Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, the White Lady of the Noldor, was the daughter of Fingolfin and the sister of Fingon and Turgon. She was tall and strong and loved to ride in the woods, and in Valinor she was often in the company of the sons of Fëanor.1
She went with her brother Turgon to the hidden city of Gondolin, but after many years she grew weary of it and begged leave to go out and see her kin. Turgon let her go unwillingly. Refused passage through Doriath, she and her escort went by the northern way, and in the haunted land of Nan Dungortheb she was parted from them. She came alone to the lands of Celegorm and Curufin, and in time, wandering from there, she strayed into the forest of Nan Elmoth, where Eöl the Dark Elf found her and took her as his wife. Their son was Maeglin.1
Eöl forbade them any dealings with the Noldor, and when Maeglin was grown, mother and son fled to Gondolin while Eöl was away. He followed them, and was led before the king. Turgon welcomed him as a kinsman but would not let him leave, for no one who found the hidden city might go out from it again.1
Eöl chose death for himself and his son rather than stay. He cast a poisoned javelin at Maeglin, and Aredhel sprang before it. She was hurt only slightly, but the dart was poisoned, and she died in the night. Turgon had Eöl cast from the precipice of Caragdûr for it.1
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and Tolkien's late writings on the Elder Days, assembled by Christopher Tolkien from his father's papers.
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 16, “Of Maeglin”