While the Lord of the Rings series didn’t focus that much on romance, there are quite a few couples that made their way onto the screen. In the world of Middle-Earth on film, there were some couples that were from the books and others that were made up, as well as some couples fans loved and others they didn’t like at all. Even though these stories were more about adventure and saving the world from evil, romance still found its way into the narrative, and some of these couples made the story better.
Here are the five couples from The Lord of the Rings that fans supported and five that they rejected.
10. SUPPORTED: EOWYN AND FARAMIR
The relationship between Eowyn and Faramir is one that existed in the books. While Eowyn starts out having romantic feelings for Aragorn, she ends up realizing that Faramir is a much better match. While the most interesting storylines for Eowyn have to do with her role as a shieldmaiden, the way the movies handled this relationship subtly was just right.
They weren’t a big focus, but they were briefly shown together which made for a couple that fans of the movies could support.
9. REJECTED: EOWYN AND ARAGORN
This is a couple that was never meant to be. While Eowyn has a crush on Aragorn, and there is even a part of him that understands a relationship with her might make sense, his heart definitely belongs to Arwen.
Besides, Eowyn is able to shine as her own person and show a lot of confidence as she gets over her feelings for Aragorn. Fans definitely didn’t want these two to be together, so luckily canon never had them become a couple.
8. SUPPORTED: LEGOLAS AND GIMLI
While Legolas and Gimli weren’t a romantic couple, their relationship and friendship is actually a core one in the series. These two were meant to show the importance of the different peoples of Middle-Earth coming together and setting aside their prejudices in order to defeat Sauron.
Also, Legolas brought Gimli to the Undying Lands War of the Ring ended which is a huge deal as Gimli was the only dwarf to ever be brought there. So, it’s no wonder that there is a lot of fan fiction that explores these two as a couple.
7. REJECTED: LEGOLAS AND TAURIEL
One of the most controversial things from The Hobbit trilogy was the fact that they included Tauriel as a completely new character. While some people were willing to accept her as the series clearly needed more female characters, they didn’t appreciate the fact that she was given a love triangle storyline.
Fans felt like this entire storyline was forced and awkward and that it didn’t make much sense for Legolas and his character development.
6. SUPPORTED: FRODO AND SAM
Frodo and Sam are another relationship that isn’t romantic in the series, but the bond between these two is the most important in Lord of the Rings.
Many fans noticed the potential romantic element between these two characters. But, even if they are friends, their bond is clearly really deep and important. This makes Frodo and Sam really the heart of the entire series no matter how you read their relationship.
5. REJECTED: CELEBORN AND GALADRIEL
Now, this relationship is one that is in the books. It’s talked about and explained even more in books about the history of Middle-Earth and the elves. While these two might be a canon couple, they just come across as really weird. While it’s clear in the movies that Lothlorien is meant to be a dreamy, otherworldly place, the relationship between these two was rather jarring.
It almost would have been better to just not introduce Celeborn as a character in the films because he doesn’t really serve any function.
4. SUPPORTED: SAMWISE AND ROSIE COTTON
This relationship is one of the few couples that really features in the Lord of the Rings series at all. These two were sweet together, and they clearly made a nice couple.
Marrying Rosie Cotton allowed Sam to get to return to a happy, normal life after everything that happened with the War of the Ring. While there is still a bittersweetness to their reunion, they definitely deserve their happy ending.
3. REJECTED: GALADRIEL AND GANDALF
While these two were never a canon couple at all, and the thought of this even being a possibility isn’t in the books, The Hobbit films introduced some weird moments between them.
There were a couple of moments where Galadriel was almost cast into some damsel role, and there were moments where it looked like these two had some deep bond. Overall, it just came across as a weird addition.
2. SUPPORTED: ARAGORN AND ARWEN
Of all of the couples in Lord of the Rings, the one that is the most prominent is that between Aragorn and Arwen. While this couple exists in the books, especially in the appendices where their story is told, the movies focused on their story as part of the narrative.
These two have a rather dramatic and tragic story which makes for a compelling romance and interesting addition to the narrative. This couple worked well because they were actually given focus and build up in the movies which allowed fans to root for them.
1. REJECTED: KILI AND TAURIEL
The other half of the love triangle involving Tauriel was Kili. Overall, fans did not support this relationship. First of all, it wasn’t canon, and secondly, it never would have been really excited in the world Tolkien set up. The friendship between Legolas and Gimli was a huge deal in the story because of hate prejudice and history between the dwarves and elves, and this romance cheapened the importance of that fact.
Plus, it relegated Tauriel to a rather outdated role for a woman in a fantasy story. Also, Kili’s death made the death of Thorin less impactful in the film.
