... continued ... Shippey - "I think that’s a great statement about his love for his wife. He felt that she, in a way, you know, had given him something immensely precious, which he valued above everything else" Boyen - "Some people say that he tended to stick women on pedestals. But I think if you read deeper into it, especially if you go into the story of Luthien and Beren, you understand that it’s about intimacy". Fisher - "And for Tolkien, it really – it clearly was the central myth of love at the heart of his work. His love for his wife". Unwin - "I think her death, you know, shattered him completely". Fisher - "Love and loss are inextricably bound. For Tolkien to have lost Edith, really the end of his world in many ways". Sibley - "And when he eventually himself died, the name "Beren" is on his stone. Beren and Luthien, Arwen and Aragorn, Ronald (Tolkien) and Edith. In a way, they are all one and the same". Duriez - "One very important aspect to the story of Beren and Luthien was the way that the lives of human beings and Elves became intermingled. And the great significance of these stories for Tolkien was tied in with his Christian belief in the ultimate incarnation that God humbled himself and became and human being. In Tolkien’s work, the Elves represent perfection and the ideal qualities of human life. And so through the intermarriage of Elves and human beings their lives intermingled, resulting in a fuller humanity". Boyen - "And in their coming together, a part of the Elves remains with us today and passes in to the bloodline of Men, so that all is not lost". Fisher - "We do have a glimpse of Eldarion, the son by Aragorn and Arwen. In this bloodline, this perfect mixture of Elvenkind and Mankind, this one scion of both trees remains and will be a strong leader for the people of Middle Earth who represents everything that is good in Middle Earth and not just Mankind". Duriez - "And from that point on, the divine and the human are intermingled and so we have a much more intimate relationship with our Creator through that". Boyen - "And if you look closely and listen closely, the music of Mozart, you know, the painting of Raphael, you can see it. The Elves are still with us". ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Taken from The Return of the King: Special Extended Edition DVD. The Appendices Disc, Part 5: The War of the Ring. From "J.R.R Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle Earth", Chapter 2.