Éowyn was the most heavily featured female character in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. She was known to be beautiful and passionate, and after watching Rohan suffer under Saruman (and Sauron, by extension), Éowyn became determined to defend her home. She dressed as a man and rode into battle in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and defeated the Witch-king of Angmar, satisfying the prophecy that “no man” could kill the wraith. Now, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim has introduced a similar character in Héra, who, like Éowyn, became a Shieldmaiden of Rohan.
Éowyn Is A Shieldmaiden Of Rohan In Lord Of The Rings
Rohan Had At Least One Shieldmaiden Centuries After War Of The Rohirrim
In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Éowyn tells Aragorn she is a Shieldmaiden of Rohan. She says this in order to inform the man that she is capable with a sword because she has been trained in combat since childhood. It’s for this reason that Éowyn was so well equipped to face off against the Witch-king of Angmar and come out victorious (with the help of the Hobbit Merry, of course).
Miranda Otto, who played Éowyn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, returns to the role to narrate in War of the Rohirrim .
Though Éowyn’s status as a Shieldmaiden is made clear in the Lord of the Rings books, there was never much time spent explaining what this really meant. Éowyn was trained to fight, but she wasn’t actually expected or permitted to—that’s why she had to dress as a man and sneak onto the battlefield. It’s implied that Shieldmaidens hold a symbolic position, but War of the Rohirrim provided more context for Rohan’s female fighters.
War Of The Rohirrim Retcons The History Of Rohan’s Shieldmaidens
The New Lord Of The Rings Movie Explains Where Rohan’s Shieldmaidens Come From
Éowyn’s role as a Shieldmaiden has become all the more intriguing now that War of the Rohirrim has created a more detailed history for these women. Early in the film, it’s revealed that the Shieldmaidens were Rohirrim women who bravely fought to defend their homes after the men were lost in battle. This was years before Héra was born, and most original Shieldmaidens had died out—with the exception being Olwyn. As Rohan’s population of men and boys was restored, there was no need to train further Shieldmaidens to protect the kingdom, so the role was essentially forgotten.
Despite this, it becomes clear in War of the Rohirrim that Olwyn, who swore her service to Helm Hammerhand and his daughter, trained Héra in the way of the Shieldmaidens. So, when no one was left to fight Wulf and the Dunlending army, Héra stood before them with a sword and shield. If it weren’t for her, Rohan would have been lost, and Wulf would have claimed rule over the kingdom. The implication here is that Héra brought back the legacy of the Shieldmaidens, which is why, nearly two centuries later, Éowyn carried the title. It’s an effective and poetic retcon of this Lady of Rohan’s story.
What Tolkien Had To Say About The Role Of Shieldmaidens
Tolkien Took Inspiration From Norse Mythology
Tolkien didn’t provide much explanation for what Éowyn’s role as a Shieldmaiden really meant, but the legendary author also didn’t invent this concept. Shieldmaidens, or Shield-maidens, are a feature of Scandinavian folklore. They are trained warriors, and various legends tell of individual women who rose up when they were needed. Additionally, Shieldmaidens are often associated with Norse Valkyries, female warrior beings who guide souls to Valhalla. Since Rohan and its people are based heavily on the Anglo-Saxons, this makes a great deal of sense for its characters.
2024’s new Lord of the Rings movie made a powerful choice placing Héra in the same league.
It’s fitting that characters like Éowyn would be associated with powerful mythical beings like Valkyries. In the same way, 2024’s new Lord of the Rings movie made a powerful choice placing Héra in the same league. It’s evident in both this and Tolkien’s central trilogy that Shieldmaidens are a woefully overlooked group. They aren’t expected to fight, and important figures like Héra are forgotten entirely. However, as Éowyn tells a fellow Shieldmaiden’s story in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rhohirrim, it’s clear that the legacies of these brave women, from Olwyn to Héra and beyond, live on.
