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The movie version of Arwen gets to ride a horse through the wilds and wield a sword, which Tolkien might deem strange but it’s a fact that ideas about beauty and behavior have changed. There’s a lot of interesting lore about Arwen in the Lord of the Rings universe and her life before she met Aragorn and her time as his Queen, and only the book readers know about it.
6 Grew Up With Grandma
Not entirely, but much of Arwen’s earlier life was spent in Lothlorien with her maternal grandmother, the Lady Galadriel. This was one of the reasons that she didn’t meet Aragorn until he was 20 years old, even though he grew up in her father’s house.
It wasn’t just because Lothlorien was a nice place to be, with plenty for Arwen to learn from her esteemed ancestor and one of the oldest beings in Middle-earth. The real reason was because Arwen’s mother and Galadriel’s daughter, Celebrian, had already passed into the Undying Lands, and spending time together eased the pain of her loss.
Celebrian had been kidnapped and tortured by orcs, and although her sons rescued her and her husband has healed her, the damage to her mind and spirit couldn’t be repaired. She departed from the Gray Havens the same year the Kingdom of Rohan was founded, about 500 years before her daughter would marry King Elessar.
5 Half Your Age Plus…2700?
Movie fans take it for granted that Arwen is much older than Aragorn anyway, with all this talk of Elven immortality, but only book readers are aware of the extent of this gap. It’s a doozy, too, since Arwen was born early in the Third Age and becomes Queen of the Reunited Gondor at the closing of it almost three thousand years later.
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Tolkien doesn’t shy away from Arwen’s vast age in the book. He describes her as a quiet person, but not a shy one, rather with the profound gravitas of someone who has a youthful visage but the wisdom that only comes from a long life. Yet another way she takes after her grandmother.
4 Chose The Gift Of Men
Eärendil was one of the most beloved figures in Middle-earth history. It was he that sailed to Valinor, even though it was forbidden, to return the recovered Silmaril and ask the Valar for their help in defeating Morgoth. Elwing, his wife, went with him, and the Vala not only heard them and promised to help, but rewarded their ancestors with the privilege to choose the sail into the west or remain in Middle-earth and accept the Gift of Men, also known as death.
Arwen took the path of a mortal life out of her love for Aragorn, but her father naturally wanted to follow the path his wife had taken and left from the Gray Havens. Elrond’s brother Elros also chose mortality and served as the first King of Númenor, and he’s also one of Aragorn’s very distant relatives.
3 The Youngest Of Three
Arwen’s two older brothers Elrohir and Elladan were twins, and by the time she was born they were already more than a hundred years old. They had many of their own epic adventures, the rescue of their mother from a gang of Orcs being just one of many.
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Elrohir and Elladan were known for their close relationships with the kingdoms of Men, especially the Rangers. Rivendell was a haven for the heirs of Elendil, and the brothers befriended the orphaned Aragorn at once even though his identity was a closely guarded secret.
2 Wore The Ring Of Barahir
The movies have a pretty bauble, like a pendant, that Arwen gives to Aragorn to pledge her love to him. This is sweet, but the story of their betrothal in the books is more conventional. Aragorn is shown wearing a distinctive ring in the movies, but in the books, he didn’t have this accessory during his journey because he had given it to Arwen as a symbol of their engagement.
This is the Ring of Barahir, an important heirloom of his family, and even though it wasn’t magical it had the distinction of being one of the oldest crafted items in Middle-earth. It was only by sheer luck that it didn’t go down with King Arveduil, who was lost at sea, since he had given it away as a gift beforehand. Its ultimate fate is unknown, but it’s believed to have been passed on to Arwen’s children or buried with her.
1 A Dream Of Luthien
There is some mention of Luthien in the movies, so everyone knows there’s some connection between these two immortal women who chose to die for love. It’s the finer and more interesting details that only book readers know.
The dream Aragorn references in the movies is a vision of Luthien, the beloved only child of Melian the Maia, who met her husband King Thingol in much the same way. The union of Aragorn and Arwen was the third and final time Elves and Men had joined in marriage and it would be the last. By the time Arwen passed away, the last of the Elves had gone into the West forever.
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