A tale written in Gondor by Barahir, the grandson of Prince Faramir of Ithilien. It told the story of the romance of Aragorn and Arwen from the days before Aragorn's birth until Arwen's despair at his loss. It was inserted into a copy of the Thain's Book by Findegil the scribe in Minas Tirith, but in a shortened form - the passages relating to the War of the Ring were removed to avoid repeating the main tale of that Book. So the abridged Tale has descended to modern versions of the Red Book, and appears as part of Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings.

Notes

The only direct reference we have to the date of the Tale's composition is a note in the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings stating that it was written '...some time after the passing of the King.' The King, Aragorn, died in the year IV 120, and though 'some time' is vague, we can probably assume a period of at least a decade. We can be absolutely sure that the work was in existence by IV 172, because the scribe Findegil included a version of it in his copy of the Red Book, completed in that year.

Tale of Aragorn and Arwen

The story of King Elessar and his Queen

Notes

See also...

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