Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in the novel The Lord of the Rings, usually published in three volumes. Arwen is one of the half-elven (Peredhil) who lived during the Third Age.
Literature
Concept and creation
As related in The History of Middle-earth, Tolkien conceived the character of "Elrond's daughter" late in the writing.[2][3] Prior to this, he considered having Aragorn marry Éowyn.[4]
Adaptations
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. The films gives her a more prominent role than her literary counterpart, although some of her invented scenes seem to be inspired by The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen.
In the first film, Arwen searches for Aragorn and single-handedly rescues Frodo Bagginsfrom the Black Riders at Bruinen, thwarting them with a sudden flood, summoned by an incantation. (In the novel, Elrond summons the flood, and Glorfindel takes Frodo to Rivendell.) During this flight Arwen wields the sword Hadhafang, which according to film merchandise was once wielded by her father and had belonged to his grandmother Idril Celebrindal.[5] In the film adaptation of The Two Towers, the injured Aragorn is revived by a dream or vision 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 sorrow-filled 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 prophecy. She returns to Rivendell, where Elrond admits that her mortal life will have happiness as well as grief, though he stresses that Sauron's rising power means that future is growing more and more distant. 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 eventually agrees when Arwen begins to fall ill through her loss of immortality.
Elrond takes Narsil, reforged as Andúril, to Aragorn at Dunharrow, and tells him that Arwen's fate has become bound to the One Ring, and that she is dying. In the extended version of The Return of the King, Sauron(through a palantír) shows Aragorn a dying Arwen in order to dissuade him from battle. After Sauron's defeat, however, Aragorn reunites with Arwen at his coronation. The movies portray her as becoming human through her love for Aragorn; as in the novel, Arwen follows the choice of her ancestor Lúthien to become a mortal woman for the love of a mortal man.
The movies introduce a jeweled pendant called the Evenstar which Arwen gives to Aragorn as a token of their love. A similar pendant appears in the short story The Jewel of Arwen by Marion Zimmer Bradley, although in that story Arwen gives it to "the Ring-Bearer" rather than to Aragorn.[6] In Tolkien's novel, Arwen gives Frodo "a white gem like a star...hanging upon a silver chain" before he leaves Minas Tirith, saying, "When the memory of the fear and the darkness troubles you...this will bring you aid".[7] It is possible that the Evenstar was based on Frodo's jewel.
In earlier versions 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. Some scenes of Arwen fighting in Helm's Deep were filmed before both the film's writers (with Liv Tyler's approval) reconsidered the change and deleted her from the sequence.[8]
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 Eärendil" (with the Elven chorus) and "The Song of Hope Duet" (with Aragorn).
In the 2009 fan film The Hunt for Gollum, Arwen is played by Rita Ramnani; she appears as a vision to Aragorn after he is wounded by an orc weapon.
In the Mythopoeic Society's Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (Mythopoeic Press, 2005), Cathy Akers-Jordan,[9] Jane Chance,[10] Victoria Gaydosik,[11] and Maureen Thum[12] 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.
John Howe's rendition of Arwen for the Lord of the Rings board game was inspired by French actress Isabelle Adjani.[13]
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