: Hello,
: I'm a new poster so please don't be too harsh
: I'm enjoying this thread very much!

: Arwen may not appear to be a model of heroic vigor in the traditional sword-weilding manner. As written, she's given no direct need or opportunity, however this may change in the films. (We can only hope it's not too far out of character!)

: Tolkien did indeed place great emphasis on these genealogical "reunions", as well as the rare unions of Elf and Human. Aragorn and Arwen represent the culmination of nearly(?) all the great houses of Eldar and Edain.

: In the dynastic perspective, Arwen and Aragorn are obviously the founding union of the Fourth Age, just as Earendil and Elwing were before them. In addition to Eldarion, she had "several" daughters (it always irks me that they are both un-named and un-numbered!). We know little of what happened, but I'm sure the marriages of these children (and their heirs) forged and strengthened both family and political alliances within Gondor and its allies for many generations to come. In a purely genetic sense, Arwen's elven blood reinvigorated the royal line of the Edain, as did her uncle Elros so many generations before.

: Humbly yours,

: Anne Shepard

Welcome Anne!

I'm relatively new here myself. Your post was quite insightful, but I have one minor point of contention. Recently I've been reviewing what Tolkien wrote about Arwen and have come to the conclusion that there isn't enough information to determine what Arwen's character was. Many people have used the the phrase "as long as it isn't out of character" (me too!), but when I go looking for proof of exactly what her character was, I come up empty handed. Did she just make a flag and dance in the forest all day? Not much to go on there. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that all of us have "imagined" Arwen more than we actually read about Arwen. So my stock response to statements regarding Arwen's character is: "Where did you read that in the book?" I don't mean to belittle anyone's opinion. As regards Arwen almost all opinions a valid because Tolkien doesn't say one way or another. We don't know if Arwen can be sweetness and light one minute and be whacking off a few Orc heads the next, being careful not to get any Orc blood on the flag she's been making. Or maybe she just stayed at home waiting patiently for Aragorn to accomplish his quest with Vulcan-like stoicism. Neither opinion can be validated by what little Tolkien wrote about her. Whatever our concept of Arwen is, it's mostly in our heads not in the book.