J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife, Edith Bratt, was the inspiration for the character Lúthien.
Edith Mary Bratt married Tolkien in 1916 after a long courtship that had been restricted while he was a student. Their relationship became one of the personal foundations for the story of Beren and Lúthien, in which a mortal man and an immortal Elf unite despite formidable obstacles.
Tolkien said that Edith inspired Lúthien, especially after he saw her dancing in a wooded clearing near Roos in Yorkshire. Their shared names appear on their Oxford gravestone: “Beren” for Tolkien and “Lúthien” for Edith. Edith was also the mother of their four children, including Christopher Tolkien, who later edited many of his father’s unpublished writings.