"The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" is a story within the Appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". It narrates the love of the mortal Man Aragorn and the immortal Elf-maiden Arwen, telling the story of their first meeting, their eventual betrothal and marriage, and the circumstances of their deaths. Tolkien called the tale "really essential to the story". In contrast to the non-narrative appendices it extends the main story of the book to cover events both before and after it, one reason it would not fit in the main text. Tolkien gave another reason for its exclusion, namely that the main text is told from the hobbits' point of view.
Introduction
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Introduction
It narrates the love of the mortal Man Aragorn and the immortal Elf-maiden Arwen, telling the story of their first meeting, their eventual betrothal and marriage, and the circumstances of their deaths. It narrates the love of the mortal Man Aragorn and the immortal Elf-maiden Arwen, telling the story of their first meeting, their eventual betrothal and marriage, and the circumstances of their deaths. It narrates the love of the mortal Man Aragorn and the immortal Elf-maiden Arwen, telling the story of their first meeting, their eventual betrothal and marriage, and the circumstances of their deaths. It narrates the love of the mortal Man Aragorn and the immortal Elf-maiden Arwen, telling the story of their first meeting, their eventual betrothal and marriage, and the circumstances of their deaths.
arwen's dad in lord of the rings
user
Her father was Elrond half-elven, a descendant of the Man Tuor.
assistant
what is an elven?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
who created the aforementioned character?
user
J. R. R. Tolkien
assistant
are there any other names of the character?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
is the character referred in any literature?
user
Yes, in "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen".
assistant
what kind of literary work is it?
user
The tale is set in the Third and Fourth Ages of fictional universe.
assistant
is it a novel?
user
It is a story within the Appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".
assistant
what is the story about?
user
"The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" is a story within the Appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". It narrates the love of the mortal Man Aragorn and the immortal Elf-maiden Arwen, telling the story of their first meeting, their eventual betrothal and marriage, and the circumstances of their deaths. Tolkien called the tale "really essential to the story". In contrast to the non-narrative appendices it extends the main story of the book to cover events both before and after it, one reason it would not fit in the main text. Tolkien gave another reason for its exclusion, namely that the main text is told from the hobbits' point of view.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Introduction
The tale is set in the Third and Fourth Ages of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe, Middle-earth, and was published in 1955 in "The Return of the King" as the fifth part of the first section of Appendix A of "The Lord of the Rings". In the book itself, Aragorn is presented almost without detail of his relationships, other than a brief interaction with Éowyn, the lady of Rohan, while Arwen barely speaks and hardly features until her marriage at the end of the book. In a letter dated 6 April 1956 to his publisher Rayner Unwin, Tolkien stated that the tale was the only part of the Appendices that was "really essential to the story." The publishers wanted to omit the Appendices entirely for the first Swedish edition, the 1959-1961 "Sagan om ringen"; Tolkien insisted on keeping the tale, stating that it was "essential to the understanding of the main text in many places", and it and Appendix D formed the only appendices to that edition.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Context
The tale to some extent mirrors the "Tale of Beren and Lúthien", set in an earlier age of Middle-earth. This creates a feeling of historical depth, in what scholars note is an approach similar to that of Dante in his "Inferno". Aspects of the tale discussed by scholars include the nature of love and death; the question of why the tale, if so important, was relegated to an appendix; Tolkien's blurring of the line between story and history; the balance Tolkien strikes between open Christianity and his treatment of his characters as pagan; and the resulting paradox that although Tolkien was a Roman Catholic and considered the book fundamentally Catholic, Middle-earth societies lack religions of their own.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Introduction
In Tolkien's fictional universe, the frame story is that the tale was written by Faramir and Éowyn's grandson Barahir after Aragorn's death, and that an abbreviated version of the tale was included in the copy of the Thain's Book made by Findegil. The Tolkien scholar Giuseppe Pezzini writes that the "meta-textual frame ... is duly harmonised in the text through the use of formal features; the appendixes are indeed full of scribal glosses, later notes, and editorial references that are meant to match the elaborate textual history detailed in the Note on the Shire Records." The narrative voice and the point of view from which the story is told is examined by the scholar of English, literature, and film Christine Barkley, who considers the main part of the tale to have been narrated by Aragorn.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Frame story
The scholar of English literature Chris Walsh describes "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" as an alternative ending to "The Lord of the Rings", with Aragorn's sombre last words to Arwen in place of the hobbit Sam Gamgee's cheery "Well, I'm back". Walsh notes that in a letter, Tolkien wrote "The passage over Sea [to Elvenhome in the West] is not Death ... I am only concerned with Death as part of the nature, physical and spiritual, of Man, and with Hope without guarantees. 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 [...]".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Relegated ending
"The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" tells how it happened, as told in the main story, that an immortal elf came to marry a man, as Arwen's ancestor Lúthien had done in the First Age, giving up her immortality. It is told, too, that Sam gives his daughter Elanor the "Red Book of Westmarch", which contains the story of Bilbo's adventures and the War of the Ring as witnessed by the hobbits. It is said there was a tradition that Sam crossed west over the Sea himself, the last of the Ring-bearers; and that some years later, after the deaths of Aragorn and Arwen, Legolas and Gimli too sailed "over Sea".
The Lord of the Rings | Appendices
In reply, with "the foresight of his kindred", Aragorn prophesies that Elrond's time in Middle-earth is coming to an end, and that Arwen will have to choose between her father and staying in Middle-earth. Aragorn and Arwen meet again in Lothlórien, nearly thirty years later. Galadriel dresses Aragorn in "silver and white, with a cloak of elven-grey and a bright gem on his brow", so that he seems to be an elf-lord. Arwen sees him and makes her choice. They climb the hill of Cerin Amroth, from where they can see the Shadow (Mordor) in the East, and the Twilight (the fading of the Elves) in the West, and they "plighted their troth".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Plot
Sarah Workman writes that the relegation of the tale to an appendix "does not subordinate its importance", citing the same letter. Walsh states that he is interested to find that while Tolkien had "reluctantly relegated" the tale to an appendix, it is part of the main story in Peter Jackson's film trilogy, "strategically placed almost exactly half-way through". The film's depiction of the tale differs from the book's, combining Arwen's arrival, the presentation of the banner, the coronation, and the wedding; in the tale, Aragorn "unfurled the standard of Arwen in the battle of the Fields of Pelennor". Walsh notes that Jackson includes a flash forward to Elrond's vision of Arwen as the King's widow, with the phrase "There is nothing for you here: only death" used both in the film of "The Two Towers" and again in "The Return of the King": in Walsh's view, death is the story's focus.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Relegated ending
The Third Age ends as Elrond departs Middle-earth never to return, and he and Arwen are "sundered by the Sea and by a doom beyond the end of the world".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Plot
It has been noted also that the tale's relegation deprives the main story of much of its love-interest, shifting the book's emphasis towards action.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Introduction
Men cannot climb the hierarchy, as Eru, Valar, and Elves are permanently above them. But the Elves voluntarily leave at the end of the Third Age, so men can take their place. Further, Burns writes, the marriage with Arwen infuses Aragorn's line with fresh Elven blood, bringing some of the Elves' actual power and nobility to Gondor.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | "History, true or feigned"
The literary historian and folklorist William Gray adds that the reason for the tale's relegation may be that it does not contribute to the interlacing of the narrative. Interlacing is the literary device where the narrative jumps between parallel threads. Gray notes that one effect of the relegation is an emphasis on dramatic action, at the price of "love-interest". All the same, Gray writes, the tale "is one of Tolkien's most moving pieces. It is a tale about enduring love, triumphing over seemingly impossible odds, and sealed with Arwen's sacrifice of her Elven immortality in order to live with her human husband for 'six score years of great glory and bliss'." Tolkien himself gave another explanation, which was that "This story is placed in an appendix, because I have told the whole tale [of "The Lord of the Rings"] more or less through 'hobbits'; and that is because another main point in the story for me is the remark of Elrond in Vol.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Relegated ending
Aragorn, visiting Rivendell, sings the "Lay of Lúthien", an immortal Elf-maiden in the First Age who marries a man, Beren, thereby choosing a mortal life. As he does so, "Lúthien walked before his eyes": he sees Arwen in the woods, and calls out to her "Tinúviel! Tinúviel!" as Beren had done; she reveals that although she seems no older than he, she is of great age, having "the [immortal] life of the Eldar". He falls in love with her. Arwen's father, Elrond the Half-elven, sees without being told what has happened, and tells Aragorn that a "great doom awaits" him, either to be the greatest of his line since Elendil, or to fall into darkness; and that he "shall neither have wife, nor bind any woman to you in troth" until he is found worthy.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Plot
Rateliff praises and quotes the scholar of English literature Paul H. Kocher on this: "At the end of his epic Tolkien inserts ... some forebodings of [Middle-earth's] future which will make Earth what it is today ... he shows the initial steps in a long process of retreat or disappearance [of] all other intelligent species, which will leave man effectually alone on earth... Ents may still be there in our forests, but what forests have we left? The process of extermination is already well under way in the Third Age, and ... Tolkien bitterly deplores its climax today." In this tale of decline and fall, notes Marjorie Burns, Tolkien "clever[ly]" manages to include an element of rising to nobility.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | "History, true or feigned"
"The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", which is told in the appendices of "The Lord of the Rings", served as a sequel to this story. Indeed, both Aragorn and Arwen were descendants of Beren and Lúthien.
Beren and Lúthien | Development and versions
The Tolkien scholar Richard C. West notes the resemblance between Arwen and Lúthien, and analyses Arwen's understanding of her fateful choice, between love for Aragorn and mortality on the one hand, and her father's wishes and immortality on the other. Others such as Bill Davis analyse Tolkien's exploration of mortality through an elf's choosing to die. West further shows how Tolkien subtly weaves the tale into the main story of "The Lord of the Rings". West gives examples of direct and indirect references to Arwen that only make sense or become clearer once the tale in the Appendices has been read, such as the gift-giving scene in Lothlorien where Aragorn refers to Arwen with his words to Galadriel "Lady, you know all my desire, and long held in keeping the only treasure that I seek.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Love and death
West speculates that Aragorn may be thinking here of the consequences of what will happen should Arwen marry him, and later states that he finds "the lonely death of Arwen the most moving tragedy within ["The Lord of the Rings"]". A similar conclusion regarding Aragorn's feelings at Weathertop is drawn by scholar of medieval English literature John M. Bowers in his work on the influence of Geoffrey Chaucer on Tolkien. Bowers, looking at both the Weathertop scene and 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen', states that like certain pilgrims in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", Aragorn's stories of his ancestors "open a window into his private desires and fears".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Love and death
Elrond tells Aragorn that they may marry only when he is King of both Gondor and Arnor, the ancient southern and northern Kingdoms of Middle-earth. Some years later, Aragorn helps the Fellowship and the forces of the West to victory in the War of the Ring against the forces of Mordor. At the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, he unfurls the standard made by Arwen and is hailed as King by the people of Gondor. The One Ring is destroyed, taking the power of the three Elven-rings, including Elrond's, with it. Aragorn becomes King of Gondor and Arnor, and at midsummer he and Arwen are married in Minas Tirith.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Plot
The first one-volume edition of "The Lord of the Rings" that appeared in 1968 omitted all the Appendices "except for "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"". The process of the composition of the tale was explored by Tolkien's son and literary executor Christopher Tolkien in the 12th and final volume of "The History of Middle-earth". Working from his father's unpublished manuscripts and drafts, he traces the evolution of the tale through several versions and framing devices, including an "abandoned experiment at inserting it into [a] history of the North Kingdom", concluding that "the original design of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen had been lost".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Context
Farewell!"; as Shippey says, "Arwen is not comforted" by this; none of the traditional consolations of religion are present. He observes that Tolkien stated in a letter to a Jesuit priest that he had cut religion out of "The Lord of the Rings" because it "is absorbed into the story and the symbolism". Shippey explains that Tolkien, a devout Roman Catholic, "thought, or hoped, that God had a plan for [good pagan] pre-Catholics too", so that heroes like Aragorn would go to Limbo rather than to Hell. He notes that the tale contains another death-scene, that of Gilraen, Aragorn's mother; she too is not comforted by Aragorn's mention of "a light beyond the darkness", a phrase that Shippey writes could be a hope of salvation, or simply a hope of winning the War of the Ring.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Missing religion
Only in his work on the appendices for "The Lord of the Rings" did Tolkien record the full Tale of Aragorn and Arwen.
Aragorn | Development
Bowman notes that when Aragorn first sees Arwen, he both sings about Lúthien Tinúviel and calls Arwen by that name "as if the story [of Lúthien and Beren] had come to life before his eyes" and later he compares his life with Beren's, saying "I have turned my eyes to a treasure no less dear than the treasure of Thingol that Beren once desired". To Bowman, this blurs the line between story and history, something that as she notes Tolkien much preferred, whether "true or feigned", in the same way that Dante in his "Inferno" (5.121-138) narrates that Paolo and Francesca were trying to imitate Lancelot and Guinevere of Arthurian legend.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | "History, true or feigned"
Yet it is not yours to give me, even if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it", and in response is presented by Galadriel with a green elfstone (earning him the name "Elessar") set in a silver brooch from Arwen. West draws a further connection between the tale in the Appendices and the main text in his analysis of the scene at the camp on Weathertop where Aragorn (Strider) recounts to the hobbits in poetry and prose the "Tale of Beren and Lúthien", with West highlighting Aragorn's words and "pensive mood" as he tells them that Lúthien "chose mortality, and to die from the world, so that she might follow [Beren]" and that "together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world" and that she "alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Love and death
He tricks Iscovan the smith to trade his hammer and Follin the weaver to trade his shuttle but Menwy the bard perceives the truth and declines to trade his harp. Arawn strikes and shatters it, but Menwy laughs in defiance, saying the music of life is all around them, in the forest and its animals, and Arawn flees in terror. The warrior Coll has retired to farming. Horsemen steal his white pig Hen Wen and he follows on foot until he must rest under a hazelnut tree, whose fruit he eats. He rescues a baby owl and learns from its father that every nut he has eaten is "a day given you to understand the speech of birds and animals".
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain | Stories
The medievalist and scholar of Old English literature and its use in fantasy, Tom Shippey, analyses the tale for what it says about Tolkien's delicate balance between open Christianity and his treatment of his characters as heathens, a word that Shippey observes Tolkien uses very sparingly. Shippey notes that both Aragorn and Arwen are pagan, though Aragorn is "remarkably virtuous .. without even the faults of Theoden, and he foreknows his death like a [Christian] saint". Shippey notes that Arwen is inconsolable, seeing nothing after death, rejecting Aragorn's "we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Missing religion
The Tolkien scholar John D. Rateliff writes that "Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" forms one of the "very final passages" of the internal chronology of "Lord of the Rings", and that it ends not just with Arwen's death, but the statement that her grave is on Cerin Amroth "until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after ... and with the passing of [Arwen] Evenstar no more is said in this book of the days of old." Rateliff observes that this points up a "highly unusual" aspect of the book among modern fantasy: it is set "in the real world but in an imagined prehistory." As a result, Rateliff explains, Tolkien can build what he likes in that distant past, elves and wizards and hobbits and all the rest, provided that he tears it all down again, so that the modern world can emerge from the wreckage, with nothing but "a word or two, a few vague legends and confused traditions..." to show for it.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | "History, true or feigned"
Amendt-Raduege describes the death of Aragorn as "one of the most deeply moving scenes in the story".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Missing religion
He then married Arwen and ruled for 122 years. Tolkien developed the character over a long period, beginning with a hobbit nicknamed Trotter, and trying out many names before arriving at a Man named Aragorn.
Aragorn | Introduction
The story of Beren and Lúthien, immortal elf-maiden marrying a mortal man, and choosing mortality for herself, is mirrored in Tolkien's "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen". Their names appear on the grave of Tolkien and his wife Edith.
Lúthien and Beren | Introduction
Aragorn is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is one of the main protagonists of "The Lord of the Rings". Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, King of Gondor. He was a confidant of Gandalf and part of the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron. He fell in love with the immortal elf Arwen, as told in The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen; her father, Elrond, forbade them to marry unless Aragorn became King of both Arnor and Gondor.
Aragorn | Introduction
Whatever the case, Shippey considers the tale to give "the deepest sense of religious belief mentioned explicitly in Middle-earth", but that the result is an "only-slightly-qualified absence of religion", creating a "paradox of a 'fundamentally Catholic' work which never once mentions God." In her study of death and dying in "The Lord of the Rings", Amy Amendt-Raduege states that Aragorn's death "follows the step-by-step process outlined by the "Ars moriendi"", the Christian precepts on how to die well, namely "the acceptance of death, the refusal of temptation, the dispensation of worldly goods and the last farewell to the family, and the final affirmation of faith".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Missing religion
The scholar of English literature Anna Vaninskaya studies "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" to see how Tolkien uses fantasy to examine the issues of love and death, time and immortality. Given that Tolkien's Elves are immortal, they face the question of death from a unique vantage-point. Sarah Workman writes that in the tale, Arwen's mourning of Aragorn serves to overcome what Peter Brooks called (she writes) the "meaningless", interminable nature of immortality. Workman quotes Brooks's statement that "all narration is obituary" and states that it is in that conception that Tolkien valued Arwen's fate: it is Arwen's "mourning gaze that allows for the transmission of Aragorn's memory", or in Tolkien's words which she quotes, "And long there he lay, an image of the splendour of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Love and death
Aragorn is the opposite of hobbitish: tall, not provincial, untroubled by the discomforts of the wild. At the start, in Bree, he appears as a Ranger of the North, a weatherbeaten man named Strider. Gradually the reader discovers he is heir to the throne of Gondor, engaged to be married to Arwen, an Elf-woman. He emerges as an unqualified hero, in Frye's "High Mimetic" or "Romantic" literary mode, making the whole novel indeed a heroic romance: he regains his throne, marries Arwen, and has a long, peaceful, and happy reign.
Man (Middle-earth) | From "clod" to hero
I: 'Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world [...]'". The Tolkien scholar Christina Scull notes that as a result of this hobbit-centred viewpoint, first-time readers can be "as surprised as the hobbits when Arwen and her escort arrive at Minas Tirith".
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Relegated ending
The novel is a retelling of the story of the Third Branch of the Mabinogion, "Manawydan Fab Llŷr" ("Manawyddan, son of Llŷr").
The Song of Rhiannon | Introduction
The tale of "Beren and Lúthien", told in several works by J. R. R. Tolkien, is the story of the love and adventures of the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf-maiden Lúthien. (Early versions of the story, published in the standalone book in 2017, described Beren as a Noldorin elf.) Tolkien wrote several versions of their story, the latest in "The Silmarillion", and the tale is also mentioned in "The Lord of the Rings". The story takes place during the First Age of Middle-earth, about 6,500 years before the events of "The Lord of the Rings". Beren, son of Barahir, cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown as the bride price for Lúthien, daughter of the elf-king Thingol and Melian the Maia.
Beren and Lúthien | Introduction
The film is set during the time of "The Fellowship of the Ring". It takes place after Gandalf has discovered the true nature of Bilbo's ring and just before Frodo leaves the Shire for Rivendell.
Aragorn | Film
The fellowship decide the only way past the Misty Mountains is to go under them, via the dwarven mines of Moria.
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest | Plot
He can not let go of his past. Ultimately, Aragorn accepts and uses all of his names becoming more or less an anti-Túrin as Croft puts it.
The Lay of the Children of Húrin | Aragorn's Name Story
The original manuscript pages of the deathbed exchange between Aragorn and Arwen show that this key scene was almost unchanged from the published version, and had been written at great speed.
The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen | Context
This story was further elaborated, making Trotter a nephew of Bilbo, named Peregrin Boffin, and an elder cousin of Frodo. He was said to have run away after he came of age, some 20 years before Bilbo left the Shire, and had helped Gandalf in tracking Gollum later. A hint was also given as to why Trotter wore wooden shoes: he had been captured by the Dark Lord in Mordor and tortured, but saved by Gandalf; a note was added by Tolkien in the margin, saying that it would later be revealed that Trotter had wooden feet.
Aragorn | Identity
West speculates that Aragorn may be thinking here of the consequences of what will happen should Arwen marry him, and later states that he finds "the lonely death of Arwen the most moving tragedy within ["The Lord of the Rings"]". A similar conclusion regarding Aragorn's feelings at Weathertop is drawn by the scholar of medieval English literature John M. Bowers in his work on the influence of Geoffrey Chaucer on Tolkien. Bowers, looking at both the Weathertop scene and 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen', states that like certain pilgrims in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", Aragorn's stories of his ancestors "open a window into his private desires and fears".
Half-elf | Interpretations
Some scenes are new to the films; a major addition is the attack on Aragorn by cavalry Orcs riding wolflike Wargs, leaving him wounded and unconscious. The entire episode is a digression from the main story; Tom Shippey suggests it was inserted to provide more of a role for the beautiful but distant Elf-woman Arwen, who helps to bring Aragorn back to life. An addition that critics felt worked well was the incorporation of an appendix, "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", as a secondary plot line on the "bittersweet love affair" between a man and an immortal Elf.
The Lord of the Rings: film versus book | Additions
Sandra Ballif Straubhaar, a scholar of Germanic studies, writes that the narrative of "The Lord of The Rings" is composed of both prose and poetry, "intended and constructed to flow complementarily as an integrated whole." The verse, therefore, is "an indispensable part of the narrative itself". It may, she states, provide backstory, as with Aragorn's "Lay of Lúthien" or Bilbo's song of Eärendil, or it may enrich or advance the plot, as with Sam Gamgee's unprompted prayer to the Lady of the Stars, Elbereth, at a dark moment in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, or Gilraen's farewell "linnod" to her son Aragorn.
Poetry in The Lord of the Rings | Integral to story
The Ealdwood Stories, also known as the Arafel Stories, are a collection of fantasy works by American writer C. J. Cherryh. The books are works of high fantasy based in part on Celtic mythology. Arafel, a main character, is a Daoine Sidhe, the highest of the Sidhe faery-folk. She dwells in the magical small forest of Ealdwood, from which the tales take their name.
Ealdwood Stories | Introduction
"The Quest of Erebor" was originally written in the 1950s to be an appendix to "The Lord of the Rings", but Tolkien decided not to include it due to space limitations, and only a very abridged version of the tale occurred in Appendix A, III "Durin's Folk". Though none of the original manuscripts were dated, it can be deduced that the story was written no earlier than September 29, 1953—the date Tolkien first received page proofs for "The Fellowship of the Ring". A note in the earliest known draft referenced a page number in "Fellowship". There are multiple manuscripts extant of the work.
The Quest of Erebor | History
Yes, he was happily married, and yes, he did have a daughter. But his wife, Edith Mary, and daughter, Priscilla, seemed to have practically no influence on his writing." They quoted the scholar of medieval and Old English literature, Linda Voigts, as defending Tolkien, pointing out that, brought up in a male world and living among male scholars at a time when "Oxford was a boys' club", he could not have been expected to be a modern feminist. Butler and Eberhard wrote that the woman in the novel see little action, giving the example of Arwen. In their opinion, a strong-willed woman, Éowyn, was created when the teenaged Priscilla asked her father for a female character.
Women in The Lord of the Rings | A story about men for boys
The "Tale of Taliesin" is a legendary story about Taliesin printed in the "Mabinogion", and based in part on the forgeries of the "Iolo Manuscripts" by Iolo Morganwg. The story tells of events where Taliesin is placed in difficult or impossible situations but invariably overcomes all obstacles, usually through feats of magic. In one passage, Maelgwn Gwynedd sends his son Rhun on a mission to seduce the wife of Elffin ap Gwyddno. However, Elffin's court bard Taliesin knew of Maelgwn's plan because he was a seer, and arranged for a servant to replace his patron's wife, to the ultimate embarrassment of his patron's opponent Maelgwn.
Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn | Literary missteps
The film is set during the timespan of "The Fellowship of the Ring". It takes place 17 years after Bilbo Baggins's 111th birthday party and just before Frodo Baggins leaves the Shire for Rivendell (an interval which was not outlined in the ). The wizard Gandalf fears that Gollum may reveal information about the One Ring to the Dark Lord Sauron, and sends the Ranger Aragorn, heir of Isildur, on a quest to find him. The story opens with a brief prologue about the ring's disappearance before cutting to Aragorn (Adrian Webster) and Gandalf (Patrick O'Connor) at an inn (presumably the Prancing Pony) in Bree.
The Hunt for Gollum | Plot
"The Tale of Beren and Lúthien" is one of the oldest and most often revised in Tolkien's legendarium. The story is one of three contained within "The Silmarillion" which Tolkien believed to warrant their own long-form narratives. It was published as a standalone book, edited by Christopher Tolkien, under the title "Beren and Lúthien" in 2017.
J. R. R. Tolkien | "Beren and Lúthien"
The Tale of Ragnar's sons (Old Norse: Ragnarssona þáttr) is an Old Norse story about Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons.
Tale of Ragnar's Sons | Introduction
As related in "The History of Middle-earth", Tolkien conceived the character of "Elrond's daughter" late in the writing. Prior to this, he considered having Aragorn marry Éowyn of the royal family of Rohan. Arwen is depicted as extremely beautiful; she is in Melissa Hatcher's view in "Mythlore" "a symbol of the unattainable, a perfect match for the unattainable Aragorn in Éowyn's eyes." Carol Leibiger wrote in the "J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia" that Arwen's lack of involvement follows the general Elvish pattern of retreating to safe havens already established in "The Silmarillion" and continued in "The Lord of the Rings". The scholar of English literature Nancy Enright wrote that Arwen, like Christ, is an immortal who voluntarily chooses mortality out of love, in her case for Aragorn.
Arwen | Concept and creation
In the continuity of "The Book of Lost Tales", the character's name was Ottor Wǽfre (called by the Elves Eriol). He set out from what is today called Heligoland on a voyage with a small crew but was the lone survivor after his ship crashed upon the rocks near an island. The island was inhabited by an old man who gave him directions to Eressëa. After he found the island the elves hosted him in the Cottage of Lost Play and narrated their tales to him. He afterwards learned from the Elves that the old man he met was actually "Ylmir".
Tolkien's legendarium | Ælfwine framing device
"The Lord of the Rings" picks up the story of "The Hobbit" some sixty years later, with some of the same locations and characters. Tolkien now explicitly linked the story to the "Silmarillion" tales, but placed it some six thousand years later in time. This reframing made some details in "The Hobbit", such as the goblins' ready recognition of the ancient swords Orcrist and Glamdring, difficult to reconcile into a single history. Other details from "The Hobbit" don't quite mesh with "The Lord of the Rings". Frodo and his companions, for example, cover much the same territory in the Trollshaws as Bilbo and the Dwarves, but take much longer to reach Rivendell, and the geography is described differently.
Middle-earth canon | "The Lord of the Rings"
They discovered a secret compartment in the floor containing an ancient wood and brass chest. The chest contained The Lost Stories of Araluen, which picked up the stories of the Rangers after their return from Nihon-Ja. The main part of "The Lost Stories" is the text of the Lost Stories (9 short stories), though there is a blurb from "The Outcasts".
Ranger's Apprentice | The Lost Stories
Tuor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is the grandfather of Elrond Half-elven and one of the most renowned ancestors of the Men of Númenor and of the King of the Reunited Kingdom Aragorn Elessar. Along with Beren Erchamion and Aragorn, Tuor was one of only three Men ever to marry one of the Eldarin Elves. Tuor's story is one of many told briefly in the 23rd chapter of "The Silmarillion". A very early version, written circa 1916–17, is found in "The Book of Lost Tales II", part of "The History of Middle-earth". "Unfinished Tales" contains the start of a more mature and complete narrative, which Tolkien began after finishing "The Lord of the Rings" in the 1950s.
Tuor | Introduction
"The Lost Stories" consists of 10 different short stories. It contains a foreword set in July 1896 in Redman County (formerly Redmont Fief) situated in The Republic of Aralan States (formerly the medieval Kingdom of Araluen) where Professor Giles MacFarlane has set up a digging expedition to uncover any important pieces of history. They had unearthed a granite plaque, carved with the likeness of a tusked boar, signifying that the area was once Castle Redmont. In the third season of digging, they had not found anything as important as that first one. The professor was losing hope until one of the young volunteers named Audrey rushed up to him and informed him of a cabin they had found outside the village limits.
Ranger's Apprentice | The Lost Stories
Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called Arda) and the continent of Middle-earth: on one side, the angelic Valar, the Elves and their allies among Men; on the other, the demonic Melkor or "Morgoth" (a Vala fallen into evil) and his minions, mostly Orcs, Dragons and enslaved Men. In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place was taken by his lieutenant Sauron, a Maia. The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or Istari to help in the struggle against Sauron.
Middle-earth | Context: Tolkien's legendarium
"Unfinished Tales" provides more detailed information about characters, events and places mentioned only briefly in "The Lord of the Rings". Versions of such tales, including the origins of Gandalf and the other Istari (Wizards), the death of Isildur and the loss of the One Ring in the Gladden Fields, and the founding of the kingdom of Rohan, help expand knowledge about Middle-earth. The commercial success of "Unfinished Tales" demonstrated that the demand for Tolkien's stories several years after his death was not only still present, it was growing. Encouraged by the result, Christopher Tolkien embarked upon the more ambitious twelve-volume work entitled "The History of Middle-earth" which encompasses nearly the entire corpus of Tolkien's writings about Middle-earth.
Unfinished Tales | Overview
So all of the little bits of lore scattered around are designed to add to the overall story and history, but also give varying accounts of it. It’s almost all incomplete information and sometimes even contradictory.”
The Eyes of Ara | Design
The game is set fifteen years after the War of the Ring. Sam (voiced by Sean Astin) is now Mayor of the Shire, and is preparing a party for Aragorn, now King Elessar of Gondor (voiced by Viggo Mortensen, using sound samples from the films). While awaiting his arrival, Sam tells the story of Aragorn's adventures during the War to his four children, Elanor (Mary Mouser), Frodo (Eric Artell), Merry (Bridger Zadina) and Pippin (Elan Garfias). The game alternates between Sam telling the story, and Frodo helping him prepare for the party. The story begins with Aragorn having met the Hobbits in Bree and successfully hidden them from the Nazgûl.
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest | Plot
The "first germ" of the character that later evolved into Aragorn or Strider was a peculiar hobbit met by Bingo Bolger-Baggins (precursor of Frodo Baggins) at the inn of "The Prancing Pony". His description and behaviour, however, was already quite close to the final story, with the difference that the hobbit wore wooden shoes, and was nicknamed Trotter for the "clitter-clap" sound that they produced. He was accounted to be "one of the wild folk – rangers", and he played the same role in Frodo's journey to Rivendell as in "The Lord of the Rings". Later Tolkien hesitated about the true identity of "Trotter" for a long time.
Aragorn | Identity
The novel is a retelling of the story of the Second Branch of the Mabinogion, "Branwen Ferch Llŷr" ("Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr").
The Children of Llyr | Introduction
Elrond would later come to play an important role in Tolkien's most widely known story, "The Lord of the Rings". With the aid of Círdan the Shipwright, Eärendil built a ship, "Vingilótë" (Quenya for "foam-flower"). He often sailed the seas west of Middle-earth, leaving his wife behind in Arvernien. At this time Elwing had in her possession the Silmaril that Beren had wrested from Morgoth. When the remaining sons of Fëanor heard about this, they attacked Arvernien and killed most of the people living there. Elwing, rather than be captured, threw herself with the Silmaril into the sea. Next, according to "The Silmarillion": Hearing of the tragedy that had befallen Arvernien, Eärendil then sought after Valinor, aboard the "Vingilot", and he and Elwing found their way there at last.
Eärendil and Elwing | Fictional history
In the early native British Arthurian tale from Wales, "Culhwch and Olwen", Culhwch ac Olwen, the hero Culhwch ap Cilydd seeks the beautiful Olwen, daughter of the giant chief, Ysbaddaden Bencawr as his bride. A prophecy has foretold that Ysbadadden will die on his daughter's wedding night. The giant therefore sets Culhwch and his companions a number of impossible tasks to complete before he will bestow his daughter. One of the tasks is to bring him the birds of Rhiannon, to entertain Ysbaddaden on the night before his death. The birds are retrieved, although the tale does not explain how.
Adar Rhiannon | The Two British Sources
In the Republic of Aralan States (formerly the medieval Kingdom of Araluen), in Redman County, the archeologist Professor Giles MacFarlane and his team have excavated the remains of the infamous triangular Castle Redmont. He hoped to find proof of the legendary Rangers Corps’ existence. In their third season on the site, a spry, energetic university volunteer named Audrey came across the remains of Will Treaty's cabin in the woods. There MacFarlane found a chest containing the Lost Stories of Araluen, chronicling what happened to Will, Halt and the rest after they returned from Nihon-Ja, giving the Professor the proof he was after.
The Lost Stories | Foreword
The second section of Pyle's novel is separated into three stories: "The Story of Merlin," "The Story of Sir Pellias," and "The Story of Sir Gawain."
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights | "The Book of Three Worthies"
This story may, then, provide a background to Gawain's attempts to resist the wife of the Green Knight; thus, the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight may be seen as a tale which combines elements of the Celtic beheading game and seduction test stories. Additionally, in both stories a year passes before the completion of the conclusion of the challenge or exchange. Some scholars disagree with this interpretation, however, as Arawn seems to have accepted the notion that Pwyll may reciprocate with his wife, making it less of a "seduction test" per se, as seduction tests typically involve a Lord and Lady conspiring to seduce a knight, seemingly "against" the wishes of the Lord.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Similar stories
The owl joins his quest, as do the stag and mole he rescues along the way. They find Hen Wen captive in a pit of Annuvin, where the owl and stag lead away the hunting birds and horsemen of Arawn. Coll jumps into the pit and escapes with his pig through a tunnel dug by thousands of moles. Back home his fields and gardens have flourished, for the enchanter Dallben has moved in during his absence.
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain | Stories
In the tale of Adanel it is suggested that Men return to Eru after death.
Cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium | Creation account
Lúthien and Beren are characters in the fantasy-world Middle-earth, narrated by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She is an elf, daughter of Thingol and Melian. He is a mortal man. The complex tale of their love for each other and the quest they are forced to follow, triumphing against overwhelming odds but ending in tragedy, appears in "The Silmarillion", the epic poem "The Lay of Leithian", the Grey Annals section of "The War of the Jewels", and in other texts in Tolkien's legendarium, where it plays a central part. Their story is told to Frodo by Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings".
Lúthien and Beren | Introduction
It does not contain every version or edit to the story, but those Christopher Tolkien believed would offer the most clarity and minimal explanation. The book starts with the most complete version of the beginning of the tale, as told in "The Book of Lost Tales" (with only slight editing of character and place names to avoid confusion with later versions). The general aspect of the story has not been modified; Beren, for example, is a Gnome (Noldo), the son of Egnor bo-Rimion, rather than the human son of Barahir. (Beren's heritage switches between elf and man throughout the book, depending on which portion of the story is being told.)
Beren and Lúthien | Standalone book
Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in the novel "The Lord of the Rings". Arwen is one of the half-elven who lived during the Third Age; her father was Elrond half-elven, a descendant of the Man Tuor, while her mother was the Elf Celebrian, daughter of the Elf-queen Galadriel. In the novel, she marries the Man Aragorn, who becomes King of Arnor and Gondor, thus adding long life and nobility to his dynasty. In Peter Jackson's film adaptation, Arwen is played by Liv Tyler.
Arwen | Introduction
They did not find the hobbits, but met Gandalf the White (whom they initially mistook for Saruman), sent back from death to continue his duties in Middle-earth. Gandalf told them that the hobbits were in the care of the Ents of Fangorn.
Aragorn | The War of the Ring
In the Irish folktale, the hero goes on quest for ' The Only Story' () which is thought to mean ' truth about women '. That meaning is illuminated in versions that provide a more fuller title, e. g., "The Shining Sword and the Knowledge of the Cause of the One Story about Women", This has been corrupted to "news of the death of Anshgayliacht" in the L (Larminie) version. is also a corruption of this. Kittredge considered the "secret about women" element to be an essential and original part of the Irish story, as seen in the stemma of texts given by him, even though the "woman" part of it has been lost in some variants, such as Kennedy's "Fios Fath an aon Sceil" ("perfect narrative of the unique story") A more familiar Arthurian tale perhaps than "Arthur and Gorlagon" which embeds the quest of "What is it that women most desire?" is "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle".
Claíomh Solais | The secret about women
Will Treaty, after gathering local gossip, returns to his little cabin in the woods to find Halt, his mentor and friend, waiting there for him. After coffee, Halt hesitantly tells Will a tale of his parents from immediately after the battle at Hackham Heath against Morgarath's army: upon losing that battle, Morgarath did not surrender, preferring instead to keep throwing his troops at the Kingdom's forces to cause as many losses as possible. In one of the skirmishes Halt steps up to take command of a failing flank. He notices that the Araluen line might collapse before he arrives on the front lines.
The Lost Stories | Death of a Hero
Gondolin was a secret city of Elves in the First Age of Middle-earth. "The Fall of Gondolin" tells of the founding of the city; of the arrival there of Tuor, a prince of Men; of the betrayal of the city to Morgoth by the king's nephew, Maeglin; and of its subsequent catastrophic destruction by Morgoth's armies. It also relates the flight of the fugitives to the Havens of Sirion, the wedding of Tuor and Idril, as well as the childhood of their son Eärendil.
The Fall of Gondolin | Story
Tales from the Middle Welsh "Mabinogion" are found in two manuscripts dating to the mid- and late-fourteenth century, but many of the tales themselves "evolved over a span of centuries: passed on from storyteller to storyteller, they were by turns expanded and distorted, improved and misunderstood." A mythological tale in the first of the Four Branches of the "Mabinogi", one involving Annwvyn, not-world, or the Otherworld, tells of a hunting expedition undertaken by Pwyll Lord of Dyved. He sets his hounds against those of Arawn, the king of the Otherworld, and in an attempt to make amends, agrees to exchange places with this king for a year and a day in order to do battle with another king of the Otherworld, Havgan, in a year's time.
The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain | "Mabinogion"
This puts him in Frye's "Romantic" mode. Tolkien does come close to myth, Shippey suggests, as when Gandalf confronts the leader of the Nazgûl at the gate of Minas Tirith, and a cock crows, "as if" signalling the arrival of the Rohan cavalry, just as, he writes, a crowing cock signalled the Resurrection to Simon Peter in the Bible.
Aragorn | Romantic hero
In the film adaptation of "", the injured Aragorn is revived by a dream or vision of Arwen, who kisses him and asks the Valar to protect him.
Arwen | Adaptations
Culhwch and Olwen () is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, c. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales.
Culhwch and Olwen | Introduction
When Tolkien first introduced Éowyn, the interest she showed towards Aragorn was not one-sided, with suggestions in notes that they would marry at the end of the story. Another proposal was that Éowyn would die to save or avenge Théoden, and Aragorn would never marry after her death. The first mention of Elrond's daughter, named "Finduilas", was made in reference to the banner she made for Aragorn, but Tolkien did not give any hint whether she had any further part to play. The references to her marriage with Aragorn came later, but it was explicitly stated only near the completion of the book.
Aragorn | Development
Other scholars disagree with this idea, as many of these newer translations create more problems within the story and do not ground themselves in the Llyfr Gwyn, from which the Mabinogi was translated.
Arawn | The Four Branches
Tolkien’s manuscripts are presented as a fully continuous and standalone story, with a single narrative.
Middle-earth canon | "Beren and Lúthien"
Meanwhile, the corrupt wizard Saruman also desires the Ring ("Saruman"). At the Inn of the Prancing Pony in the village of Bree, Frodo and his friends sing and dance for their fellow guests ("The Cat and the Moon"). With the assistance of the Ranger Strider, the four Hobbits escape pursuit by the Black Riders, servants of Sauron, and safely reach the Ford of Bruinen ("Flight to the Ford"). Awaiting them at the Elven settlement of Rivendell is Arwen, the beloved of Strider, whose true name is Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor ("The Song of Hope"). Arwen's father, Lord Elrond, calls a Council of Elves, Men and Dwarves at which it is decided that Frodo will carry the Ring to Mordor.
Lord of the Rings (musical) | Act I
Arwen was the youngest child of Elrond and Celebrían. Her elder brothers were the twins Elladan and Elrohir. Her name ""Ar-wen"" means 'noble maiden' in Sindarin. She bore the soubriquet "Evenstar" (Evening Star), as the most beautiful of the last generation of High Elves in Middle-earth. As told in "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", Aragorn in his twentieth year met Arwen for the first time in Rivendell, where he lived under Elrond's protection. Arwen, then over 2,700 years old, had recently returned to her father's home after living with her grandmother, the elf-queen Galadriel in Lothlórien. Aragorn fell in love with Arwen at first sight.
Arwen | Literature
Croft begins by comparing Aragorn from "The Lord of the Rings" and Túrin from "Children of Húrin." One character (Aragorn) is willing to step into his role, while the other (Túrin) tries everything he can to change fate.
The Lay of the Children of Húrin | Túrin and Aragorn: Evading, and Embracing, Fate
A portion of the "Narn i Chîn Húrin" or "The Tale of the Children of Húrin" or simply the "Narn" is a part of the book "Unfinished Tales" by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is a prose version of an earlier narrative poem called "The Lay of the Children of Húrin". A complete version of the Narn called "The Children of Húrin", edited by Christopher Tolkien, was released as a new book in 2007. The Narn is a long story of what happened to Húrin and his children Túrin Turambar and Nienor, after Húrin was cursed by Morgoth.
Narn i Chîn Húrin | Introduction
Aragorn is portrayed as a puppet of the Elves who has been instructed to usurp the throne of Gondor by murdering Boromir (whom he had discovered alone after Merry and Pippin were captured) before Gandalf removes Denethor. Arwen, being 3000 years older, holds Aragorn in contempt but uses their marriage to cement Elvish rule over Gondor. Faramir has been exiled to Ithilien where he is kept under guard with Éowyn. The Elves have also corrupted (using New-Age style mysticism) the youth of Umbar, which they aim to use as a foothold into Harad and Khand. After defeating the Mordorian army, the Elves enter Mordor to massacre civilians with the help of Men from the East, supposedly to eliminate the "educated" classes.
The Last Ringbearer | Plot
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Fall of Gondolin is one of the stories in "The Book of Lost Tales" which formed the basis for a section in his later work, "The Silmarillion". A stand-alone, book-length version of the story was published in 2018. "The Fall of Gondolin" is one of three stories from the First Age of Middle-earth to be published as a stand-alone book: the other two are "Beren and Lúthien" and "The Children of Húrin".
The Fall of Gondolin | Introduction
King Arthur explains to his nephew what happened to him in the forest and Sir Gawain, optimistically upbeat, suggests that they both ride about the country collecting answers to this tricky question. So they both do this, riding separately about the kingdom and writing down the answers they receive. When they return, they compare notes. Sir Gawain is still willing, but King Arthur senses the hopelessness of it all and decides to go once more into Inglewood Forest to look for inspiration. In the forest he encounters an ugly hag on a fine horse, a loathly lady who claims to know the king's problem and offers to give him the answer to this question that will save his life, on one condition.
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle | Plot summary
Several versions of the story of Halewijn exist. In all of them, Lord Halewijn (Halewyn) is either an evil man, a magician, a demon or a faery lord who sings a magical song. Every woman (maiden) who hears this song is drawn towards him and goes to meet him in his forest, where he kills them. In one version he beheads them, in another he touches them with his magical sword upon which they turn into stone. A princess (In one version her name is given as 'Machteld', but in most versions she remains nameless) hears the song and is drawn into the forest to meet Lord Halewijn.
Heer Halewijn | The story
The scholar Paul H. Kocher, reviewing "Unfinished Tales" in "Mythlore", notes that all the stories are linked to either "The Silmarillion", "Akallabeth" or "The Lord of the Rings", and extensively annotated, mainly by Christopher Tolkien. In Kocher's view, the stories contain "some of Tolkien's best writing" (and he summarizes them in some detail), though there is much of interest in the editorial material also. He notes the revised map with the additional placenames used in the tales, and that the book does not address Tolkien's poetry. The Tolkien scholar Corey Olson notes that Christopher Tolkien chose to present the incomplete tales as they were, adding a commentary to help readers grasp how they fitted in to his father's Middle-earth legendarium.
Unfinished Tales | Reception
Aragorn has an Ideal Partner in Arwen, but also a Negative Animus in Eowyn, at least until she meets Faramir and chooses a happy union with him instead.
Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien | Jungian archetypes
The game's story tells of the kingdom of Albareth whose monarch High King Valwyn has disappeared and the dukes and barons are wrestling for power. Barbarians are threatening to invade, and monsters are pillaging the land. The player must assume the role of one of three heroes (choosing between a barbarian, a knight, and a valkyrie) and unravel the conspiracy and find three magic items.
Times of Lore | Plot
The following is a direct comparison between the contents of the early "Book of Lost Tales" and the later sketches that became "The Silmarillion". Although one of the "Lost Tales" often corresponds to more tales from "The Silmarillion", still the narrative in the "Lost Tales" is more extended (typically, 50% pages more). In J. R. R. Tolkien's notebooks, the fourth and fifth tales were a single one, told by the character Meril-i-Turinqi, but Christopher Tolkien decided to separate them because of their length. The same applies to the sixth and seventh tales, told by Lindo.
The Book of Lost Tales | Comparison with "The Silmarillion"
The king announces compensation for the family, but a dark stain of blood appears on Dyrnwyn's scabbard. When no kin can be found, a quarrel over the man's land grows into rebellion and war. Rhitta becomes a tyrant by day and a haunted man by night. The stain spreads and he can no longer draw the sword. He builds myriad chambers underground, sleeps with a bodyguard, and moves to a new one every night. Finally he seizes the sword to strike the ghost of Amrys and flame from the hilt kills everyone in the room. They are never uncovered. Arawn ventures from Annuvin in human disguises to steal the magical equipment used by Prydain's greatest craftsmen.
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain | Stories
As they approach Mordor, Frodo and Sam sing to each other about the power of stories ("Now and for Always"). Gollum is moved by their song, but the evil side of his personality asserts itself and he plans to betray the Hobbits ("Gollum/Sméagol").
Lord of the Rings (musical) | Act II
This story also appeared in Katherine Kurtz's 2002 anthology, "Crusade of Fire", stories about the Knights Templar. "Touchstone": Aeron Aoibhell as a child, being tested for magic, and what comes of it. The story introduces Gwyn ap Neith, king of the Sidhefolk, and his wife Etain, as important and recurring characters.
The Keltiad | Tales of Spiral Castle: Stories of the Keltiad
The story of the "Idroth" is as follows:
Idra | Introduction