The Children of Húrin

Niënor continues to run through the forest, tearing off her clothes along the way, until she falls exhausted in the evening. Her encounter with Glaurung has obscured her memories, and she can only recall her dread, which makes her wary of disturbances across the wood. In Brethil, she encounters a group of woodmen led by Turambar. Turambar is alarmed, thinking he sees a ghost near the grave of Finduilas. They quickly discern that it is a living woman, however, and cover her against the cold.

Niënor seems to recognize something in Turambar. Without her memory, she is unable to tell them her name. Turambar calls her Níniel, or Maid of Tears, in the meantime, and she is brought to Brandir’s stockade, falling sick during the journey. Brandir uses his healing arts to aid Níniel, but it is only Turambar who calms her as she rests. After she relearns how to speak from the women of Brethil, she asks Turambar about his past. He tells her that Níniel’s presence dispelled the darkness from his life, adding, “[W]hat I long sought in vain has come to me” (218).

The year goes by peacefully as the Orcs turn their attention away from Teiglin to Doriath.