What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien's wife, who inspired Lúthien?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife was Edith Tolkien, who inspired the character Lúthien.

Tolkien met Edith Bratt when he was a teenager, and they married in 1916. Their relationship became a central personal influence on Tolkien’s mythology. He associated Edith with Lúthien, the immortal Elf-maiden whose love story with the mortal Beren is one of the legendarium’s most important romances.

Tolkien and Edith were buried together in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford. Their gravestone bears the names “Beren” and “Lúthien” beneath their real names, making the literary connection explicit. Edith was not simply a model for a fictional appearance; Tolkien linked her with Lúthien’s dancing and with the emotional core of the Beren and Lúthien story.