Arwen

Arwen (translated from Sindarin as "noble maiden"), also called Undómiel ("evening star"), is a fictional character that is part of the legendarium created by the British writer J. R. R. Tolkien and that appears in his novel The Lord of the Rings. She is a peredhil or half-elf, daughter of Elrond and Celebrían, sister of Elladan and Elrohir, and great-great-granddaughter of Lúthien Tinúviel, with whom she shares much of her physical traits and a similar fate.

History

Arwen was born in the year 241 T.E. in Rivendell, her father is Elrond and her mother Celebrían. Like her father and her brothers, she had to choose between the fate of the Eldar or the fate of the Edain. She lived most of her life in Rivendell and Lothlórien.

Arwen met Aragorn in Rivendell, where he was living under Elrond's protection. Arwen, who was over 2,700 years old, had recently returned to her father's home after living for a time with her grandmother Galadriel in Lórien. Aragorn fell in love with her at first sight, and at first mistook her for Lúthien, thinking she had fallen in a dream.

Reunion with Aragorn, link and offspring after the War of the Ring

Roughly thirty years later, the two met in Lórien by chance, and there Arwen reciprocated Aragorn's love and betrothed each other on the mound of Cerin Amroth, deciding then to choose to become mortal and remain on Earth. Mediate with Aragorn, and renounce the possibility of living forever in the Blessed Kingdom, thereby sealing his fate despite the fact that his relatives lived there, whom he loved so much. However, after learning of his choice already back in Rivendell, her father would warn Aragorn that his daughter would not "detract from the grace of her life for a lesser cause", and that she would not make her decision effective by becoming his wife until she was King of Gondor and Arnor at the same time, making sure that In this way, the painful loss and separation of his daughter would at least serve to restore the kingdom of Men, also giving Aragorn, with the hope of that happiness, encouragement to face the difficult moments that were to come. Despite everything, he already sensed that Arwen might find the "Fate of Men" harsh in the end.

Despite all the odds, Arwen never broke her promise to Aragorn, even when she set out to the War of the Ring, during which she secretly wove a banner for him, which would become his emblem after he was crowned king. Before taking the Paths of the Dead, Aragorn met the Gray Company, who brought him wrapped in a tight black cloth tied with many straps, telling him that it was a gift from Arwen, so he became one more sign that encouraged him to take the hard path. He later displayed it at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields as the first announcement of the King's return, revealing the emblem of the house of Elendil that the peredhil had embroidered on it: a Tree White surrounded by Seven Stars made with gems and crowned by a crown forged in gold and mithril.

After the war was over, Arwen came to Minas Tirith, after Aragorn had become King of Gondor and Arnor, and they were married on a summer's day in the year 3019 T.E., thus making her queen of the United Kingdom. After getting married, she gave Frodo Baggins a gift, giving him her place so that he could embark for Valinor, consummating and making effective then her renouncement of immortality, just as she promised one day; hence his union with Aragorn is considered the third and last Union of Elves and Men, since he made "Lúthien's choice" when he married and not before marrying, as his uncle Elros did in the past, at the end of the War of Wrath, before leaving for Númenor, severing his elven bloodline before joining his wife, despite always remaining a half-elf (just like Arwen), for his choice does not change the nature of the being, but the fate of his fëa, the consideration of his unions and the condition of his descendants (for its part, the union of Imrazôr and Mithrellas must be considered a legend).

One of the saddest pains of that time was having to say goodbye to his father when he, finally tired, decided to leave Middle-earth and reunite with his wife, because not only would an insurmountable distance separate them beyond the sea (the Undying Lands were withdrawn at the end of the Second Age beyond the reach of mortals, who would only circumnavigate the round world if they sought them - except if they were expressly granted that special grace and found "the Straight Path", as they did. with the Ring-bearers and, exceptionally, with Gimli, through the intercession of Galadriel-, being transported "to the realm of hidden things"), but also a different destination beyond the end of the world.

Later, Arwen would give birth to Aragorn's first son, Eldarion, considered a man, since his mother's choice "cut" the elven bloodline, and since his father was also mortal, his descendants are no longer considered half-elves, although they are related to the Eldar (exactly the same as happened with the lineage of the first king of Númenor, Elros, Arwen's uncle), and in them all the lineages mentioned below are aroused. She had several sisters, who were born sometime during the Fourth Age, and whose fate is unknown.

Arwen's great-great-grandmother, Lúthien, though she also opted for mortality so that she could return to Middle-earth with her beloved Beren and suffer a "second death" with him and forever share the same fate together until beyond the end. of the world, however she did pass on her nature to her son without cutting her elven bloodline, as she did not choose under the same circumstances or conditions as her later granddaughter Elwing, her mate and their descendants, nor was she, like them., a peredhil with any trace of mortal blood (as half-elves do by the union of an elf and a mortal human, like Eärendil, or a half-elf who chooses immortality and an elf, like the case of Arwen, or of two half-elves who choose immortality, such as Elros and Elrond), but the daughter of an elf and a Maia who was, like that of Tuor (Arwen's great-grandfather), an exceptional case in which Eru Ilúvatar intervened directly, being the only one among the First Born who saw her destiny changed by that of men, as he was the only one among the Second Born to embrace immortality while sailing to Aman with his wife (because his son was the first mortal to set foot on his shores) and to be numbered among the elves, without being one of them. Thus Dior, also great-grandfather of Arwen and son of Lúthien, was the first half-elf, though with a mortal fate of no choice, for he was earlier to the couple formed by Eärendil and Elwing, their daughter, who was also a half-elf, because her father married Nimloth, an elf from Doriath, a relative of Celeborn, Galadriel's husband; although it is a matter that Tolkien does not specify, since it is an unlikely option since Dior is Thingol's heir and has the right to the throne of Doriath, it can be inferred that if he had married a mortal, Elwing would probably not have been such, since if peredhil who were later given choice over the fate of their fëa and who chose mortality, bonding with a mortal, were born men (like Eldarion), the same would be expected of those half-elves bound to a mortal that before them they did not even have the possibility to choose, and were mortal by default according to the decrees of Mandos, unless they were granted a special grace. In either case Elwing, naturally, receives through her father the bloodline that ties her to her great-grandmother Melian, so it was only through her and her children that a trace of divine spirits reached men. who were before Arda". And it was precisely to her and her partner Eärendil who, due to their actions, were granted the special grace of election, with their particular conditions, as well as to their descendants, to those who that Arwen belongs, that she continues to transmit that blood heritage, having to choose which of the lineages to unite her destiny and under which lineage to be judged.

Death of Arwen

In the year 120 of the Fourth Age, Aragorn, seeing his end near, decided to restore the gift embraced by the first ancient Númenórean Kings, for in addition to long life and much more subtle aging (such as must be attributed to him, to Arwen and her uncle Elros after they chose mortality), for whom they retain their vigor and beauty until a very old age, they were also granted the grace to be able to give their souls "in Estel" (hope) and embrace death, the gift of Ilúvatar bestowed on men, voluntarily before decaying prior to its inevitable and intuited last hour, as did the firstborn before being corrupted by Melkor; at that moment, Just as her father feared, Arwen was overwhelmed with the pain of loss, and he urged her to repent and return to the West to cherish forever the memory of the days they had lived together, but she then reminds him that in her If that choice no longer exists for a long time, since it is irrevocable, and that there are no more ships that can take her there, because she is mortal (that same year, however, Legolas, in his own right, built a ship and he was able to leave for Valinor finding the Straight Path and taking with him Gimli, who, as said, despite being mortal, was exceptionally granted that possibility thanks to the intercession of Galadriel).

So, after Aragorn's death, Arwen said goodbye to everyone and left the city of Minas Tirith to go to Cerin Amroth, in Lothlórien, which at that time was deserted, since its inhabitants had also already left for Aragorn. Valinor. The following year Arwen, grief-stricken and probably also able to choose the moment to surrender as hers her uncle Elros hers and the primitive line of those of Númenor, lay down to rest and died at the age of 2901.. In Tolkien's words:

"And there at last, when the leaves of mallorn fell but had not yet come spring, he lay down to rest on the top of Cerin Amroth; there shall be the green tomb, until the world changes, and the days of Arwen's life have been wiped away forever from the memory of the men who will come then, and the elanor and the niphredil shall not flourish further east of the Sea."

Appendices of The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien

Description

Arwen was described as the most beautiful of the last generation of High Elves in Middle-earth, and was even said to bear a remarkable resemblance to her ancestor, Lúthien Tinúviel. Tolkien described it as follows:

"At the center of the table, supported by the tapestries that were hanging from the wall, there was a chair under a canopy and there was a beautiful lady so similar to Elrond, under female form, that she could not be," Frodo thought, "None a next relative." He was young and at the same time was not, for though the scarch had not touched the dark hair braids and the white arms and the light face were stubborn and without defect and the light of the stars would shine in his eyes, gray as a night without clouds, there was in it true majesty, and the gaze revealed knowledge and wisdom, as if he had seen all the things that the years brought. ".

«Many encounters», The Lord of the Rings, The Ring Community, J. R. R. Tolkien.

Etymology

The name Arwen means "noble maiden", from the Sindarin ar(a) ("high, noble, royal") and wen ("maiden"). The epessë of her Undómël means 'Evening Star', from Quenya Undómë ('evening twilight').

Arwen's Brood

Arwen was the youngest daughter of Elrond and Celebrían; Her older brothers were the twins Elladan and Elrohir. On her father's side, she was a granddaughter of Eärendil the Sailor, 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 Celebrindal, wife of Tuor. Also on her father's side she was a granddaughter of Elwing, daughter of Dior Eluchil, and therefore a descendant of Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, whose history resembled hers. Indeed, Arwen was considered to be the reincarnation of her ancestor Lúthien hers, fairest of all the Eldar, whom they called Tinúviel. On her mother's side, Arwen was a granddaughter of Galadriel and a great-granddaughter of Finarfin, so through both of her parents, Arwen was a direct descendant of the ancient elven house of Finwë.

Arwen was a very distant relative of her husband Aragorn. Aragorn's ancestor Elros Tar-Minyatur , the first king of Númenor, was the brother of his father Elrond, who chose the fate of Men rather than the Eldar. Elros died in S.E. 442, some 3,240 years before Arwen's birth.

She eventually became Queen of the United Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor when she married Aragorn, who was of the line of the Kings of Arnor and Gondor.

After the War of the Ring ended, Arwen gave birth to the future heir to the throne, Eldarion.

By the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn, the ancient line of half-elves was united. Their union also served to unite and preserve the lineage of the first Three High Elf Kings (Ingwë, Finwë and the brothers Olwë and Elwë), as well as the unique Maia lineage through Arwen's great-great-grandmother Melian, Queen of Doriath., and also on Aragorn's side, through the line of kings of Arnor, Gondor, Númenor descended from Elros, Elrond's brother, whose great-great-grandmother was also Melian. Arwen's Lineage can be seen more clearly in the following family tree:

Criticism and comments

Michael D. C. Drout met at J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia a series of texts written by other authors and dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien and his works, including an entry on Arwen by Helen Armstrong. In it she draws parallels to the characters Rose Red, from the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red , and Naoise, from the Irish legends of the Ulster Cycle, for their pale skin and black hair. her; he also raises the possibility that this physical appearance is a reflection of Edith Tolkien, the author's wife.

In her essay "The valkyrie reflex in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings", Leslie A. Donovan points out that Arwen, like the other female characters in the novel, is based on the Valkyries and describes her as "a Valkyrie who must renounce the obligations of her race and family in order to attain the power of love as part of her identity." She further points to "radiance" and bestowing "gifts of inspiration and rewards with illuminating properties on heroes" as some of the parallels to figures in Norse mythology.

Adaptations to other media

Liv Tyler, the actress who plays Arwen in the film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings.

In the films of Peter Jackson's trilogy, the character of Arwen takes on a major role, higher than the one that the novel ascribes to her, since the authors of the script thought it necessary to somewhat "feminize" the plot, too loaded with characters masculine. In particular, it was controversial that she replaced the character of Glorfindel in the Bruinen ford scene that she would have played.

The role of Arwen in these films is played by actress Liv Tyler.