arwen
 

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why did arwen not leave middle easth with legolas but choose to die

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<img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/wight.jpg" align=absmiddle> Re: Arwen

Welcome,nine nazguls. I don't know how deeply you've delved into Tolkien,but I'll try my hand at a quick answer. Arwen,like her father Elrond,was Half-elven. This meant they had the blood of Elves and Men. As such,they as well as Arwen's brothers Elladan and Elrohir had the power to make a one time,irrevocable choice as to which race they would be counted as. Elrond had made his choice long before,to be counted among the Elves. Out of love for Aragorn,Arwen chose to be numbered among Men,and so became mortal.
When Aragorn died,she then had to face the mortality she had taken upon herself. She died because she had no choice.I Hope that helps.

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Ditto. If I was Arwen...I would have gone with Legolas! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] sweetness

She probably wouldn't have ended up going with Legolas anyway. I got the impression that when she told Elrond she was staying with Aragorn and not going with him he wasn't pleased. She would have left with Elrond not Legolas. Unless Elrond and Legolas also left together, I'm not sure exactly who left when.
When did she get to make the choice which race to be part of? Hadn't she already lived years and years before she met Aragorn? Wouldn't that mean she was already an elf? I agree with the theory that when he died it tore her apart so she died too.

Hold on, is it just me or are you trying to say Arwen had athing for LEgolas or vice versa? *confusion* Sorry if I sound stupid but yeah...

-GN

No, elrond left at the end of the 3rd age. legolas stayed with aragorn and gimli and left after aragorn's death in the 4th age. so i wonder too why did arwen not sail after aragorn died in 4th age?

The question is not whether or not Arwen would "hook up" with Legolas or something.

The person asking the question did not understand.

He(or she) thought that Arwen could still leave Middle-earth after Aragorn died, but she couldn't - she was mortal with no turning back.

The part about Legolas in the original question is because Legolas and Gimli leave Middle-earth after Aragorn's death - so if someone was not aware that Arwen was tied to dying as a human, it would seem confusing.

She had to make her choice by the time her father left.

No. She was a half-elf. Like I just said, she had until her father left to decide whether to share the fate of men or the fate of elves.

You can read more about this choice in this article I wrote for the Barrow Downs:
http://www.barrowdowns.com/faq_halfelves.asp

[ February 07, 2003: Message edited by: Legolas ]

She was given the choice of the Peredhil also(and so were Elrohir and Elladan, his brothers)and hers was that of Luthien to 'die indeed and leave the world'...His brothers became mortal also...

It is not stated what option Elladan and Elrohir chose. Many people believe Tolkien was hinting that they left. I think this thread's questions were answered quite aptly almost three years go, and once again 7 months ago.

[ September 27, 2003: Message edited by: Legolas ]

she stayed because she loved aragorn. and why would she go with Legolas anyway? wouldn't she have gone with Elrond or other elves from Rivendell?

Arwen, as has been said, chose mortality. Since mortals were admitted to the Undying Lands, it is, I suppose, theoretically possible that she could have sailed there following Aragorn's death. Whether she would have been admitted is another matter.

But I doubt that she would even have entertained the idea anyway. Being mortal, she would have died eventually, even in the Undying Lands. So why, having taken leave of her father, mother and grandmother (and quite possibly her brothers too) once already, would she want to go through the bitter grief of parting with them a second time?

This thread is very old and undoubtedly answered...

This was not the question - the original post was asking about Arwen *after* Aragorn's death. She would've gone with Legolas because he and Gimli left after Aragorn's death. Elrond had been gone over a hundred years at that time.

She chose to stay for Aragorn however at Aragorn's deathbed he told her she still had the chance to leave Middle Earth for the Undying Lands, but she chose not to.