Comprehensive information and links about Arwen Evenstar

Arwen Evenstar This article is about the fictional character in Tolkien's fiction. For other uses, see Arwen (disambiguation)., which is Undómiel in English) (T.A. 241–F.A. 121) Queen of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, the betrothed of Aragorn in Tolkien's . She is the daughter of Elrond and Celebrían (and therefore grand-daughter of Galadriel), and the younger sister of their twin sons Elladan and Elrohir. She rejects her Elvish immortality (which she had the freedom to do, since she was one of the , the Half-elven, thus having the choice to be counted as an Elf or a Man) to marry Aragorn and die with him.

She was the consort of Aragorn (later named as King Elessar Telcontar) and the mother of the future heir of the throne, Eldarion, and at least two unnamed daughters from her marriage with Aragorn after the War of the Ring ended.

Arwen is actually a very distant relative of Aragorn, being his first cousin sixty-three times removed. Aragorn's ancestor, Elros, the first King of Númenor, was Elrond's brother, and therefore her uncle.

table , means "Evenstar". She is held to be the reappearance in likeness of her ancestress Lúthien Tinúviel, most fair of all the Elves. Arwen's epessë also relates to Lúthien: night-time suffix.

The romance between Aragorn and Arwen is reminiscent of that between the Man Beren and the Elf Lúthien, but as with many other tales of the Third Age, theirs is considered to be a pale copy of the deeds of earlier ages. (Lúthien, for example, once defeated Sauron to rescue Beren.) Still, only two other marriages between Man and Elf are recorded in Tolkien's stories, and all of the individuals involved are their common direct ancestors (Beren and Lúthien, and Tuor and Idril).

A very young Aragorn encounters Arwen for the first time at Rivendell, where he had been living; she had been staying with her grandmother in Lórien. He falls in love with her at first sight, but it is not until they meet many years later in Lórien that she falls in love with him.

Arwen's first appearance in is at Rivendell, when the Hobbits arrive there, and Aragorn is seen with her—the first hint of their relationship. Later, when the Fellowship come to Lothlórien, he remembers their earlier meeting.

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

Arwen is mostly a minor character in Tolkien's . She plays a role in the plot which is disproportionate to the number of scenes in which she appears. When Éowyn falls in love with Aragorn it is his fidelity to Arwen that forbids him from reciprocating, thereby motivating Éowyn's subsequent actions during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields which have major repercussions for the defence of Middle-earth. Arwen continually serves as inspiration and motivation for Aragorn, who must become King before he may wed her—not an insignificant task, considering the many long years he devotes to this cause.

By Arwen and Aragorn's marriage, the long-sundered lines of the Half-elven are joined. Their union also serves 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 Maiar blood through Arwen's great-great-great grandmother, Melian.

Arwen gives up her life in 121 of the Fourth Age, at Cerin Amroth in Lórien, after the death of Aragorn. At the time, she is 2,901 years old.

film trilogy, Arwen is played by Liv Tyler.

She plays a much more prominent role in the story, which Jackson defends as cinematically necessary to establish her role in the plot more firmly.(Elladan and Elrohir, her brothers, never appear.) In the first film, but not in the books, she sneaks up on Aragorn and takes Frodo by herself on horseback where she thwarts the Black Riders at Bruinen with a sudden flood, summoned by an incantation. In the book, it was Glorfindel who put Frodo on horseback and sent him alone to flee the black riders, and Elrond and Gandalf who arranged the flood. In the book, Frodo makes his own stand against the Black Riders; in the movie Arwen defends him. In the movies, during this flight Arwen wields the sword Hadhafang, stated to have once been wielded by her father. This sword, however, does not appear in the books at all; in fact, in the books, Arwen is never mentioned as armed (but she have armed herself at need; see below).

The three mentions described above and a brief mention of her arrival at Aragorn's coronation are her appearances in the books. In the movie trilogy, however, various additional scenes pertaining to Arwen are inserted some of which deviate from the books and some of which are in the appendix of RotK. The deviations include a scene in which Aragorn is injured and has a dream about Arwen, a scene where Arwen has a fight with her father about leaving for Valinor, and a scene where she (with Figwit) actually departs for Valinor and then suddenly returns when she sees an image of her future son, Eldarion. In the books, it can hardly have been surprising to Arwen that she and Aragorn might have children together, since she herself is the descendant of two similar unions. The appendix scenes include the story of Aragorn and Arwen's meeting and the story of Aragorn's death and Arwen's grief and eventual death.

Controversy

Of all the changes made in the films, the changes to the role of Arwen have been the most controversial (with the possible exception of Faramir's role), particularly with fans. Arwen's role in the movies was originally planned to be even greater: in earlier copies of the (when the movies were supposed to be filmed in two parts under a different production company), she actually fought in the Battle of Helm's Deep alongside Haldir and the Elven archers, and it was Arwen who brought the sword Andúril to Aragorn. It was after a leaked copy of this made it online that fan outrage against the much expanded role of Arwen began, along with the comparisons with ). These scenes were altered, downplaying Arwen's role (also, Tyler herself turned out to be not well suited to battle scenes).

Some argue that the substitution of Arwen for Glorfindel, other changed scenes, and the insertion of additional scenes (mostly involving the romance between her and Aragorn), is a major departure in the film version of the story, and even less acceptable than the substitution of Legolas for Glorfindel in the Ralph Bakshi version. As with other changes in character and plot, this is a common hazard encountered in the adaptation of a story from a literary to a film format.

watching the film, appreciate the expansion of Arwen's role, enjoy her increased screentime, and may even prefer the film's version of her character. For these viewers, the first film gives Arwen a voice of her own, whereas Tolkien was forced to relegate her appearance to the Appendix. For them, Arwen is also made into a much stronger female character, and while many would claim that, based by Tolkien's writings, this conflicts with her character in the book, some feel that the movie's plot should be judged independently of the book, and that this interpretation is entirely justified. They also feel the film elegantly employs the principle of "economy of characters", thus making the plot tighter and more comprehensible to the audience; in the book, many characters, such as Glorfindel, appear once to perform one task, then sink into the background, and never to be heard from again. This builds up a mass of confusing, trivial characters.

Other fans claim that Arwen's appearances in the second and third films (even in scenes not directly from the book) were far more in keeping with her characterization in the books; much of the fan reaction against Arwen in the films was probably due to the first scene she appeared in being the most heavily divergent.

However, those who dislike the expansion of Arwen in the first film blame the modern mentality of inserting mandatory 90's "power-chicks" in stories; as a similar example, see the revisionist "warrior princess" Guinevere in , a film that was ballyhooed for its numerous historical innaccuracies, not least the misrepresentation of female warriors, who did exist but were not accurately depicted in the said film. They complain that people today cannot accept women who stay at home, just as they cannot accept a leader who does not doubt himself, for the most part - as Aragorn was in the books (in the films, he was turned into a clichéd "reluctant messiah").

They disagree with the above assertions that the Arwen presented in was close to her counterpart in the books. According to this camp, she is a strong character in her own right. She ; she provides Aragorn wih his motivation, she sends the Grey Company to him, and she makes his banner herself. Reducing her to a typical "warrior princess", in the first film and a "weepy wuss" in the second and third, they argue, cheapens and banalizes Tolkien's story more than it adds spice to it.

Also, they argue that Arwen, "the Fair Maiden", is an archetypal character and is meant to be so, as is Aragorn "the Man of Destiny", Gandalf, "the Wise Old Man" and Sauron, "the Dark Enemy", .

Also, one must consider that Tolkien was born in the late 19th century and grew up in the early 20th; he was of course a product of his times. One should not expect him to match our sensibilities. However, he was far from sexist; no one disputes that his Éowyn is a strong female character, as is Lúthien, Arwen's ancestor.

Interestingly, in his essay practically seen as equals, save in the matters of childbirth, which is the only thing that only females are capable of. In all other respects, the sexes are equal in their capability to do things — whether it be matters of war or peace. The only reason why male Elves go to war instead of females, according to Tolkien, is that taking life would interfere with their ability to preserve life - and healing was an occupation that females generally occupied themselves with. That is not to say that Elves were stuck in rigid roles, however. Females could defend themselves as well as males at need, and many males were skilled healers, Elrond himself among them.

Others gripe about the nonsensical condition that Arwen gets herself into: After she apparently becomes sick with grief in , Elrond reveals to Aragorn at Dunharrow that her fate has become bound with the Ring, and that she is dying. No explanation is ever given for this, not even in the Extended Editions.

However, probably the real reason why Arwen was mostly relegated to the Appendices is that she was inserted in ------------------ -------------------------- : ---------------------- Chieftains of the Dúnedain

The marriages between Men and Elves are numbered. There were only three, of which the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn was the third.

!-- Saved in