A Maia of both Vana and Este, Melian left Valinor and came to Middle-earth, where she fell in love with the Elf-king Elu Thingol in the forests of Beleriand. She became his queen in the hidden kingdom of Doriath, and her power wove the Girdle of Melian around their realm, an enchantment that no evil could penetrate without her will. She is the mother of Luthien Tinuviel, the most beautiful of the Children of Iluvatar. Through Luthien's line, her Maian blood passed to Elrond, Arwen, and Aragorn. After Thingol was murdered by Dwarves, Melian's grief was so great that her power departed from the Girdle, and Doriath lay open to its enemies. She returned to Valinor and never came back to Middle-earth.