ahem - I hope that is not too presumptuous of me to coin a new phrase: "Neatly
Packaged Theory" ;)
Arwen makes her choice to "plight her troth" with Aragorn, cleaving to him and
all that...
And when she marries him, she becomes mortal. Hence her words that no
ship can bear her thence - not that there NO ships that *can*. Cirdan is
still there manning the Grey Havens checking the manifests and passenger lists.
My feeling is that when she makes her choice both the Valar and Iluvatar make
the 'tick mark' next to her name that says "Choice: mortal"
Which solves the issue of her children as well - who we know to be mortal and
with no choice themselves.
Here are some of the relevant excerpts from Tolkien's Letters:
"Elrond chose to be among the Elves. His children- with a renewed Elvish
strain, since their mother was Celebrian dtr. of Galadriel - have to make their
choices. Arwen is not a `re-incarnation' of Luthien (that in the view of this
mythical history would be impossible, since Luthien has died like a mortal and
left the world of time) but a descendant very like her in looks, character, and
fate. When she weds Aragorn (whose love-story elsewhere recounted is not here
central and only occasionally referred to) she `makes the choice of Luthien',
so the grief at her parting from Elrond is specially poignant. Elrond passes
Over Sea. The end of his sons, Elladan and Elrohir, is not told; they delay
their choice, and remain for a while."
From Letter 153
"But the promise made to the Eldar (the High Elves- not to other varieties,
they had long before made their irrevocable choice, preferring Middle-earth to
paradise) for their sufferings in the struggle with the prime Dark Lord had
still to be fulfilled: that they should always be able to leave Middle-earth,
if they wished, and pass over Sea to the True West, by the Straight Road, and
so come to Eressea - but so pass out of time and history, never to return. The
Half-elven, such as Elrond and Arwen, can choose to which kind and fate they
shall belong: choose once and for all. Hence the grief at the parting of Elrond
and Arwen."
From Letter 154
And another I found in a footnote:
"He (Frodo) appears at first to have had no sense of guilt; he was restored
to sanity and peace[after the Quest - "Hama's" comment]. But then he
thought that he had given his life in sacrifice: he expected to die very
soon. But he did not, and one can observe the disquiet growing in
him.
Arwen was the first to observe the signs, and gave him her jewel for
comfort, and thought of a way of healing him. *
*(comment at bottom of page)It is not explicit how she could arrange this.
She could not of course just transfer her ticket on the boat like that!
For any except those of Elvish race 'sailing West' was not permitted, and any
exception required 'authority', and she was not in direct communication with
the Valar, especially not since her choice to become 'mortal'. What is meant is
that it was Arwen who first thought of sending Frodo into the West, and put in
a plea for him to Gandalf (direct or through Galadriel, or both), and she used
her own renunciation of the right to go West as an argument. Her renunciation
and suffering were related to and enmeshed with Frodo's: both were parts of a
plan for the regeneration of the state of Men. Her prayer might therefore
be specially effective, and her plan have a certain equity of exchange."
Letter 246
So, it would seem that Tolkien is implying a quite real 'change of state' with
Arwen's choice which would reconcile well with the idea that she did indeed
become mortal and so solve the issue of her words to Aragorn and to her
children.
Consitencies may remain, but that seems to be the 'best fit' for me - and with
all things in Tolkien's mythology - there are exceptions.
Hama - digger of
clues
