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== Etymology ==
== Etymology ==
{{Pronounce|Arwen Undomiel.mp3|Ardamir}}
{{Pronounce|Arwen Undomiel.mp3|Ardamir}}
'''''Arwen''''' means "Noble Maiden" in [[Sindarin]] (from ''[[ara]]-'' = "noble" and ''[[gwenn]]'' = "maiden").<ref>{{HM|RC}}, p. 205</ref>  
'''''Arwen''''' means "Noble Maiden" in [[Sindarin]] (from ''[[ara]]-'' = "noble" and ''[[gwenn]]'' = "maiden").<ref>{{HM|RC}}, p. 205</ref> Tolkien remarked that it also means "greatly blessed" in Welsh.<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], "[[Letter to Mr Joukes|Letter to S.E.O. Joukes, 28 August 1967]]"</ref>


The [[Quenya]] form of her name is not entirely certain, but in his Quenya greeting, Aragorn refers to her again as "Arwen" (''Arwen vanimelda, namárië!'').<ref>{{FR|Farewell}}</ref> This suggests that the form '''Arwen''' itself is also coincidentally a valid, or at least understandable, Quenya calque (using ''[[ar]]-'', stem ''Arwend-'').   
The [[Quenya]] form of her name is not entirely certain, but in his Quenya greeting, Aragorn refers to her again as "Arwen" (''Arwen vanimelda, namárië!'').<ref>{{FR|Farewell}}</ref> This suggests that the form '''Arwen''' itself is also coincidentally a valid, or at least understandable, Quenya calque (using ''[[ar]]-'', stem ''Arwend-'').   

Revision as of 22:12, 27 April 2017

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Arwen
Half-elf
John Howe - Arwen.jpg
"Arwen" by John Howe
Biographical Information
Other namesUndómiel (Q, "Evenstar")
TitlesQueen of Gondor
LocationRivendell, Lothlórien, Reunited Kingdom
LanguagePrimarily Sindarin[1]
BirthT.A. 241
RuleT.A. 3019 - Fo.A. 120
DeathFo.A. 121 (aged 2,901)
Cerin Amroth, Lothlórien
Family
HeritageHalf-elven father, Elf mother
ParentageElrond and Celebrían
SiblingsElladan and Elrohir
SpouseAragorn
ChildrenEldarion and several daughters
Physical Description
GenderFemale
Hair colorDark[2]
Eye colorGrey[2]
ClothingGrey raiment with girdle of silver leaves;[2] silver and blue mantle[3]
GalleryImages of Arwen
"Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of Lúthien had come on earth again; and she was called Undómiel, for she was the Evenstar of her people."
The Fellowship of the Ring, Many Meetings[2]

Arwen Undómiel (Arwen is S, pron. [ˈarwen]; Undómiel is Q, pron. [unˈdoːmi.el]), often called Arwen Evenstar, was the betrothed of Aragorn II. She is the daughter of Elrond and Celebrían.

She was considered to be the fairest of the Children of Ilúvatar, resembling Lúthien of the First Age who would never again appear in Middle-earth. Her romance with Aragorn was reminiscent of that between the Man Beren and the Elf Lúthien. Few other marriages between Man and Elf were known. Like Lúthien, she rejected her Elven immortality to marry Aragorn and die with him.

History

Anna Lee - Evenstar

Arwen was born in T.A. 241 and was the younger sister of Elladan and Elrohir. From her mother she inherited the Elfstone.[4] As a Half-elven she shared the right of her father to choose her fate. She lived most of her life in her homestead in Imladris or Lothlórien with her grandparents.[3]

Her father fostered the sons of the Chieftains of the Dúnedain, who were the exiled Heirs of Isildur.[5] It was in T.A. 2952 when she returned from Lothlórien to Rivendell when she met a young foster-son of her father, Aragorn. The young Dúnadan fell in love when he first saw her, but Elrond insisted that Arwen could not marry Aragorn until he became king of both Gondor and Arnor. Whatever Arwen's choice, she would be parted from either Elrond or Aragorn for ever.[3]

Stephen Hickman - Aragorn and Arwen

It was not until they met many years later in Lórien that she returned in love, and in T.A. 2980 they plighted their troth on Cerin Amroth. Aragorn gave her the Ring of Barahir. After Aragorn left for his travels and deeds, Arwen continually served as inspiration and motivation for him, who had to become King before he could wed her and devoted many long years to this cause.[3]

When Aragorn brought the Hobbits to Rivendell, during the War of the Ring, he reunited with Arwen. Frodo saw Aragorn with her at one point—the first hint of their relationship.[2] Later, when the Fellowship came to Lothlórien, Aragorn remembered their earlier meeting on Cerin Amroth. When the Fellowship departed and Galadriel offered them her gifts, Arwen's Elfstone was the gift for Aragorn, which he would wear ever after.[6]. This giving held the function of a wedding gift from the family of the bride to the groom, foretelling his marriage to Arwen.[7]

When Éowyn fell in love with Aragorn it was his fidelity to Arwen that forbade him from reciprocating, thereby motivating Éowyn's subsequent actions.[8]

While Aragorn was out in the War, Arwen made, with her hands, the Livery of Elendil in mithril, gems and gold on black cloth. This was taken by her brothers and a group of Rangers of the North to Aragorn before taking the Paths of the Dead, and was an encouraging sign for him to take the difficult path.[9] It was unfurled at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields to triumphantly announce the King's return.[10]

Janka Latečková - King and his Queen

Aragorn wed Arwen after the War of the Ring when he finally became a King of the new Reunited Kingdom. Arwen chose a fate different from her father's and did not sail to the West. As Queen of Gondor, Arwen bore one son, Eldarion, and several daughters. Even after Aragorn's death, Arwen did not repent, and eventually gave up her life in Fo.A. 121, at Cerin Amroth in Lórien, and she was buried there.[3]

Genealogy

Arwen in Rivendell

Arwen was actually a very distant relative of Aragorn, being his first cousin sixty-three times removed. By their marriage, the long-sundered lines of the Half-elven were joined.[11] Their union also served to unite and preserve the bloodlines of the Three Kings of the High Elves (Ingwë, Finwë, and brothers Olwë and Elwë) as well as the only line with Maiarin blood through Arwen's great-great grandmother, Melian.

Finarfin
b. Y.T. 1230
 
Eärwen
b. Y.T.
 
Galadhon
b. F.A.
 
Tuor
b. F.A. 472
 
Idril
b. Y.T.
 
Dior
F.A. 470 - 506
 
Nimloth
d. F.A. 506
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Galadriel
b. Y.T. 1362
 
 
 
Celeborn
b. F.A.
 
 
 
Eärendil
b. F.A. 503
 
 
 
 
 
Elwing
b. F.A. 503
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Celebrían
b. S.A.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elrond
b. F.A. 532
 
 
Elros
F.A. 532 - S.A. 442
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elladan
b. T.A. 130
 
Elrohir
b. T.A. 130
 
ARWEN
T.A. 241 - Fo.A. 121
 
 
 
Aragorn II
T.A. 2931 - Fo.A. 120
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Eldarion
b. Fo.A.
 
unknown
daughters
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Etymology

Arwen means "Noble Maiden" in Sindarin (from ara- = "noble" and gwenn = "maiden").[12] Tolkien remarked that it also means "greatly blessed" in Welsh.[13]

The Quenya form of her name is not entirely certain, but in his Quenya greeting, Aragorn refers to her again as "Arwen" (Arwen vanimelda, namárië!).[14] This suggests that the form Arwen itself is also coincidentally a valid, or at least understandable, Quenya calque (using ar-, stem Arwend-).

Her epessë, Undómiel, means "Evenstar", from Undómë "evening twilight" and el "star".

Portrayal in adaptations

Arwen in adaptations

1978: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film):

Arwen does not appear.

1981: The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series):

Arwen is voiced by Sonia Fraser.

2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game):

Arwen appears in Rivendell after the Council of Elrond. She has a brief dialogue with Aragorn, and recites several lines from the Riddle of Strider. No voice actress is specified, but it is likely Kath Soucie.

2001-03: The Lord of the Rings (film series):

Arwen is played by Liv Tyler. Various additional scenes pertaining to Arwen are inserted, some of which deviate from the books and some of which seem inspired by The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen.

In the first film, she rescues Frodo Baggins from the Black Riders at Bruinen, thwarting them 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 arranged the flood. Also, in the book, Frodo defends himself against the Black Riders, whereas in the movie Arwen defends him. Arwen wields the sword Hadhafang,a non-canonical sword that belonged to her father.

There are scene in which Aragorn has a dream about Arwen in which they kiss, a scene where Arwen has an argument with her father about leaving for Valinor, and a scene where she actually departs for Valinor and then changes her mind and returns when she sees a vision of her future son, Eldarion.

In addition, towards the end of the cinematic trilogy she apparently becomes sick with grief possibly over Aragorn's seemingly hopeless cause and his impending death. Elrond takes the reforged Narsil, now Andúril, to Aragorn at Dunharrow, and tells him that her fate has become bound with the One Ring, and that she is dying. However, no explanation is ever given for these statements. Later, after the Ring is destroyed, Arwen is present at Aragorn's coronation without any signs of illness.

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Arwen is a non-playable character and can be found in a gazebo overlooking the path from Rivendell into the Misty Mountains. She was not involved in the main storyline - or any side-quests for that matter - until 2010, when she passed Halbarad the banner she had made for Aragorn during the Epic Book Oath of the Rangers.

2011: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North:

Arwen resides in Rivendell, where players can discuss with her both historical and present subjects. While spotting appearance of Liv Tyler, her role is closer to the book that in the movie: for example, she provides Halbarad and the Grey Company the banner she had made for Aragorn, an event omitted from movie adaptation. She is voiced by Courtenay Taylor.

See Also

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of the Elves"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings" Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Many" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn"
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Farewell to Lórien"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (II) The Second Phase: Laws and Customs among the Eldar"
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Houses of Healing"
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Passing of the Grey Company"
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings"
  12. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 205
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Letter to S.E.O. Joukes, 28 August 1967"
  14. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Farewell to Lórien"