Arwen Undomiel: character characteristics, description

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It has been 17 years since the release of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Until now, people all over the world are watching or revisiting this masterpiece of the Hollywood film industry. The film impresses not only with special effects, plot, but also with a successful cast. One of the memorable roles, Arwen Undomiel, was embodied on the screens by Liv Tyler. I would like to talk more about the characterization and embodiment of the character on the screen in this article.

Meaning of name

John Tolkien loved learning languages. He graduated from Oxford and taught medieval English literature. In his free time, the professor amused himself by inventing his own languages. Once, he mixed Finnish and Welsh. Thus arose Sindarin, the language of the elves of Middle-earth, to which Arwen belonged.

Arwen means "queen" in Sindarin. Undomiel is not part of the name, but a nickname that means "evening star". So the elves of Rivendell and Lorien called her, meaning that she lives in the last sunset times of the elves in Middle-earth.

She had beautiful gray eyes and long thickblack hair.

Arwen Origin

Arwen Undomiel was born in Rivendell, the home of her father Elrond. She had two brothers who appear occasionally in The Lord of the Rings - Elrohir and Elladan. The brothers were wanderers, rangers and wandered the lands of Middle-earth for a long time.

Arwen's mother's name was Celebrian. She was the daughter of the Lady Galadriel, who ruled the Wood Elves of Lorien. When Celebrian decided to visit her mother, she was attacked by a band of orcs. The sons, Elrohir and Elladan, recaptured their mother from the orcs, but she received serious wounds, both physical and mental. It was difficult for her to recover from these wounds. Celebrian boarded a ship and left Middle-earth. She sailed away to the land of eternity Valinor, where there is no sickness or death.

Arwen came from her father from Eärendil, and from her mother from the first elves from the house of Finarfin. Earendil was a man whose sons were given the choice between death and immortality by the Valar. Elrond chose the path of the elves, and his brother Elros chose to remain mortal. Arwen is an elf by origin, but in her blood flows the blood of her grandfather Eärendil from the clan of Hador, who was a man.

Arwen and Galadriel

Those who watched the film "The Lord of the Rings" remember the mistress of the forest Galadriel. The forest where Galadriel lived was called Lorien. It was beautiful because there grew huge and beautiful mallorn trees, whose foliage was golden in color from autumn until the coming of spring. The heroes of the fellowship of the ring found a warm welcome in the forest. Lady Galadriel showed Frodo in an enchanted cup the fate of Middle-earth,if the brotherhood campaign ends in failure.

Galadriel was Arwen's grandmother. When Celebrian sailed to Valinor, Galadriel took her daughter to be raised. Arwen grew up with her grandmother, and then returned to Rivendell to her father. In the photo above, Arwen Undomiel finds support and advice from Galadriel, which happened very often. She regularly visited Lorien, where she fell in love with Aragorn. On the hill of Kerin Amroth, they swore their love to each other.

Arwen and Elrond

In Middle-earth, Elrond was considered the wisest elf after Galadriel. He was born a man, but thanks to the feat of his father, he got the opportunity to become an elf. Eärendil realized that it was useless to fight evil in the face of Morgoth, so he went by ship to Valinor, asking the eternal Valar for help. They helped, overthrew and chained Morgoth, and the descendants of Eärendil were given a choice: either remain human, or receive the gift of the elves - eternal life. Elrond chose immortality.

Father and daughter had a very close relationship. When Elrond noticed that Aragorn had fallen in love with Arwen, he asked the man to leave his daughter alone. It's not that he did not like Aragorn, on the contrary, Aragorn was of noble birth and possessed all the qualities of a man. Elrond was worried that his daughter would fall in love with a man and give up immortality. It was hard for Elrond to imagine that his beloved could die.

Arwen chose the lot of mortals against her father's will. At the end of the book, she climbs into the mountains near Edoras, where she sees her father for the last time. Sad was the parting of Elrond and Arwen. They knew that they would never meet again, because the fates of elves and humans are different even after death.

Arwen and Aragorn

Arwen and Aragorn met in Rivendell. When a twenty-year-old man saw Elrond's daughter, he immediately fell in love with her, but after a serious conversation with his father, Aragorn left Rivendell and went to distant lands.

After many years, Aragorn met Arwen in Lorien. Now it was Arwen's turn to fall in love. The matured Aragorn, with his stature and appearance, reminded her of the elven lord. They fell in love with each other, talked for a long time and walked through the forest. When Aragorn had to leave, they swore an oath that they would be faithful to each other until the end of their lives.

When the peoples of Middle-earth fought against Sauron, Arwen spent those years in Rivendell, hoping for the victory of people. All this time she embroidered the banner of Elendil for her beloved. Arwen Undomiel used the same precious material as the mithril mail when working on the banner.

After the war, when Aragorn became King of Gondor, they were married in Minas Tirith.

Death of Arwen

Elves left Middle-earth and people became rulers of the land under the rule of the wise king and his beautiful wife Arwen. The united kingdom of Arnor and Gondor was reborn. Arwen bore Aragorn two daughters and the heir to the throne, Eldarion.

Aragorn died when he was 210 years old. People composed legends about the king and sang his strength and wisdom in songs. After the funeral, Arwen became completely lonely and sad. She said goodbye to the children and went to Lorien.

Once the forest kingdom of the elves was filled with songs and light, but now, after the departure of the elves and one of the rings of power that Galadriel wore, the magical forest fell into decay. Before spring came, when the mallorn leaves fell, Arwen Undomiel died and was buried on a high hill.

Arwen chose the lot of death, and forever left Middle-earth, knowing the bitterness of human life.

Arwen Undomiel repeats the fate of Lúthien's predecessor from The Silmarillion. Like Luthien, she sacrifices the gift of immortality for a mortal husband. This is an important point for understanding Tolkien's philosophy. There is nothing more important than love between a man and a woman in this world. Arwen gives up the most precious thing she has and what people so long for - immortality, only to stay with the person she loves forever.

Incarnation in the movies

In the film trilogy of Peter Jackson, the role of Arwen Undomiel was played by Liv Tyler.

Liv Tyler was born in 1977 in Portland, USA. She is the daughter of famous rock musician and Aerosmith frontman Chris Tyler. Liv Tyler, who played the role of Arwen Undomiel, starred in many films, but world fame came to her after the release of the films The Astronaut's Wife and Armageddon. The actress received good reviews from film critics for these films. She also starred in the 1999 Martha Fiennes film Onegin.

Preparing for the filming of the film "The Lord of the Rings",the actress admitted that she took riding lessons and also studied Sindarin. In the film, the character Tyler communicates in the language of elves in several episodes.

The actress admitted in an interview that all three films of the film trilogy were filmed at once, without interruption. The film crew, including the actors, were very tired, but thanks to the warm atmosphere on the set, there were no complaints or resentment. Liv Tyler was very happy to see Cate Blanchett in the project, who played the role of Galadriel. According to Tyler, Kate is her favorite actress, who taught her a lot and helped her cope with tension and stress.

Many critics after the premiere of the film noted that Liv Tyler and Arwen Undomiel are very similar, and the actress masterfully played the role of the elven princess.

Arwen in The Lord of the Rings book and movie

For clarity, here are the differences between the image of Arwen Undomiel in the film and the book in the form of a table:

Book	Movie
Elf Glorfindel helps Aragorn to transport the wounded Frodo across the river, and Elrond enchants the water, which sweep away the Black Riders with their waves	She rescues Frodo from the Black Riders, transports him across the river, and then enchants the seething streams of the Bruinen.
The elf is only shown at a dinner party in Rivendell and a wedding in Minas Tirith	Sporadic shows the suffering of Arwen, her conversations with her father. She asks to reforge the sword of Elendil and give it to Aragorn

As you can see,Arwen in The Lord of the Rings is portrayed on screen and in the novel in different ways. Peter Jackson's film gives a broader interpretation of the character than the book. The director and screenwriters did not invent anything, they added materials from the appendix "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" to the plot of the film trilogy, which the writer did not include in the main text of the novel.

Tolkien fans say that the actress and Arwen Undomiel in the movie have nothing to do with the book, but we have to agree with Liv Tyler, who said she agrees with Peter Jackson, who expanded the story of the elf and the man in the movie trilogy.