The name inscribed beside Edith Tolkien’s name on her grave is Lúthien.
J.R.R. Tolkien and his wife Edith are buried in Wolvercote Cemetery in Oxford. The gravestone identifies Edith as “Lúthien” and Tolkien as “Beren,” referring to the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf-maiden Lúthien in Tolkien’s legendarium.
The pairing reflects Tolkien’s personal association of the fictional love story with his own relationship with Edith. Beren and Lúthien’s tale appears in several forms across Tolkien’s writings and became one of the central stories of the First Age.
The inscription does not mean Edith was literally the historical source for every detail of Lúthien. It is a commemorative literary tribute, linking the couple with a story about love overcoming separation and extraordinary obstacles.