Arwen

- The daughter and youngest child of Elrond, Lady Arwen is the last flowering of Elvish beauty in Middle-earth. She is the grand-daughter of Galadriel, said by Tolkien to be the greatest of Elven women in Middle-earth, and mighty among the Wise, the leaders of the West in the Third Age. Arwen is also the descendant of Luthien Tinuviel, the greatest of all Elven women, and in her, it is said, the beauty of Luthien is restored to Middle-earth.Luthien had long before given her love to Beren, a mortal man whose people had been crushed by Morgoth, the great Enemy of the First Age. Beren was driven from the heartless north where his people had once lived, and passing through the Mountains of Terror where he faced giant spiders and other terrible creatures even the mightiest Elven warriors avoided except at great need, he was driven by his fate to the kingdom of Doriath. There he saw Luthien dancing in the woods and became entranced, and soon found she returned his love.Luthien's father, King Thingol of Doriath, sought to destroy Beren's hopes by sending him on the Quest of the Silmaril, but Luthien gave Beren her aid and together they wrested a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. But the jewel was won at great cost, and in the end Beren paid for his love with his life. Appealing to the Valar, the Powers of the World, Luthien was given a choice: join their holy order or become mortal like Beren, granted only a few years in which to enjoy life with him. She chose the latter, and with Beren was returned to life and Middle-earth, but they went forth from Doriath and lived out their lives in a far land.Arwen's fate was to repeat the choice of Luthien. When she and Aragorn first met he was a young man, filled with newly birthed dreams and pride, but he was as stricken by her beauty as Beren had been with Luthien's. It did not help that Arwen seemed at first to Aragorn to be no older than her, for her Elven heritage assured her of a youthful appearance for many thousands of years.Learning the truth of Arwen's age did nothing to deter Aragorn's heart, and Arwen acknowledged she might herself choose one day to be mortal. For she and her brothers were doomed to choose either Middle-earth or Aman when their father at least grew weary of Middle-earth and took ship over Sea. They must go with him or remain and become mortal like their foremother. And yet what reason would they have for choosing such a fate, which to an Elf was as shrouded in uncertainty as it was for a mortal?Arwen did not at first return Aragorn's love, but many years later when they met again in Lorien, the hidden realm of Wood-elves where Galadriel and her husband Celeborn ruled, Galadriel stepped in and gave Aragorn a chance to win Arwen's heart. They spent many months together and as the days passed Arwen's reserve and Elvish aloofness deserted her. She could not help but find herself turning to this mortal man who had cherished his memories of her through many lands and adventures. -The Elves do not choose their lifelong partners as we do. It is said they have but one compatible soulmate, though rarely an Elf may love more than one partner, as in the case of Finwe, king of the Noldor. For an Elf the choice is made early in life, if the two partners should meet while young, or it is deferred if the appropriate soul does not come along. Through all the years of her life Arwen found no Elven man who touched her heart as Aragorn did. There may, perhaps, have been one or more Elven lords who loved Arwen, but such mischances of the heart were rare among the Elves.So it should not seem strange that an Elven woman would give up all her heritage, all her kin, to be with one man for the space of a few years. It is a hard choice to make, to lose one's desire or one's kin. It is said that such passion as rarely develops between the kindreds is thus brilliant and quickly expunged, if not for the intervention of a greater power. Arwen's choice to remain with Aragorn may seem less tragic than that of Mithrellas, who fell in love with Imrazor the Numenorean. She chose to live with him in Gondor, for he could not pass over Sea with her, and though she bore him two children in their years together, a day came when she could no longer still the longing in her heart for the Sea.Imrazor awoke one morning to find Mithrellas was gone, and she had to find what solace she could in Undying Aman, where her memories of their days together and their mortal children would be with her forever. Arwen, at least, could look forward to what lies beyond death for Men, though at the end she found it hard to accept the consequences of her choice, and died alone in the near-empty land of Lorien, where few of its former people lived any more.