Volume 27 | Number 3 | Issue 105/106, Spring/

Article 15
Summer

4-15-2009

Éowyn's Grief
Brent D. Johnson
San Francisco Theological Seminary, CA

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Recommended Citation
Johnson, Brent D. (2009) "Éowyn's Grief," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature:
Vol. 27 : No. 3 , Article 15.
Available at: http://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol27/iss3/15

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Éowyn's Grief
Abstract
Adds to the scholarly dialogue on Tolkien’s depiction of war-related mental trauma by examining Éowyn not
as an example of post-traumatic stress disorder, but as a character suffering from, and beginning to recover
from, traumatic grief. Emphasizes the role of Faramir as counselor and healer. Johnson’s experience as a
military chaplain gives added strength to his observations.

This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature:
http://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol27/iss3/15
 É o w y n 's G r i e f

B ren t D . Jo h n so n

É o w y n 's d a u g h te r o f E o m u n d a n d T h e o d w y n an d niece to K ing Theoden,

i s one of the m o st enigm atic characters created b y J.R.R. Tolkien in h is epic
story The Lord of the Rings. Is she a role m odel for fem inists, or m erely a pitiful,
flat character (easily described in one sentence), or is she a w oefully
m isunderstood you n g w om an w ho m erely w ishes to die in battle? Surely there is
m ore to h er th a n the story of a niece left b eh in d w h en the m en folk ride off to
glorious w ar, a tw enty-four year old w om en w ith a crush on one of the heroes of
the book?
I propose in this p ap er th a t E ow yn's story of grief an d recovery is a
po rtrait of m a n y soldiers' fam ily m em bers w ho rem ain ed in E ngland d u rin g
W orld W ar I, often close enough to hear the b o m b ard m en t of artillery across the
C hannel, w ho struggled to recover from their losses, often w ith o u t any resources
in their com m unities. Tolkien also uses F aram ir to show a possible p ath to
recovery from traum atic grief. If it w eren 't for the com passionate presence of
Faram ir, a fellow p atient w ho also suffered the loss of his entire fam ily in the
W ar of the Ring, she w o u ld n o t have recovered from h er grief an d w o u ld have
died of despair.
W hy isn 't she a m odel of som eone suffering from P ost-traum atic Stress
D isorder (PTSD)? She has been in the m id st of w ar, n o t m erely as a w itness, b u t
as a com batant: she rode off w ith the R ohirrim cavalry to M inas T irith an d slew
the m o u n t of the R ingw raith threatening her uncle, an d took p a rt in destroying
the W itch-king. PTSD requires sym ptom s in three areas identified as behavioral,
cognitive, an d em otive. A diagnosis of PTSD is n o t m ad e u n til sym ptom s from
all three areas have m anifested after at least one m o n th follow ing a traum atic
episode. E ow yn only suffers sym ptom s sim ilar to som e cognitive an d em otive
realm s for a few short weeks. She h a sn 't h a d tim e to develop PTSD. A nyone w ho
is actually diagnosed w ith PTSD, an d w illing to talk about their experience—

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 B rent D. Johnson

w hether suffering because of w ar, rape, or survival of a serious a c c id e n t-w ill

observe it took a long tim e for PTSD to m anifest in their lives. Social w orkers
w ho provide care for soldiers and their fam ilies aro u n d m ilitary bases in
A m erica often note th a t sym ptom s are often n o t noticed u n til 90 to 160 days
follow ing a com bat deploym ent.
She is a w om an w ho is g rip p ed b y grief. As a seven-year-old child she
lost both of h er parents. H er father fell in combat, an d h er m o th er w asted aw ay
in grief (Lord of the Rings [LotR] A pp. A: 1044). R aised b y h er m atern al uncle, she
nearly lost h im w hen he m ysteriously took ill, only to be rescued from an
untim ely dotage b y the arrival of G andalf (II.6.503). She loses h er cousin
T heodred, sees h er b rother im prisoned and th en freed only to im m ediately ride
off to a w ar she is forbidden to join, an d w itnesses the gruesom e im pact of w ar
on h er nation. W hen h er beloved uncle T heoden is slain before her eyes, an d she
is nearly destroyed by the W itch-king th a t w as h er u n cle's killer, she loses
consciousness an d nearly dies. W hen she recovers, it is a near th in g b ro u g h t
about only by the superior healing skills of A ragorn, the m a n she th o u g h t she
loved; she is so frigid she fails to respond to anyone w ho attem pts to raise her
spirits. She is overw helm ed w ith grief.
E ngland w as the hom e of m a n y grieving w ar w id o w s follow ing W orld
W ar I, and Tolkien no d oubt m e t m a n y fam ily m em bers w ho grieved deeply for
the losses his nation h ad experienced betw een 1914 a n d 1918. In the U nited
K ingdom alone 994,138 m ilitary an d civilian deaths w ere recorded an d 1,663, 435
people w ere w o u n d ed (C om m onw ealth W ar G raves Com m ission). The BBC
published an article on their w eb site in 2007 th a t estim ated there w ere
approxim ately 187,000 w ar w idow s an d 500,000 children w ho lost a father in the
w ar. The Mail, a daily n ew sp ap er in England, p u b lish ed an article in the sam e
year that claim ed only 35% of w om en betw een the ages of 19 an d 40 m arried
d u rin g the post w ar years of 1919 to 1939, an d tw o m illion w om en w ere bereft of
the o p p o rtu n ity to m a rry (Cable). The Mail article goes on to m en tio n the 1921
an d 1931 British censuses, revealing th a t in 1921 there 1,209 w om en for every
1,000 m en betw een the ages of 25 and 29, an d th a t by 1931 o nly 50% of those
w om en h a d m arried. In an era that d id not h av e sufficient m edical caregivers
train ed to treat em otional traum as such as grief, w h en only the C hurches w ere
available to console people in the general populace w h o h a d experienced su d d en
loss, there w ere m a n y w ho suffered from intense grief, an d th ey often suffered
alone. The m ost fam ous w om an in the British Isles of th a t era w as Q ueen
Victoria, the "W idow of W indsor" w ho never ceased grieving for h er consort,
Prince A lbert of Saxe-Coberg an d G otha, from his death in 1861 un til h er ow n
death in 1901. W hen the n atio n 's ru ler w ore w id o w 's black for over forty years,
the w om en of the British Isles w ere given a pow erful an d u n h ealth y role m odel
for h o w to bear w ith grief.

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 É ow yn's Grief

As a m ilitary chaplain w ho h as spen t over eighteen years p ro v id in g

pastoral counseling to bereaved m en an d w om en in the N avy an d M arine Corps,
I have observed m a n y w ho grieve the death of a loved fam ily m em ber or
com rade. M ost of them exhibit the grief p attern s th a t have been brilliantly
described b y Dr. E lizabeth K ubler-Ross in her sem inal w ork On Death and D ying.1
I have w itnessed, on rare occasions, fam ily m em bers w ho have n o t fo u n d the
resilience to cope w ith their losses an d n eed ed extensive psycho-pharm acological
care.
W hen som eone encounters grief, they lose an attachm ent to som eone or
som ething, a very painful experience th a t is com plex an d is triggered b y the
distress of separation. N orm al grief w ill ru n th ro u g h a ran g e of em otions,
cognitive reactions, and social behaviors th a t m a n y people expect to h appen
w h en there is a d eath or serious injury in the family. There w ill be a variation of
intensity an d duration d ep en d in g on the indiv id u al w h o grieves and the quality
of the relationship they held w ith the one w ho is lost. T he m em bers of the
su rro u n d in g com m unity are often available to assist the sufferer th ro u g h his or
her bereavem ent. M any neighbors an d fam ily m em bers can relate to n o rm al grief
for they have also felt the sam e pain w hen they experienced a sim ilar loss.
T raum atic grief is a distinct em otional response to loss th a t transcends
norm al grief (G oulston 240). It is often a syndrom e of chronic yearning, a result
of bitterness, a sign of disengagem ent, an d an indicator of the sense of
m eaningless felt w hen a loss is so overw helm ing all previous coping skills fail
the bereaved. E xperts in bereavem ent feel there is a prevalence of traum atic grief
in about 10 —15% of those w ho suffer a loss in A m erica (Friedm an 4).
In the Diagnostic Statistics M anual-IV the only diagnosis th at deals w ith
grief is listed u n d e r a section labeled as V62.82b bereavem ent. It is linked w ith
sym ptom s characteristic of a M ajor D epressive E pisode (DSM -IV-TR 311). The
next edition, D SM -V, has a p roposed inclusion of a disorder called p rolonged
grief. It is also know n as traum atic grief. This d iso rd er is b ro u g h t about by
Separation Distress, an d a sufferer needs to d isplay at least one of the three
follow ing sym ptom s experienced on a daily basis, or at least to a degree th at
d isru p ts their norm al behavior: 1) Intrusive th o u g h ts related to their loss, 2)
Intense feelings of em otional pain, sorrow , or p an g s of grief related to the loss,
an d 3) Y earnings for the person w ho has died. The traum atic sufferer m u st also
show five or m ore of the follow ing sym ptom s for six m o n th s or m ore:

1 Dr. Kubler-Ross describes the stages of grief as: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and
acceptance. Eowyn will exhibit all but one: she won't accept her situation in the Houses of
Healing.

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 B rent D. Johnson

1. Confusion about one's life role or diminished sense of self.

2. Difficulty accepting the loss as real.
3. Avoidance of reminders of the reality of the loss.
4. Inability to trust others since the loss.
5. Bitterness or anger related to the loss.
6. Difficulty moving on with life.
7. Numbness (absence of emotion) since the loss.
8. Feeling that life is unfulfilling, empty.
9. Feeling stunned, dazed, or shocked by the loss.

This is a difficult an d serious form of grief, an d if n o t h an d led w ell leads

to im pairm ent in social functioning. Eow yn, although physically h ealed from her
injury, w as n o t read y to accept all the losses she h ad experienced since she w as a
sm all child. There w ere m an y w om en, an d n o t an insignificant n u m b er of m en,
in E ngland d u rin g the inter-w ar years w ho w ere n o t able to recover from their
losses on the battle fields of France, Belgium, Turkey, an d the H ig h Seas w hen
nearly an entire generation w as lost to war.
W hen encountering som eone w ho is grieving traum atically w e all ask,
"W hat can w e do?" All the no rm al procedures do n o t seem to w ork. T raditional
grief w ork does n o t b rin g about the desired relief from bereavem ent. An
o u tp o u rin g of sadness an d crying do n o t signify any sort of recovery, an d often
are not even exhibited. The recovery is all abo u t reconciling the loss; of a person,
of a w o rld view , of a sense of self in relation to w h at w as lost. W hat w e can do is
p revent any u nhealthy destructive behaviors, restrain the b ereaved from
aggressive acting-out, an d p lan t the seeds of eventual ad ap tatio n to the n ew
reality facing the one w ho h as experienced loss. In this p ap er I w ill look at ho w
Tolkien outlines those responses in the character of F aram ir d u rin g his stay in the
H ouses of H ealing. I w ill exam ine such issues as reengagem ent, renewal,
m eaning, purpose, an d hope. I w ill show h o w F aram ir created attachm ents,
broke th ro u g h E ow yn's reluctance an d fear, and d id things th a t b ro u g h t o ut
good feelings even though E ow yn w as n u m b to his efforts at first. These
responses I listed above assist us in aiding in the recovery of those w ho suffer
from traum atic grief d u e to loss in combat.

Eowyn's Tale of Sorrow

R eaders first m eet E ow yn in the story w h en G andalf leads a delegation
to the hall of T heoden, K ing of Rohan. She stan d s b eh in d the chair of the ailing
king, "[a] w om an clad in w hite" (LotR m.6.501). At this p o in t in the tale th a t is all
she is: a flat character w ho fills a space in the hall, a w om an w ho h as no nam e.
Follow ing the h ealing of T heoden by G andalf, the w hite-clad w o m an steps
forw ard, u n nam ed, to assist the K ing's first h altin g steps off the dais. O nly w hen

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 É ow yn's Grief

she is dism issed by her uncle is she nam ed: "'G o, E ow yn sister-daughter!' said
the old king. 'T he tim e for fear is past'" (III.6.504).
It is at this po in t th a t readers are in tro d u ced to h er character, an d
Tolkien concentrates u p o n h er eyes. " Grave an d thoughtful w as h er glance, as she
looked on the king w ith cool pity in h er eyes" (em phasis added). She is perceived
to be as "stern as steel" (III.6.504,). E ow yn receives a description of the k ind
u su ally reserved for leaders. H er character is strong an d h er perception is keen,
so th a t it appears she m ay n o t be just a sim ple flat character reserved for
background scenes an d set decoration.
H er next appearance comes w ith T heo d en 's decision to go to w ar. She
com es bearing a cup of w ine, m uch as Anglo-Saxon w om en w o u ld have borne a
m ead cup to heroes g athered in halls in the days of Beowulf. H er task is to hail
the heroes g athered in h er un cle's hall an d to receive the title L ord of the
E orlingas in T heoden's absence d u rin g the war. H ere she is described as a person
of trust, "fearless and high-hearted" (III.6.512); in other w ords, a noble person
n o t sim ply because of h er birth, b u t d u e to h er u n iq u e abilities an d sensibilities.
As the R ohirrim ride off to w ar at H elm 's Deep, a stronghold for the people of
Rohan, she is depicted standing at the doors of the hall w atching un til the h o st is
lost from sight.
We do n o t h ear of E ow yn again u n til 252 pages later, w h en she
w elcom es A ragorn an d his G rey C om pany of kinsm en an d friends to E doras as
they journey to G ondor an d battle w ith their enem ies. She know s only ru m o rs of
recent battles, is eager to h ear w h at has h appen ed , an d concerned for the rest and
com fort of h er guests. W hen she hears of the route south A ragorn in ten d s to take,
a journey th ro u g h a cursed m ountain, she attem pts to d issu ad e him . The debate
tu rn s to d u ty and she adm its to being bitter th a t it is h er fate to be left b eh in d
w h en the host rides off to war: "to m in d the h o u se w hile they w in renow n, and
find food an d b eds w hen they retu rn " (V.2.767).
In W orld W ar I it w as n o t u n u su a l for m en to come hom e from the front
on a w eekend furlough, be feted by the local com m unity, the w om en of their
fam ilies hosting their retu rn in g heroes, until th ey clim bed back on the trains an d
ferries an d retu rn ed to the w ar in the trenches. Bitterness d u rin g an unexpected
visit hom e d u rin g a deploym ent is a com m on experience for fam ily m em bers
w ho have created a routine th a t enables th em to live w ith o u t their loved ones
sent off to w ar.2

2 The cycle of deployment is a paradigm used by the armed forces to describe the various
emotional dynamics a family goes through during a military operation. After the emotional
turbulence following the departure of a military member the family eventually falls into a
routine known as the recovery and stabilization stage. When the member returns without
warning, causing the family to miss the anticipation of homecoming stage, there is often a
feeling of bitterness within the family.

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 B rent D. Johnson

It is d u rin g this conversation w ith A ragorn th a t E ow yn adm its to her

greatest fear "'A cage,' she said. 'To stay b eh in d bars, un til u se an d old age accept
them , an d all chance of d oing g reat deeds is gone b ey o n d recall or desire'"
(V.2.767). She sees h er life as one at risk of b eing inconsequential d u rin g a tim e of
crisis. For a second tim e she is left stan d in g at the doors w hile an arm ed p arty
rides off to face the g reat challenge of h er day; only this tim e she is described as
"a figure carven in stone, h er h a n d s clenched at h er sides" (V.2.768). H o w m an y
w om en stood at their doors in T olkien's E ngland, the sam e frustration on their
face, as the m en of their com m unities strode off to face d anger w hile th ey stayed
hom e, close to the w ar, b u t b arred from its fury?
E ow yn's task for the next several pages is to w elcom e an d send off the
Rohirrim , to outfit M erry as a page for K ing Theoden, and to pass the new s th at
A ragorn took the P aths of the D ead w hen he p assed by Edoras. Then w e get rare
glim pses of h er th read in the tale until the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, w here
she slays the R ingw raith th a t stands threatening over h er beloved uncle T heoden
follow ing the k ing's fall from his m ount. She announces herself in response to
the W itch-king's ta u n t th a t no m an m ay slay him : "[N ]o living m an am I! You
look u p o n a w om an" (V.6.823). The quote th a t b rin g s cheers from w om en in
every theater, the p hrase th a t gains h er entrance into the Fem inist H all of Fame.
Yet it is here th a t she receives a w o u n d th a t is n early m ortal, and she is borne off
the field to the H ouses of H ealing. It is here th a t h er grief goes from n o rm al to
traum atic. She has borne enough loss. First her father an d m o th er w h en she w as
a child, the d eath of h er only cousin in recent w eeks, n o w the d eath of h er uncle,
an d the uncertainty of h er bro th er's safety, let alone the realization th a t h e is no
longer sim ply a sibling, b u t n o w the king of h er people.

Éowyn's Traumatic Grief

E ow yn's physical injuries are easily ten d ed to w h en she is b ro u g h t into
the city of M inas Tirith. H er broken arm is b o u n d up, an d w o u n d s to h er shield
arm are tended. It is the state of h er soul, h er resiliency th a t concerns A ragorn
w h en he is called in to w ake h er from a com a-like state w hile she lies in the
H ouses of the H ealing. If w e review the n in e possible sym ptom s th a t can be
p resen t in traum atic grief w e see som e of those signs in T olkien's description of
h er in the scene w hen she is aw akened.
First there is num b n ess to any em otion w h en she comes o u t of her
slum ber an d finds h er b rother at h er side. There is n o tearful reunion, no
o u tp o u rin g of p en t-u p em otions. Instead she asks questions. "H o w long have I
been dream ing?" "W hat of the L ord of the M ark?" "W hat of the k in g 's esquire,
the H alfling?" (V.8.850). W hen G andalf describes his joy at seeing h er awake, she
questions h er h ealth an d does n o t than k h im for his concern.

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She has som e difficulty accepting the loss as real. H er broken arm is of
no consequence if she can ju st fill the saddle of som e rid er w h o fell on the field
th a t day. A fter the host of G ondor goes to M ordor an d she rem ains b eh in d to
heal she asks the W arden of the H ouses of H ealin g to let h er go before she has
finished healing. E ow yn m ay be hale in body, b u t h er spirit is d espairing an d she
w ill n ot adm it it. She sees release only in going off to w ar w ith h er brother.
The inability to tru st others can be seen in her refusal to take the
W arden's advice on rest and healing, an d h er reluctance to see F aram ir as
anything other th an the Stew ard of the M inas T irith w h en h e clearly is falling in
love w ith her. She does n o t seek h im o u t each d ay as h e has invited her, b u t lets
five days elapse before w alking w ith h im in the gardens, an d even th en her
responses are g uarded. It is h a rd to open u p to a n ew person w h en you have
already been abandoned by so m a n y you have loved an d tru sted in the past.
H er com m ent to h er b rother Eom er reveals her bitterness w hen she says
it ap peared h er fam ily "w as sunk in h o n o u r less th an an y sh e p h erd 's cot"
(V.8.850). In h er debate w ith the W arden she reveals m ore pain an d bitterness
w h en she says if given the choice betw een life in h ealed b o d y an d painful death
in battle she w o u ld "choose the latter" (VI.5.937). W hen a sum m ons comes after
victory h as been w on over M ordor, E ow yn refuses to go to the Fields of
C orm allen an d celebrate the g reat trium ph. F aram ir asks w h y she does n o t go,
an d she adm its it is because of A ragorn's lack of love for her. She also refuses
F aram ir's declaration of love since she w ill "desire no m a n 's p ity " (VI.5.943). H er
bitterness m akes it h a rd for h er to see the love F aram ir so evidently feels for her.
H er statem ents also reveal another sym ptom of trau m atic grief: a
difficulty m oving on w ith life. She w o u ld prefer to m ove on to w ard s death. She
quietly resists F aram ir's initial attem pts at friendship, does n o t seek any n ew
interests in life, an d constantly asks for new s of battle an d the o p p o rtu n ity to
look off to the east, w here the host has m arch ed to w ar. She w as proclaim ed the
L ord of the E orlingas an d w as directed to stay in R ohan an d lead the people, b u t
she refuses to take u p th a t duty. All she w ants is a w arrio r's d eath like those her
father an d uncle received, n o t the slow w asting aw ay of grief like h er m o th er
w ho died d u rin g E ow yn's childhood. This seeking for a w arrio r's d eath m ay also
reveal confusion over h er role in life, another sym ptom of traum atic grief. We
also see in h er statem ents a feeling that h er life has no m ean in g n o w th a t A ragorn
h as refused h er love and all h er fam ily have gone to w ar, m ost of th em d y in g in
the process. E ow yn is a w om an tra p p e d in the u n relen tin g w eb of traum atic
grief. She is a literary m irror for all those fam ily m em bers, w ar w idow s, an d the
stu n n ed 'lost generation' w ho struggled to recover from th eir trem en d o u s losses
in W orld W ar I.

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Faramir's Patience
T here is recovery from traum atic grief, b u t it is n o t alw ays fo u n d in a
cathartic release of p en t u p em otion, the spew ing forth of d am m ed -u p anger
tow ards those th a t h ave died. There are w ays to p la n t h ealth y coping skills in the
g ard en of the soul, an d to help som eone reconcile w ith their losses. Faram ir, the
quiet stu d e n t of G andalf, a m an w ith a N um en o rean soul u n d im m ed by his
ancestors' years of life in M iddle-earth, dem onstrates the skills n ee d ed to assist
som eone in their recovery from traum atic grief.
T here is a curious little passage fou n d in The Silmarillion th a t sheds
som e light on G andalf's interests an d abilities in dealing w ith grief. This passage
from the V alaquenta describes N ienna, a Vala or angelic being, w ho "is
acquainted w ith grief, an d m o u rn s for every w o u n d th a t A rd a h as suffered in the
m arrin g of M elkor." H er place of residence in the u n d y in g lan d s is in the w est
w here she can look o u t from the w orld. Tolkien describes her as one w ho "brings
strength to the spirit an d tu rn s sorrow to w isdom " (Silmarillion 28). A few pages
later O lorin is introduced, and he is described as spen d in g tim e at N ienna's
house w here "he learned p ity an d patience"(31). O lorin w as the n am e G andalf
w as k now n by in the West, and w ith G andalf as his m entor one m ay w on d er
h o w m u c h of N ien n a's w isdom F aram ir h ad picked u p over the years. O ne
w o u ld alm ost w o n d er if N um enorean garden s n ear H ouses of H ealin g w ere
n am ed N ien n a's G arden.
Tolkien com presses a h ealing process th a t often takes years into one
chapter, b u t the key m e th o d s are all there. F aram ir finds w ays to connect and
engage w ith Eowyn. H e creates attachm ents w ith her, carefully seeks o ut w ays to
break thro u g h h er reluctance at form ing relationships, and p resents m eaning,
purpose, an d h o p e - a l l three im portant them es in The Lord of the R ings—to
E ow yn w hile she w aits for n ew s from the east. H e tries som e things th a t m ay
b rin g o u t good feelings in Eow yn, even though she is initially n u m b to them , an d
rem inds h er th a t she is n o t alone in the w orld.
In the m o d ern -d ay field of C om bat O peration Stress M anagem ent, care
givers seek w ays to connect w ith people w h o are suffering from em otional
w ou n d s.3 In F aram ir's case there is their joint confinem ent to the care of the
W arden w hile they heal from their physical w ounds. "'I m yself am in the
W arden's keeping,' answ ered F aram ir." H e carefully b u ild s a case for listening to
their m edical caregivers: "You an d I, w e m u st en d u re w ith patience the h o u rs of
w aiting" (LotR VI.5.938-9).

3 The five points of Combat Operational Stress First Aid are; calm, cover, connectedness,
capacity, and confidence. These five techniques are not obvious in Tolkien's work, but they
are there in principle when Faramir talks with Eowyn.

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 É ow yn's Grief

At the sam e tim e F aram ir looks for w ays to accom m odate h er n eed for
new s of the w ar to the east. H e arranges for h er m eet h im in a g ard en th at looks
east on a daily basis, and offers to spend the tim e together w ith h er as a fellow
patient. H e even spends several h o u rs w ith M erry, w ho w as w o u n d ed w ith her
in the slaying of the R ingw raith, learning all h e can about E ow yn an d gaining
insights into h er grief (VI.5.940).
All th ro u g h o u t their stay in the H ouses of H ealin g E ow yn m entions her
desire to be aw ay in battle, and to die like h er uncle T heoden. F aram ir is very
careful in respecting h er views, w hile at the sam e tim e challenging her beliefs. In
the follow ing passage E ow yn expresses a desire to die an d F aram ir replies in a
w ay that gets h er to refram e her position.

"But I do not desire healing," she said. "I wish to ride to war like my
brother Eomer, or better like Theoden the king, for he died and has both
honour and peace."
"'It is too late, lady, to follow the Captains, even if you had the strength,"
said Faramir. "But death in battle may come to us ah yet, willing or unwilling.
You will be better prepared to face it in your own manner, if while there is still
time you do as the Healer commanded." (LotR VI.5.939)

L ord M oran, the personal physician of W inston C hurchill d u rin g W orld

W ar II, an d a form er Battalion Surgeon in the British A rm y in W orld W ar I, has
w ritten, "M oods expose the w orkings of the conscious m ind, as dream s lay bare
w h a t has h itherto been h id d e n in the unconscious" (41). E ow yn expresses a sense
of doom , angst she cannot describe other th an as the feeling she is stan d in g on
the edge of an abyss. F aram ir connects w ith this sense of doom an d com pares it
to the tsunam i w ave that destroyed his ancestral h o m elan d of N um enor. H e goes
on to say his reason insists that the en d of days h as come, b u t his em otions check
th a t th o u g h t an d call for hope. H e connects w ith her, carefully challenges her
beliefs, and gradually ad d s m eaning an d p u rp o se to h er life.
People recovering from traum atic grief need to try n ew things on. They
n eed to enlarge their list of activities th a t b ring pleasure, to find n ew attachm ents
in the w orld aro u n d them ; they need to a d a p t to a changing m odel of
them selves. Eow yn saw herself as a w arrior queen, b u t the only person w ho
could give h er th a t position w as A ragorn, the n ew ly retu rn ed k ing of G ondor,
an d he w as attached to another w om an. F aram ir gives h er the freedom of the
city, an d encourages h er to go to C orm allen w h en h er b ro th er sum m ons her.
W hen she refuses to go, F aram ir carefully asks her reasons an d offers h er a role
in his life. She announces h er desire to be a healer an d h e proposes m arriage. She
is again the W hite L ady of R ohan, just as w e first m et her in Edoras. It is tim e for
h er to acquire a n ew identity.

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 B rent D. Johnson

Is E ow yn a flat character according to the definition laid d o w n by E.M.

Forster, one described in one sentence? M any people assum e she is an d describe
h er as E om er's sister, or as a necessary plot device to b rin g d o w n the leader of
the N azgul. I believe she is a com plex character by F orster's definition, one able
to surprise the read er at any point in the story. H er decision to becom e a healer
w as n o t one m a n y readers w o u ld expect from a d au g h ter of such a w arlike race
as the Eorlingas. Tolkien first introduces h er as a lad y dressed in w hite. Like a
tabula rasa h er life is w ritten o u t as the story progresses, one filled w ith grief,
u n til her despair nearly overw helm s her. O nly after the careful ten d in g of
A ragorn, G andalf, the healers of G ondor, an d the com passion of F aram ir does
she shed h er despair an d becom e the W hite L ad y of Rohan.
Dr. Judith H erm an, the author of Trauma and Recovery, the sem inal text
on recovery from traum atic issues, notes there is a process one goes th ro u g h as
trau m a is pro p erly dealt w ith. She calls for three phases: safety, story, and
com m unity. If som eone w ho h as experienced great loss can find them selves in a
safe place, physically an d em otionally, be b ro u g h t to a p o in t w here they can
express their ow n story an d correctly label them selves w ith o u t fear of judgm ent,
an d develop a n e w com m unity th a t accepts th em as they are, they w ill m ove on
as healed people. F aram ir an d those w ho practice in the H ouses of H ealing
provide those steps for E ow yn as she faces her grief.
Tolkien n o d oubt knew m an y w id o w s an d o rp h an s from families
im pacted by E n gland's casualties d u rin g W orld W ar I. Like m any in his
contem porary society, he saw too m an y people w h o w o u ld n o t recover from the
traum atic losses they h a d experienced betw een 1914 an d 1918. There w ere those
w ho d id recover from their despair and w en t on to m ake n e w lives for
them selves in post-w ar E ngland, as d id people in the rest of the w o rld in those
days. M edical science at th a t tim e d id n o t have term s w ith w hich to diagnose
people suffering from traum atic grief, b u t anyone w ith an observant m in d w o u ld
distinguish those w ho recovered from those w h o d id not, an d w h at m ay have
m ad e the difference in those recoveries.
T olkien's stated aim in w riting his M iddle-earth leg en d ariu m w as to
create a m ythology for E ngland, a nation th a t lacked any m ythology of its ow n.
M yths contain fragm ents of light, elem ents of tru th th a t are conveyed to listeners
of those m yths and instructions on h o w to live a m eaningful life. In the passages
th a t revolve aro u n d E ow yn an d h er grief in The Lord o f the Rings Tolkien, as a
sub-creator, sheds light on various sources of grief, the perils of u n atten d e d grief,
an d h o w h ealing of a desp o n d en t soul m ay be b ro u g h t about. E ngland w as
rocked by grief follow ing the staggering loss of so m an y lives in W orld W ar I,
an d he w itnessed a grow ing toll again as he w rote d u rin g W orld W ar II. M yth
points listeners an d readers tow ards hope, an d E ow yn becom es a m odel of
recovery in the m ythopoeia th a t is T olkien's life w ork. If T olkien's belief th at

126 Mythlore 105/106, Spring/Summer 2009

 É ow yn's Grief

A pplicability "resides in the freedom of the read er [...] (not) in the p u rp o sed
dom ination of the author" (LotR F orew ord xvii) h o ld s true, th en each in d iv id u al
w ho reads E ow yn's tale of grief will find hope restored in h er h ealin g an d her
calling as a healer.

W o rk s C ite d

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-IV-TR. Arlington: American

Psychiatric Association, 2000.
Cable, Amanda. "Condemned to be Virgins." Daily Mail, 15 September 2007: 22.
Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: The Authorized Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission A nnual Report 2006-2007. Maidenhead, Berkshire:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2007. Most current report available
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR. Washington DC: American
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Friedman, Matthew. Post-Traumatic and Acute Stress Disorders: The Latest Assessment and
Treatment Strategies. Kansas City: Compact Clinicals, 2006.
Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 2003.
Goulston, Mark. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dummies. Hoboken: Wiley, 2008.
Herman, Dr. Judith. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to
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Kubler-Ross, Elizabeth. On Death and Dying: Finding the Meaning of Grief through The Five
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Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994..
—. The Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977

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