When Éowyn and her historical counterparts boldly decided to join the ranks, they initially faced several daunting tasks. One was developing and maintaining a convincing disguise. For Éowyn, she took on the guise of "Dernhelm" and assumed the garb of a Rider of Rohan, part of which consisted of her donning a helmet which helped conceal her hair. Interestingly, Tolkien initially wrote that she had cropped her hair about her shoulders, but he changed it in the final draft so that her hair remained long. Women soldiers of the Civil War, however, did not have the luxury of hiding their locks beneath a helmet and in order to blend in, had to fashion their hair in the manner of a man's style by cutting it short. You can read more about women soldiers and their hair in a previous article I wrote on the topic. Click [HERE].
Fortunately for the women, the presence of thousands of young boys serving in the military enabled them to blend in with their beardless faces and higher-pitched voices. It was easy to mistake a woman soldier for a youth. You saw in newspaper accounts after a woman had been discovered by some means that the reporter often referred to her as appearing as a "lad" or other such descriptions. As for Éowyn, she was described as a "young Rider" in her disguise as "Dernhelm."
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| Éowyn as "Dernhelm" |
Not only did women soldiers have to look like a man, they also had to walk like a man, talk like a man, and act like a man. Indeed, their ruse had to be sufficient to fool an examining surgeon. Regulations called for recruits to submit to a medical exam upon entrance into the military. However, accounts show that protocol was not always followed. For instance, one soldier indicated that all he he had to do was to show his hands and feet. Mark's relative simply walk in front of the examining officer wiggling his fingers to prove that he could march and had working digits with which to operate a rifle.
Of course, Éowyn likely did not have to worry about an entrance exam. However, once with her fellow Riders of Rohan, she had to ensure that nobody recognized her.
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| Éowyn turns away in an effort to hide her face as her uncle, the King, approaches her section of the line while giving a rousing speech before a charge. She hopes he won't recognize her |
The same can be said of her historical counterparts. And such a feat was severely draining because the women had to constantly remain vigilant of their mannerisms and disguises.
Yet, despite all of the care women took to maintain their ruse, the accounts were more common that involved females who served with men who were aware of their secret. Some men even aided in a woman's entrance into the ranks. For instance, some corrupt surgeons accepted bribes to pass a woman in the medical exam. And there is at least one account of a man standing in for the woman and swapping papers with her once the exam was complete. Other accounts indicate that men turned a blind eye to women with whom they were serving so long as they did their duty. So it wasn't all a complete secret. Such was the case with Éowyn. Tolkien wrote, "There seemed to be some understanding between Dernhelm and Elfhelm, the marshal who commanded the éored in which they were riding."
It is highly doubtful that had Théoden, her uncle and King of Rohan, and Éomer, her brother, had recognized her among the Riders, that they would have been as lenient as Elfhelm. They likely would have had her escorted to safety immediately. Éowyn, though, was fortunate that she escaped detection from her family members — at least initially. The same cannot be said of some of her historical counterparts. For instance, Sophia Cryder was standing guard duty in camp in Pennsylvania when her father approached looking for her. He recognized her and promptly took her home. And the slave woman serving as "William Bradley" in Miles' Legion was recognized by her master in Natchez. He had her pulled out of the ranks as well.
For the women like Éowyn who were successful in slipping quietly and clandestinely into the ranks, they performed the same duties as their male comrades. Most women already possessed the skills necessary to become successful soldiers due to their farming backgrounds. Éowyn, as well, benefited from her Rohirric upbringing. Women in her culture were taught to ride horses and defend themselves from a young age. Éowyn and her historical counterparts would bring their skills to bear when they joined the ranks because they were not sheltered from the physical demands of a soldier or the horrors of the battlefield. They marched (or rode) the same distances, carried the same heavy gear, and endured the elements. Then, when battle came, they observed and experienced incidences on the killing fields that would profoundly damage their psyches and, in some cases, their bodies. And those were the ones fortunate to have survived. An untold number of women made the ultimate sacrifice alongside their male comrades.
Fortunately, that was not Éowyn's fate. But it nearly was.
During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, she found herself engaged in a perilous struggle with the Witch-king, who was Sauron's chief servant. Tolkien described him thus:
"A crown of steel he bore, but between rim and robe naught was there to see, save only a deadly gleam of eyes."
King Théoden challenged the villain. However, his horse — pieced with a black dart — fell on him and fatally crushed him before he could strike a blow. Éowyn then stepped forth to protect her dying kinsman.
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| Éowyn faces the Witch-king and his huge flail |
The Witch-king mocked her proclaiming, "Thou fool. No living man may hinder me." Éowyn responded by informing him, "But no living man am I! You look upon a woman."
She slew the beast upon which the villain was mounted. Rising, he swung his mace. Éowyn was able to fend off the blow with her shield, which was shattered in the process along with her arm. Dazed, she fell forward to her knees and would have received her death stroke when the hobbit, Merry, stabbed the Black Captain behind the knee. Taking advantage of the stunned foe, Éowyn beckoned forth her remaining strength, stumbled upright, and drove her blade deep into the void where the Witch-king's face should have been, thereby fulfilling a prophecy that no man could kill him.
Thus it was that two unlikely characters were able assist the forces of good in a profound way. And neither was supposed to have even been on the battlefield. The killing fields were no place for a woman. Yet, Éowyn defied conventional standards when she joined the Riders of Rohan as "Dernhelm" and took along Merry, who rode to war before her on her horse. Like Éowyn, he was to be left behind. King Théoden had forbidden him to go to battle because he was too small. Such was the case with women soldiers of the Civil War. As with Merry, military officials denied another Mary, troubled Mary Ann Clark, entrance into the military because of her small stature. However, she found an officer who hired her as his servant. Click [HERE] to read an article I wrote about women serving in this capacity. Though not on the front lines, servants — or orderlies as they were also known — were not free from danger. Clark discovered this when she was wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy. Fortunately, she was exchanged without suffering further harm.
Like Clark, Elizabeth Quinn, too, became a prisoner of war after sustaining a wound. Confederates shot her in the thigh while she was foraging for food in Florence, Alabama. A surgeon discovered "Pvt. Frank Miller's" secret while in the process of treating her. Hobbling on crutches, she boarded a steamer and then a train bound for a prison in Atlanta. Confederates ultimately exchanged her with over twenty other prisoners of war in February 1864. By that time, gangrene had set in, endangering her life. She spent the next four months convalescing in hospitals in Chattanooga and Nashville before medical personnel deemed her healthy enough for release. Reports indicate that she limped for the rest of her life — which wasn't very long.
Éowyn, too, was taken to the hospital, known as the Houses of Healing. There, healers repaired her broken arm while Aragorn was able to draw her back from an affliction known as the Black Breath, which she contracted from the Witch-king.
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