The Wedding of Aragorn and Arwen

On Midsummer's Eve, as the sky turned sapphire and white stars opened in the East while the West still glowed golden, the long-awaited guests arrived at the gates of Minas Tirith. First came Elrohir and Elladan bearing a banner of silver, then Glorfindel and Erestor with all the household of Rivendell. After them rode the Lady Galadriel and Celeborn, Lord of Lothlórien, upon white steeds, surrounded by many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with white gems in their hair. Last of all came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, carrying the Sceptre of Annúminas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people. When Frodo saw her glimmering in the evening with stars on her brow and a sweet fragrance about her, he was moved with great wonder and told Gandalf that he now understood why they had waited: this was the ending, when night too would become beautiful and blessed and all its fear would pass away.

The Ceremony and the Union

The King welcomed his guests, and they alighted. Elrond surrendered the Sceptre of Annúminas, and laid the hand of his daughter in the hand of the King. Together Aragorn and Arwen went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky. Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undómiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment. The wedding thus joined the sundered lines of the Half-elven: through Arwen, the blood of Lúthien and Beren, of Eärendil and Elwing, flowed into the royal house of Gondor, reuniting the long-separated branches of Elrond's kindred.

The Significance of the Marriage

This marriage was not merely a personal union but a political and cosmic one. By wedding Arwen, Aragorn bound the Elven heritage of the Elder Days to the renewed Kingship of Men. The White Tree, which had withered and died, was replaced by a sapling found on the slopes of Mindolluin, and it blossomed in the court of the Citadel as a sign that the line of Elendil was restored. The wedding thus marked the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the Fourth Age, the Age of the Dominion of Men, even as the Elves began their departure from Middle-earth. For Arwen, the choice was irrevocable: she became mortal, accepting the Doom of Men, and her fate was bound to Aragorn's until his death and her own lonely passing in Lothlórien.

The Aftermath and the Farewell

After the wedding, the rejoicing continued for many days. The Companions of the Ring dwelt together in a fair house with Gandalf, and they went to and fro as they wished. But the joy was mingled with sorrow, for Elrond knew that his parting from Arwen was at hand, and that they would be sundered by the Sea and by a doom beyond the end of the world. When the Great Ring was unmade and the Three were shorn of their power, Elrond grew weary and forsook Middle-earth, never to return. Arwen remained as a mortal queen, dwelling with Aragorn for six-score years in great glory and bliss, until at last he felt the approach of old age and laid himself down in the House of the Kings in the Silent Street. There she stood alone by his bed, and tasted the bitterness of the mortality she had taken upon her. After his death, she went out from Minas Tirith and passed away to the land of Lórien, where she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth, and there is her green grave until the world is changed.