Lúthien was the character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology inspired by his wife Edith.
Tolkien’s story of Beren and Lúthien reflects elements of his relationship with Edith, including an episode in which Edith danced in a woodland clearing. Tolkien later connected that memory with Lúthien’s dancing. The tale places a mortal man, Beren, and an immortal Elven woman, Lúthien, at the center of a quest involving the recovery of a Silmaril.
Tolkien and Edith’s names appear together on their gravestone in Oxford: “Beren” is beneath Tolkien’s name, and “Lúthien” is beneath Edith’s. The inscription expresses the personal importance of the legend to Tolkien and his family.
Lúthien is not simply a model for one later character. Her story is a major legend within Tolkien’s wider mythology and is associated with The Silmarillion, later versions of which Christopher Tolkien edited and published after his father’s death.