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Beren and Luthien are characters from JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, paralleling the romance of Arwen and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. The story concerns the first marriage between an immortal elf and a mortal man, with Luthien voluntarily giving up immortality to love Beren. This story reflects Tolkien’s own relationship with his wife, Edith Bratt, whom he referred to as his Luthien. Their love story is marked by family strife and opposition but ultimately concludes with their graves marked as Luthien and Beren, the great lovers of Tolkien’s fantasies.
Beren and Luthien are characters created by JRR Tolkien for his work The Silmarillion. Their story is also often mentioned in The Lord of the Rings. It parallels the central romance in Rings of Arwen and Aragorn, and to some extent, Tolkien’s romance with his wife.
Briefly, the story of Beren and Luthien concerns the first marriage between an immortal elf, Luthien, and a mortal man, Beren. The elves had immortality, which they could have relinquished if they had chosen married life to a mortal. The two fall in love and embark on a dangerous rescue mission to steal a silmaril, a special stone, from the enemy of Angband. However, the mission is less dangerous than Luthien’s choice. She voluntarily gives up on living forever to love Beren, whose life has been cut short. According to Tolkien, before Arwen, Luthien is the only elf who is truly dead.
In The Lord of the Rings Aragorn and Arwen are often compared to Beren and Luthien. Arwen too can choose whether to remain immortal or marry Aragorn. She chooses Aragorn and then chooses death, a subject of great pain to her father, Elrond, who will live forever only with his memory of her.
The story had a deeper and more personal meaning for Tolkien himself. Tolkien was often unhappy with people who compared his work to his life story. Tolkien certainly compared his relationship with his wife, Edith Bratt, to the relationship between Beren and Luthien. When Tolkien first met Bratt, she was a Protestant and Tolkien, a devout Catholic, was advised not to marry her. In fact, Bratt abandoned her family by converting to Catholicism. Even the first meeting of the two is an echo of Tolkien’s life
Beren spies Luthien dancing in the woods and falls deeply in love with her. On a romantic starry night, Edith danced for Tolkien and instantly enraptured him. Edith was older than Tolkien; she was 19 and he was 16. This reflects Luthien’s age and maturity, compared to Beren’s relative youth. Furthermore Tolkien referred to Edith as his Luthien and to himself as Beren.
Clearly the ensuing family strife and the opposition Edith encountered in trying to marry Tolkien were a source of grief for Edith. Luthien is shown sorry for the family strife she causes of her, but she is resolute on her way to marriage. Tolkien’s words express a kind sympathy for Edith’s family and an understanding of their pain, while celebrating Edith’s choice for her sake.
Tolkien’s relationship with Edith and his deep love for her are perhaps even more romantic than his fictional treatment of the subject. To be Luthien, the most beautiful and desired of his people in Tolkien’s eyes, was the highest respect he could give a woman. It also expresses Tolkien as almost feeling not quite deserving of the grace that is Luthien.
The end of Edith and Tolkien’s lives marks the continuing romance and the conclusion of her love story. Edith’s grave is marked with the name Luthien and Tolkien’s with the name Beren. They seem to have always remained with each other, the great lovers of Tolkien’s fantasies.
