol - TheInnocentDevil
Thingol & Melian - Elfe
Eol - (Artist Unknown)
Eol - korstemplar
Nauglamir Thingol - Kimberly
Beleg is Slain - Ted Nasmith
Eol - jyongyi
Maeglin, Eol and Aredhel - peet
Eol, Lord of Nan Elmoth - Jeicee
Eol Welcomes Aredhel - Ted Nasmith
Aredhel - Sieskja
Unhappy Elven Family Portrait - foxleycrow
Into Darkness-Eols Family - SaMo-art
Eol and the Naugrim - BlueOakRogue
Maeglin - AlystraeaArt
Eol the Dark Elf - grzegoszwu
Curufin's Oath - Venlian
Beleriand Map - Klaradox
Gondolin - SpartanK42
Turgon Aran Gondolin - aautio
Eol The Dark Elf - (Artist Unknown)
Turgon in Helcaraxe - daLomacchi
Maeglin and Eol - YunonaD
The Death of Aredhel - Līga Kļaviņa
Eöl is led to the Walls - Ted Nasmith
Eol - HectorBetancur
Gurthang - Pyrrhic-Illustration
Nan Elmoth - aegeri
Eol, the Dark Elf. - EllirhShaan
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#LordoftheRingsLore #EolTheDarkElf #TheSilmarillion - Zábava
Not sure what happened to the intro music on this one! But the rest of the video appears to be fine 😁 hope you all have an awesome day!
Also, just a heads up I had Tonsillitis when recording this so apologies if anything sounds off :)
I thought I went deaf lol 😂
@@martangousfilble3361 I proper panicked too!
I think it happened in your previous video too.
Did the "Build Me An Army Worthy Of Mordor" get auto-muted by CZcams's overly-keen copyright algorithm?
Oooh, tonsillitis sucks, mate. Hope you get better soon.
"You are of the house of Eol, Maeglin, my son, and not of the Golodhrim. All this land is the land of the Teleri, and I will not deal nor have my son deal with the slayers of our kin, the invaders and usurpers of our homes. In this you shall obey me, or I will set you in bonds." -- Quenta Silmarilion, "Of Maeglin"
I just reread Eol's story a couple days ago and realized that this elf's darkness was responsible in one way or another for the downfall of three elven kingdoms. Most obviously is Gondolin through his son Maeglin who inherited his mood and also by the extremely traumatic experience of seeing his father kill his mother and then publicly executed (after pronouncing a curse that came true of Maeglin). Perhaps if his mother had been around with him in Gondolin he wouldn't have turned out the way that he did. He also could be said to destroy both Nargothrond and Doriath through his sword which his malice seeped into. It betrayed Beleg so that Turin killed him, permanently affecting Turin and leaving him without the sober counsel of Beleg which might have led him to different choices (either to return to Doriath or to not pursue such extreme offensive measures in Nargothrond). Besides being the instrument of killing Beleg, the sword also encouraged Turin to take his own life, which eventually led to Hurin being released, bringing the dwarf necklace to Thingol, and the dwarves killing him. I think Tolkien wanted to show through the widespread destruction that he wrought that the evil in Eol's heart, which was pretty rare for an elf generally speaking (sons of Feanor and Saeros being other notable examples), was a particularly grievous thing.
Interesting take!
I say u make a good point but that it all contributed in the cases u mention but was not the only factor.
@@jimbombadill Very true. But it's crazy how this one seemingly insignificant character is connected to other very important characters and the downfall of such important kingdoms.
Wasn’t Turins sword remade? So it isn’t actually the same sword of Eol
The story is a lot darker than you described. But Eol is one of the most interesting and complex characters in Tolkien's legendarium. Also dark elves are not necessarily to do with skin colour but elves who never saw the light of the Two Trees.
Look, I love Lord of the Rings! Like a lot! And the "flawless" like elves such as Galadrial and Elrond are awesome in their own right. But when I discovered the Silmarilian, I realized that the elves were a lot more complex then just being perfect. Far from it! Many of them were very relatable and made a lot of mistakes. Eol is another prefect example of how in depth Tolkien was with his elven characters. The Silmarillion just added a new look and layer to the world of middle earth.
I couldn't agree more! More complex characters make everything more interesting :D
Elves seems perfect in lotr because of their history, their mistakes, their flaws. They learned from it and since they are immortals, they can remember thoses mistakes, the pain they brought, and avoid committing them again, unlike mens.
Eol had his own ishues, but he was a complex and very interesting character!! And his story is just one of many that deserves its own addaptaion!
James, as always great video, keep up with good work...
Thank you 🙏
@@TheBrokenSword Rangers cannot spell?
Just imagine what the elves could have done if Eol hadn't been so selfish and worked with them, explaining the secrets of galvorn. I also just can't imagine cursing your son to meet a fate like your own out of spite.
One of the darker and more interesting characters in the legendarium, imo. Great video, guys!
I have to admit I find the dark side of Elves really fascinating. Makes you think not all the elves are as pure as we supposedly think. Maeglin and Eol really mirrored each each other both by their deeds and ultimate downfall.
Evil got its hooks into the elves early on. Was any elf more evil than Fëanor, who launched the 1st Kinslaying and got most of the Noldo killed off in a war they had no chance of winning?
I Know and his sons kept the killing up to the point that Morgoth thought the loss of one Silmaril was worth the Carnage that came from it.
I think Maeglin is a contender for the most evil elf due to lusting after his cousin and betraying Gondolin. Also Celegorm and Curufin were just as bad as feanor if not worst because with all his faults at which there is many you can’t call feanor a coward
I have always liked his character. He was complex but I don't think inherently evil. Aredhel was no angel either, she was known for being headstrong and independent. That's how she and Eol met in the first place. She had managed to get her escort killed in the spider mountains because she wouldn't listen to Turgon and wait. Maeglin/Lomion is another matter, I think both negatives of his parents were magnified in him.
Very true!
Honestly, “head strong and independent” compared to “a manipulative attempted murderer” seems not all that bad. Yeah she wasn’t perfect, but Eol was a horrible person. He wasn’t PURE evil like Morgoth or Sauron. But he was manipulative, abusive, and actually willing to murder his own son.
Maeglin inherited Eol's temperament to a degree, but I think I will give him a partial pass as he was not out-and-out evil for most of his time in Gondolin and certainly not before he got there. At most, he could be accused of being ambitious and prideful. His great evil act in betraying Gondolin's secrecy has to be seen in the context of him being captured and brought before the throne of Morgoth himself and being intimidated by the God of Evil. I think many would have similarly broken under such pressure.
Eol on the other hand was borderline evil from the beginning; his enchantment that led to Aradhel's coming to him was quite sinister as was his controlling behaviour towards his wife and then son. Finally, he was willing to kill his son rather than let him free, and seemed none too distressed that he had accidentally killed the woman he loved instead and finally cursed his son to meet the same doom he did.
Finally, he was wrong about the Noldor. Yes, they caused disruption in Beleriand by returning out of the West, but to say that they were somehow responsible for Morgoth's actions is ridiculous. Morgoth was capturing, torturing and turning Elves into Orcs before the Noldor (and Vanyar and part of the Teleri) even left Middle Earth in the first place for Aman.
@@sweeperboy You make good points and I agree with you that Eol was no Saint. I just think that Maeglin got the worst parts of both of his parents personalities. His mother's willfulness and his father's malice. Maeglin kidnapped the very young Earendil, (during the Sack of Gondolin) at sword point and used him to lure his mother, Idril to the place where Tuor finally killed him. That's pretty messed up and Morgoth didn't make him do that. I doubt he would have been killed if he hadn't kidnapped and tried to kill Tuor's entire family.
I agree with his disclosing the location of Gondolin was probably under torture and that can be excused, however, he was only captured by Morgoth because he was disobeying Turgon's direct order and mining in an area he wasn't allowed to be in. Also, if you read about his cohorts in the House of Mole, then you see that the elves he hung out with were not totally benevolent.
@@gustavswart4649 I don't disagree with you, Eol wasn't a good person.
As I have noted before I am a Tolkienesque novelist. In some of my works I include "Dark Elves". My Dark Elves were banished to the regions under ground with their Orc and Goblin allies after a great war. They have blue tinged skin (lack of sunlight exposure and a fungus heavy diet), dulled silver hair, and purple eyes.
He listened to a lot of Black Sabbath, Metallica, some AC/DC.
The rest of the Valor were into Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and of course, Lawrence Welk.
Manwe even said to Eol which is Elf for = Emo, "Turn that headbanging bullsh*t down son. What has happened to you my son? You're so dark?"
Or maybe I confusing this with my own youth, I'm so old I can remember Ungolient doing the Charleston and thinking, "Baby got back..."
What-if video idea for you to do:
What if Gandalf never fell at the Bridge of Khazad-dum and continued with the fellowship to Lothlorien and on forward?
Great video awesome editting btw. Love this channel
Thanks so much!
Love your videos! Was wondering what piece of music is playing during the majority of the video?
Awesome video I forgot about the dark Elf
Eol is probably one of my favorite Tolkien elves, behind Feanor, because he is flawed. In their own ways, they are both evil, and while that isn't a trait to appreciate, it still makes them different from so many other "perfect" elves. It's a shame the things they did, but it was nice to see that even these people had some bad in them, and since elves are predominantly unchanging, they weren't just perfect people worn down by time, but always had that seed of darkness in them. It is also nice that it can't just be blamed on Morgoth; surely his tainting of Arda might have contributed to it, but it wasn't widespread among the elves, yet neither were they direct victims of Morgoth in their own lives; they simply were bad, and proved that quality could exist in elfkind, even if it only rarely rose up.
I really like the idea of albae. So the complete opposite of elves. Dark hair, black eyes, evil, brutal, death becomes art.... (Check out the series Die Zwerge (The dwarfs) and the bad side of the story Die Albae. I think they got translated to English)
Though dark elves as described here is also quite interesting. I would have liked to see more of them in LOTR. Well I guess technically Orks are corrupted elves right?
what about the drows of D&d?
You see plenty of dark elves, especially in the Hobbit. Legolas is a dark elf.
cool video James enjoyed it
excellent work as always Mellon! Dark souls sow dark seeds...NOTHING and I mean NOTHING good came from the dark elf
Thank you!
He was always my favorite character in Tolkien's work. His skill in crafting and friendship with the Dwarves is cool, but his relations with his kin is what makes him unique.
because he had bad relation with them?
Anglachel formed by Eöl has a will as we know from the story of Túrin. In Tolkien mythology the concept of will is associated with the spiritual structures of divine beings created from secret fire and the spirits of the Children of Ilúvatar. According to this could the will of Anglachel who would later be named Gurthang have a connection with a spiritual will originating from secret fire? Could it be a product of the Eöl's incarnation (if it is able to do so)? Because when Melian looked at this sword he stated that the blacksmith's heart beat in this sword. I'm wondering about this.
I definitely think it’s possible! And I must say, these kind of questions are things I love about Tolkiens works! The way it makes you think! 🔥
I think Anglachel may be another case of a subcreator pouring a portion of their own essence into their masterwork, like Sauron with the One Ring, Yavanna with the Two Trees, Feanor with the three Silmarils. That may explain some of the sword's malevolence, being that a portion of Eol is in that sword, but that's just my speculation.
@@ipot399 It is not possible for Eöl and Fëanor to sub-create by incarnating their spiritual powers into their artifacts like an Ainu. There must be a different reason behind the one who gives his works this quality. The fact that Anglachel and Silmarils each have a will seems to come not from the craftsmanship of their creators, but from the essence of the material they crafted. It is as if their craftsmanship is only related to the concrete material structure of the work.
Did the video glitch or did you have to take out the audio clip from the movie in the intro?
The legendarium is full of elves who suffer from incredible pride or ignorance or prejudice. Eol was not unique. How was he any worse than the advisor of Thingol who tried to waylay Turin and led to his expatriation from doriath? Or several of the sons of Feanor?
Maybe not worse! But still worthy of his title I would say!
Was it just me or did the audio for the intro just cut out?
Same for me
Hmm don’t know what’s happened there 🤔
Would you be doing a video on Prince imrahill of dol amroth and it's people's
As far as Dark Elves go, one can only judge them by their own actions but Eol sounds like a bit of a jerk.
In Middle Earth, all darkness corrupts. However, in the Forgotten Realms, it's not so black and white. Drizzt is the best example of a good dark elf.
Dark Elves aren't evil by nature in Middle Earth- It just means they never saw the Two Trees.
Eöl was just a special kind of dick.
Did you guys get copyrighted again for the "Build me an Army worthy of Mordor". The last three videos you've uploaded the sound cuts out at that part. Im not gonna lie, aside from SWTs intro, yours is my favorite.
I personally think it would have been better that Maeglin had died since Maeglin‘s fierce love for his cousin Idril is what helped him betray his uncle Gondolin.
I personally like the idea of morally grey elves better than all elves being pure and good. It actually shapes character more as well as make them more personable and relatable. If they were all pure and good, would they really be individuals? It would them them feel as if they were shaped by cookie cutters if they were all pure.
Heck yea!
Umm… What happened to “Build me an army worthy of Mordor”?? It sounded dumb saying it by myself.
I think it's unfortunate Tolkien didn't write more about Eol. While Eol didn't commit crimes at the scale that Feanor did, his were more intimate and a betrayal of his immediate family. The worst Feanor did was point a sword at Fingolfin. Eol manipulated, controlled, and abused his wife and son, and ultimately murdered his wife while aiming to kill their son. We didn't get to learn more about why Eol was the way he was, with Feanor, we know his upbringing, and why he disliked and distrusted the Valar and blamed them for many wrongs. Eol by comparison, is just an insane jerk with no more reason why he's so hateful beyond that he illogically blames the Noldor for all of Beleriand's problems.
All Souls are entitled to free will even if their will is to make horrible and repressive choices like Eol who was clearly abusive to those he loved so by my estimation he had no true understanding of what love meant
What is the music used in this from about two minutes onwards?
I will check the name of the track when I can tomorrow and reply again 😁
@@TheBrokenSword Thanks.
I remember asking for this topic. Hannon le.
I hope the video is everything you hoped for 😁
@@TheBrokenSword It is😆
Personally, I like the idea of Elves being a morally pure race, a kind of glimps at perfect humanity.
Indeed, all hail the Aldmeri Dominion... wait, wrong universe 😳
But yeah, Elves being a magical, more peaceful but just as powerful civilization of people is always amazing to think of
I assume the Sauron intro fell victim to a copyright claim?
Not sure what happened! Some dark magic at work I think 😂
Imagine just how much death, destruction, and sorrow could have been avoided if only Aredhel had been a little farther away from her son or had moved just a bit slower.
Or it could have unleash something more terrible, you never know how thoses things can turn out.
@@efaristi9737 I don't know. I'd be pretty comfortable playing those odds. I mean, it couldn't get much worse. The entire city and damn near everyone in it were destroyed or enslaved. Only a relatively small group of survivors made it out alive, and not all of them stayed alive long enough to find another home. Furthermore, had Morgoth not had Maeglin to give him all of Gondolin's specific defenses he wouldn't have been able to build the exact right army to destroy the city even if he did eventually figure out where it was hidden, and more would've made it out of the city alive if Maeglin hadn't been there to convince King Turgon to stay and fight rather than evacuate once they knew Morgoth's army was coming.
I don't think that all the elves are presented as good and pure in the First Age. Feanor and his sons, though clearly opposed to the greater evil of Morgoth, are shown to be capable of egoism, violence and ruthless cunning, too. Remember that Feanor himself was proud, jealous and irascible and threatened to kill his own (half)brother before rousing the Noldor to abandon Valinor and the Valar, conducting the first kinslaying and binding his sons to his miserable fate as well, what lead to them attacking Beren and Luthien and finally making themselves guilty of the second and third kinslaying. He is also responsible for the great losses and suffering that many of the Noldor had to endure, while crossing the Helcaraxe, willfully accepting their demise by burning the ships of the Teleri, knowing they couldn't go back after the bloodshed and probably hoping for Fingolfin to die this way.
One could argue that he was deceived by Morgoth into all of this, but if he were a good character, he would have shown any sign of regret, which he never did.
Personally I think the concept of ( Dark Elves ) is acceptable in as much as it wouldn't necessarily mean ( Dark Elves ) are evil. I think there is something to be said about Folk who wish to delight in the beauty of the night. Well that's my 2 bobs worth done. Thank you for the video. 👍
well, in Tolkien work, All elves love the night more than the day, even the high ones, because that's when you can see stars and all elves have a deep, undying love for them and that's why Varda/Elbereth is their favored Vala.
Dark Elves aren't called dark because they prefer the night, they are called dark elves because they didn't go to Aman, didn't see the Trees of Light and didn't learned from the Valar. That's why high elves are called Light Elves or Calaquendi. Dark here mean... well, still in the dark lol in a manner of speaking XD
@@efaristi9737 Thanks for the info 👍
@@countfrankfritter it's nothing^^
One of my favorite characters. There is no way that Adar in the horrible TV series wasn't based on him.
I think that Elf are just like people only they live longer
What was the greatest of the three elven kingdoms?
Dh is pronounced as the TH in clothes or then, not as in thing.
Anyone think that he is Adar from ROP?
New mic? Narration sounds crisper.
Might be my Tonsillitis causing me to be extra cautious when recording 😂
I just though that when Doctor Strange did the dream walking, he accidentally combined middle earth and morrowind
let's talk about how sauron only lost to plot.. what Evil lord dies cuz he loses a finger.. smh
In the books, by the time Isildur cuts the ring off, Sauron is either already dead (in body) or busy bleeding to death, The movies robbed us of an epic 2 on 1 duel.
I love dark elves. Drizzt is my boy.
Is there anything Tolkien didn't invent in modern fantasy?
Edit: I just got to the part where he has a sentient sword. We apparently owe Elric to Tolkien along with everything else.
Actually, many things. Lord Dunsany in other hand, a lot.
EOL running his own cult at home
I thought Eol was one of the Avari? That is how he is described in the german translation.
It makes sense Elves were also morally different since even the gods were themselves were also. How else to explain Morgoth and Sauron, the Balrogs etc.
There is light and dark in all of us. How grate is the light and how grate is the dark?
I think if any race is all good or all evil it becomes boring and unrealistic.
Eol story was actually very sad in the end. He could have been the start of a whole new branch of elves, but instead he became little more than an abberation.
He is adar
Quite a hypocrite, wasn't he? He despised the Noldors but he certainly didn't despised their wives. He was really a evil character.
And about Noldors rights to seize realms and such, didn't Thingol allowed the Noldors to do so?
Eol had dark skin? i thought it wasn't specified.
There has always been morally grey elves and some pretty dark, many of them being high elves, the most "pure" of them. It's a good thing, there's not much to say or see about beings that have no flaws or are always virtuous.
It is indeed not specified that Eöl had dark skin, not sure where The Broken Sword got that from.
also, having the only Elf that possibly raped / is evil be black seems racist xd
@@mr.elveaner9723 according to Tolkien, if Eol had raped Aredhel, she would be dead.
I agree with the existence of "dark elves". Although by deed, not Netflix style.
Having one dimensional elves feels a bit stale. Clearly elves are capable of questionable deeds. *Stares at Faenor*
While perhaps there are no outright evil elves, there are certainly elves in the lore who had their own selfish ambitions that might have been thought of as morally grey at the least.
If Morgoth “created” orcs from corrupted elves then they can be both pure and otherwise
Why should a "Dark Heart" be the soul preserve of Men?
Video 122
First, wow! 😊
Woo!!
3 kin slayings.. all by Feanor and his sons.. nothing good about that
Nah, he was called the Dark Elf, because he was of afro-american appearance, obviously. Stop being racist. (end of sarcasm)
Get rid of the awful background music.
Seriously, dark elf was a bit too much for this guy. He wasn't so bad after all