The Swan | Eowyn Reconsidered

Volume 3 | 2002

Eowyn Reconsidered
by M. J. Kramer

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a masterful work of fiction. I've read it so many times I've lost count. When I sat down to write this essay, I thought knew what I wanted to do: improve the feminist view of Eowyn. But the more I struggled to reconcile the two Eowyns, the warrior and the wimp, the more I realized how impossible this task is. Tolkien, like so many male writers, did not create a real woman.

So why write an essay? What do I hope to achieve? I wanted to reconcile the two Eowyns, and couldn't. Now, I'll try something less ambitious. In part one, I will give a little background for those who have not read Lord of the Rings, or who have not read it recently. Part two is my interpretation of Eowyn. I'll be just as happy if you disagree with part two as I will be if you agree with it.

Part One: Background

Eowyn is raised in Rohan, in the care of her uncle, King Theoden. Theoden has fallen under the influence of a sly, deceitful counselor nicknamed Wormtongue. We learn early on that Wormtongue not only plots to weaken Theoden; he also plans to become King and force Eowyn to be his queen.

When we first meet Eowyn, her brother Eomer has been arrested by Theoden (at Wormtongue's insistence) for treason. Gandalf, a powerful wizard, has come to Theoden to break Wormtongue's hold on the King and restore him to power. With Gandalf are Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor, Legolas, an Elf, and Gimli, a Dwarf. As a result of Gandalf's persuasion, Eomer is set free and restored to his rank, and Wormtongue is cast out. Eowyn is left behind to lead the old men, women, and children of the Eorlingas when the men ride to war.

Throughout Lord of the Rings, we see Eowyn through male eyes. There is no point at which she is the perspective character. Aragorn gives us our first look at Eowyn: beautiful, young and strong, but cold. Her interest in him is made clear in the text, but it is not explained.

Later, seen again through Aragorn's eyes, she greets him gladly when he arrives at the stronghold of Dunharrow, and is not pleased to hear that Aragorn came not merely to give her news of the war, but because he plans to go to the Paths of the Dead.

She asks Aragorn to take her with him. "For I am weary of skulking in the hills and wish to face peril in battle." (p.767) Aragorn tells her that to leave her people without a leader would be dishonorable, and refuses to take her.

When next we meet Eowyn, we see her through Merry's eyes. Merry is a hobbit who has entered the King's service. She greets Theoden the day after Aragorn's departure, and she cannot conceal that she is still upset.

Eowyn disguises herself as a man named Dernhelm, and joins the Eorlingas on their way south to Gondor. "Where a will wants not, a way opens," she tells Merry, (p.787) and offers to take him with her to war. Merry, who was shamed by Theoden's decision to leave him behind, accepts the offer, and they ride to battle together.

When they reach Gondor, Eowyn in her disguise as Dernhelm, places herself close to Theoden. She kills the winged beast of the Lord of the Nazgul with one skillful stroke, and kills the Nazgul Lord, after he breaks her arm. This act nearly kills her, for the Nazgul's evil works on anyone who strikes a blow against him.

Eowyn is taken to the Houses of Healing, where, once again, she is interpreted through a male perspective. Aragorn describes Eowyn's attraction to him as he sees it: "in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and lands far from the fields of Rohan." (p.849)

The last male through whom we see Eowyn is Faramir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. He sees her sadness and desperation, but does not understand it, and looks at her with pity and tenderness and respect.

Faramir finally declares his love for Eowyn, and asks her to marry him, and she accepts, a wimpy ending to her story. So how do we empower Eowyn? How do we, as modern women with a different perspective, make Eowyn our own?

Read on...