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The way people have a double standard towards Eowyn has always been annoying to me. If a male character ended his story with laying down his weapons and forsaking violence, after spending most of the book looking for and idealizing those things, to seek a peaceful life to build a family he'd be hailed as one of the most realistic and inspirational role models in fiction. But when a lady does it she's... submitting to the patriarchy?

The Theoden/Eowyn relationship is one of my favorite dynamics in the movies. They feel very human and real compared to everyone else. "I know your face" always gets me.

People are always very surprised when I tell them the "I am no man" bit was in the book (albeit more eloquent).

Many don't understand that Éowyn doesn't submit or capitulate when she accepts Faramir's love: what he is offering her is a higher calling than death in battle. She comes from a far more primitive society that sees physical strength and violence as the path to achievement, but Gondor's leaders are revered for being learned and wise. Faramir knows that to build, to heal and to nurture the earth is what we fight for, and the reason why he and Sam the Gardener understand each other. In the Fourth Age Éowyn and Faramir, as the Princess and Prince of Ithilien, will heal the wounds that Sauron and the Witch-king inflicted on that land. Definitely an upgrade from anything life in Rohan would have offered her.

"She is actively trying to get herself killed". Exactly. I've always thought that the reason she can stand up to the Witch King is because his primary weapon is fear and Eowyn has basically resigned herself to death already, would welcome it, she has nothing left to be afraid of.

It’s important to remember that Eowyn believes Aragorn to be dead, to have thrown his life away on a mad journey through the paths of the dead, when she seeks death in battle as Dernhelm. This is part of the source of her despair.

I think what’s notable with Eowyn accepting the role of healer and servant is that Faramir also has that role. They are equals, as much as they can be in that world. She’s not submitting to him, he is simply showing her another, healthier path. One he himself also desires to walk. Anyway I love them ❤ this was a wonderful and nuanced breakdown of the differences in Eowyn’s characterization. Honestly I can’t choose between them: they’re both wonderful in different ways

I thought Miranda did a good job. But the written scene is just amazing. "You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone if ye be not deathless, for living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch him." Then she laughs and stabs him in the fucking face!!

The impression I always had was as a World War 1 veteran, Tolkien didn’t have a high opinion of people being hyper focused on claiming glory in war. Even if he did use the Rohirrim to play with Pagan ideas of glory in war. My takeaway was always: war sucks no matter your gender. Being a healer is a more fulfilling role

Eowyn was 18 to 21 years old, max 25, in the books. She is young, bitter, and in pain. She lived through her father being killed, her mother's death due to illness, her cousin being killed, her brother running off, and left as a caregiver for her dying and mentally idled/brainwashed uncle and king. Plus, she was at the mercy of Wormtongue and the corrupt and other court officials. She naturally wanted to be a man to have some self-agency/autonomy because she equated those 2 things with being a man.

Eowyn turning away from violence rings so true. When I’ve spoken to men and women who survived war, the best adjusted of them, often rather quickly, go home to marry and build a family. Eowyn does it, but so does faramir , so does Samwise. It seems like it is a very healing and human thing to do.

Last time I was this early, Melkor was disrupting the song of creation

"...Christian, male, Oxford professor, from the early 1900s..." who also: fought in the trenches of WWI, and in the middle of it married, and left his wife to return to the front; and who later wrote LOTR mostly under the shadow of WWII in which his children were fighting. People seem to forget that Tolkien was both a lover and a soldier; both are very relevant to these passages.

One very important angle that Tolkien portrays in the book through Eowyn's struggle and her eventual love of Faramir is the importance of humility. Tolkien's emphasis on the virtue and strength of humility is repeated throughout so many of his characters, most especially in Frodo and Sam. However, in Eowyn we see a powerful lesson learned: that pride can lead to hopelessness, yet humility leads to healing. This poignant portrayal is an important lesson for all of our lives. I have always loved how Tolkien managedsto hit me so close to home.

Miranda Otto's return as narrator is my strongest motivation to see the upcoming film War of the Rohirrim.

I love how Faramir in the books is the epitome of humility and that was just the remedy Eowyn needed to overcome her natural tendency of wanting glory and praise in an unhealthy sense.

11:00 the other thing is that in warrior societies like the Rohirrim, winning glory in battle and being remembered after death is the highest form of honor, so it's no wonder that Eowyn is so concerned with attaining that status

The most overlooked aspect of both book and movie Eowyn is her single strike death blow on the winged fell beast. Aragorn notes "you have some skill with a blade" but no-one has seen it used in a battle context. Nobody else squared up to one of those beasts, although at the time all she desired was to die fighting as a soldier she still took it on. She's a hero and she's awesome and I think my favourite between book and movie version is book Eowyn simply due to the surprise factor as we didn't know who Dernhelm was untill the helmet came off.

The scene I love is the one they took out, but then added to the special editions is the rage of her bother. His scream of sadness as it turns to madness thinking she is dead is great.

Éowyn and Éomer lost their parents when they were children. Éowyn probably had few if any women around her, just a bunch of men. Imagine living as a woman without any female figure to be inspired by during all your life. To make things worse the rohirrim were absolute barbarians who knew nothing to live for other than war and horses, Éowyn had only heard songs of killing and war during her entire life! Then, obviously she would wish to take part in this! But it was always denied to her, she was doomed to wait upon an old sick man whom she loved as a father, and her part was utterly ignoble. As a man who was raised surrounded by women, I say that the inverse of this experience is terrible, I can understand her plight through personal experience, and I'm very sorry for her. Then she went to the houses of healing, there she saw men and women saving lives, learned in lore and history, man and women who knew more of life than slaying and war. And then she met Faramir, a man whom according to Éowyn herself:"no rider of the mark could outmatch in battle". He was a tall gigachad who was also gentle and learned, and he offered her another perspective of life, one which she could have peace and freedom beyond battle.

Eowyn -- Confined in the Houses of Healing and hating life with the same passion as Gollum hating the Sun and Moon. Faramir upon seeing Eowyn: A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality.

Tolkien disapproved of feminists (he says so explicitly in his letters), and he initially intended Eowyn to die in battle before the walls of Minas Tirith. His insight into how trapped she felt in Edoras, how courage and despair drove her to seek death in battle, the eucatastrophe of her triumph over the Witch King, and how she found healing and new purpose, all stem from his gradual recognition of her full humanity. It's a mark of his skill as a writer that he developed such a rich character, despite his political opinions. In a way, he followed where she led, and was rewarded with Eowyn, one of the great heroines of literature.

To know that beauty exists and be unable to perceive it... At Christmas my family re-watched the trilogy. But because a year-long infection had rendered me nearly deaf I was only able to hear a severely amputated version of the score. Knowing and loving that music, and being robbed of its beauty nearly broke my heart. Thankfully my hearing has recovered and the world sings for me again.

This was very well done. Thank you. Characters like Eowyn remind me of the strong, complex and interesting women I’ve known as friends (and more) throughout my own life.

Jess, I love this video, BUT I think that far too many of us gloss over how much Eowyn was willing to risk in following the boys to war. Aragorn himself highlights this - Eowyn was not just being assigned the task of keeping house, finding beds for the warriors and then getting burned with the house once the men no longer need it... Once Theoden decides to ride to war, and Eomer as Third Marshall of the Riddermark cannot be spared from the fighting, someone has to stay behind to run things! Eowyn is designated as ruler, because "all love her". She ran Theoden's household, she likely ran the city when Wormtongue didn't care about the details of a functioning government, and someone needed to keep the civilians safe, and even make military decisions regarding the roving bands of orcs and Dunlendings that might assault outlying farms or try to take Dunharrow (Edoras was abandoned and there had been some "hard words" but Eowyn herself had diffused the situation once the people were installed in the hills - Helm's Deep likely still held the bulk of the families from the Westfold and those walking wounded fighters who stayed behind to protect the keep and guard the Fords of Isen with the help of the Ents and the Huorns). When Aragorn tried to remind her of this, she in turn tried to justify her position (and tried to not sound petulant, even in her own ears)...Aragorn wasn't being hypocritical, because he couldn't take her along on his side quest, WITHOUT LEAVE OF HER KING/UNCLE AND/OR HER BROTHER, since she was the designated leader of the realm in their absence! So off he went, to certain death, so she thought, while she brooded on her wrongs and then snuck away, disguised as Dernhelm, to what we would call today, 'suicide by cop'. She can't have the love of the first high born stranger that she has ever seen who at least understands what she's trying to say, even if he doesn't agree? Screw that! She'll take some Rider's place in battle, kill every orc she can trample until her luck and skill runs out. That her brother will also get suicidally homicidal when he thinks she dead, well, she didn't think of that! Someone took charge in her absence, and presumably someone trustworthy, one of the elders or wounded captains, and as the Lords of Gondor left Minas Tirith as well manned as before the battle, again, some Captain like Erkenbrand most likely stayed behind to command the Rohirrim and do battle with the last army of orcs, and to advise the refugees when they could return to Edoras. Either way, nothing more was said about Eowyn going AWOL, so a 'no harm no foul' and the end. There's a military precident for that...if you disobey an order, but in so doing, you win the battle/mission/war, you get a medal instead of a court martial. But only if you win!

I always thought of Éowyn as having a bit of a duality in the book, between the empowerment of showing that a woman can indeed be the equal to a man, and fight for what she believes in just as fiercely, and the feeling of brokenness. A woman who fears a cage and the inability to gain valor and who sought her own death in battle. In the end, I feel that this came to a head in the battle with the Witch King of Angmar, when she revealed herself, empowered as a woman standing between him and her uncle, the king. Protection of who and what she loved, regardless of whether she gained valor from it or not. After killing him, she seeks death still, and wakes in bitterness in hospital, with her mind in torment and Faramir helps her sort her feelings. It can feel a bit rushed, but it's incredibly nuanced, as you said, and I always felt that her sense of purpose comes into focus, and the duality of her character comes together, and she's whole for the first time. Because she knows that she doesn't have to die to be free of a cage, and that she can be empowered with Faramir, who sees and loves her for who she is, not as the woman other men might have wanted her to be.

One issue that the movie glosses over (out of necessity) is that Eowyn could not have delivered the death blow to the Witch King if Merry had not first struck him with the blade from the Barrow Downs - the blade that was imbued with magic for exactly that purpose by the smiths of Arnor, though it would not be put to its intended use for millennia. The text describes the blade as having broken the spell that bound the wraith's spirit to his sinews, the implication being that it rendered him vulnerable to Eowyn's strike (which, in the book, takes the form of a beheading - a much more exciting fight scene IMO than the film version.) This does not detract from her accomplishment, but I think it gets overlooked that "I am no man" could have been said equally by Eowyn (a woman), and by Merry (a hobbit). It was, in fact, a team effort.

RIP Bernard Hill

The first scene with Eowyn and Theoden always reminds me a bit of King Lear and his daughter Cordelia, which is funny given how Tolkien felt about Shakespeare.

Your reading of Faramir's lines to Eowyn are so much better than the voice actor that said them in the 1980 BBC radio play. This is the first time that those lines felt real to me.

"I also saw what you saw, Eomer. There are few things in this world that bring a man more shame than to behold the love of a woman so fair that cannot be returned. But I tell you truly that she loves you more than me."

Maybe by my own interpretation; the book scene felt like a “she was destined to be there”. Like she wanted to go, she knew had had to fight. And with the disapproval of her father (edit: her uncle), she had to sneak herself into the battlefield. Many coincidences (or rather providence?) later, she ends up slaying Mr. Witch King. Providence is very relevant to Christians, like me, and I just assume that Tolkien wrote it that way for a reason.

The book version is by far the superior one, but then, that is true for the other characters as well, for all the reasons Jess explains in the video; the time and space available to the author that the film writer doesn't have.

To quote another franchise "Wars not make one great."

Eowyn’s laughter at the Witch King tells us so much about her head space. In my head it’s a sad laugh, a laugh of disbelief, a scared and frustrated laugh, a laugh of dissonance. But it’s also a boss move in a way- to laugh at such a powerful figure because you’re starting to recognize it’s ultimately powerless.

I always thought the prophecy about how "no mortal man" will stop the Witch King was the kind of prophecy that a mediocre court magician would come up with to appease his abusive boss. In a world where besides Men there are Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents, Orcs, immortal Wizards, and of course Eowyn, saying no man will hurt you leaves a lot of other people free to stab you in the face. And without taking anything away from Eowyn, Merry (also not a "man") did his part in that fight. If I were given a prophecy like that I would not be as confident as the Witch King was.

This is hands down, the best Tolkien channel.

Tolkien's work is full of people discovering that their highest calling is to serve and heal others, even to the point of self-sacrifice. Aragon knows that is who he is. It is how Gandalf keeps on track. And Saruman falls by straying from it.

Thank you so much for zeroing in on the Eowyn character in. this video. Intuitively I recognized the story arcs she undergoes both in the book and the movie, but it was just wonderful to hear you delve deep into the character. From the perspective of being a man, Eowyn has always by far been my favorite (accessible) female character in LOTR. Galadreil is of course utterly extraordinary, but simply inaccessible to me, mortal as I am.

It took me many years myself to understand Eowyn's character arc. 14 year old me loved Eowyn as the warrior maiden riding into battle, and 14 year old me could not understand why she gave it all to be with Faramir. Then 35 year old me reread the books and saw what 14 year old me missed: Eowyn was not written as an icon or symbol as many women are written in modern media but always she was a fully developed character with goals and motivations. I was only focused on seeing her on the Battle field rather than reasons she was there in the first place.

Eowyn's part in the book was probably responsible for a good deal of the modern version of the fantasy trope of the shieldmaiden... thus the tropes that infected the screenwriting of the movie had less of an effect on her. I was not thrilled with the movie's execution of most of her big scenes, but Otto was great and she did still get to do her thing, which is one of my favorite parts of the book to read. It was just not quite as written.

my favorite eowyn part of the movie was when she scoops up merry 'ride with me.' i tear up just remembering it

When you read Faramir's lines from the book my first thought was "Damn, Faramir is smooth!"

She's feminist in many ways, but I think people miss that more than that, she's a representation of the war veteran experience through Tolkien's eyes. She goes from yearning for war and being practically suicidal, to realizing what's more important and finding completion in rebuilding after the fighting is done rather than dying hopeless upon the field. She has one of the biggest and most thematic arcs from start to finish in the books imo. Equal to Frodo, in that Frodo is the other side of the veteran experience where you're eternally marred by PTSD and everything you tried to protect is still unavoidably damaged by the war.

I really love your highly detailed comparisons of Tolkien characters, book vs. film. Always shows me nuances I had not noticed before. Thank you!

Random trivia about the worst version of Eowyn: In the original Swedish translation of the books the translator, for who knows what reason, decided that having Eowyn do the "I am no man" and stab the witch king was dumb, so gave the moment to Merry instead. Completely undermining both character's jounerys.

the first time i read the books, Dernhelm being revealed as Eowyn is one of the most magical surprises for me. that was lost in the movie she could set down her sword for having killed the witch king, she could achieve no greater glory. she'd followed that path to it's end and then see's how else she may grow

I don't think there was a greater future, a better fate, that Tolkien could give any character he wrote than healer and gardener.

Brilliant! Again, "I don't disagree on any particular point." However, it is interesting to me that in this matter there is also woven some of that cyclical storytelling that you brought up in talking about Dune: Consider the Valar, particularly Orome the Hunter and Tulkas (who came late to middle earth to aid the others, because sometimes even the gods call for backup). These were powerful spirits, perhaps prone to the same temptations as Melkor. They could have remained safe with the Host of Heaven and hummed along with the music, but they CHOSE to take their part in the very thick of worldly events, to guide and protect the creatures of creation against the disharmony of Melkor. In doing so, they embraced whatever doubts or sorrows they would find, whether of the enemy's make or of their own doubts and dangerous ambitions -- consider the temptation of Aule and the response of Yvanna to balance out their realms of care and responsibility. Consider those of the High Elves like Galadriel who could have remained in bliss in Valinor, but who set out on the long march across the northern coasts (because they didn't/wouldn't take part in the kin-slaying) and came to middle earth against the decree of the Valar, to stop Melkor from destroying or perverting all life into spiritual darkness. They embraced a potentially hopeless fight, what Galadriel called "The Long Defeat" to come to the aid of others out of sheer love for life wherever they might find it. Consider the Faithful of Numenor, who could have followed the fate of their people according to the authority of the King Ar-Pharazon seeking immortality; and accepted that cage of authority and law until its decadence and ambition led them all to ruin on the shores of Aman. Instead, Elendil and his followers fled to middle earth as exiles, accepting their fate as mortal men, and set up bulwark kingdoms against the return of evil. Then, when Sauron returned after the sinking of Numenor, they fought to the death alongside their found allies against the inevitable power of the Dark Lord and his One Ring. Consider particularly Aragorn himself, 16th chieftain of the Dunedain, a dynasty that for centuries had been dedicated to a purely defensive holding action to resist the evil ones and protect the descendants of their former subjects. It was not "given to him" to claim the throne of Elendil, and yet he chose to expose himself as the last of his line, to risk death against the Dark Lord himself in a mad gamble to end the threat that was greater than he. He was called Estel, "Hope," and yet it was not with hope but with mad determination against the odds to risk all on whatever power remained in him from nobler ancestors to change the very nature of life in middle-earth. Then, after all these cycles, consider Eowyn. Scion of Eorl, child of the relentless warriors who had secured the borders of Gonder when they migrated to the realm, inheritor of all the northmen's cold fury... and yet it was not "given to her" not required that she ride to the relief of her people's allies. Nonetheless, she felt the Call. She took personal responsibility for seeing that the commission of her kind was fulfilled in history. Then, with the laughter of Glorfindel ringing in the ears of history, she fulfilled it. "I am no man!" she shouted, and the chief servent of Sauron was struck down in the field, and his forces were thrown in such disarray that the arrival of the armies of the south (with Aragorn) were enough to win the battle after all. After that, she did what the cycles of storytelling said such heroes could do. The Valar banished Melkor, and they keep their blessing upon their home Valinor in the West. After the fall of Melkor, Galadriel kept watch and guardianship of Laurelindorinan and made it prosper as a force against the servants of evill, until even she could return to Valinor herself, having won the long battle after all. The Numenorians continued in their accepted mortality as Dunedain, and Aragorn reunited the ancient lines that would endure beyond what he knew would be his lifetime, trusting his children to continue the fate of the people. Thus it is only proper that Eowyn of the Rohirrim, after fulfilling the fate of her people to honorably fight and join with the people of Gondor, would herself aid and join with their High Steward Faramir and work towards the healing and blossoming of the lands of men (and living in the beautiful gardens of Ithilien) in later days. Eowyn did not "submit" to anything. She fulfilled a destiny and then received the rewards of the fate and love that comes after. Because she was so willing to suffer and even die while fighting with all her honorable will, she proved herself worthy to be elevated to a greater status than just warrrior. She became a guardian of the future of the people enjoined. The Valar joined with middle-earth and its creatures. The best of elves joined with the plight of those who suffered from Melkor's destructions. The Faithful joined with their fate to be bound to the mortal lands. Aragorn joined with the scattered kingdoms and his own older cousins to renew the world. Eowyn joined with the noblest of men -- a man who had refused even the One Ring itself -- to heal and protect the future of those lands. Thus the cycle of the Call and the answering continues throughout history and fate. Tolkien himself could have kept his position in academia rather than volunteer to fight in the trenches, but he also heard the Call of joining in the fates of foreign lands, and he answered. For his reward, he was able to join with his one love, Edith, and to this love he dedicated the heart of his literary works for the rest of his mortal life, and upon their gravestones is written "Beren and Luthien." He knew all too well the cycle of potential pain and sacrifice, and the joys of rejoining. In Tolkien's world, the Garden is the ideal, and the gardener the most noble of undertakings, and with this the greatest of heroes are rewarded. Another case in point, enter Sam Gamgee the Gardener, and the Shire itself, of which it was said (approx), "It must be a blessed land indeed, where gardeners are held in such high esteem." Overall, for a while, Eowyn was infatuated with Aragorn because she recognized somewhat of HERSELF in him, and of them both in older tales. However, in the end, she loved Faramir, because the two of them were equals in a generation of helping the world transition as best it could into the next age of joining. They both remembered the inherited loyalties and nobilities of the past, but they dedicated themselves to protecting the world into the future. They had both ridden out against the worst of evils they could find, without hope of survival, and yet "Hope" had brought them together for a task worthy of their faithfulness. Such are the cycles of storytelling :)

She truly is one of my favorite characters after reading the books. Not appreciated enough I think.

Anyone who has fought on a battlefield can see exactly the same behavior in Eowyn as the fresh faced troops who have never seen war. They don't know the horrors just yet. They've never spilled blood nor watched their friends die or be injured. In the books she wants the same kind of fame as many of the heroes written in song and poem. But she doesn't have the same obligations as the men nor the pressures to do such things. It's why the Charge of the Rohirrim hits differently when you realize what's happening. Every man on that field knew they were going to die. They would sell their lives at a high cost to the Orc army in order to do as much damage as possible in order to provide relief for the city defenders. They knew that's what duty and honor demanded of them, Eowyn did not. I'll give her credit that she rode anyway but it was for selfish reasons.

Interesting note about the movie, in the (gorgeous) wide shot of Eowyn on the battlements of Edoras, a flag of Rohan is ripped off a flag pole. This was a complete accident, the wind speed the day of the shoot was over 50 mph, tearing off the banner and blowing it into the plains. Peter Jackson was so impressed with how well it fit the mood of the scene that he reshot the scene of Aragorn entering the city to show it.

I admired Eowyn in the books and in the movie. I don't believe that they could have cast it any better than Miranda Otto. She makes a perfect Saxon Princess and except for the horses the Rohirrim are based on the Anglo-Saxons.

The emotions that Miranda Otto showcases as an actor while signing the funeral dirge for Theodred are amazing as well. This scene is totally a movie storyline and nothing from the book because, in the book version, Theodred is buried at the Fords of Isen by Grimbold.

Wow, such a thoughtful and insightful analysis. Thanks Jess

Good timing, and welcome back. Your videos provide a necessary diversion from daily tedium and more serious issues.

Well stated!! People actually did stand and cheer in the theater when i saw her slay The Witch King for the first time. When I saw that more than just a couple of people were doing it, I lost my shyness and stood and cheered, too. I liked the book Eowyn better than the movie Eowyn, but Miranda Otto did an excellent job. LOTR and The Hobbit really were very male oriented. Back in the 60s, I remember having to go back and re-read the part about Arwen in Rivendell. "Arwen WHO??" She's barely mentioned, really. Shelob and Rosie are mentioned more, I think.

Eowyn is one of my favourite characters of the (book) trilogy!

I've had never thought of movie Eowyn as just wanting to prove girl power. Her comparison to Merry made me buy the premise that she wanted to help and protect her people yet she is not taken seriously, which was relatable and Will remain relatable intil I'm muscly enough

The way I saw it was that Eowyn wanted to do these great deeds to prove, if only to herself, that she could. And the conversations with Faramir allowed her to see that there was an alternative to death in battle, and that she'd be no less renowned because of it. I feel the sentance '..her heart changed, or perhaps she understood it ' is so important, and often overlooked by modern commentators.

Eowyn is my favorite character in Lord of the Rings. I named my cat after her (which perplexes the vet any time I make an appointment and have to spell the name out). I love her confrontation with the Witch-king and wish they had kept the full speech in the movie. Though I understand why they went with the pithier "I am no man!"

Book Eowyn for me, since I knew that version first. But I would also say that I think the character failings of movie Eowyn were lessened by Miranda Otto's admirable performance, and I don't think she was handled as poorly as some of the other characters. As you say, Tolkien had an predictably outmoded mindset which the films seem to downplay as much as they can, though sometimes substituing for it a modern view which is not necessarily in keeping with the idea of LotR as a "discovered" historical account, meant to reflect the ideas of a much earlier age. As always, you've made quite a few interesting and useful observations about the differences between the two works, and a nice additon to the series.

Thank you SO much for this analysis! Things make sense now in this part of the book that I couldnt get when I read it years ago : D

I love your content Jess, keep up the good works!

“Take heart, Merry. It will soon be over…” “My lady. You are fair, and brave, and have much to live for. And many who love you.” -ROTK movie extended. I think that scene helps draw a closer connection to book and movie Éowyn by showing her despondency and longing for a meaningful death.

This video inspired me to go back and re-read the books after years. Only halfway through fellowship but holy shit did I miss the feeling I only get reading the books. Newish to the channel, can’t wait to go back and watch your past videos as I’m reading!

It's been about 25 years since I read the books. I appreciate your breakdowns and comparisons. Keep up the great videos.

As always your analyses are deep, well thought-out and in my opinion spot-on. Bravo.

Wormtongue’s interactions with Eowyn (in the movie) could be compared to Richard III’s courtship of Anne Neville in Shakespeare’s play.

Excellent and interesting analysis. You are very good at this.

I really enjoy your videos! They are so wonderful!

The books, the films, and without doubt, Jess's analyses ... All recognisable masterpieces deserving equal respect. I have learned and reconsidered so so much since watching and carefully listening to this channel - It's been like seeing a picture turning from grey scale to full technicolour. Every episode an education and a real pleasure !!

Well reasoned and beautifully put. Thank you.

As always, great in-depth character analysis! As a male, I always liked her character in the movies. Her triumph was ridiculously satisfying, and the pairing with such a disgraced and noble character like Faramir was the icing on the cake, for both their sakes lol 😂

Great video! Eowyn is one of my favorite characters, if not my favorite, from the books. For me, the movies missed a chance to really show her complexity. The movie is good, but it focuses mainly on her struggle to make it as a woman in a man's world. Definitely an important part of her character, but it's just a part, not the whole. Book Eowyn certainly struggles with her role in the male-driven world, but she also has great loyalty to her house and family, desires for great deeds and glory in battle, a good degree of despair/depression, and a desire to prove herself worthy. She is so interesting and cool, and it all comes to a head when she faces the witch king. In the book - it's a perfectly written couple of paragraphs. Her loyalty, strength, ability, despair, love for her family, and yes her frustration of being a woman in a man's world, are all on full display. It's beautiful. In the movie, we get "I am no man - arrrght!"....just the feminism, nothing more complex or interesting than that. Not bad, it just could have been so much more, IMO.

There is also a sense that her 'rebelling' against the wishes of her family was somewhat serendipitous. Her insisting on riding to battle allowed her to bring Merry to the battle, and it was ESSENTIAL that Merry be present there as well because he was carrying a blessed blade of Westernesse from the tombs of the Barrow Wights, which it is implied was how the witch king was weakened enough to be slain by Eowyn. Her character arch was perfect, in that she broke with tradition JUST ENOUGH to make a difference when it was needed, and then returned to tradition when it wasn't. It is the exception that proves the rule.

This is an excellent analysis, and I very much enjoyed it!

Great analysis! Eowyn and Faramir are my favorite characters from the LOTR. Their story lines in the movies were my biggest disappointments. I think Jackson did the best he could with Eowyn but they were way off with Faramir.

I love your vids! These book vs movies comparisons are nice because I too, like most younger millennial/older gen Z kids probably, had watched the movies first before reading the books, but have since fallen in love with the books as well :) . I think Miranda Otto as Eowyn was one of my first crushes admittedly and I loved how genuinely she cared for Merry and even gave him the horn he blew when the hobbits returned to the Shire. Her going from her lowest point in her grieving of Theodred and having to deal with Wormtongue and her then running out as the flag of Rohan rips away from the pole to show off the the slow decay of the region, to then seeing Theoden become himself again and seeing the joy in her face was a very cathartic moment in LOTR, and nowadays, especially when dealing with the struggles of life, that scene with Theoden in the movie being freed of Saruman's influence is absolutely incredible and continues to help me push through when times are tough. Bernard Hill will be missed and it was cool how he made the extra effort to stay involved in lotr communities and talk about Lotr with fans, his portrayal of Theoden was incredible, I hope you make a vid for him too :). Kinda random, but still Arda related, but would you recommend the Fall of Gondolin even if I've already read the Silmarillion? I've heard it was mainly Christopher Tolkien's efforts to compile all available information on the events of the fall in a more comprehensive form, but wasn't sure if there was any new material or not. I heard JRR Tolkien made alot of revisions to the story, so I'm just a bit confused on if the Silmarillion contains the same version of the events in that book, or if it's more of an exploration of different iterations of the story.

23:02 I am VERY happy that someone else thought exactly what I always think when I reach this part lol

i always liked eowyn but i had a friend who absolutely despised her, and for the dumbest reason too. the friend was doing the whole swordfight thing so thinking back she should've liked her. the reason she didn't? she adored arwen and arwen with aragorn, and eowyn was crushing on him and "trying to get inbetween them". that's it, that was her reason. bonkers.

Thank you, Jess. ❤❤

This is such a deep, nuanced and compelling take on the complex in her ambition and complicated in her grief character of Eowyn, I absolutely love it, thank you, Jess! I definitely prefer the book Eowyn, as I find her not only more interesting to observe, but also way more relatable. She is one of my best loved characters, and following her journey in the book was incredibly healing for me on every read. Yet I agree that the film Eowyn also has her own important role and her merit. However, I don’t really like that the film Eowyn was made overtly vulnerable right from the get go, as the whole point of her character arc was in her being out of touch with her own emotional state in the beginning (which is described as her appearing cold on the outside), and then slowly and painfully getting back in touch with it - which results in her swaying first to the very bottom of the grief that she carried, and then, finally starting an upward spiral towards inner healing and peace. And, gosh, this is such an incredibly beautiful twist when the one with no hope for herself decides to become the bringer of hope for others…

Thank you for your great video 🙏

Eowyn wanted to be Eomer, and she does so up until she meets her hearttwin in Faramir, another second child, relegated to the background in favor of the elder.

Great video as always

Great presentation of both depictions of the character. I didn't understand her ark in the book until now. Thank you.

I love both book and movie Éowyn too, for different reasons. I keep enjoying your channel because even though you are a modern young woman, you strive to understand Tolkien in context. He was a product of his time and his faith and WWI experience. He and his time were not perfect, but we gain benefit from their wisdom by seeing it in context first. Only then we apply that wisdom to today's context..Bravo! You keep me engaged and eager to see your next video.

I absolutely adore the single scene of eowyn and faramir meeting!

Really great analysis 👍

Your corner looks cute and cozy!

Another good video Jess and looking good as always.

While I love both interpretations of the character, I love book Eowyn more, precisely because of the nuances of character you describe here. Tolkien isn't particularly subtle in showing his feelings about how he feels that service to others is the true heart of heroism, as opposed to doing great deeds of renown. Compare and contrast Eowyn's motivations and journey to Sam's, for example.

As always, a wonderful video! Eowyn is a favorite character of mine.

19:02 Damn, when you read Eowin's line to The Lich King, I got crazy chills.

I suspect that Tolkien may have envisioned Eowyn as much more androgynous and stoic than she is portrayed in the movies. With Tolkien, I sense in her a quiet desperation as well as a courageous resolve. Some of the scenes in the movie seem to portray her as a femme fatale. Her desire to die so she can win renown reminds me of the Iliad in which Achilles must choose the warrior culture in which one dies and is remembered for ages vs. the ordinary man who dies and is not remembered. Later when she grows to love Faramir who believes there is something more glorious than renown in battle, she changes from warrior to healer or should I say to a "wounded healer." In Faramir Tolkien seeks to undermine the idea that there is glory in war and that a simple, peaceful life is much better.

Great video breakdown of Eowyn You made a point about Eowyn stepping back into a more submissive role, and being a servant because Faramir told her, but I didn’t really get that vibe. It felt more like he counselled her to turn from her suicidal drive and she finally understood this, especially in the light of her war experience and seeing the chance for a higher calling in Faramir

Another great episode!

One thing missed in the video, the sorta cheer up monologue that was done by Faramir in the books at the end, was sorta done by Aragorn in the movies way earlier, when Eowyn speak of being caged and all he answer that it wouldn't be her fate, he basically tells her he believes in her, unlike the books where it may come off rather instead somewhat as pity instead, while yea later he tried to prevent her from fighting, he still sort of steal Faramir's thunder from in the books.