Tolkien purists who complain about the differences between the books and the movies don't understand that the love story of Arwen and Aragorn was really close to Tolkien's heart.

The love story of Arwen and Aragorn is not found in the LOTR story. But we know that it is based on the love story of Beren (mortal man) and Luthien (immortal elf-maiden) which is found in Tolkien's Silmarillion. In the movie FOTR (extended version), Aragorn as much as tells us this himself, when he sings the song about Beren and Luthien while he leads the hobbits in the wilderness on their way to Weathertop.

The love story of Beren and Luthien was important to Tolkien. After the Hobbit was a smashing success in 1937, the publisher asked Tolkien if he had any more material to be published. Tolkien gave him the story of Beren and Luthien, as part of the Silmarillion. The publisher declined to publish this story, preferring instead to print a sequel to the Hobbit. As we all know, this sequel is LOTR.

And here's the reason why the story of Beren and Luthien was so important to Tolkien. Beren is Tolkien himself, and Luthien is Edith Mary, Tolkien's childhood sweetheart whom he married in 1916, and faithfully adored until her death in 1971, two years before Tolkien himself died. You can see the inscription on their tombstone in the Wolvercote Cemetery in North Oxford, UK (http://www.lordotrings.com/misc/grave.asp).

When Tolkien wrote that Luthien was the fairest elf that ever lived, he was writing about his wife. And when Peter Jackson decided that his movies should showcase the themes that Tolkien really cared about, he knew what he was doing when he included the love story of Arwen and Aragorn.

There was a young actress once upon a time, who was cast in an important role as an Elven Lady of tremendous beauty and grace. She was familiar to many, from other film work and family associations, yet the role offered her by a forward-thinking Kiwi director would lift her fame to a whole new level. Many Tolkien fans cried foul -- yet many others applauded! But how could we have guessed the way in which Arwen would be brought to life for the first time ever on the silver screen?

Liv Tyler was originally brought to our attention through her famous rock n' roll father, Steven Tyler. I never really cared much for Aerosmith music after the 1970s, and I paid even less attention to Liv's early acting work with their videos. Then there was that total-car-wreck-some-people-call-a-film Empire Records, and like everyone else I prudently avoided it. No, sorry, I didn't bother to rent Stealing Beauty, either.

I must be very honest here: I will confess things never before spoken. Liv used to be a thumbs down in my book. I would roll my eyes at the mention of her name, back when I was younger and less generous. I felt that she had an unearned career -- the very fact she was getting high-profile acting work… well… it just aggravated me. Understand that I was at that point a myopic, impatient, struggling actor; fairly consumed with "actor jealousy" because I thought Liv's rise to fame was nepotism at its worst. I was so over it.

Wind back the clock to 1999. The first news reports appear; and online fans start buzzing like killer bees about early casting announcements. We get wind that Ms. Tyler has been thrown into the mix to play Arwen. I think to myself, "Oh, geez… whatever." At a certain point, I end up posting on certain websites, saying certain unpleasant things. "What garbage!" I complained. "The Arwen character is gonna be all sexed up for no reason -- it won't be like Tolkien at all -- prepare for the worst, kids." There, you've gotten it out of me now, I told you this would be a confession. More and more fans contributed to the speculation. What the hell was PJ doing with this character that hardly even shows up in the book? What kind of "Arwen changes" would ruin the story? Are we going to have a great big stinking cliché of Xena: Warrior Princess morphed into this dainty Elf Lady? The unfortunate moniker Xenarwen caught our imagination. "Uh-oh," said the collective group, pretty much at the same time.

Then FOTR was released in December, 2001. People were struck with the beautiful, epic scale of the film. We found out, finally, what Liv Tyler really could do in the part. Everything about my bad attitude changed. It changed even more when I saw TTT a year later. And people around me shared their agreement, for they were just as surprised and pleased as I.

Arwen was there, never before seen in any Tolkien adaptation. She was very much there… an exquisite creature filled with sublime kindness and caring. Standing before us was the most beautiful woman seen in a movie theatre since I don't know when. We all realized how much we were falling in love with Liv Tyler. Falling in love with her "Arwen." And how easy she made it for us.

What changes to the character we had previously worried about were no longer a pressing concern. Her performance was simply divine. The way she is dressed when she makes that amazing entrance in the first film, kneeling to attend a stricken Frodo, glowing with the supernal beauty of the Blessed Realm (as we remember Glorfindel was also seen), it's just brilliant. And then she starts speaking Elvish! Pippin says, "Who is she?" And we think the same thing… in wonderment… Who is this ephemeral creature, this most high Lady of Rivendell? Oh come on, man, how could you not be pulled out of your seat?

We didn't get to see much of her in the pages of LOTR. There's a few paragraphs where she walks in and out of the room -- blink and you'll miss her. But now in these films, a character that was once pushed off the stage by ensuing War, pushed all the way to the back of the book, has now come forward to claim her space. The filmmakers have given us a fuller representation of an Appendix story that no one frankly ever reads. I know people's reading habits when it comes to the Appendices. They should read them but they don't. Now to my unending delight Liv Tyler has breathed life into this woman… has really given her a soul. I'm completely smitten.

I am suddenly reminded of a Beatle's song:

Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her

And we are back to that kiss received by Aragorn in TTT. Remember that kiss as he lies unconscious on the banks of the stream? It seems the very memory of her love is all around him. He is awakened by the ghostly feeling of her kiss. Arwen is there for him, even though he let her go. Now she has become part of the story in a new way. Seeing more of her really means we can learn more about Aragorn. The strongest motivations that carry him through the day come from her. Now that we have seen her, heard her melodic voice, seen how deeply she loves this Man (and most of all witnessed how selflessly she gives her heart), now we can likewise see another dimension to Aragorn. He has never felt such undiluted love, never known someone so giving. He still must come to terms with his feelings that, perhaps, she is too good for him. It's quite a shame that the fullness of their romance was not in the main part of the book, I think. "A Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" was a passage that Tolkien could not easily fit into the narrative as he wrote. However, it was much too beautiful to omit completely, and it shed much light on these characters, so we are lucky it survived at all. Maybe fans will pick up the book again and read what was previously ignored!

Again, we come back to Aragorn. That's why she is there in the films, so we can understand more about him. It seems to me a brilliant way to handle the material. Once lost in the back pages; now come forward to the heart of the film, Arwen reflects everything off of him. His name was once "Estel," which of course means "Hope," and every time she utters the word she is indeed referring to him. She believes in Aragorn more than any other living creature on Middle-earth. She loves him enough to give up her very life. When Elrond tells her that her hope is misplaced, telling her with Tolkien's exact words that she will diminish "as nightfall in winter that comes without a star," the look on Liv's face is just devastating. The tears in her eyes…

My fellow TORN Staffer (one of the producers of our Oscar Parties) Asfaloth shared a tremendous insight with me about Arwen. She is the most selfless character to be found, especially in that she gives up her place on the ship for Frodo. It is by her grace that Frodo can go to Valinor, to live out his days with quiet and peace. She wants him to have this chance, to show her gratitude for all the Ringbearer has done. Her kindness to him is also seen in FOTR when she holds him at the crossing of Bruinen, praying to the Valar: "What grace is given me, let it pass to him." It seems to be a foreshadowing by the screenwriters of what is yet to come in the final film. And I fully believe Asfaloth has a point. Arwen's beauty truly comes from her selflessness.

Now it is time for my apology. Liv Tyler, if you are out there, if you are reading this, I Quickbeam sincerely apologize to you. I was not a selfless person a few years ago… not at all. But seeing your performance has touched a deeper chord in me. I am so sorry for being unkind.

Your work is a true affirmation of the character of Arwen.

You have given us something truly extraordinary, and I wish very much that I could have trusted you more. I feel so much more connected to this lovely being, as interpreted by you. I write this for the love of Arwen, and to remember how she has shown us the power of love, faith, and a giving heart.

Ask any die-hard Ringer what they think of Arwen Evenstar, or more specifically, the prospect of Arwen Evanstar as interpreted by Peter Jackson, and the response will most likely range from a grim look of terror to a long tirade about how she's going to destroy the movies. Fans seem to be able to stomach omission (did anyone really expect PJ to announce that Robin Williams would be playing Tom Bombadil?), but the notion of addition sets the foot-fur of even the staunchest hobbit on end. What purpose could Arwen serve in the movies, after all, other than to lure our esteemed, brooding hero into a bunch of goo-goo love scenes, á la Titanic?

Well, first of all, don't underestimate those goo-goo love scenes. As Anwyn aptly pointed out in her Green Books article Men Are From Gondor, Women are From Lothlorien, the women of the Lord of the Rings are often strong motivational forces in the hearts of their men (whether they should be anything more than just motivational forces is quite another matter, which I'll leave to the feminists). The fact remains that whether Aragorn is escaping from Moria, battling orcs, or walking the Paths of the Dead, he's always thinking about Arwen. Because Tolkien writes through hobbit eyes, we become acquainted with Aragorn not through his internal thoughts, but through his actions. However, when we are allowed a brief glimpse into Aragorn's mind, his thoughts are more often than not about Arwen. Out of all the stories he chooses to tell to the hobbits on Weathertop, it's the story of Lúthien and Beren that he most eagerly relates-a story that must serve as a constant source of inspiration and hope for him. Later, in the forest of Lothloríen, we're reminded of the springtime of Arwen and Aragorn's love, when they plighted their troth and chased each other around Cerin Amroth with flowers in their hair. Gazing at Cerin Amroth, Aragorn lets us in on his thoughts for the first time when he whispers "Arwen vanimelda, namarië" before turning to Frodo. Finally, when he receives Arwen's banner before walking the Paths of the Dead, secretly wrought, he already knows what it is without having to be told. This implies unseen communications, conversations held between Arwen and himself that Tolkien doesn't report to us. Or perhaps Arwen and Aragorn are so deeply connected they're practically psychic. In either case, they are always aware of each other's movements and actions. Arwen's presence in the movies is not an addition to the original Tolkien; it's already there. PJ is illustrating the back scenes which already exist, but are never shown.

And while Aragorn is battling against all the forces of evil, we've got to ask ourselves: what is he fighting for? It's not just to save Gondor, and it's not just to become King (such arrogance would never corrupt our Aragorn!)-he's fighting for the women of Middle Earth and for the things that the women represent: peace, serenity, prosperity, freedom. He's fighting so that the little folk of the Shire can gossip about their pipeweed, so that Ioreth and the other women of Gondor can do their laundry in the Anduin, so that the men of Middle Earth can focus on their homes and their families and have campouts in Ithilién. The life that Arwen is leading in Rivendell is not the dull world of needlepoint and poetry relegated to those who're left behind, but the last bastion of the type of life that Aragorn is hoping to reinstate, a preservation of Middle Earth family values, if you will. She symbolizes for Aragorn all that he's fighting for.

Of course, early reports indicate that Arwen will most likely be stealing Glorifindel's limelight in the race to the ford, but we must look at this from a movie producer's point of view. Their goal is to win the hearts of people who've never read The Lord of the Rings before (without alienating us, the dedicated fans). Arwen will be a neophyte's first glimpse of an elf, and given that her character plays such a crucial role in Aragorn's emotional life, it makes good sense to double the exposition of Aragorn's love and Intro to Elves 101 into one character and one scene (PJ is trying to convey as much information possible in the shortest amount of time, after all, in order to keep the movies from blossoming into a Wagner Ring Cycle). Furthermore, I'm sure New Line is well aware of the fact that out of all their target audiences, the mainstream female audience will be one of the hardest to hook, since women tend to shy away from fantasy and science fiction films (for reasons this female author does not understand). Arwen is one of the only female characters with a substantial part in all three movies-beefing up her role will give female viewers someone to latch onto early in the trilogy and then follow through the rest of the films.

Finally, Arwen's lineage must be considered. PJ and the folks at New Line seem to be playing up the fact that Arwen is an elf with a serious dilemma: the choice between remaining an immortal or following her love into death. In fact, her tag on the official website, designed to introduce viewers to the cast and the characters, says: "Arwen is the beautiful and bewitching elf who must choose between immortality and love." Sound familiar? If anyone thinks that Arwen is nothing but the cream to Aragorn's coffee, they should remember that her story and her choice is the quintessential Tolkien legend, foreshadowed by only two others in the whole history of Middle Earth: Lúthien Tinuviel and Idril Celebrindal. It's no small thing for an elf to marry a human. The first time it happened, Morgoth was overthrown and a silmaril wrested from his crown-quite a feat! The second time it happened, events were set in motion which eventually hastened the destruction of Gondolin. Arwen's love for Aragorn falls in a direct line from this depth of faith and devotion. We should applaud the fact that by enhancing Arwen's role, PJ is calling attention to the Silmarillion and the history of Middle Earth.

So, given that Arwen is Aragorn's constant emotional backdrop, why shouldn't she play a larger role in the movies? Goo-goo love scenes are not completely outside of Aragorn's character, anyway. He is a hopeless romantic, the last of a long line of hopeless romantics, starting all the way back with Beren and Turin. We can almost hear him singing Brian Adam's lyrics to Arwen as he works to overthrow Mordor: everything I do, I do it for you.

Oh, and a final note on Liv Tyler. Her acting credentials have been under attack for quite some time now, and admittedly, by working on such projects as Armageddon and Empire Records, she's done nothing to further her Oscar contention. However, for those of you who remain skeptical, rent Stealing Beauty and watch our future Arwen act her pants off (pun *somewhat* intended-go see the movie).

For example, in the books, Arwen and Aragorn are in love, and this leaves Arwen with a terrible choice: should she cleave to the man she loves, becoming mortal, or leave Middle Earth with her father for an immortal life across the sea? Elrond (Hugo Weaving) understandably does not want his daughter to die, and tells Aragorn, the long-lost heir to the thrones of Gondor and Eriador, that his daughter will not lose her life for anything less than a king. Aragorn works long and hard towards this goal, finally achieving both his throne and his wife. Along the way, Eowyn (Miranda Otto), a princess of Rohan, falls in love with him and is gently but firmly rejected. This contributes to a general despair at her situation, causing her to recklessly throw herself into battle.

In the film, Arwen not only considers the option of leaving Middle Earth, she actually begins the journey to the Grey Havens, where the elven ships depart. Both Aragorn and her father persuade her to do this. While in Rohan, Aragorn does not encourage Eowyn's attention, but he does not discourage it, either, and tells her his love has left for "the undying lands." An inserted (not from Tolkien) scene in which Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) believe Aragorn to be killed allows an extended interlude of discussions about this between Aragorn and Arwen, Elrond and Arwen, and a telepathic exchange from Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) to Elrond, in which she recaps her opinion of the fading world, soon to be ruled by weak humans, already eloquently expressed in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Some might argue that this provides explanatory information for people who did not see the first film. But Jackson himself has stated that he wanted to continue the story as Tolkien did, from the point he left off in the last film. He even went so far as to suggest that those who had not seen The Fellowship of the Ring or read the books would probably not profit from seeing The Two Towers. So that's not the reason.

If I hadn't read the books, I would have loved the movie. But I was really disappointed in all the distortions. Obviously many parts of the book had to be cut or compressed to make a movie. What I objected to was ADDING things that weren't part of the book.

Examples are the budding romance between Aragorn and Eowyn, the battle scene where Aragon falls over the cliff, Frodo and Sam being taken to Minas Tirith, Elrond discouraging the romance between Arwen and Aragorn, Aragon choosing exile rather than fulfilling the prophecies that he would be king, Arwen deciding to sail to the West.

Despite the fact that almost everybody considers "The Two Towers" movie to be better than "The Fellowship of The Ring", I think that the first movie captured the feeling of the book better than the second. The Two Towers has a much more "Hollywood" feeling to it with a few cheesy rambo-like scenes(legolas slides down a set of stairs on a shield while simultaneously shooting at least 10 orcs),which should be prevented at all costs when doing anything related to Tolkien. The director took many liberties when adapting the book to the screen. Although on the first movie there were various differences as well, there are some changes in the second one that are much more impacting. For example, in the movie the character of Theoden is portrayed as a grumpy old king who is scared to fight in Helms Deep, which he definitely is not (Forth Eorlingas!). He also tries to kill Grima, and is stopped by Aragorn who tells him to spare him. Also, in the battle of the Hornburg he has to be convinced by Aragorn to send a last eored and to ride with his knights, which is the opposite of what really happened in the book, in which Theoden asks Aragorn to ride with him, not vice versa.

There are many other differences as well: elves from Lothlorien come to aid Rohan in the battle of helms deep instead of ents, Frodo encounters a winged Nazgul face to face in Osgiliath, Aragorn Falls from a cliff to a river and strays into a romantic dream with Arwen, and Eomer and his knights are not present in Helms Deep until the end when they come to "aid" the King after being convinced to do so by Gandalf. But perhaps the biggest and worst change of all was the modification of the character of Faramir. In the book, he is a much more wiser man than his brother, and he does not desire the ring. He treats Frodo and Sam with courtesy and respect and aids them by all means possible. He even prohibits his men to slay any man or beast without necessity. However, on the movie, he is the polar opposite of this. He is driven by a desire for power and wants above all else to be recognized for his military wits and skills.He takes Frodo and Sam as prisoners and treats them roughly,ignoring Frodo's pleads to let them go free. He even bounds the two hobbits and takes them to Osgiliath, where he orders his men to take them and the ring to his father. He only lets them go free after Sam gives him a speech about the corruption power of the ring and the cause of Bromir's madness seizure.

Making changes to a book to try to make it more mass-audience appealing and interesting is one thing, but to pervert a character and turn him into something he isn't is just plain ridiculous.

Yet don't be fooled, there are many good things in the Movie, and it has some truly amazing scenes (Gandalf's fight with the Balrog) battle sequences and visual effects. It is definitely a great film and one of the best I've ever seen. I am making this critic only because I know that the Director could do a better job, which he proved in "The Fellowship of the Ring". If The Return of The King combines the epic battles and effects of the Two Towers with the Tolkien Feeling of The Fellowship,does not make any more ridiculous changes, and doesn't add any cheesy scenes like the one of Legolas in Helm's Deep (that scene killed the Battle!) Then rest assured that it will be the best movie ever, and it will be praised by Tolkien Fans around the world.