Arwen

Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in his novel, The Lord of the Rings, usually published in three volumes. Arwen is one of the Half-elven who lived during the Third Age.

Literature

Arwen was the youngest child of Elrond and Celebrian; her elder brothers were the twins Elladan and Elrohir.

As told in "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", found in Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings (after the third volume, The Return of the King), during Aragorn's twentieth year he met Arwen for the first time in Rivendell, where he lived under Elrond's protection. Arwen, then over 2700 years old, had recently returned to her father's home after living for a while with her grandmother Lady Galadriel in Lórien. Aragorn fell in love with Arwen at first sight. About thirty years later, the two were reunited in Lórien; at that time, Arwen reciprocated Aragorn's love; then they "plighted their troth" (promised themselves to each other) on the mound of Cerin Amroth.

Arwen's first proper appearance in The Lord of the Rings was in Rivendell, shortly after Frodo awakened in the House of Elrond. She is seated next to her father Elrond at the celebratory feast. Arwen also appears at the caves in the mountain pass, when the Hobbits arrived there, and Aragorn was seen with her — the first hint of their relationship. Later, when the Fellowship of the Ring came to Lothlórien, Aragorn remembered their earlier meeting and paused in reverence on Cerin Amroth.

Arwen entered the story again when, before taking the Paths of the Dead, Aragorn was met by a group consisting of Dúnedain (his people, from the North), and Arwen's brothers, Elladan and Elrohir. They brought to him a banner of black cloth: a gift made by Arwen, and a sign that encouraged him to take the difficult path. When the banner was unfurled at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields to reveal the emblem of Elendil in mithril, gems, and gold, it was the first triumphant announcement of the King's return.

Finally, Arwen arrived at Minas Tirith after Aragorn had become king of Gondor and Arnor, and they were married.

The four passages described above are Arwen's only appearances in the story as it stands, not counting The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen. Judging only by visibility, Arwen is mostly a minor character in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings proper, but she nevertheless appears in detail in its Appendices. Also, she plays a role in the plot which is disproportionate to the number of scenes in which she appears. Arwen served as inspiration and motivation for Aragorn, who, as Elrond had stipulated, had to become no less than King of Gondor and Arnor before he could wed her.

The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen relates that Arwen had a son, Eldarion, and at least two unnamed daughters by Aragorn. She gave up her life in 121 of the Fourth Age, at Cerin Amroth, one year after the death of Aragorn. At the time, she was 2,901 years old.

Background

Through her father Elrond, Arwen was the granddaughter of Eärendil the Mariner (the second of the Half-elven), great-granddaughter of Tuor of Gondolin, and therefore a direct descendant of the ancient House of Hador. Arwen was also a descendant of King Turgon of the Noldor through her great-grandmother, Idril. Through her mother, she was the granddaughter of Lady Galadriel and the great-granddaughter of Finarfin. Éomer of Rohan said that the Lady Arwen was more fair than the Lady Galadriel of Lórien, but Gimli son of Glóin thought differently. Through both of her parents Arwen was a direct descendant of the ancient Elven House of Finwë. Furthermore, Arwen was a descendant of Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, whose story resembled hers. Indeed, Arwen was held to be the reappearance in likeness of her ancestress Lúthien, fairest of all the Elves, who was called Nightingale (Tinúviel).

Arwen was a very distant relative of her husband Aragorn. Aragorn's ancestor, Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first King of Númenor, was her father Elrond's brother, who chose to live as a Man rather than one of the Eldar. Arwen eventually became Queen of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor when she married Aragorn, who was of the line of the Kings of Arnor. By Arwen and Aragorn's marriage, the long-sundered lines of the Half-elven were joined. Their union also served to unite and preserve the bloodlines of the Three Kings of the High Elves (Ingwë, Finwë, and the brothers Olwë and Elwë) as well as the only line with Maiarin blood through Arwen's great-great-great grandmother, Melian, Queen of Doriath, and also on Aragorn's side, through the line of kings of Arnor and Númenor to Elros, Elrond's brother, whose great-great-grandmother was also Melian.

Names and titles

In Sindarin Arwen's name signifies noble woman (S. 'ar'=noble, 'wen'=maiden). Her second name or epessë, Undómiel meaning Evenstar (Evening star) (Q. 'undómë'=dusk, 'él'=star) Therefore she is also called Arwen Evenstar. She is also known as the Lady of Imladris and the Lady of Lórien, after the two places she lives, with her father and mother's relatives, respectively.

Concept and creation

As related in The History of Middle-earth, Tolkien conceived the character of "Elrond's daughter" late in the writing.^[1][2] Prior to this, he considered having Aragorn marry Éowyn.^[3]

Adaptations

Arwen as played by Liv Tyler in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Arwen does not appear in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, nor in the 1980 Rankin-Bass adaptation of The Return of the King.

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Arwen is played by Liv Tyler, and the film invents many scenes featuring her, some apparently inspired by the Tale.

In the first film, Arwen searches for Aragorn and single-handedly rescues Frodo Baggins from the Black Riders at Bruinen, thwarting them with a sudden flood, summoned by an incantation. In the book, Glorfindel had been sent by Elrond to look for the Hobbits and finds them with Aragorn. Glorfindel put Frodo on his own horse and sent him alone across the river to flee the Black Riders, for Elrond had pre-arranged for the river to flood when the Nazgûl entered the water. In the movie Arwen bears Frodo on her own horse across the river and draws the Nazgûl onward, saying "If you want him come and claim him." During this flight Arwen wields the sword Hadhafang, which according to film merchandise was once wielded by her father. This sword actually belonged to Idril Celebrindal, Arwen's great-grandmother.

In the film of The Two Towers, the injured Aragorn is revived by a dream of Arwen, who kisses him and asks the Valar to protect him.

Throughout the War of the Ring, Elrond begs her to accompany her kin to the Undying Lands because he does not wish to see another of his family die. Elrond shows her a vision of her long depressing life after Aragorn's death, and tells her that only death awaits her in Middle-earth. Arwen reluctantly departs for Valinor. However, on the road to the Grey Havens she has a vision of her future son, Eldarion, which belies her father's one-sided prophesy. She returns to Rivendell, and for her love of Aragorn refuses thereafter to leave Middle-earth.

In the film of The Return of the King, Arwen convinces her father to reforge the sword Narsil for Aragorn so that he can reclaim the throne of the King. Elrond initially refuses, but when Arwen begins to fall ill through her loss of immortality, he reluctantly agrees. Elrond takes Narsil, reforged as Andúril, to Aragorn at Dunharrow, and tells him that her fate has become bound to the One Ring, and that she is dying. How this came to be is left unexplained. In the extended version of The Return of the King, Sauron (through a palantir) shows Aragorn a dying Arwen in order to dissuade him from battle. The movies portray her as becoming human through her love for Aragorn; as in the book, Arwen follows the choice of her ancestor Lúthien to become a mortal woman for the love of a mortal man.

The movies invent a jewelled pendant called the Evenstar which Arwen gives to Aragorn as a reminder of their love. The pendant also appears in The Battle for Middle-earth real-time strategy games by Electronic Arts. It gives powers to the forces of good, as the One Ring gives powers to the forces of evil. In the novel, Arwen gives a similar necklace to Frodo before he leaves Minas Tirith.

In earlier copies of the script (when the movies were supposed to be filmed in two parts under another production company), Arwen fought in the Battle of Helm's Deep and brought the sword Andúril to Aragorn. However, both Liv Tyler and the writers felt that the character's involvement in Helm's Deep was inappropriate.^[4]

In the musical theatre adaptation of Lord of the Rings, Arwen sings the Prologue, as well as three musical numbers: The Song of Hope, Star of Earendil (with the Elven chorus) and The Song of Hope Duet (with Aragorn).

In the Mythopoeic Society's Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (Mythopoeic Press, 2005), Cathy Akers-Jordan,^[5] Jane Chance,^[6] Victoria Gaydosik,^[7] and Maureen Thum^[8] all contend that the portrayal of Arwen and other women in the Jackson films is overall thematically faithful to (or compatible with) Tolkien's writings despite the differences.

References

External links

• Arwen at the Internet Movie Database
• Arwen Evenstar at the Tolkien Gateway
• Arwen at The Thain's Book