The wife of Dírhael of the Dúnedain, and mother to Gilraen. When Arathorn son of Arador sought Gilraen's hand in marriage, Dírhael opposed him. Ivorwen, though, who was said to have the gift of foresight, persuaded her husband to allow the marriage. This was a small part to play in the history of Middle-earth, but it had great consequences - the son of Arathorn and Gilraen was Aragorn, who would one day reunite the ancient Kingdoms of the Dúnedain.
Notes
1 |
We have no direct reference to Ivorwen's dates, but we know that her daughter Gilraen was accounted extremely young to marry Arathorn, which she did in III 2929. Ivorwen was therefore probably born some thirty-five to forty years before that date.
|
2 |
The -wen ending of Ivorwen's name means 'maiden', but the initial ivor- is mysterious. It may be connected to vor- 'constant', suggesting 'very faithful maiden' as the meaning of the entire name, but there's no direct evidence to support this.
|
3 |
Early versions of Ivorwen's story include a mention of her father, whose name is given as Gilbarad, but this name disappeared by the time the story found its way into the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
|
For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.
Website services kindly sponsored by Axiom Software Ltd.
Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2003, 2009-2010. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.
SHARE
