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The Lord of the Rings trilogy is very much more than an adventure story. In fact, J.R.R. Tolkien intended the novels have a greater message regarding the powers of love and truth. These underlying themes run throughout all three books, and nowhere are they more apparent than in the relationship between Arwen, the elf maiden, and Aragorn the human king in the Tale of Arwen and Aragorn. Through them Tolkein shows the reality of love as an ultimately triumphant force that has to endure many trials in order to achieve bliss. In the creation of his thoroughly believable world, Arwen and Aragorn exemplify the elements of love, loyalty, and sacrifice that Tolkein believes to be inseparably linked to the human experience. The sacrifice of loving is apparent by the choices that Arwen makes in order to pursue her relationship with Aragorn. Arwen is to leave Middle-Earth and depart to the Grey Havens, but instead gives up her family to stay with the man she loves. Arwen not only loses her family but also gives up her Elven immortality to become a mortal woman, which is a very big sacrifice.
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