Liv Tyler – Arwen

Liv Tyler, am actress who has been described as ‘cool’ and ‘beguiling’ with ‘dazzling eyes’ and ‘flawless porcelain skin’, is cast as Lady Arwen, the beautiful daughter of Elrond, the Lord of Rivendale.
Known among her people as ‘Evenstar’, it is Arwen’s deep love for Aragorn that sustains the heroic warrior through the desperate struggles of the War of the Ring and which will bring her, at last, to make a terrible choice: whether to pass into the undying lands of the west with her father and the other Elven folk, or to remain with Aragorn in Middle-earth where she would become mortal and eventually die.
It is fitting that the role of Arwen should go to an actress now ranked amongst the leading beauties of contemporary cinema. Making her debut in Bruce Beresford’s ‘Silent Fall’, Live Tyler played leading roles in films such as ‘Empire Records’ and ‘Heavy’, before receiving critical attention, in 1996, for her performance in ‘Stealing Beauty’ from the Italian director, Bernardo Bertolucci, a film that had cinema commentators comparing her with the young Elizabeth Tyler to the extent of briefly re-naming her ‘Liv Taylor’.
After a successful appearance in Tom Hank’s directorial debut, ‘That Thing You Do!’, Tyler co-starred with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck in ‘Armageddon’, a film that won her roles in Robert Altman’s ‘Cookies Fortune’, in the period romance-romp ‘Plunkett & Macleane’ and opposite Ralph Fiennes in the film of Alexander Pushkin’s ‘Onegin’. She recently appeared in ‘One Night at McCool’s’ opposite Matt Dillon, and was reunited with Robert Altman when she starred in the critically acclaimed ‘DrT and the Women’ with Richard Gere.
Tyler is very conscious of starring in a film dominated by male characters: ‘I see it as an honour to be one of only a few women in the picture and to bring the feminine touch to the story.’
Arwen, however, is an unconventional women and her love-affair with Aragorn is set against the threatening backdrop of war. ‘So she has to be patient and supportive and let him go off and do the things he has to do. But she is impatient, too. When you’re in love, you want to spend all your time with that person, and she finds it difficult that they can’t be together.’
Born in New York and raised in Portland, Maine, prior to returning to Manhattan, Liv Tyler was required to adopt an English accent for the role of Arwen. She also had to learn to speak Elvish and move as an Elf maiden might: ‘I had to carry myself in a certain way and be aware of my breathing. It was a challenge for me as an American speaking in a British accent, but as an Elf I had to be so erect and centred and to move effortlessly and gracefully.

Name: Arwen Evenstar
Date of Birth: 241 T.A.
Parents: Elrond, Celebrian
Race: Elven
Weapon: Beauty

"Arwen Evenstar is the daughter of Elrond and one of the most beautiful women in Middle-Earth. When Aragorn saw her for the first time in the woods he thought she was Luthien and he called to her crying 'Tinuviel! Tinuviel! just as Beren had done to Luthien. Aragorn and Arwen fell in love with eachother. Elrond was troubled as he knew that Arwen would have to make a choice between leaving Middle-Earth with him and remain immortal or to stay in Middle-Earth and accept the Doom of Men and die. Aragorn left Rivendell and said goodbye to Arwen. He fought nearly 30 years in the cause against Sauron and after the War of the Ring was won, he became King and took Arwen as his bride. And so Arwen decided to stay in Middle-Earth and accept the doom of men and Elrond left middle-earth. Aragorn and Arwen ruled happily for a very long time untill Aragorn died. Arwen left Minas Tirith and left for Lorien where she died soon after upon Cerin Amroth. "

'Estel, Estel!' she cried, and with that even as he took her hand and kissed it, he fell into sleep. Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there looked at him in wonder.'

Arwen is unique among the elves for unlike the fair-haired race, she is dark and intensely beautiful. She is the daughter of the Elf-lord Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, and his wife Celebrian, who is the daughter of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn of Lothlórien.


She is the last-born of all the Elves but her years still span many ages and she continues to become the most beautiful and radiant of her people. She was first acquainted with Aragorn in the forest of Rivendell. But thirty years passed before they were reacquainted once again and Arwen fell in love with the strength and valor of this Moral Man.


Her description is of timeless radiance, her features untouched by the turning of the pages of time, her dark hair glowing and soft, her skin flawless and smooth and the "light of the stars was in her bright eyes, gray and cloudless as the night." She is tall, slender, and soft-spoken, her voice reminiscent of the powers of her influential grandmother -- lucid, languid tones that express themselves like music in the rippling tide.


Although she has visited Lothlórien and her mother's people there, the dark-haired Arwen resides mainly in Rivendell. She is sent by Elrond to seek out the Fellowship hailed by Gandalf and comes upon them a day's ride from Weathertop after their near-fatal encounter with the Ringwraiths. She appears to Frodo in the other world, pleading with him to come back to them and then carries him to Rivendell. Along the way they are accosted by the Wraiths but using the strengths and powers of her people, as well as her control over the forces of nature, she is able to call down the Waves and wash them away.


Unknown to her father, Arwen speaks to Aragorn while the Fellowship tarries in her fair country and to him she gives the Elven-star of her people... and the gift of her immortality, binding herself to him for all eternity.


Lingering Thoughts:

Arwen is the last-born of her people, the youngest of the Elves, and yet she has seen many things. She is fearless even in the face of danger; she is wise, she is beautiful, and she is earnest. Arwen is the very soul of perfection -- an earnest desire to help no matter what her own cost, and willing to give up even immortality to be bound to a human, a Mortal Man to whose journey will eventually end in death. She is a woman of strong spirit and unbending will, not easily turned by the changes in the wind. She prays over the fallen body of Frodo, pleading with the Valar to "allow what grace has been given" her to pass unto him... and save his life.


She turns and faces the Ringwraiths, confident on her own domain, for she knows that they cannot pass into Rivendell for fear of death. And it is with confidence that she calls upon the tide to rise and wash away their immortal enemy. So too, can we learn from Arwen confidence -- in ourselves, but mostly in the One that empowers us. With the strength of God on our side, no enemy can withhold against us. Like Arwen, we must trust Him, rely on Him, and go to Him for counsel and aid when it is needed.


Could we, like Arwen, give up our life for someone that we love deeply? Could we ever love that much -- to give up our life as she gave up her immortality? Love to mankind is often a mistaken thing, a sense of "feeling" rather than truth. True love is complete submission and acceptance of all their flaws, of their mistakes; it is unconditional and unbinding; we love regardless of the outcome or the price. It is a long-lasting, ultimate bond between two people. Our love is merely a minor reflection of the love of God; and Arwen's is a pure, unselfish devotion, a love reflecting well the sacrifice of Jesus.


Things to Watch For:

Frodo is dying. He lingers on the precious between life and death... between mortality and an immortal life of a Ringwraith. But out of the silver-blue haze comes a figure swathed in white, her face ageless and breathtaking. Words are whispered to him in another dialect and somehow he understands them... she is pleading with him to hold on, to give them time, to resist the effects of the poisoned wound. So like an angel is her appearance, surrounded in a glowing orb of light that comes from her fingers, her hair, her eyes. To his eyes she is magnificent; to the eyes of the others, she is a mere Elf; there is nothing spectacular or particularly awe-inspiring about her.


As humans, we are told that we may often "entertain angels unawares." But in passing into death, we would surely know the face before us as that of an angelic being. Frodo was suspended between life and death; if conception of angelic forces are correct, then this is how we might perceive a messenger of God. If heaven is a second dimension as many believes, then we are constantly surrounded by these messengers. And in a passing from one world to another, the angels would have an appearance much like that of Arwen -- soothing, welcoming, beautiful and yet somehow not terrifying.


In the beginning of time, Adam and Eve were extremely in-tune with nature. It is foreseeable that they would have the power to control both animal and forces of nature -- for they were the Lords of the Earth and all were servant to them. So too are the Elves the enforcers of nature; and Arwen is able to call upon the tide to bring down a flood upon the Nazgûl, yet leaving herself and Frodo untouched. Had we not lost our immorality and power with the Fall of Man, we humans would be fully capable of the same.


Memorable Quote:

[to Aragorn] "What's this, a Ranger caught off his guard?"

[to the Wraiths] "If you want him... come and claim him! Non o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer. Rimmo nin Bruinen dan in Ulaer!" ("Waters of the Misty Mountains, listen to the great word: Flow waters of Loudwater against the Ringwraiths!")

[to the Valar] "What grace is given me, let it pass to him. Let him be spared. Save him."