Characters in Beren and Lúthien

Beren

The mortal man whose love for Luthien drives an impossible quest into the fortress of the Dark Lord -- Tolkien identified Beren with himself and the story as the heart of his entire mythology.

Luthien

The immortal Elvish maiden who defies her father and the powers of the world for love of Beren -- the greatest of all Elves, whose courage and power exceed his at the story's climax.

Morgoth

The supreme Dark Lord in whose iron crown the Silmaril rests; the story's final and seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

Also in The Children of Húrin, The Fall of Gondolin

Sauron

In his fortress of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Sauron captures Beren and Finrod -- the episode in which Luthien overcomes him is her most dramatic act of power.

Also in The Fall of Númenor

Thingol

Luthien's father, the Elven-king of Doriath, who sets the seemingly impossible task of retrieving a Silmaril from Morgoth as the price of his daughter's hand.

Huan

The great hound of the Valar who aids Beren and Luthien throughout their quest -- faithful, almost uncannily wise, and fated to meet his death from the greatest wolf that ever lived.