Who was J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife and the inspiration for the character Lúthien?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife Edith Tolkien was the inspiration for the character Lúthien.

Edith Tolkien, born Edith Mary Bratt, met Tolkien when they were teenagers in Birmingham. Their relationship faced opposition from Tolkien’s guardian, who wanted him to concentrate on his studies. Tolkien and Edith married on 22 March 1916, shortly before he went to France during the First World War.

Tolkien connected Edith with Lúthien, the immortal Elven princess in the story of Beren and Lúthien. Lúthien gives up her immortality for love, and Tolkien regarded the tale as especially personal. He later wrote the name Lúthien beneath Edith’s name on their shared gravestone in Oxford, while “Beren” appears beneath his own.

Edith and Tolkien had four children: John, Michael, Christopher and Priscilla. She also inspired the image of Lúthien dancing in a woodland clearing, after Tolkien saw her dancing among trees near Roos in Yorkshire.