Of all of the female characters in the Lord of the Rings series, Eowyn stands out to audiences because of her assertive and courageous characteristics. If you pay attention to her storyline, you’ll see that fighting the Nazgul was not her only sacrifice, though audiences may easily overlook the others. Eowyn, self-proclaimed Shieldmaiden, was the daughter of Éomund and Théodwyn (sister of King Theoden), and younger sister of Éomer. Being from such a noble family, her childhood was riddled with training and expectations, already preparing her for the sacrifices in her future.

When both her mother and father died, leaving her and Eomer without parents, Theoden took them in, raising them as his own. As Eowyn got older, she was trapped in Meduseld while she cared for Theoden, who was in poor health under the evil power of Saruman and Grima Wormtongue. This is the first sacrifice Eowyn makes, as she spends the time of her youth tending to an ailing uncle in a kingdom perverted by evil.

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When we meet Eowyn in The Two Towers, she is trapped in this place under Saruman’s influence as Gandolf arrives. When Gandalf sees that Saruman’s dark magic is behind the state that Theoden and his kingdom are in, he uses his light to release the king. When Theoden regains his vision, the first thing he sees is Eowyn’s face, a hint at her significance to Theoden and his kingdom.

Théoden and Éowyn in Lord of the Rings

Almost immediately after being healed of Saruman’s possession of him, Theoden decides to go to battle. Knowing that he cannot leave his kingdom without someone to watch over it, Theoden places Eowyn in charge of protecting Rohan. Eowyn desires to fight alongside the men but feels obligated to lead Theoden’s people to safety in the White Mountains. Here is her second sacrifice for her uncle. She ignores what she feels drawn to in order to do what her uncle needs of her.

During the time that the party of the ring works with the kingdom of Rohan, Eowyn begins developing feelings for Aragorn, admiring all the qualities in him that make him the prime candidate to be a king. In the midst of war, as Aragorn is passing through, she confesses her feelings to him. He, however, must turn her down because his heart belongs to someone else. Here again, Eowyn is denied what she feels pulled toward.

When the time comes for Theoden and his army to help Denethor’s kingdom, Eowyn once again wants to join the battle and fight back against the evils that have already affected her life. Theoden does not allow her to join the battle though.

Finally, after being denied what she wants by Aragorn and Theoden, Eowyn decides to take the power over her life into her own hands and disguises herself as a man to be able to go into battle. Her entire life she has had to live the way someone else told her to or made her and this is the first time she decides to put her desires first. She takes Merry with her, giving him the ability to choose also.

Eowyn fights near her uncle without him knowing and she then saves him in the iconic scene that so many fans associate her with. She confronts the leader of the Nazgul, coming between his Fell Beast and her uncle. She beheads his Fell Beast and he says to her, “You fool, no man can kill me."

As the Nazgul King picks her up, Merry stabs him in the leg and he drops to his knees. Eowyn, now eye-level, responds “I am no man” and stabs him in the face. This moment showed the sacrifices Eowyn was willing to make for those she felt inclined to protect. Finally, it fulfilled an old prophecy of Middle Earth that claimed that the witch king could die "not by the hand of man."

The remainder of the battle is a struggle for Eowyn as the chaos overtakes her, she lays injured on the field for a while. This illustrates how far she was willing to go to contribute to the fight for good-- even lay down her life. Her brother, Eomer, seeing her like this, is motivated to push through the battle. Her injured body is discovered by Prince Imrahill who has her carried off the battlefield and taken to safety to be healed. Her risk is rewarded.

While she is healed in Minas Tirith, the battle pushes on without her. Once more, not allowed to fight. Middle Earth reciprocates her sacrifices, though, by leading her to Faramir, who she falls in love with. Again, she makes the decision to offer up her own dreams of valor, to start a life with Faramir. This is her greatest sacrifice yet as she is literally giving up what drives her in life for a new driving force: family.

Her love for Faramir softens her desire to stare death in the face and the arrival of her child, Elboron, and grandchild, Barahir, only dulls it further. Her death was not recorded, so we may never know if it was old age that took her or one last rebellious act of combat.

Viewers see several moments of Eowyn in Peter Jackson’s films that are not in the books and that give more shape to her character and shine an even brighter light on her sacrifices. For example, how Grima Wormtongue makes passes at her that she turns down. This adds a layer of misery in her entrapment.

Further, when audiences see her grieving and Grima is trying to close in on her, she runs outside to escape him, just as Aragorn rides in. This nods to how he is what she longs for romantically. Perhaps it is the fact that Aragorn isn’t always making passes at her that so draws her to him. In one version of the series, Tolkien had intended them to be together but decided ultimately that they would not be an appropriate match.

We see a lot more of Eowyn overall in the Lord of the Rings movies, as Jackson wrote her character into some of the actual journeying parts of the story. This allows viewers to see how tough she is, kingly even, and how well her and Aragorn get along. This gives more depth to her character because we get to spend more time with her and see her emotional responses to her sacrifices.

Ultimately, duty is what drives Eowyn. She is a symbol of strength and perseverance for the women of Middle Earth and an unexpected protector and ally to the men. She is literally putting her life on the line for this battle against the evil that taints Middle Earth, on top of already nursing the king of Rohan and aiding in the journey of the party of the ring. Her strength is what many view as a weakness; she will always sacrifice for her family and her kingdom, but, as we’ve seen, she will stand up for herself when she’s had enough.

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