Two elf-women in Tolkien’s works gave up their immortality for love to a mortal man: Lúthien Tinúviel and Arwen Undómiel. They were related – Arwen was Lúthien’s great-great-granddaughter – and were said to have looked alike. The loyalty of both to their beloved was outstanding, and the marriage of both ultimately served a higher purpose. As characters, though, they were very different.
Lúthien: the active player
Lúthien is one of the few active women in the stories about Middle-earth. As the daughter of King Thingol of Doriath and Melian the Maia, said to have been the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar, whose birth was greeted by the flowers of niphredil, she was a character ready to become a legend. Before Beren arrived at Doriath, her life seems to have been quite joyful and carefree; but she was definitely capable of a lot more than just dancing in the forest.
When her father sent her suitor for a quest regarded as impossible, to get a Silmaril from the crown of the Dark Lord Morgoth, Lúthien wasn’t content to just sit at home and wait if he should return; and indeed, without her aid, the quest would have failed. As a Half-Maia, she must have had some extraordinary powers and arts of enchantment that common elves didn’t possess, and she first used them to escape from the house arrest she was put in. She didn’t wield any weapons, but used the power of words, often in the form of song or chant; from physical danger she was protected by Huan, the wolfhound of Valinor, whose love and trust she had won. With their help it became possible for Beren to fulfil his quest.
But, only shortly afterwards, Beren died in fight against the wolf Carcharoth. Lúthien wasted away of grief, and followed him to the Halls of Mandos, to say a last farewell; but, with her song, she softened the heart of Mandos, who consulted Manwë about what could be done. Lúthien was given the choice to either herself remain in Valimar and let Beren go where the spirits of Men go, or to give up her own immortality and return with him to Middle-earth to live for a while as a mortal. She chose the latter option. So, they returned, and lived the rest of their lives among the Green-elves of Ossiriand; not much is known of their life or death.
Arwen: the supporting force in the background
Arwen is more of a traditional female character. As Elrond’s daughter, she was one of the Peredhil so, unlike full-blooded elves, she already had the choice of mortality or immortality; when her father chose to be counted among the elves, and in addition married an elf, the choice passed on to his children.
We don’t learn much about Arwen from the actual story of the LOTR. In the scenes where she is actually present, we see her through Frodo’s eyes: in the feast in Rivendell, and after the war in Minas Tirith, when she arrives to her wedding and settles down as Queen. Yet, there are several subtle hints that reveal her significance, starting with Aragorn’s telling of the story of Beren and Lúthien to the hobbits – the meaning of which we only understand much later. She does not follow her beloved on his quest, but is constantly in his thoughts, and sends him a token of hope and support that shows that she is watching over him from afar as well.
We only get to know from “The Story of Aragorn and Arwen” in Appendix A of the LOTR how hard the choice was to her, and how important her love was as a motivation to Aragorn to see through his quest or die trying. And, although her choice of mortality was not made lightly, and she has some kind of foresight that Lúthien’s choice may be hers as well, she only fully understood its meaning at the deathbed of her spouse: that there is a separation without any certainty of a reunion – there’s only a confidence in that, beyond the circles of this world is more than just memory.
by Morwinyoniel
Sources:
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
“The Lay of Leithian” in HoME III
Artwork by Anastasia I-Morn-Gwathren
