Episode 108 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 108

A defense of Arwen Undómiel:

• There are many readers who criticize the inclusion of Arwen as a female character because she is not as active as other female characters such as Éowyn or Galadriel.
• Her aloofness from the story and her lack of contribution to the War of the Ring aside from the creation of the standard of the king make her a target for criticism from certain quarters.
• In the composition of The Lord of the Rings, Arwen was a late creation, and was part of the development of Aragorn’s plotline and thematic elements and was mostly unexpected.
• From the point of view of the frame, with Frodo as the author, he highlights two aspects in his title: The Downfall of The Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King.
• Of these two, the fall of Sauron is the primary story, and is the main plotline from the beginning of the composition. The return of the king is a secondary story that only appeared while writing.
• The development of the Aragorn plot was long and complicated, starting with the hobbit named Trotter and over time being connected with Númenor and the other histories of Middle-earth.
• Arwen is a poorly developed character because she is not part of the story, but Tolkien decided to include her because of her thematic importance at the cost of her underdevelopment.
• Why include Arwen at all, given the vulnerability to criticism? Primarily, this is about Lúthien.
• By including the Tale of Tinúviel, the integration of the Hobbit and Silmarillion worlds begins.
• When re-reading The Lord of the Rings, readers come to it with the knowledge of Aragorn’s relationship with Arwen from the main text and Appendix A.
• So, when a re-reader hears Strider tell the hobbits the Tale of Tinúviel, we bring a new meaning for Strider in that story, because of the parallel between Arwen and Lúthien.
• In this way, the story of Aragorn and Arwen is a fit end to all of the stories of the Elder Days.
• The story of Beren and Lúthien also percolates up throughout The Lord of the Rings in many different ways, such as Frodo’s hand being bitten and maimed at Mount Doom.
• Aragorn’s union with Arwen as the last between Men and Elves parallels the first union of Beren and Lúthien, and brings an end to that cycle of stories, and reunites all of those lines.
• Note: The satisfaction of the wedding scene is different from Shakespeare’s wedding scenes where we have seen the two characters interacting all along, and this is the culmination. Here, the satisfaction is in the thematic conclusion and in the mythic significance of the Evenstar.
• Though to the hobbits he will always be the Strider they met in Bree, to everyone else, his marriage to Arwen elevates Aragorn to mythic status as the king who returns.
• While Aragorn has achieved the political status of king through his actions of the story, his marriage to Arwen elevates this to a more spiritual renewal of the kingship.
• There is also a temporary restoration of the Elder Days in which the stories become reality.
• Note: In the films, Peter Jackson was tempted to integrate Arwen more into the main plot due to the criticisms of her underdevelopment in the main book story, such as having her at Helm’s Deep. Jackson often attempts to deviate from the received text by integrating changes or new perspectives that Tolkien considered or attempted but didn’t accomplish. In the adaptation of The Hobbit, he attempts to recast the original story in the frame of it being part of the bigger story of the Third Age, which is something that Tolkien attempted with “The Quest of Erebor”.
• Note: Had Tolkien created Arwen earlier in the writing process, he most likely would have included her more actively, as this would be more closely paralleled with the story of Lúthien. She might have come down with her brothers and the Grey Company, and Tolkien might have gone even further with the Lúthien role, perhaps having her rescue Aragorn at some point.
• The passage describing Arwen at the feast is one of the last written for The Lord of the Rings, created during the revision stage to retcon Arwen into the main text and set the stage for later.
• Another late revision was the banner created by Arwen to be carried by the Grey Company, paralleling her father Elrond’s role as the herald of Gil-galad.

The Evenstar of her people:

• Arwen is set aside in a place of honor, but it is separate from Elrond’s place, which was in the place of authority. She is set back from the table and highlighted overlooking the table.
• Her place would be seen like that of a queen or an honored lady among those present.
• The context given by the narrator is that this is a momentous occasion for both Frodo personally, and for the history of the Third Age in general, through both content and tone.
• The structure of the sentence describing her place is in a very stately register and uses the series of paratactic clauses throughout her description, which begins with one very long sentence.
• The short sentence that follows sets up the following description like an abstract.
• Note: It seems like this description was written by Frodo, trying to capture the pairs of opposites that denote elvishness throughout the book, as we’ve also seen Sam use at various times.
• The first clause is a negative, capturing what she lacks in signs of age aside from her dark hair. There is also an emphasis on the way her skin also lacks any sign of age upon it.
• This second long sentence is divided into three parts, separated by semicolons. The first is a single clause describing her hair, while the second has multiple clauses about her skin and eyes.
• Frodo seems to stumble into poetry as he attempts to convey in the third clause of this long sentence the sense of the imagery stands against her youth.
• The phrase “grey as a cloudless night” doesn’t make sense logically, but that may be intentional, as Frodo attempts to capture the apparent contradiction of opposites again.
• However, her name is Evenstar, which appears early in the evening before sunset when the sky is still alight with faded blue and the other stars are not yet visible, called the gloaming.
• The time of gloaming is a very important time of day for the Elves, and what that represents.
• It’s also possible that her eyes are compared to the grey in which one sees the world at night.
• There are some parallels to the description of Frodo’s impression of Goldberry, in its use of similes that are more poetic than literal.
• However, while meeting Goldberry was compared to meeting a fair, young elf queen, in Arwen’s case she literally is that, and so the image behind that simile is revealed.
• It is in the expression of her eyes that tell against any appearance of youth, and so it is her intelligence, experience, and acquired wisdom that sets her apart.
• Note: There is a parallel to the appearance of Melian in The Silmarillion, enthroned and wise.
• There seems to be an implicit emphasis on her lack of crown or jewelry, and so not dressed as a queen. This is another negative description, as queens are dressed as such to identify them.
• Note: While modern royals often dress simply, this was not true in earlier times.
• Note: There is a possibility that the lace cap Arwen wears is a remnant of Celebrimbor’s folk in Eregion, or that there may be mithril involved in it’s making, though the text doesn’t say this.
• There is a trend that Tolkien’s queens are associated with wisdom, such as Melian and Galadriel. We are given many examples or bad or flawed male rulers in the stories, but few female ones.

An insertion by the King’s Writer:

• The more elevated sentence at the beginning of the second paragraph may be an addition of Findegil, King’s Writer, as it is in a different register from the previous paragraph.
• This whole paragraph may be Findegil’s, as it wants to emphasize the importance of this moment, and her greater role. This shows her importance prior to her marriage to Aragorn.
• This sentence conveys something like titles upon her, and unlike Frodo’s wandering description of her appearance, it is very focused and stately, as in a formal history.
• The word order also points to this change in narration style, as it is more elevated and formal.
• This paragraph sounds like something written in Arwen’s honor, and not a mere description.
• “Errantry” is also not a word that hobbits would usually use, so this feels like a different register.
• The end of the paragraph, however, is part of the narrative and not just an introduction.
• Note: This may also be the first appearance of the sons of Elrond, as they were not part of the Grey Company in the early drafts. This is also the first mention of Celebrian’s story, though she is not mentioned by name. This seems to be the creation of Elrond’s whole family in one passage.
• It is important that this very first glimpse of Elrond’s family includes a tragic story about his wife.

END OF SESSION