Eowyn or Arwen?

[Lefty Scaevola]

Well, being a 2532 year old hero of the city of Rome, I would have to pick the immortal Arwen. She also bring more power to a romantic and polictical alliance than just sword play, being one of the great soceresses of Middle Earth. And Elves do not suffer routine headaches or other incomvinient illnesses at bedtime.

[Cirdan]

Aragorn had first pick and picked correctly.

[elvendrummer87]

Eowyn! She's my favorite character besides Pippin. She's couragous and has a go-get-'em kinda attitude.

[Sicirus]

How come everyone considers Aowyns escision suicide. if you say that about her choice of going to war then you kinda say that all the people who went to war made suicidel descisions.

[Sicirus]

Sorry about all the mistakes. I was typing to fast.

[Nurvingiel]

No one should beat you up over liking Arwen (except maybe Eowyn )

Arwen is extremely cool, and so is Eowyn. They both rule in different ways. Even though they have different qualities to admire, and some similar qualities, I maintain that they're equally cool.

Some days I say I like Arwen more, other days I say Eowyn. Overall I love them both the same. And if I was a lesbian, I'd ask them both out. Faramir and Aragorn would be after me... anyway...

Choosing your favourite character is nothing to have angst about.

[durin's bane]

Well said, Nurvingiel! That's what I was trying to say, but BoP came and kind of befuddled me out!

[Eowyn of Rohan]

Cirdan, Elf Lord of the Grey Havens, said, "Aragorn had first pick and picked correctly."

Accctually,...

Tolkien first wrote Eowyn as a the love interest for Aragorn. Eowyn was created when Tolkien's daughter offered, proclaimed, suggested (??) that there be a girl character in the book. Eowyn was invisioned far before Arwen was even a twinkling in Tolkien's eye. This was later changed, obviously, which may account for why there is so little of Arwen in the books.

So you see,... if we are going by who Aragorn "picked first" technically,... that's Eowyn. Sorry Cirdan.

((BTW - if you couldn't guess,... my vote is for Eowyn.))

Re: Eowyn's riding to battle: bravery or deathwish?
At first I was going to agree with a previous comment from someone else and say that I thought it a combination.
Now I see it as all bravery.

The Rohirrim are rough, battle hungry/ready people and she is a proven shieldmaiden, so... a given that she has bravery and knowledge of combat instilled in her.
Deathwish? - No... if you read closely it is not TRULY a desire to die. What she desires is a reason to live. Subtle, of course, but there is a difference.
She wants a CHANGE. She doesn't want her life or her kingdom to continue as it has, nor does she want to feel like she is powerless by not having anything to say on the matter (ignored because of her sex and her fair looks).
Eowyn says, "And it is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always eveil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in this dark hour I would choose the latter."
The phrase "in this dark hour" is very important. There was no indication that at that point in the story there was any hope in winning the WOTR,... therefore, almost all believed that they were as good as dead anyway. Eowyn's opinion seemed to me to be, "Okay,.. if I'm going to die anyway, I'm going to take out as many evils bastards as I can so that I die with some honor (the only thing she believes she has left to give - to live for). For it seemed to her, even if she were to be healed in body, what was the good that could come of that? She wanted to make a difference, to contribute, to be part of something grand and better than herself. If contributing meant giving her life.... then she was ready to do that. That's bravery! Not a deathwish.
True - she is lost and restless and broken when Aragorn does not return her affections, but then,.. if she can't have his affections can she at least ride with him and take part in what will no doubt be a glorious and honorable battle?? No,... you can't do that either. So,... she goes against what she has been brought up to do. She disobeys the wishes of her uncle, her brother, and her love, and she takes off in secret to fight. To disobey is bravery too! The only thing she has left is a desire to fight and restore glory and honor back to her beloved kingdom - and if that means dying? so be it,... what is left to live for anyway? No lover. No kingdom. Evil running Middle-earth. "Not if I can help it" she says.

((Continued in next posting...))

[Eowyn of Rohan]

((continued from previous))

Re: The argument that people don't like Eowyn because she is "too fickle" ,... that she falls in love who Faramir too quickly. Well, geez... aren't any of you people considering what the girl has just been through? She has ridden to battle in secret, having to keep up the disguise for DAYS after being told to "Stay at home and play nice!" by the man she loves,.. who, in her mind, is as good as dead having gone off to the Paths for seemingly no good reason. All this after years and years of being trained for battles that she would never be allowed to participate in, or for people to appreciate her skill or ability. The same as the kingdom of Rohan has fallen into weakness and no one has seen for years it's strength and might, so too have Eowyn's skills been hidden. The fact that they resurrect/display themselves together (the Ride of the Rohirrim / the Battle of the Pelennor Fields) is a genius move that Tolkien has taken with this character.
Then,... the battle with the Witch King. (So very cool!)
But with that done,... what does she still have in her life to struggle for? She has attained honour, but is still troubled and has no peace. Eowyn says, "I wish to ride to war... like Theoden the king, for he died and has both honour and peace." Because she is still troubled the only thing she knows to do is to keep fighting and keep trying to push back the evil perhaps at the cost of her life (which she is happy to give for such a worthy cause - which is the sign of a warrior not of a deathwish). On TOP of it all, she's come close to death under the black breath. This would wipe out the fight in most people, but she is up and kickin' in hardly anytime. Yet, she is changed now. She is the most vulnerable and open and exposed at this point than at any other, and what does she get for it? Another man telling her she cannot go out.
But this man is different. He sees her and she sees him. They share a very similar past and are both searching (although they are not consciously aware of it) for the same things: acceptance and love, and in those two things - their healing.
I believe Faramir and Eowyn are naturally and unnaturally drawn to each other - and therefore, meant for each other. Naturally because they come from homes where they are under appreciated and go about unnoticed and uncared for and unnaturally, because they have both been poisoned and weakened by the same dark malady. Who knows the lengths to how being exposed to this evil effects and consequently connects them. She meets him as a stranger who is uncommonly familiar to her - a warrior who "no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle" but who still has such a "grave tenderness" to his eyes that it causes "her heart to falter" and for her "to doubt herself for the first time". Suddenly she has a new reason,.. a new focus,... something else or, you might argue, someONE else to consider. That someONE else is not another person so much as it is another side of her own self. That side of her that also desires to do great things, but through being loved and loving (and consequently "healing") in return. If she can so suddenly run to war and be passionate and stubborn and desiring to do great things in battle, why is it so hard for people to see how she could just as capably and just as suddenly be focused on devoting herself thoroughly to her love for Faramir and the awareness of the "softer" side of herself?

It is through her bravery, and love, and suffering, and stubbornness, and growth, and change that prove that she is the best female character in the series!

Heck... even Aragorn kills himself off before it is even his time to die. My theory is that he is just trying to get away from the one demensional, constantly the same, never aging, a different species entirely, She-Elf.

Arwen is nice.... but Eowyn ROCKS!

[Nurvingiel]

Wow, that was a great post Eowyn of Rohan. I maintain that Arwen and Eowyn are equal, but much of Arwen's coolness is inferred.
I identify with Eowyn better than Arwen though, faced with the same situation, I would follow Eowyn's choices more (I hope )

[Cirdan]

Well I'm convinced. I'll switch my vote to Eowyn. EOR's post and her thrashing of BB has won me over.

[Bard]

Yup, great post Eowyn. Me myself do also more identify with Eowyn than with Arwen (although of course I`m a guy). Yet I could well immagine Eowyn`s actions and acting, she makes something loose in me that I recognise, something very human. Best I liked the part wherein Eowyn and Faramir meet and, though unspoken there love for each other grows. I always have to pink away a tear when reading that part. Eowyn is I gues, the best worked out character in the book.

[Varda Oiolosseo]

I like them both!

[Eowyn of Rohan]

To Nurvingiel & Cirdan:
::Bowing::
Thank you for your compliments of my post.
Couldn't tell that I'd put alot of thought into it, could ya?
As a continued thought, ... I don't DISLIKE Arwen just because I am such an enthusiastic Eowyn fan. Should Arwen have been given more time and depth throughout LOTR, I am sure that I would have developed an even deeper appretiation of her and the importance her existence made.
But Tolkien didn't intend on that,... or else it would have been so.
I (arguably) agree with prior comments that Eowy

[Eowyn of Rohan]

((hmmm... part of my post was cut off))

"agree that Eowy..."

That Eowyn is the most hightly developed of Tolkien's LOTR characters (at least in terms of (and I use the term loosely) "emotional development").
Sam could give her a run for her money though.
... and I would have like to have seen more of Aragorn's thoughts and feelings on situations.
Darn it!! (or... "oh goody"??) ..... now I'll have to go back and read it again!

[Eowyn of Rohan]

Oh! oops...
and thank you too Bard!

[Nurvingiel]

::returns bow:: You obviously did put a lot of effort into your posts.

I can see that it is easy to seem like you dislike Arwen when vehenemently supporting Eowyn, without actually disliking her.

I agree with you totally that Eowyn is one of the most developped characters! Sam would give her a run, and I think Frodo would as well. You see a harder side of him as he progresses on his quest. But anyway...

Do Eowyn and Arwen have any similarities? When I think about them, they're like night and day. They do have Aragorn in common, but their love for him is as different as can be, so maybe it really isn't a similarity.

Points to ponder.

[Eowyn of Rohan]

Originally posted by Nurvingiel
Do Eowyn and Arwen have any similarities? When I think about them, they're like night and day. They do have Aragorn in common, but their love for him is as different as can be, so maybe it really isn't a similarity.

Hmmmm.... yes, and "ponder" them I will. My initial reaction is to jump to the "love" they feel (as you said) as the first and most prominent similarity, but... I'm sure I can think of some others and offer up some supportive reasoning.

Let me think on it....

[Aralyn]

Well the title says it all but who did you think was better? Eowyn or Arwen and why?

Once again I think Ewoyn was better. I mean destroying a Nazgul? And going against set rules placed by men. You gotta admire that even if you like Arwen better.

Now your turn

[Lady of Rohan]

I agree with you Aralyn. I think that Eowyn is a very strong female character. I like Arwen as well, but I admire Eowyn more (even though she is only a character from a book, I think she sets a good example. Plus, she gets to live in the home of the horse lords!!)