24 Facts About Arwen

Arwen Undomiel is a fictional character in JR R Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium.

Arwen is one of the half-elven who lived during the Third Age; her father was Elrond half-elven, lord of the Elvish sanctuary of Rivendell, while her mother was the Elf Celebrian, daughter of the Elf-queen Galadriel, ruler of Lothlorien.

Arwen marries the Man Aragorn, who becomes King of Arnor and Gondor.

In Peter Jackson's film adaptation, Arwen is played by Liv Tyler.

Arwen plays a more active role in the film than in the book, personally rescuing the Hobbit Frodo from the Black Riders at the Fords of Bruinen.

Arwen was the youngest child of Elrond, lord of the Elvish sanctuary of Rivendell and leader of the High Elves remaining in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age, and Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel, ruler of the Elvish forest realm of Lothlorien.

Arwen was given the name "Evenstar" as the most beautiful of the last generation of High Elves in Middle-earth.

Arwen reciprocated Aragorn's love, and on the mound of Cerin Amroth they committed themselves to marrying each other.

In making that choice, Arwen gave up the Elvish immortality available to her as a daughter of Elrond, and agreed to remain in Middle-earth instead of travelling to the Undying Lands.

Arwen first appears in the text of The Lord of the Rings in Rivendell, shortly after Frodo Baggins wakes in the House of Elrond: she sits beside her father at the celebratory feast.

Arwen gives Frodo the Evenstar: her necklace with a white stone, to aid him when his injuries trouble him.

Arwen serves as inspiration and motivation for Aragorn, who must become King of both Arnor and Gondor before Elrond will allow her to marry him.

One year after Aragorn's death, Arwen dies at the age of 2,901.

Furthermore, Arwen was a descendant of Beren and Luthien, whose story resembled hers.

Indeed, Arwen was held to be the reappearance in likeness of Luthien, fairest of all the Elves, who was called Nightingale.

Arwen became Queen of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor when she married Aragorn, who was of the line of the Kings of Arnor.

The scholar of English literature Nancy Enright wrote that Arwen, like Christ, is an immortal who voluntarily chooses mortality out of love, in her case for Aragorn.

Arwen granted that Arwen is not a conspicuous character, and unlike Eowyn does not ride into battle, but stated that her inner power is "subtly conveyed" and present throughout the novel.

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Arwen is played by Liv Tyler.

The Tolkien scholar Janet Brennan Croft comments that Jackson makes Arwen passive, denying her independence of mind; from being a constant support, she is a distraction, even a temptation, to Aragorn, whom Croft likens to "the American Superhero", and their marriage, in the book a sign of his rightful kingship, is in the film something he accepts as if he was condemned to it.

The films portray Arwen as becoming human through her love for Aragorn; as in the novel, she follows the choice of her ancestor Luthien to become a mortal woman for the love of a mortal man.

The films introduce a jewelled pendant called the Evenstar which Arwen gives to Aragorn as a token of their love.

In earlier versions of the script, Arwen fought in the Battle of Helm's Deep and brought the sword Anduril to Aragorn.

Some scenes of Arwen fighting in Helm's Deep were filmed before both the film's writers reconsidered the change and deleted her from the sequence.