Éowyn is a
character from
J.R.R. Tolkien's
fiction The
Lord of the Rings. She is the most
interesting of the few
female characters of the books, as she is the only one who wishes to fight for her country, friends, family and life in general. Some could call her a
feminist, because of her struggle to avoid the common life of a
housewife. As a
shieldmaiden of
Rohan, she
dreamed of proving her
valour in battle and had
skills with the
sword.
Sister to
Éomer, cousin of
Théodred and niece of
King Théoden of Rohan, she fell in
love with
Elessar and
suffered deeply for not being loved back. In Rohan, she is desired by
Grima Wormtongue, King Theoden's couselor, who wants to marry her.
Tolkien suggests that this is the reason why he becomes a
traitor, making a
secret alliance with the recently-turned-evil
Saruman, The Many Coloured to destroy
Rohan. Wormtongue follows every one of her steps in
Edoras. That, on top of her fear of 'a
cage', made
Éowyn without
hope or will to live. Her desperation drove her to disguise herself as a man and ride to battle with the
Rohirrim, taking the
hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck, who had recently entered Theoden's service and was considered by the other
riders "a
burden". Éowyn identifies herself with the rejection and frustration that Merry feels about being left behind while all his friends are going to battle or to
Mordor.
She fights on the
Battle of Pellenor Fields and sees King Théoden fall under the
evil of the Witch-king. She avenges
Théoden's death at the
Battle of the Pelennor Fields, by
killing the
Witch-King and leader of the
Ringwraiths with the
help of
Merry. Almost dead, Éowyn was deeply
injured and taken to
Minas Tirith. In the house of
cure of
the white city she slowly recovered, after being
healed by
Aragorn with the
athelas herb.
Even then, Éowyn was still
sad and
cold. She found
peace and
happiness only after she met
Faramir, Capitan of
Gondor and heir of
Denethor II,
Stewart of Gondor. They fell in love and got
married after the
War of the Ring.
Éowyn is the very
spirit of
strength in women, even if she could be seen as a woman who wants to be a man. After being injured and proving her courage, she settles down with Faramir not in a cage, but in a
peaceful
life of her
choice. They live in
Ithilien, a land given as a
Principality to
Faramir by
Aragorn II
On the
Peter Jackson's
trilogy of films, Éowyn is played by
australian actress
Miranda Otto. So far, she's been nominated for the
Empire Awards 2003 as best
actress for the
role of Éowyn on
The Two Towers. She also appears on the last movie of the trilogy,
Return of the King, but not as much as the fans of Tolkien's books would enjoy. Peter Jackson's vision of her fight against the Witch-King is quite wonderfull and faithful to the book, but the director excluded the
Houses of Cure and her love affair with Faramir. However, they appear together smiling on the coronation in
Gondor, after
Mount Doom. There's a possibility that these missing scenes appear on the Extended Edition
DVD, which is scheduled for a november 2004 release.
Many thanks to: IMDB and www.TheOneRing.Net