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The Other Way 'Round

© Michael Martinez

This is a copyrighted work. Please do not copy or redistribute this work without permission. When The Lord of the Rings was first published, some reviewers apparently decided that "all the good [peoples were] just good, and the bad just bad." In indirect response to such complaints, Tolkien noted to one reader: "...the Elves were not wholly good or in the right" (Letter 154). Indeed, none of his characters were wholly "good" or "evil"; and Elrond acknowledged as much, telling the members of his council that "nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so." The Rohirrim are another example of a group who seem good but do evil (on occasion). The treason of Grima Wormtongue is foreshadowed by the rebellion of Freca and his son Wulf, who overthrows King Helm Hammerhand with the aid of Dunlendings, Easterlings, and Corsairs. But the Rohirrim engage in questionable behavior even as a people. When Theoden offers a great reward to Ghan-Buri-Ghan for leading his army to Minas Tirith, Ghan-Buri-Ghan only asks that the Rohirrim stop hunting his people like animals. The Rohirrim are thus not perfect, and sometimes readers have to be shown so. All too many people through the years have mistaken the Rohirrim for a pro-Fascist Nordic purity stereotype (completely unaware of Tolkien's opposition to the German Fascists and their racist views). Yet readers also focus on the Rohirrim for another reason: except for Eowyn, many people note, Tolkien put no strong women characters in his stories. Inevitably, people point to Galadriel and Luthien as counter-examples. Now, Galadriel does not play much of a role in The Lord of the Rings, and Luthien is barely mentioned. Even Eowyn's role is covered in the space of a few chapters (none of which are devoted exclusively to her). On the other hand, The Silmarillion provides more active roles for women. And Unfinished Tales offers tantalizing glimpses into the lives of several women (most notably, Galadriel). But in The Lord of the Rings, Eowyn is introduced as little more than throne-dressing for Theoden. She graduates to a promised reward for Grima Wormtongue, and then proceeeds to fall hopelessly in love with Aragorn, who (of course) rejects her for the noblest of reasons (his love is already given to another). Eowyn's long empty life fills her with despair, which leads her to seek a glorious death on the battlefield, and thus Tolkien's shield-maiden comes to life. Many an argument has swirled over the value Eowyn brings to what is mostly a "boy story". She is, in some ways, the one redeeming quality about the Rohirrim, and in other ways their most damning attribute.