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Originally Posted by Lalwendė
Anyway, reading this old thread it seemed to dismiss the idea that Thuringwethil was a vampire of the form that could transform from bat to human (as in the Dracula story). However, my opinion is why wouldn't Tolkien draw from that source? He was known to be an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi and I'm sure that Dracula can't have escaped his attention. As anyone else knows, tales of vampires are incredibly attractive and that image of the vampire is one etched on our minds ever since Bram Stoker wrote his novel.
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The 'skin' of Thuringwethil is clearly a bat-like shape, and it must also have fit human/elf form if Luthien was able to wear it and be so well disguised. I don't see much here to detract from the 20th century image of the vampire - a human form with bat wings.
Thuringwethil also means 'Woman of Secret Shadow'. A reference to vampires, in modern myth, not having shadows?
I think Tolkien was like a lot of us and was inspired by that image of the scary vampire. And there's plenty of info here to inspire a cool costume too.
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It seems that Thuringwethil was an incarnated Maia, i.e. she was completely bound to her form/hroa and no longer able to leave or change it. After her "death" Luthien then simply skinned her body like a hunter would do with a big animal. Luthien then wore the fur and the head of Thuringwethil like a fur-coat. If we take a bit of acting, absence of harsh daylight and Luthiens "magic" into account, then its altogether plausible that she was able to fool the Orc-Guards or some Boldog-Captain at Angbands Gates that she was Thuringwethil. Yes, its still a bit of a stretch, but its a mythic tale after all.