Éowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan

[Jnyusa]

Ok, here goes.

First of all, when I say that the story of Éowyn is the story of Eve, I do not mean that the narrative elements of both stories are the same. Rather, it is the story of Eve which allows Éowyn’s choices and awakenings to be ‘recognizable’ to us without Tolkien spending long pages elaborating on this character. Éowyn resonates with the desire, failing, grief and ultimate realizations attributed to Eve and so we understand in a few words the motivations of her character.

In the same way that the story of Faust being so integral to western culture allows us to understand why Aragorn’s using the palantír would be such an effective strategy without Tolkien elaborating on the thought process of Sauron, it is our understanding of Eve which allows Tolkien to forego a Harlequin romance surrounding Éowyn, Aragorn, and Faramir and still end up with a character who resonates deeply with most women.

There are two elements of Éowyn’s story that prompt me to identify her with Eve. The first is suggested by Queen B. and was elaborated upon by Mossy.

Queen B:
For she does, of course, abandon her post, but not to follow the man she thinks she loves. She follows the man she does love: her surrogate father, and through defending him (in vain: he still buys it) gains, not the death she seeks, but new life, true glory, and .. redemption?

Éowyn commits the worst crime a soldier can commit (desertion) and by means of this crime she saves the battle (kills the WiKi) and wins acclaim as one of the greatest soldiers of Middle Earth.

The doctrine of the “wondrous fault” is central to Christianity. If Eve had not taken the apple, eaten it, given it to Adam and encouraged him to eat it as well, there would have been no opportunity for God to prove his love by sending Jesus to redeem humankind and to conquer death. The Christians among us can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that (in Catholic theology at least), if Eve had been obedient, the result would have been “a lesser good.”

The whole story of redemption hinges on this act of disobedience. Because this story is so central to our culture, I suspect that those who recognized Dernhelm’s identity immediately on the first reading (I did not, btw) began to anticipate an act of redemption as soon as they knew that a woman had committed an act of disobedience.

The second element which causes me to identify Éowyn with Eve is her last conversation with Aragorn and her first conversation with Faramir. For this I have to refer to the analysis that I attempted to undertake in the TMU thread on TORC: Tolkien’s Moral Universe, in the fourth post about “Unveiling.”

Jnyusa:
What this moral universe requires is not certainty or guarantees of providential help but a willingness to approach weighty decisions unveiled <snip> Being willing to unveil ourselves to ourselves is the farthest our own will can carry us down a moral path. Beyond that, the free will of others, and of God, create the conditions of our existence <snip>When a person unveils, they become visible.

Aragorn:
“ ‘A time may come soon,’ he said, ‘when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defense of your homes. [They will be invisible] . Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.' ”

Éowyn:
"And she answered: ‘All your words are but to say: you are a woman [not a person] and your part is in the house. But when the men [who have names, as I do not] have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death ' "

[And the serpent said unto the woman: ... for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof ... ye shall be as God ...] Gen 3: 4-5

Éowyn’s frustration with Aragorn is her apparent invisibility to him; and her determination to disobey is a determination to prove her own equality. (Personally, I don’t think there is a feminist tract in the historical record as powerful and plaintiff as Éowyn’s speech in this passage ... ‘you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more.’)

But when she speaks with Faramir for the first time, knowing him as yet not at all:

“He looked at her, and being a man whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to her that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was one whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle."

Faramir:
“ ‘What do you wish?’ he said again. ‘If it lies in my power, I will do it.’ “

Éowyn:
“ ‘I would have you command this Warden, and bid him let me go,’ she said; but though her words were still proud [the ‘original sin’], her heart faltered, and for the first time she doubted herself. She guessed that this tall man, both stern and gentle, might think her merely wayward, like a child that has not the firmness of mind to go on with a dull task to the end.”

Éowyn realizes that for the first time she is ‘visible’ to another, as a person capable of judgment and therefore accountable for her deeds. She is newly capable of shame. This is both a great joy and a great confusion - it a great joy because there is no yoke worse than the yoke of invisibility, a great confusion because it brings awareness of both joy and shame, a ‘knowledge of both good and evil.’

[And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked ...] Gen 3: 7

There has been lots of philosophical debate about the meaning of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ - what knowledge exactly does this represent. I believe that most philosophers have fallen in with the interpretation that it represents reflective consciousness, self-awareness, the gift (or curse) of moral reasoning. Adam and Eve know now how they are seen through the eyes of one another, for they sew fig leaves to cover themselves from one another, even before they are aware that God knows what they have done.

It is this story, among the first of all stories about man and woman, that allows us to understand what Éowyn must have felt when she first realized that Faramir could, in fact, ‘see’ her, after a lifetime of being invisible to everyone else. One sentence, in which Éowyn smiggle-diggles between assertion and doubt, pride and shame, is sufficient for us to understand her at a depth unmatched by all the Danielle Steele novels on the shelf.

Jn

edit: to correct the quote thingie which I can't make to work right nohow

[Faramond]

She follows the man she does love: her surrogate father, and through defending him (in vain: he still buys it) gains, not the death she seeks, but new life, true glory, and .. redemption?

No, not redemption.

I think Éowyn redeems herself in the houses of healing.

I do not think redemption is particularly about an action, but about how one views oneself. Tolkien is a Christian, and for him then redemption in brief requires first honesty about oneself, to see one's own faults, and second a willingness to be forgiven for those faults and sins. Éowyn struggled with the second step, obviously.

I will not say that Faramir's love is what redeems Éowyn. I will say that because she is able to accept his love and return it she has found her redemption, at least in part.

As for her leaving her post: I just don't care. I don't give any thought to it. I suppose it is important to some, and a reasonable argument can be made for this.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Wow, great post, Jn (my second "wow" this afternoon, the first two-wow day I've ever had on the internet). I'll have to give some more thought to what you have to say, but I really like the analogy of her being invisible to all until Faramir.

In the same way that the story of Faust being so integral to western culture allows us to understand why Aragorn’s using the palantír would be such an effective strategy without Tolkien elaborating on the thought process of Sauron

This deserves a separate thread all to itself.

[Jnyusa]

Faramond: I do not think redemption is particularly about an action, but about how one views oneself.

Yes, I agree. I believe Éowyn's redemption comes at the point when Tolkien says of her: "Then the heart of Éowyn changed, or else at last she understood it.

Voronwë: thank you.

I talked about Aragorn and Faust a little bit in the TMU thread, iirc. Perhaps it deserves at thread of its own ... Sauron does not fear that Aragorn has taken the Ring, he hopes for it. If Aragorn had truly taken the Ring, Sauron's victory would have been assured, for that would have destroyed the fellowship of the West. It is not only the fellowship that knows this, of course; Sauron also knows it.

Aragorn used the palantír to lead Sauron to believe he had accepted the devil's bargain ... this was not a threat, it was like dangling a shiny thing in front of Sauron's eye. Much more effective than any threat could have been for Sauron was then transfixed by anticipation of his own victory.

Jn

[Athrabeth]

Jny, I feel enlightened.

Wonderful posts. Really. Wonderful.

As are everyone's contributions to this thread...........so much yummy stuff to consider about one of the few characters (besides Frodo and Sam.........and Treebeard) that resonated with me right from my very first reading.


Thank-you all.

And thank-you Queen B for starting what I hope will be the first of many great discussions about the characters of LOTR.

I'm hoping to add my own two cents soon!

[Faramond]

A creative and thoughtful post, Jn. Really spectacular.

I don't know what else to say about it, really.

If Éowyn had not been "disobedient", I don't think I would even give her character a second thought. I suppose technically what she does can be called "desertion", but to me desertion is to run away from the fight. She clearly does not do this. I think if Éowyn accepted her allotted role she would have deserted her own self. That's why I can't really think of it as a crime or a sin or even a sort of "wondrous fault".

[MaidenOfTheShieldarm]

If Éowyn had not been "disobedient", I don't think I would even give her character a second thought. I suppose technically what she does can be called "desertion", but to me desertion is to run away from the fight. She clearly does not do this. I think if Éowyn accepted her allotted role she would have deserted her own self. That's why I can't really think of it as a crime or a sin or even a sort of "wondrous fault".

Exactly. You have somehow managed to explain precisely how I feel about it . . to me.

No, not redemption.

I think Éowyn redeems herself in the houses of healing.

This, however, I do not agree with. I think that Éowyn redeems herself when she stands up to defend Théoden. Before that, a lot of her motivation is in seeking for glory, adventure, and (perhaps primarily?) escape. When she does that, I believe that is motivated purely by love.

However, that leads me to wonder what she is redeeming herself of. You all say desertion. I do not. So what does she need to redeem herself for? I don't know the answer. Just something for me to think about.

Another point to ponder: In a work where one of the major themes is (I think) hope, Éowyn is one of only two characters who has no hope whatsover. She is described by Merry as having the face of "one without hope who goes in search of death." (Bold mine.) The other, of course, is Denethor. Denethor dies. Éowyn doesn't. The question, I suppose is what the diffierence is between the two. I think the answer is that Éowyn does something about it, determined not to just give up. Denethor gives in to his despair and sets both himself and his son on fire. At the same time, they're both essentially trying to commit suicide; Éowyn's method is simply a lot less direct. What does this say about hope? As long as you keep going, you don't need hope? That message is kind of echoed by Frodo and, later, Sam. Denethor falls into inaction and thus dies. Is this a "Cowards die a thousand deaths, while a brave man dies once" type of thing? I shall have to ponder further.

I really need to read the books again. I also need to not post at 4:30 in the morning.

[Queen_Beruthiel]

Many thanks for all these wonderful responses.

I'll comment later.

[Jnyusa]

Mossy: Mossy: However, that leads me to wonder what she is redeeming herself of. You all say desertion. I do not. So what does she need to redeem herself for? I don't know the answer. Just something for me to think about.

I don't think of redemption as being 'saved' but rather as being reclaimed. Éowyn reclaims herself in the Houses of Healing ... specifically, imo, when she realizes that she can say 'yes' to Faramir (which she truly wants to do) without repudiating her own self.

Semprini wrote a great post on B77 about the existentialism in Tolkien, and my favorite moment in Éowyn's story is not an Eve moment at all but one of the purest existential moments in LotR.

"Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel."

Sartre said that when humans confronts the existential condition there are only two authentic responses we can make: laughter, or suicide.

Here is a woman riding to certain death, but when she meets it, she sees its absurdité and ... she laughs.

That laugh is so integral to the human condition and particularly the existential view of the human condition, and yet in all the fiction I've read by prominent existentialists, I have never seen that laugh actually portrayed. It strikes me as a little absurdité in itself that the laugh should appear in Tolkien who did not really hold an existentialist view of death.

But I think he understood very well the paradoxes with which we are forced to live, and how one could spend that moment right before the 'leap of faith' caught between laughter and suicide; and also which of these a person would have to choose in order to have any chance of redemption (self-reclamation).

The one place in film where I recall that laugh being very accurately placed was in "The Truman Show." When Carrey was sailing toward the fake horizon, trying to escape from the bubble in which his life has been lived, and the voice of 'Christo' is booming from the sky telling him not to do it, he will regret leaving his safe prison, and Carrey starts to sing, "What do you do with a drunken sailor ...."

that was a perfect existential moment.

Jn

[vison]

This is the comment that strikes me: "As long as you keep going, you don't need hope? "

I think that's true. "It's dogged as does it, Mr. Crawley. It's dogged as does it."

Denethor could not "keep going". Éowyn could. Their characters are similar in some ways, but I don't think it is reasonable to seek too many parallels. I think there are enormous differences that might render the similarities almost meaningless.

I think that far too much is made by some of Éowyn's love for Théoden. I don't think her love for him had much to do with her disobedience at all. This may be because I don't think much of Théoden myself, of course. I have often speculated that Éowyn despised him as much as she loved him. Being so young, could she have made the excuses we might make for him?

Because Éowyn was young, but with long experience in sorrow. She had spent all her young womanhood so far waiting on Théoden's faltering steps, had seen him decline from lordly manhood and vigour, seen him fall somehow into Wormtongue's hands. Éowyn had clear sight. She watched Théoden, remember, with "cool pity". Éowyn knew what Théoden ought to have been, and she could see perfectly well that he was not.

Théoden himself understood things, right at the end, where he says that his death in battle was better than he had hoped for, maybe better than he deserved. "And even in their great company I shall not now be ashamed." (Bold emphasis mine, of course.)

Myself, I think Éowyn rode away from Dunharrow with what she thought was a broken heart, that hope had been wakened in her only to be torn away again. While Denethor's despair was formed at least in part because he knew too much, we can't say that about Éowyn.

She knew so little, and what she knew was all sadness and fear. She knew pain and sorrow, and rode out thinking she wanted death. I think she was mistaken, but I forgive her that mistake because she was, after all, only a girl. What little she had had of life was about to be destroyed, she thought. No joy awaited her, no matter what. So why not disobey, why not throw off duty? It wouldn't matter, after.

What she found was glory, and love, and happiness. Her innate strength and courage were more than sufficient for the test she came to. She laughed, I think, because at that moment she KNEW it. Broken heart or not she must have felt an amazing surge of power and certainty!

She had to disobey, anyway. Because she had to be there to kill the Witch King.

[Queen_Beruthiel]

Oh the laughter! Yes. There are several points in the narrative; grim, bleak points mostly, when laughter breaks through. Frodo listening to Sam talking about the tale they are in is another. I think, in both cases, it is a sort of defiance. In Éowyn's case there is the added layer that she seems to be appreciating the irony of the situation: "But no living man am I! You look upon a woman."

And it is sheer wonder at this strange laughter - or so I read the text - that helps Merry conquer his fear and take action.

He opened his eyes and the blackness was lifted from them.

Tomorrow I will post on the Deed Itself, about which some controversy has swirled.

Thanks again for all these wonderful posts.

[Queen_Beruthiel]

I made a mess of this post.

[Dindraug]

I am not sure Éowyn represents Eve, sorry Jny.

If anybody does it is Pippin. He offers temptation to Aragorn, in the form of the Planitair, and later gets his redemption by sacrificing himself to service with Denethor, then Gandalf, then Aragorn, then the Shire. He become a servent of the people with little or no free will like the Biblical Eve, and like her he was placed to serve the purpose of delivering temptation to Aragorn/Adam.

Éowyn, if she represents anybody, represents Lilith, Adam's first wife. Consider that she is disobediant to her duty, self willed and rebellious. She leaves the sanctuary of Rohan, such as it was, and goes out into the world to forge her own legend. She has become Shield Maiden.

It is only later, in the Houses of Healing, that she gives up her Shieldmaiden status to become subservient to Faramir, the good male hero. At this point she slides into the mother role, not a Mary role more a Noah's wife role; important as a symbol but really just dressing.

Éowyn is unusual in LOTR in having these two totally different roles. Even Aragon as ranger/King does not have such divergent roles. In both he is Aragorn, just different dres and aura. Éowyn actually changes and becomes someone totally new.

She is reborn, but reborn to represent something different. She is a symbol of peace, and represents the transition of world at war to world at peace. She is Tolkiens attempt at showing the post war through the feminine, not a feminism role, but a mother and duitiful wife so popular in the 195/60's.

Altogether one of the most facinating people Tolkien wrote, and tells a lot about his worldview

[Jnyusa]

Din, I wouldn't like to say that Éowyn represents Eve (or Lilith) in the sense of symbolizing one of them. I don't think that Tolkien operates quite that way ... there have been a few scholarly articles written about Galadriel that attempt to show her as a 'symbol' of someone else, and I don't find them convincing.

One could also say that Éowyn contains elements of Artemis/Diana, or the Amazon, or she's the anti-Medea or something. But I don't think that referential treatment is what Tolkien had in mind.

Rather, I think he crafted her narrative so that her 'awakening' would be one that is recognizable to us ... and he might have done that intuitively rather than deliberately. I think that when the western mind sees a disobedient woman it thinks first of the story of Eve and subsequent redemption, rather than the story of Lilith which does not have a happy ending. In any event, Éowyn does reclaim herself and assumes the role handed down to women by the 'original mother.'

Jn

[yovargas]

If Eve had not taken the apple, eaten it, given it to Adam and encouraged him to eat it as well, there would have been no opportunity for God to prove his love by sending Jesus to redeem humankind and to conquer death. The Christians among us can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that (in Catholic theology at least), if Eve had been obedient, the result would have been “a lesser good.”

I was raised in a Protestant church and I've never heard anything like that before! I find the notion rather shocking. It almost feels blasphemous or something...the notion that sin can lead to good and the notion that God needed to "prove his love". I really really don't think most Christians view it this way.

[vison]

"If anybody does it is Pippin. He offers temptation to Aragorn, in the form of the Planitair, and later gets his redemption by sacrificing himself to service with Denethor, then Gandalf, then Aragorn, then the Shire. He become a servent of the people with little or no free will like the Biblical Eve, and like her he was placed to serve the purpose of delivering temptation to Aragorn/Adam. "

Well, then, what is Frodo's role when he offers Gandalf the ring? Or to Galadriel?

I think you're reaching a bit here, Dindraug. Just a tad.

As for the quote from Jnyusa's post, well, there in a nutshell is why I can't be a believer.

Jnyusa is right, too, when she says we often think of Eve when we think of a disobedient woman. But what are we to think of that wimp Adam, who whined, "The woman made me do it!"?

Still, I never saw Eve in Éowyn. Eve doomed the whole human race, Éowyn only broke a rule that wasn't designed for a woman anyway. I truly think that by making these grand reaches for "meaning" we more or less erase the "meaning" that Éowyn had in the story of LOTR. And we stray perilously close to allegory and didn't some guy named Tolkien tell us quite plainly how he felt about allegory?

Éowyn was there to kill the Witch King. She couldn't do it if she stayed behind in Edoras, could she? So Tolkien had to get her there. Arwen could have done it. Galadriel could have done it. But Tolkien chose to take an ordinary mortal girl, albeit a "princess" and let her have the honour. He chucked in the romance with Aragorn to give her a reason for being bummed out, then let her fall in love with Faramir to give her a reward.

Or something like that.

Or, would Merry have fulfilled the prophecy? Was he a mortal man or not?

[Jnyusa]

I haven't paid close enough attention to HoME to remember the exact order in which Tolkien edited things into the book, but I recall that Faramir jumped out of the woods at him unbidden, so to speak. I doubt that Tolkien envisioned a marriage to Faramir when he first envisioned Éowyn.

I seriously wonder whether he knew that she was going to kill the WiKi when he dressed her up as Dernhelm. He knew she was going to do something glorious, but did he know what?

Jn

[yovargas]

Or, would Merry have fulfilled the prophecy? Was he a mortal man or not?

OT, but I remember being very surprised to find out most people thought Éowyn killed Mr. Wiki. I'd always read it as being Merry who did it, since he had the enchanted sword and all. Certainly she couldn't have done it without him (and vice versa). It bugs me how little credit Merry gets in the movie for his role in Wiki's death.

[/OT]

[vison]

I haven't paid close enough attention to HoME to remember the exact order in which Tolkien edited things into the book, but I recall that Faramir jumped out of the woods at him unbidden, so to speak. I doubt that Tolkien envisioned a marriage to Faramir when he first envisioned Éowyn.

I seriously wonder whether he knew that she was going to kill the WiKi when he dressed her up as Dernhelm. He knew she was going to do something glorious, but did he know what?

Jn

I thought he dressed her up as Dernhelm just so she could go and kill the Witch King.

I agree that he hadn't probably/likely envisioned the marriage with Faramir then. Maybe he thought Éowyn would die of her wounds? I don't know what Tolkien intended, other than what I deduce/infer from LOTR, I haven't read HoME. But I think that once Faramir was on the scene, so to speak, he saw that Faramir would make a nice husband for Éowyn, then made the proper arrangements.

I know that sounds flip, but I don't mean it that way. Characters often lead lives that surprise their creator. Writers get very fond of their characters in a very personal way. So I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility that Tolkien "decided" to have Éowyn and Faramir find healing with each other. It's the way things work in life.

[Queen_Beruthiel]

I was raised in a Protestant church and I've never heard anything like that before! I find the notion rather shocking. It almost feels blasphemous or something...the notion that sin can lead to good and the notion that God needed to "prove his love". I really really don't think most Christians view it this way.

I didn't realise it was controversial. Well, it was St. Paul.....

O wondrous condescension of your great kindness toward us! O immeasurable charity: for to redeem a slave, you handed over your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, which was wiped out by the death of Christ! O happy fault, o felix culpa, which merited to have so great a redeemer!

I think it's to the Corinthians (it's a safe bet!). My embolding btw.

Now, the way I look at it - Éowyn killed the Wiki, but Merry saved Éowyn's life. I'll go and dig out the quotes.

This is not as magnificent a correction of Shakespeare as the Birnam Wood business. But it is better than that caesarian birth nonsense in the Scottish play, which irritates the hell out of me.

As for Jny's Eve suggestion.... I never thought of it before. Very good though. I would phrase it a bit differently and say that it uses the archetype, and inverts it somewhat. Eve loses the Garden through her disobedience, and Éowyn gains a garden.

If memory serves, JRRT intended Aragorn and Éowyn to marry.