Why Aragorn's Wife Arwen Wasn't Important In The Lord of the Rings Books 😢

This short will explore a difference between the Lord of the Rings book to the film trilogy created by Peter Jackson.

So the background music for this video was made by Kareem Rasheed, who makes incredible music that you can find using the links below:

#lordoftherings

[Hello_there_obi]

More than this: Tolkien himself loved the story very much and had this to say:

“Here I am only concerned with Death as part of the nature, physical and spiritual, of Man, and with Hope without guarantee. That is why I regard the tale of Arwen and Aragorn as the most important of the Appendices; it is part of the essential story, and is only placed so, because it could not be worked into the main narrative without destroying its structure: which is planned to be 'hobbito-centric', that is, primarily a study of the ennoblement (or sanctification) of the humble.”

[william]

It was a good call, Glorfindel being most likely the most powerful being in middle earth at the time, he raised a lot of questions that you would need to take the time to answer, instead showing more Aragorn/Arwen was a nice touch. It's always annoying when favorites like Glorfindel and Bombadil are taken out of scripts, but it makes sense if you want to tell the story within 3-4 hours.

[BlueSideUp]

She was very important to the books. She was Aragorn's driving motivation, and also test of character while in Rohan.

[gamer]

Some people don't like the change but I liked it. When she said " if you want him come and claim him" was great. Peter changed the character just enough to get us to care about her.

[triune_blades]

It was a wonderful addition to the story. I love her character. The actress chosen was perfect.

[SirLofHearthaven]

This is partly true. In the LOTR trilogy, she is the one who makes Aragorn's standard, which signals the Return of the King Besides, I personally think her character was meant to symbolize the wives of men at war.

[dancemaniac]

This was a good call. Their love story was a crucial part of why Aragon returned as the king.

[kirkcornelius]

Arwen did have lines in Return of the King book when she offers Frodo her jewel

[pageachatter]

What most people seem to forget is that authors tend to write what they're familiar with. Tolkien spent most of his time amongst his fellow soldiers in WWI, ergo most of the prominent characters in his books are men.

[caibra]

Liv Tyler was spectacular. There's no actress that can really make you break down and cry just watching her cry like she can.

[g.santoro]

Actually arwen had spoken dialogue in the novels. At the end of return of the king Frodo spoke with her and Aragorn in Minas Tirith

[AodhanBeag]

Yeah but Liv Tyler did a fantastic job

Yeah we didn't get Glorfindel but I think giving Arwen a more prominent role added to the narrative without having to explain the long history of Glorfindel in a movie that already has a very long run time and non die hards probably wouldnt be keen on the extra lore and run time at that stage

[aegorbittersteel]

Wow a new LOTR video I wonder if these are gonna be sprinkled in as nice treats for variety.

[samilluminated]

I think it was a nod to Baren and Luthien. And telling Glorfindel's story would have demanded screen time from the main story.

[XRyanK]

Im so glad they did because Arwen & Aragorn have the most beautiful love story in the films

[FrancesColosa-kl]

Steven Tyler’s daughter the lead singer of Aerosmith . She did an amazing job . She is very beautiful .

[cabadger]

As it relates to Arwen & Aragorn, do you really think the books are more hopeful? As I read the books & indices so long ago, it all kinda blurs together, but what you mean by "hopeful"? The movie's version explains why Arwen is willing to face her fate. I think everything in the movies makes their love as beautiful and epic as Beren and Lúthien. Did I not get your point?

[Han-rwev]

I was really disappointed when we lost Glorfindel, but I understand why they gave Arwen his role.

It was basically a cinematic necessity, otherwise from the perspective of the other characters, Arwen basically just turns up for the wedding.


On top of that, even three very long movies wasn't really enough to adapt the Lord of the rings trilogy in it's entirety.

Peter Jackson had to cut out a lot.

However, back when I was younger, I always believed that The Lord of the Rings couldn't really be adapted, and I kind of still do. You'd need more movies and some magic.

But Peter Jackson still pulled off something amazing. As soon as I saw the first trailer, it was like seeing Middle-Earth come to life.

I just wish he'd been given more time to prepare and fine tune things when did The Hobbit, instead of being suddenly dumped into the director's seat when Del Toro left, and only being given a short time to pick up the pieces.


Anyway Lord of the Rings isn't really a romance, it's more of a war story. However, it's female characters are definitely still treated with respect.

[wescobb]

Tolkien would have considered the appendices part of the novel, and Arwen has a lot of lines in there. In addition, as others have pointed out, she does have lines in RoTK proper when speaking with Frodo in Minas Tirith.

[TheJetstream]

What Tolkien couldn't do narratively in the books while focusing on the humblle Hobbits, Jackson could do in film to augment the story by investing more in Aragorn and Arwen with real stakes for them with the outcome of the war.The choice to drop Glorindel was the right one because Arwen is central to Aragorn and hope.