Ithilethiel
Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2018
- Messages
- 388
Though I cannot say for sure, I though that Arwen and Aragorn were both somehow related to Beren and Luthien and that they were the first to be married in that bloodline since Beren and Luthien themselves and also the only Elf/Human marriage where an Elf gave up their immortality to marry a mortal man.
When you give up your immortality to be with someone, I think that's a pretty strong commitment if you ask me.
There are three such unions recorded between the Edain and the Eldar. It is why there are half-elven. They are,
Idril and Tuor
Lúthien and Beren
Arwen and Aragorn
Squinty:
That might be my favorite forum post of all time because almost every single sentence makes me want to spin off into a quote-reply type comment.
I guess the specific line that I would comment on most directly:
Wow... that really shines a whole other wavelength of light on The Scouring of the Shire for me in Lord or the Rings.
Generally towards the rest. There's a section in The Later Quenta Silmarillion (II) section of Morgoth's Ring that's stood out to me:
In all such things, not concerned with the bringing forth of children, the neri and nissi (that is, the men and women) of the Eldar are equal - unless it be in this (as they themselves say) that for the nissi the making things new is for the most part shown in the forming of their children, so that invention and change is otherwise mostly brought about by the neri. There are, however, no matters which among the Eldar only a nér can think or do, or others which only a nís is concerned. There are indeed some differences between the natural inclinations of neri and nessi, and other differences that have been established by custom ... But all these things, and other matters of labour and play, or of deeper knowledge concerning being and the life of the World, may at different times be pursued by any among the Noldor, be they neri or nissi. (213-14)
Obviously that's pointed to a pretty specific group, but it has still left me with the idea that all things are generally equal (in theory) in the realm of Eä. The chief difference arises in the way that the Middle-earth mythology aligns itself with other classical mythologies. Because, personally, (to dive into my more vulgar day-to-day speech) I've generally thought the stories of Middle-earth to be a bit of a sausage-fest.
There are great women characters once you move beyond LotR and The Hobbit (I'm not trying to disregard the women in LotR, I'm just trying to keep post length down)... I'm trying to get around to the statement that it's not that I don't like Arwen, I just think it's easy for her to get lost in the events of the story because not much is written about her during the War of the Ring. But I've generally held her in high regard because of the way she's compared to Lúthien Tinúviel: her connection to Galadriel and the House of Finarfin: and that Aragorn is deeding his way through Middle-earth hoping that she'll be at the end of it all.
Yet, despite the fact that I think it's "easy for her to get lost" in the story... there are two specific points in the legendarium where I still get highly emotional and misty-eyed after all these years.
1) The death of Huan.
2) The end of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen in Appendix A of LotR.
So well said!
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