ontologicalmoki: tiffanyachings: “In whom do my people trust?”“In the house of Eor

ontologicalmoki: tiffanyachings: “In whom do my people trust?”“In the house of Eorl,” answered Háma.“But Éomer I cannot spare, nor would he stay,” said the king; “and he is the last of that house.”“I said not Éomer,” answered Háma. “And he is not the last. There is Éowyn, daughter of Éomund, his sister. She is fearless and high-hearted. All love her. Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas, while we are gone.” - The Two Towers, Chapter 6: The King of the Golden Hall I think tolkien means the readers to compare Eowyn and Galadriel. they are introduced in similar ways, as tall and queenly, with golden hair. Their people adore them and choose their leadership. Both are tempted by power they don’t need and both pass the test. for Galadriel that’s the ring. This woman is queen of a beautiful and ancient people, and has her own ring. The ring of power is for her the temptation to rule not just her own people but the whole world, to restore the elves to the glory they had before, to stop time and turn it back, to do it right this time. but that’s not Galadriel’s job. Her job is to be queen of a people whose light is fading and lead them to their dignified end. And she passes the ring‘s test. Eowyn’s temptation is also power, though not in the form of the ring, but in Aragorn and her brother. her brother lives the life she’s always wanted, free of domestic responsibility, winning time and again the glory in battle of her ancestors, unburdened by the future weight of the crown as long as her cousin is alive. Aragorn lives free of his own royal responsibility also. She doesn’t want to be destined for greatness, she wants to earn it the way her brother and Aragorn have. but then her cousin dies, and suddenly her brother’s unburdened life of glory in battle becomes heavy with the charge to rule his people. And Eomer no longer rides to win glory, but to death and desperate defense as king to be. Aragorn also has a high dark end down the paths of the dead and to a distant and foreign destiny. her cousin is dead, her brother taken away from her to uncertain and inglorious distances, and her crush walks away from her down the paths of the dead. her problem never was that she wanted glory in battle. She had that and she earned it. She is not called shieldmaiden for nothing, and slayer of the witch king is no mean title. Her problem is that she did not want the responsibility of her station. She wanted to be something other than what she is.the problem is that she thought she was a useless princess of a derelict house, doomed to serve food and care for an ailing king, avoiding creeps and never marrying anyone worthwhile. The hero of her dreams, straight out of ancient myth is on her doorstep accepting food from her hand and scorns her (she thinks) as not good enough. that’s not who she is. to her people, she’s not an obscure lady waiting on an old man, she is the last defender of her house’s nobility. Without her beside their king, they literally would have no king. Eowyn is in a very real sense more the Lord of Rohan than Theoden and Eomer could be throughout the war. And the people trust her and love her in that position. In their desperate flight Eowyn is the one entrusted with leading the people to safety. She protects the name of the house. And she does a damn good job. She doesn’t ride off to eat in secret without making sure the people will be safe and provided for in her absence. but she does leave them. When theodred is dead and Theoden and Eomer ride out to almost certain death, theoden and eowyn both assume that’s the end of the house. What Hama says here is that no, eowyn absolutely carries the houses name and the people trust her with it. her riding off to battle in disguise betrays that trust the people put in her to lead them, and it denies that title Hama gave her, that she is the last of the house of Eorl. its her saying that no, a woman is not good enough to carry the houses name. But her people never had a problem with a woman bearing the name, and Hama doesn’t qualify his statement that the house of Eorl has to lead by saying that a woman is good enough; he just says that she is of the house of Eorl, not that she’ll do in absence of a man. She’s been Lord of her people this whole time. The fact that Theoden woke up at the last moment just to ride to his death doesn’t render the years of her people’s trust useless. The only person here who thinks a woman isn’t good enough is Eowyn. (And eomer a bit, but Aragorn will yell at him for that sentiment later.)But she does pull through in the end. Her crowning moment in front of the Nazgul is announcing that she is not a man and she is Eomund’s daughter. She’s not seeking anything other than what she is. she says “you stand between me and my Lord and kin“ and takes the responsibility of her station. This is why her people love her. (and why Aragorn yells at her brother for trying to relegate her to what he thinks of as a woman’s position. her position is daughter of the house of Eorl, shieldmaiden of Rohan. Denying her the chance for glory is denying the honor of your own house and country. and also being real mean to your obviously depressed sister who’s been working harder than you ever have.) Eowyn is as much lord of her people as her brother and uncle ever have been, Hama is just the only person in this conversation who sees that. And despite her despair, temptation, and shirking of duties, eowyn is hands down the best lord out of all three of them, and even wins her house more glory. -- source link

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