Which woman inspired the character Lúthien in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology?

Edith Tolkien inspired the character Lúthien in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology.

Tolkien identified Edith, his wife, with Lúthien Tinúviel, an immortal Elf whose love story with the mortal Beren forms one of the central legends of his mythology. The tale appears in versions throughout Tolkien’s writings and is most fully represented in The Silmarillion and related posthumous publications.

The connection was personal as well as literary. Tolkien and Edith met when he was a teenager, married in 1916, and remained together until Edith’s death in 1971. Tolkien wrote that he once saw Edith dancing in a woodland clearing, an experience associated with the image of Lúthien dancing before Beren.

Tolkien and Edith are buried together in Oxford. Their gravestone gives the names “Beren” and “Lúthien,” while Tolkien’s own name also includes “Beren.” Lúthien is not based on Mabel Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s mother, although Mabel strongly influenced his education and early interests.