The Tragedy of Arwen and Aragorn [SPOILER ALERT]

1955 | J. R. R. Tolkien

[SlickWillard]

For the record.

[jwfiv]

Thank you. Very cool to read this again, after 33 years. Wow.

[Dialup Llama]

Somehow I kinda knew that LOTR was not a happy story.

I dig chicks who speak Elvish.

[CapandBall]

bump - you LOTR junkie!

[Gordian Blade]

Well, Slick, I don't call this a tragedy. It is simply the bittersweet end of life that we all must face. We know that Aragorn was a mortal man and Arwen chose to become mortal, and we are supposed to think that we are actually reading a forgotten history of long ago; so JRRT is simply filling us in on how their lives ended. "They lived happily ever after to the end of their days."

[SlickWillard]

But Arwen became as a mortal woman, and yet it was not her lot to die until all that she had gained was lost.

"They lived happily ever after to the end of their days."

Mortality was originally called The Gift of Men, although after their revolt against the West, it came to be called The Doom of Men. When she renounced her own immortality, Arwen gained the The Gift of Men, but at the last moment, she lost all because of her abiding fear of death. This was the final triumph of The Shadow.

Maybe you have to have read The Silmarillion to gain a full appreciation for what happened.

[m1911]

Mmmm...
Liv Tyler
Mmmmm...

[Pearls Before Swine]

I was wondering if this ending will find its way into episode 3, due two Christmases hence. I doubt it--I think they'll end with Frodo and Gandalf on the ship to the West--maybe with a big bright glow on the horizon. What do you think?

[dell Arpa]

Do not read this if you prefer to believe that The Lord of the Rings has a happy ending. It doesn't. You have been warned.

"In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!"

Doesn't sound so unhappy to me.

[SlickWillard]

I have been wondering this very thing myself. I doubt that many people have bothered to read the Appendix, where the tragedy unfolds, and besides, I can't imagine that we'd get anything other than the smiling happy faces ending anyway.

On the other hand, if you watch a movie all the way through to its end, sometimes the director will make his final statement with the music. For instance, Titanic seems to end with that uplifting Celine Dion song, but if you watch it past all of the credits, the music at the very end is quite scary.

[SlickWillard]

"In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!"

Aragorn did not succumb to fear; Arwen did. That is the tragedy.

[justanotherfreeper]

Thanks for the post! It IS really sad!

The ending to The Silmarillion is sad also, talking about how the lies of Melkor will last until the end of days. Maybe Tolkien needed a little prozac? (LOL) Think I'll go read some PG Wodehouse to cheer myself up.

[dell Arpa]

Didn't know that. Got at page number? Appendix A(I)(v) doesn't menion it.

[PMCarey]

Aragorn did not succumb to fear; Arwen did. That is the tragedy.

In what sense did Arwen succumb to fear? She didn't try to go to the underdying lands like the Numenorians did. She didn't kill herself like Denethor. In the end, she abided by her choice, though she found it a bitter one. I don't see a tragedy here, not if Aragorn is right about the "gift to men".

[SlickWillard]

the lies of Melkor will last until the end of days

Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

*****

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[paul544]

I read that Tolkien really struggled with the 2nd half of the Return of the King. He was having problems in his real life and was not able to actually write the ending for a good deal of time. That sadness really comes through.

That said, the ending is very sad. And I can tell you, when you read these books, you really get into the characters and feel sad when they all go their seperate ways at the end....

[SlickWillard]

But Arwen became as a mortal woman, and yet it was not her lot to die until all that she had gained was lost.

Read this sentence carefully - it's from The Return of the King, APPENDIX A, I: THE NÛMENOREAN KINGS, (v) HERE FOLLOWS A PART OF THE TALE OF ARAGORN AND ARWEN. Tolkien clearly states that Arwen gained The Gift of Men, but then lost it.

The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

[Swordmaker]

Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!

Says it all.