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Less than an hour from Omarama on SH8 is the tiny town of Tarras. Six kilometers from the general store and coffeehouse is Maori Point Road. Go 2km down this dirt road, and you'll see the pine forest where Arwen and Frodo made their flight on horseback to the Ford of Bruinen to escape the Black Riders. The exact film location is on private property, but we could easily see into the forest and picture Arwen galloping away from evil.
Arwen Re-Imagined November 21, 2004
Ttrealtravels2005-12-26 15:35:52
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Less than an hour from Omarama on SH8 is the tiny town of Tarras. Six kilometers from the general store and coffeehouse is Maori Point Road. Go 2km down this dirt road, and you'll see the pine forest where Arwen and Frodo made their flight on horseback to the Ford of Bruinen to escape the Black Riders. The exact film location is on private property, but we could easily see into the forest and picture Arwen galloping away from evil.
I was reminded at this place how I used to pretend to be Arwen as a kid. I loved the books, but they had so few female characters for me to identify with. Galadriel was too remote and overly powerful. Eowyn wasn't important till late in the last book. In my view, Arwen's story was crucial -- Aragorn fulfills his kingly destiny in order to wed her -- but that wasn't explicit in the books. It was hinted at and only explained fully in the appendices.
But I liked that she was mentioned early, when the Fellowship formed in Rivendell. And, of course, I loved all the elves. As a young girl, I imagined Arwen getting on her horse and following the Fellowship to help them out. She kept them hidden from the Eye of Sauron, and she brought them extra provisions. She even killed a few orcs with her bow and arrows. In my childhood games, Arwen was like the tenth member of the Fellowship.
When I saw how Peter Jackson recreated Arwen for the movies, I was gob-smacked! It was just like he took my girlhood playtime and brought it all to life. He made Arwen the kick-ass elf princess I had imagined decades before.
And there I was, in sight of where Arwen made her biggest impact on the Fellowship, even before it formed. Jackson and I both saw the inherent strength in Arwen, an immortal elf who deified her father and her people by taking Luthien's fate as her own.
See photographs from:
New Zealand Gallery
