J.R.R. Tolkien's Warrior Woman: Éowyn - Part 2a - The Basis for Her Character

In my previous installment, I provided an introduction to my series where I will discuss Éowyn — Tolkien's fictional warrior woman in his masterpiece, Lord of the Rings — as she relates to women who served as soldiers in the Civil War.  Click [HERE] for part one.  Following is the second installment.

A Basis for Éowyn?

 

There is no evidence that any specific woman inspired Tolkien to breathe life into Éowyn.  However, her genesis may lie in any number of individuals appearing in Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic, and Scandinavian history, literature, and mythology.  Tolkien, a  professor of English and literature, delighted in mythology, which helped him shape his fantasy world along with the characters who inhabited it. As for Éowyn, she was from Rohan, whose culture Tolkien based off that of the Anglo-Saxons.  Therefore, the professor may have patterned her after an actual Anglo-Saxon woman named Æthelflæd.  A ruler and war leader, she triumphed against Viking invaders during the 10th century.  You can read more about her [HERE].

Æthelflæd (from The Cartulary and Customs of Abingdon Abbey, c. 1220)

 

Shieldmaidens in Mythology

Speaking of Vikings, there were women warriors called shieldmaidens that appeared in Norse mythology.  Recall that Éowyn referred to herself as a shieldmaiden: "But am I not...a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse?" (Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter 2), and "I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is ungentle" (Return of the King, Book 6, Chapter 5).  So it is obvious that a Norse connection exists, and that these women likely served as an inspiration for Éowyn.  Specifically, there was a woman warrior named Lagertha who was said to have possessed the courage of a man and fought beside the bravest male warriors.  Not only did she appear in the twelfth-century writings of Saxo Grammaticus who portrayed women warriors dressed as men, but she is also a character on the TV series, Vikings. 

Lithograph of Lagertha by
Morris Meredith Williams, 1913

And then there was the shieldmaiden, Hervor, who perished while leading an army against Hun invaders.

Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo depicting Hervor's death

You can read more about the saga in which she appears by clicking [HERE].

Real Shieldmaidens 

 

While Tolkien's warrior woman and the two mentioned above — Lagertha and Hervor — were fictional, there is evidence that shieldmaidens were no myth.  Of special interest is the fact that DNA testing recently showed that remains in a warrior's grave located in Birka, Sweden were that of a female rather than a male as scientists once believed.  Click [HERE] to read the study.  Click [HERE] and [HERE] for a couple of other articles about this remarkable discovery.  At least one expert disputes this claim.  She argues in part that this woman could not have been a warrior because Viking society called for women to remain in the domestic sphere.  It's the same assertion I've heard regarding women soldiers of the Civil War.  And it is faulty.  Just because women were supposed to stay at home and away from the front lines of a battlefield didn't mean they did.  It merely implies that female warriors were uncommon — throughout all time periods.  Furthermore, skeptical scientists may have failed to consider the possibility that these shieldmaidens likely would have disguised themselves as men when they marched off to battle — like their Civil War counterparts — thereby slipping stealthily past society's mores.  If that were the case, shieldmaidens certainly could have been discovered by the same myriad of reasons female soldiers of the Civil War were, which included burial details finding dead women among the slain following a battle.

Grave of the Birka woman

It is interesting that scientists did not question the Birka individual's warrior status when they thought the remains were male, but are doing so now that DNA evidence shows that the individual was actually a woman.  They are being cautious — rightly so — in stating that just because a weapon such as an axe was discovered in the grave of a woman did not mean the individual was a warrior. After all, the woman could have simply used the axe as a tool.  But the Birka woman was buried with multiple weapons, including a sword, axe, spear, arrows, battle knife, and two shields, in addition to two horses.   I mean, it looked as if she had mugged the fellowship of the ring or something.  Furthermore, scientists failed to find any feminine items such as sewing or cooking tools, as in graves of civilian women.  It is honestly difficult to interpret such findings as pointing to anything other than the grave belonging to a woman warrior — a shieldmaiden.

And the Birka woman wasn't the only one.  Scientists have discovered other females buried with weapons in Denmark and Norway.  One in eastern Norway, specifically, had been buried with a sword, axe, arrows, shield, spear, and a horse, similar to the Birka woman.

Unfortunately, there are no first-hand accounts of male warriors burying these women, as there are in the Civil War.  Myths and literature are all the textual records that exist.  Those certainly could have been based on true accounts shared orally.  And they could have influenced other women to become warriors.  Such was the case with some women soldiers of the Civil War who cited fictional female fighters, pirates, and other adventuresses, in addition to real women such as Joan of Arc, as inspirations for them to join the ranks.

While Tolkien was undoubtedly aware of mythological shieldmaidens, he may or may not have been aware of actual women warriors throughout history from his own British homeland. And I'll discuss them in my next installment.

To be continued....

Click [HERE] for a continued discussion of women soldiers who may have influenced Tolkien to create  Éowyn.  Next up will be British women soldiers.