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

In previous installments in my series on Éowyn, I introduced her (click HERE) and provided examples of women from mythology and history that may have inspired Tolkien to create her (click HERE).  In this article, I continue discussing women warriors the British  author may have also been aware of since they were from his homeland.

 

British Women Warriors Through History

 

One woman the professor likely had at least heard of was Boudicca, a Celtic queen who led an unsuccessful revolt against Roman invaders.

Statue of Boudicca and her daughters

From that time forward, there were a number of British women who served as soldiers.  For instance, in the 17th century, Thomasina Clarke served with her husband until she gave birth to their child.  There was even a ballad composed about her entitled, "The Gallant She-Soldier:"

With musket on her shoulder, her part she acted then, And every one supposed that she had been a man; Her bandeleers about her neck, and sword hang’d by her side, In many brave adventures her valour have been tried.

With musket on her shoulder, her part she acted then, And every one supposed that she had been a man; Her bandeleers about her neck, and sword hang’d by her side, In many brave adventures her valour have been tried.

For other manly practices she gain’d the love of all, For leaping and for running or wrestling for a fall, For cudgels or for cuffing, if that occasion were, There’s hardly any one of ten men that might with her compare.

Yet civil in her carriage and modest still was she, But with her fellow souldiers she oft would merry be; She would drink and take tobacco, and spend her money too, When as occasion served that she had nothing else to do.

Approximately thirty years after Clarke's service ended, Ensign "Robert Cornelius" lost her secret to surgeons who discovered her truth while treating a wound she sustained while fighting in the Battle of Namur in 1695.  Also participating in that engagement was Trooper Kit (Christian) Cavanaugh Davies. Another trooper, Mary Ralphson, fought alongside her husband at Dettingen in 1743 and Culloden in 1746.

Then there was Phoebe Hessel:

 
While Hessel survived her military encounters, Mary Dixon did not.  She was killed at Waterloo in 1815.   Click [HERE] to read a brief blog post about woman at this engagement.

British women also took to the high seas. Ann Mills, Mary Anne Talbot, and Hannah Snell were a few female sailors.  Click [HERE] to read more about Snell.

These are just a few examples of early British women who served in the military.  You can find more [HERE] and [HERE].


Tolkien could have certainly heard of some of these accounts, but it is unknown for sure.  

World War I

 

Tolkien himself saw action during the Great War with the 11th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers.  In 1916, the lieutenant found himself languishing in the trenches at the Somme.  The bloody battle claimed the lives of a couple of his friends.  Tolkien himself escaped the killing but was stricken with trench fever, a contagious louse-borne ailment.  Symptoms included fever, chills,  headache, soreness, and skin lesions.  It was a debilitating affliction that affected more than one million soldiers during World War I, and it ultimately rendered Tolkien unfit for further service.  He returned home to England changed forever.  

Tolkien was one of approximately five million Brits who served during World War I.  Surprisingly, a couple of women were among that number.  Whether the professor was aware of their exploits is unknown.  He certainly may have read about them in the newspapers.  One British woman soldier was Flora Sandes who actually served in the Serbian army openly as a woman.  She was wounded, decorated, and rose to the rank of sergeant major.

And then there was Dorothy Lawrence who, disguised as "Pvt. Denis Smith," served briefly as a sapper in the Somme region nine months before Tolkien arrived.

Click [HERE] to read more about these women and others who fought in World War I.

One of the tragic aspects of Lawrence's life is that she claimed to have been raped as a child.  Even though some at the time doubted her allegations, medical records lend credence to her case.  And this traumatic experience quite possibly could have set her on a psychological path that led her to the battlefield.  The fact that victims of sexual abuse tend to suffer from depression and devalue their well-being led at least one historian to suggest that, by going off to war, Lawrence deliberately and recklessly put herself in danger due to her mental state.  If Dorothy's past of sexual abuse did indeed play a factor in her going into the trenches of World War I, it would not have been the only cause.  But it certainly is an interesting motivational concept to explore.

It is also intriguing to ponder whether Éowyn was also in a similar psycho-emotional state because she, too, had to endure unwanted advances.  Though Tolkien does not discuss the situation in detail, it is clear that Éowyn held Gríma Wormtongue's attention — and not in a wholesome manner.  Gríma was a man of Rohan who the renegade wizard, Saruman, planted in King Théoden's court as an advisor and spy in order to gain control over him.  This tactic was initially successful as Wormtongue's propaganda rendered Théoden a mere decrepit puppet.  Gríma's payment for his services?  According to the wizard, Gandalf, it was to be Éowyn. The conjuror confronted him,  "How long has it been since Saruman bought you?  What was the promised price? When all the men were dead, you were to pick your share of the treasure, and take the woman you desire?" (Two Towers, Book 3, Chapter 6)

So Théoden was not the only victim in this situation.  Éowyn, his niece, not only suffered from Gríma's poisonous words, but also his desire. 

Gríma and Éowyn.  I think it's pretty obvious she's uncomfortable.

Gandalf recognized Éowyn's plight and continued to confront Gríma, "Too long have you watched her [Éowyn] under your eyelids and haunted her steps" (Two Towers, Book 3, Chapter 6; in the film, the writers gave this quote to Éomer, Éowyn's brother).  Whether Gríma ever sexually assaulted  Éowyn is unknown.  But Gandalf's words illustrate that he sexually harassed her at least.

So it is apparent that Éowyn's world had devolved into a cage.  She was attempting to care for her once strong and proud beloved uncle and king who had fallen into weakness from Gríma's brainwashing. And all she could do was stand by and watch because she simply could not break Gríma's hold on him.  Nor could she continue to fend off Gríma's advances.  Éowyn was in a hopeless situation, and she wanted out in a tragic way.  This was one motivational factor that lead her to ride to war.

To be continued....

Click [HERE] to go to the next part where I examine the similarities in the backgrounds of Éowyn and women soldiers of the Civil War.