J.R.R. Tolkien's Warrior Woman: Éowyn - Part 1 - Introduction

I first met Éowyn after wandering into Middle-earth in the early 90's when I was in high school.  Enthralled, I consumed J.R.R Tolkien's fantasy masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings.  In its most basic form, the work is a tale of good and evil.  But as a reader journeys through its three volumes — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King — complex layers emerge as characters confront not only the darkness that is trying to "rule them all" through the one ring, but also the demons within themselves.  Indeed, we struggle alongside  Men, Elves, Dwarves, and others as they cope with fear, greed, weakness, temptation, tragedy, pride, despair, sorrow, betrayal, grief, and dysfunctional familial dynamics as they attempt to make the right decision amidst chaotic and stressful situations.  We agonize and weep when they fail, celebrate when they triumph, and rejoice when hope is restored.  Their strength and perseverance inspire us.

Thus it was regarding Éowyn. And what is ironic is that she captured my attention before I discovered women soldiers of the Civil War.  Indeed, my interest in these two topics developed mutually exclusive of each other at different times.  But in this multi-part article, I am going to merge them by illustrating how the characteristics, motivations, and experiences of women soldiers of the Civil War are mirrored by those of Éowyn.  I am also going to explain how Professor Tolkien molded and shaped Éowyn's character into the woman who appears in the books today.  Readers will undoubtedly find the changes interesting.

Who Was Éowyn?

Éowyn first enters the narrative in Book 3, Chapter 6 of the Two Towers.  Tolkien describes her thus:

Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold.  Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings.

Éowyn as portrayed by Miranda Otto
in Peter Jackson's film adaptation

She wasn't precisely a daughter of kings, but a niece of one:  Théoden of Rohan.  The Rohirrim — or Eorlingas as they called themselves — were renowned horsemen and women.  As a matter of fact, Éowyn's name stems from an Anglo-Saxon composite of "horse" and "delight."  The Rohirrim also tended to be warlike.  And it wasn't only the men who exhibited this martial spirit.  Éowyn referred to herself as a shieldmaiden and declared, "I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either death or pain" (Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter 2).

And she wasn't the only one originally.  In an earlier version of The Lord of the Rings, Éowyn spoke of a time in her people's history when women of Rohan took up arms and helped fight off an attack "in a like evil time."  However, Tolkien ultimately struck it from the final manuscript (The War of the Ring, 243.  This book is the second of a four-volume series called The History of the Lord of the Rings published by Christopher Tolkien illustrating his father's process in developing his work.).

Also in an earlier draft, Tolkien referred to Éowyn as a "stern amazon woman" and included a note that "Éowyn goes as Amazon" when the host rides to aid the city of Minas Tirith which has come under attack from evil forces (Christopher Tolkien, The Treason of Isengard, 437, 448).  This implies that she rode to war openly as a powerful woman among men. 

However, Tolkien changed course and altered Éowyn by disguising her as a man when she rode to war. The professor did not explain the reason for the modification, but in response to a letter from a reader, he made clear his about-face on Éowyn's character by noting that  "...she was also not a soldier or 'amazon', but like many brave women was capable of great military gallantry at a crisis"  (Christopher Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 244).


I would slightly disagree with Professor Tolkien in this instance.  The basic definition of soldier is one who fights or serves in an army.  And while Éowyn was not a professional soldier, she did indeed serve, albeit briefly, and did fight in battle as a Rider of Rohan.  As a matter of fact, she brought her martial proficiency to bear in a major battle of the story and slew one of the principal villains.  

At any rate, it is quite interesting that Tolkien's response to the reader is similar to the epigraph I include in the introduction of my book, Behind the Rifle.  It is a portion of a 1917 newspaper article about women soldiers:

War upsets a good many customs and traditions and proves among other things that the strictly human element rather than the feminine comes first in women in emergencies just as it predominates in men.

To be continued.... 

 Click [HERE] for part 2a.