Lúthien is the Tolkien character whose love story with Beren reflects Tolkien’s relationship with Edith Tolkien. Lúthien is an immortal Elf, while Beren is a mortal Man, and their story is one of the central romances of Tolkien’s legendarium.
The tale appears in several forms, including The Silmarillion and the unfinished narrative later published as Beren and Lúthien. Lúthien and Beren face the quest for a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth, combining romance with one of the great heroic episodes of the First Age.
Tolkien connected the fictional couple with his own marriage. He had met Edith Bratt as a teenager, and their relationship was opposed by his guardian until Tolkien came of age. Tolkien and Edith married in 1916, and he regarded her as an inspiration for Lúthien.
The association is sometimes confused with Arwen and Aragorn, another Tolkien love story involving an immortal Elf and a mortal Man. Arwen’s story belongs to the later history of Middle-earth, whereas Lúthien and Beren belong to the First Age.