Arwen’s choice

Recently there have been a few posts about Arwen’s choice to become mortal, unsure about around the nature of the choice and why she did not, or could not, depart Middle-earth after Aragorn’s death.

There are a lot of good thematic reasons, which I won’t cover here, but in terms of the “rules”, I think the main point of confusion comes from thinking that Arwen has the same choice given to Eärendil and his descendants, but that’s not really the case. The Silmarillion says:

> to Eärendil and to Elwing, and to their sons, shall be given leave each to choose freely to which kindreds their fates shall be joined

Now, Tolkien does sometimes use “sons” more broadly to mean descendants, but I don’t think that’s the case here. From LOTR Appendix A:

> To the children of Elrond a choice was also appointed: to pass with him from the circles of the world; or if they remained, to become mortal and die in Middle-earth

This is not the “free” choice given to Elrond and Elros, but choice with conditions (I must say Mandos does seem somewhat arbitrary in his rulings, here). Her fate, and that of her brothers, is explicitly tied to leaving Middle-earth with Elrond. Appendix A again:

> Elrond grew weary at last and forsook Middle-earth, never to return. But Arwen became as a mortal woman

When on his deathbed Aragorn suggests she leave for Valinor, she corrects him and replies “no ship would bear me hence”. She doesn’t mean there are literally no more boats, or that she gave her ticket to Frodo; she means that her choice was irrevocable, that *any ship she took would not be able to find the straight road*.