Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron
Courtly love, in the medieval literary sense, is guilty love: Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere, the Breton Bisclavret, Le Roman du Châtelain de Coucy et de la Dame de Fayel, and even Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio's Decameron, all deal with adulterous or illicit love. Tolkien does not condone such unions and the Eldar/Edain courtships are not at all in the style of medieval courtly love.
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You seem to be knowledgable about the concept of courtly love. Although I am a history major with a concentration in the Medieval Ages I must admit I've never heard it being bluntly described as "guilty." I'm 20, I'm young, I have a lot to learn, and I'll trust your judgement on this. : )
My impression of courtly love is that a love based on admiration bordering on idolatry, if "love" can exist under the circumstances. For instance, a knight who has fallen for a lady far above his station. He understands he will never be able to be with her but continues to harbor illicit feelings regardless. The lady is put upon a pedestal as a sort of otherworldly creature --unattainable, divine. That seems more in the vein of Aragorn and Arwen's relationship, does it not? A Mortal (albeit one of royal lineage) who has fallen in love with the Immortal Evenstar, his foster-sister.
Courtly love of the High Middle Ages did have a certain element of sadomasochism that Aragorn and Arwen's relationship lacks, and that I i
n no way imply it possesses. In my opinion, their love (Aragorn's), while pure, did include a near-idolatrous edge to it at first. If I remember correctly, Aragorn fell to the ground in awe when he first met Arwen because he believed her to be the vision of Luthien Tinuviel. Arwen was charmed by his mistake but chose not to return his love until some time later. In comparison to other couples in LoTR: Sam and Rosie and Faramir and Eowyn, their love doesn't quite appear balanced.
Perhaps the lack of balance is due to Aragorn's (Estel) age when he first met Arwen. Some 20-odd years, was it not?