Although they were never completed in his lifetime, JRR Tolkien wrote what he considered his three "Great Tales" of the Elder Days and intended them to be a significant part of his wider Silmarillion. Some parts of these Tales can be found within the published version of The Silmarillion, but the more recently available individual books provide additional and extensive details for each story. In this capsule, we will look at some of the reasons why The Tale of Beren and Lúthien is so central to Tolkien's legendarium.