Edith Tolkien was the real-life inspiration for Lúthien in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium.
Tolkien connected Lúthien with Edith through the couple’s shared life and through the story’s themes of love overcoming formidable barriers. Lúthien is an immortal Elf who loves the mortal man Beren; together they undertake a perilous quest to recover a Silmaril from Morgoth. Tolkien regarded the tale as one of the central stories of his mythology.
The association was made especially clear in Tolkien’s personal writings and in the inscriptions on the couple’s gravestone in Oxford. Edith is identified there with Lúthien, while Tolkien is identified with Beren.
Lúthien should not be confused with Arwen, another Tolkien character whose love story involves a mortal man and an Elf. Arwen’s story is connected to Aragorn, while Lúthien belongs primarily to the First Age narratives surrounding Beren and the Silmarils.