[Child of the 7th Age]

Yes, I'm sure there were many tensions and challenges, just like Beren and Luthien. About their relationship, several biographers hve pointed to definite elements of tension at times. Of course, beause they were so young on meeting and their religious backgrounds were different, they were kept apart till age 21. Like Luthien, Edith had to give up her own heritage, that of the Anglican Church, to be with her new husband. And although Edith converted to Catholicism before her marriage, she did not always feel comfortable with her new faith. There were periods of resentment and arguments until she came to make peace with her life. Other biographers talk about the fact that she was not always comfortable with academic life or Tolkien's participation with his male friends in evening discussions of literature. And Tolkien in later years berated himself, probably unjustly, for having been so peoccupied with the hard realities of making economic ends meet that he neglected his family. Even so, it's clear he never lost his feelings for Edith and always remembered the sweet girl dancing in the moonlight, the image on which he modelled the figure of Luthien. sharon