Beleth (Bereth)

The date of Beleth's birth (and indeed almost all information we have about her) comes from a genealogical chart reproduced in volume XI of The History of Middle-earth.

We have no real detail about Beleth's homeland, but as a member of the House of Bëor (and a direct relative of the lords of Dorthonion) she very likely dwelt in Ladros, the eastern part of Dorthonion under the lordship of Bëor's house. If Beleth married outside her house, she would presumably have moved away from the region, but no details of her marriage are recorded. If she did remain, she would have seen the invasion of Dorthonion in the Dagor Bragollach (in the year I 455, when she would have been just thirty-eight years old). If she survived, she would have been among the women and children led away from the fighting by Emeldir, and so she would have lived her remaining years in the Forest of Brethil with the other survivors.

Beleth's name is not explained, but in structure it seems intended to mirror that of others of her family. Her brother Belegund had a name incorporating beleg, meaning 'great' or 'strong', and Beleth may incorporate the same ultimate root, with the feminine ending -eth. In sum, the name may therefore mean something like 'strong woman', though this is somewhat speculative.

The character is mentioned briefly in Christopher's Tolkien's notes to Aldarion and Erendis in Unfinished Tales, where her name is spelt 'Bereth'. In volume XI of The History of Middle-earth, however, her name appears as 'Beleth', and Christopher Tolkien comments there that in his earlier notes he gave the name '...wrongly as "Bereth"'. It seems clear, therefore, that the correct spelling of this character's name is Beleth rather than Bereth.