Marriage in Middle-earth I (happy) - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lush · 04-09-2002, 05:35 PM

amyrilis, check out the John and Edith: Beren and Luthien thread

As for happy marriages...Elwing and Ëarendil touched me greatly, but my vote still goes for Beren and Lúthien-their love made them the bravest of all beings.
Thingol and Melian are interesting, because for all the misery they went through, one still got the sense that it was all worth it. Melian was a gift to Thingol-and sure enough, her name means "dear gift" or "gift of love" (I think...).
What intrigues me is whether or not Tolkien was making a case for unequal marriages? (Arwen being of nobler stature than Aragorn, Beren being deemed unworthy for Lúthien, Melian the Maia falling for an Elf...) Because really, if you look at most unions where the wife's stature supercedes that of her husband, you often end up with a pair of embittered souls akin to the lunatics that populate Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
I guess this is why fairy-tales are so enticing-awful convention is defied.

04-09-2002, 05:35 PM	#8
Lush Fair and Cold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the big onion Posts: 1,770	amyrilis, check out the John and Edith: Beren and Luthien thread As for happy marriages...Elwing and Ëarendil touched me greatly, but my vote still goes for Beren and Lúthien-their love made them the bravest of all beings. Thingol and Melian are interesting, because for all the misery they went through, one still got the sense that it was all worth it. Melian was a gift to Thingol-and sure enough, her name means "dear gift" or "gift of love" (I think...). What intrigues me is whether or not Tolkien was making a case for unequal marriages? (Arwen being of nobler stature than Aragorn, Beren being deemed unworthy for Lúthien, Melian the Maia falling for an Elf...) Because really, if you look at most unions where the wife's stature supercedes that of her husband, you often end up with a pair of embittered souls akin to the lunatics that populate Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I guess this is why fairy-tales are so enticing-awful convention is defied. __________________ ~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~