Arwen became the favorite LOTR characters almost the moment that she appeared on screen largely because Liv Tyler was still very popular at that point and had the right look for the part. She filled the role of Arwen so well that it didn’t seem to matter to a lot of people that her character kind of threw the books into a disarray and replaced something that had been expected with something that became what a lot of people knew the movie for. If you go back and read the books she’s not Aragorn’s love interest and in fact she doesn’t have even a fraction of the presence that she does in the movies. But she’s still one of the best characters to pop up in LOTR because she has such an awesome entrance and a great scene with the Nazgul as one of her main opening moments.
10. Aragorn and Arwen are related in some way.
Go on and ignore the fact that it could be really creepy, because the two are cousins about 63 times or so removed. This means that they’re not so close that they would be blood relatives in an obvious way, especially since Elrond’s brother kicked it off by deciding to become a mortal king. Aragorn would eventually become one of his descendants and would later on have to prove himself to Elrond to be worthy of his daughter.
9. Galadriel is her grandmother.
The movie never really goes into this but obviously Galadriel is a rather forceful character since she can match Sauron, commands others with a quiet grace, and is the kind of character that others bow in deference to.
8. Liv Tyler actually stabbed herself during the film.
During the chase by the Nazgul the moment seen above in the clip is when she stabbed herself. On another note her character wasn’t the one in the books that brought on the flood, nor was her character even in the original confrontation, but the creators decided she deserved to have a little bit of glory.
7. Liv can’t speak Elvish.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, despite the fact that it did, since a lot of actors take on the languages they need to recite during a film. She fully admitted that she read the lines that she was given and that was it. Sadly a lot of fans were crushed.
6. Arwen and Aragorn’s story was added into the live action story.
The story of their history wasn’t seen a lot in the books though there were passages alluding to it throughout. In the movies however people were given a much clearer idea of how much they meant to each other and what they had to look forward to.
5. She was supposed to be in the Helm’s Deep fight.
The idea of Arwen having Aragorn’s back would have been great in one way since it would show that they were there for one another through thick and thin no matter the odds, but it seems as though her presence would have been a distraction for the ranger.
4. She was 2,700 years old when she fell in love with Aragorn.
You can imagine that she’d become very knowledgeable about humans how short their lifespans were, yet she still favored Aragorn despite the fact that she’d been thousands of years old when he was born.
3. Her sword isn’t in the books.
The swords in the books and the movies are supposed to be very distinctive as many fanboys would tell you. From Gandalf to Aragorn to Gimli and Legolas the weapons they used either had names that distinguished them or were very unique. Hadhafang, her blade, has never made an appearance in the books largely because Arwen was never as much of a presence.
2. She has the choice to live as an elf or a mortal.
The interesting thing about elves in Tolkien’s world is that they can choose to live as elves, meaning that their immortality will remain intact, or they can choose to live as mortals and give up their immortality for the ones they love. Arwen is one of few to do this in Tolkien’s world as she cannot think of living without Aragorn.
1. She dies of a broken heart.
Only a year after Aragorn passes Arwen simply fades away, passing on as she dies from a broken heart at the loss of her love and king. She knew very well what would happen when she gave up her immortality, but she chose the mortal path and the pain that would come with it. The happier version however is that she and Aragorn did get to live long, happy life together with their son, Eldarion.
So she wasn’t an originally sought-after character in the books, but in the movies she became someone that was absolutely great.
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