LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 5 - The Steward and the King

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This chapter takes us back in two respects – back to the city of Minas Tirith, after the last chapter ended on the field of Cormallen, and back in time, even before the battle began at the Black Gate. It shows us a situation that is familiar to many, probably all of us – waiting with no power to do anything to influence the coming events, and with no news of what is happening at the crucial location. I find it interesting to read that without ‘Estel’ Telcontar, there was little hope in the city.

This is also a chapter for Éowyn and Faramir fans and for Aragorn swooners!

We begin by joining Éowyn in the Houses of Healing, where her body is recovering more rapidly than her spirit. Her talk with the Warden includes some wonderful lines on healing and swords. Then she meets Faramir for the first time; he sees more than meets the eye – an indication of osanwë ability? Though he tells her later that her beauty is what attracts her to him, it is obvious that this is not all. He speaks to her with great wisdom – he is a ruler, but he will not overrule the healers, and accepts the verdict of their superior knowledge. I also see acceptance of Éowyn in his advice to use the waiting time for healing in order to be able to face whatever may come in strength. Those words precede her first softening.

I must admit, I chuckled over the fact that he asked first the Warden, then Merry about her. He shows genuine interest in desiring to know her better. Just the fact that he gives her his mother’s cloak to wear is very telling! Time passes, then halts. Joy returns, and though the citizens of the city do not yet know why, we readers do.

An Eagle comes, but this time as a messenger, not as a carrier. What do you feel when you read the words of the song he sings?

We have seen first signs of love between Éowyn and Faramir on the walls; how do Tolkien’s very restrained sentences touch you? A brief, unconscious holding of hands; the intermingled hair; the chaste kiss on the brow – I find these much more interesting than an explicit love scene would be. However, she is still not sure of her heart. It takes an almost therapeutic talk between them for her to realize what she really desires and to renounce her wishes for Aragorn’s love. Now really, gals, are there men nowadays who react with that kind of perception, or did they die out some time after the Fourth Age?! (Like Herod to the Wise Men, I’m tempted to say, “When you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come…” )

The word “barren” is used several times in this chapter, the first time when Éowyn vows to love growing things and be a healer. It applies to nature, yes, but certainly to her own life too. The other times pertain to the White Tree, and again more than that, to Aragorn’s line. He has already been crowned King, so the significance of the tree is obviously to establish his house and his heirs as future kings. Without Arwen, the House of Telcontar would remain barren, without a future.

The crowning ceremony is wonderfully described, a grand and magnificent moment for Aragorn, his friends and the people of the city. In the midst of all this loftiness and joy, Tolkien places some of his wonderfully subtle humour in the “conversation” – very one-sided! – of Ioreth and her unnamed kinswoman. This is a passage I enjoy very much!

The description of Aragorn and his clothing is not merely a fashion show moment, but deeply symbolic. Faramir counts up all of his names and titles in a list so long that I think the people welcomed the King just to put an end to it!

The Kingship brings an end to the barrenness of the city! It becomes the center not only for its kingdom or for the race of men, but for the other races as well. Aragorn swooners, beware – his judgement in the case of Beregond is truly Solomonic. He shows mercy to the former enemies of his people. And Éomer is greeted not as a vassal, but with the respect due to an ally and equal – and with the love of a wonderful friendship.

It is interesting to note that the waiting time lasts until Midsummer – I remember reading that that date was also favoured by Hobbits for weddings. Wouldn’t you have loved to see the procession of the Elves into Minas Tirith?! The last sentence of the chapter, “the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment” is a reference to Appendix A, The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen.

There seems to be something for everyone in this chapter – what are your favourite parts?

[davem]

The Steward

As Esty has pointed out, this chapter begins before the fall of Sauron. It is almost as if Tolkien wants to keep on re-emphasising the significance & impact of that event on all those involved. All reach the depths of despair, experience dyscatastrophe, before Eucatastrophe.

This is the darkness before dawn, the ‘dark night of the soul’ of the mystics’, the ‘night sea journey’. At the beginning of this chapter we see individuals carrying on in the face of hopelessness, not giving in to despair. The Warden of the Houses is a man who has clearly spent many years healing the sick & tending the dying. Eowyn’s gloryfication of the warrior ethic doesn’t impress him.

'There are no tidings,' said the Warden, 'save that the Lords have ridden to Morgul Vale; and men say that the new captain out of the North is their chief. A great lord is that, and a healer; and it is a thing passing strange to me that the healing hand should also wield the sword. It is not thus in Gondor now, though once it was so, if old tales be true. But for long years we healers have only sought to patch the rents made by the men of swords. Though we should still have enough to do without them: the world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.'
'It needs but one foe to breed a war, not two, Master Warden,' answered Eowyn. 'And those who have not swords can still die upon them. Would you have the folk of Gondor gather you herbs only, when the Dark Lord gathers armies? And it is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in this dark hour I would choose the latter.'

Eowyn may have logic on her side, but one gets the sense that the Warden has heard it all before & just wishes people would stop using swords on each other. One also gets the sense that Eowyn feels the opposite. This is a typical interchange between warrior & healer, heard repeatedly in hospitals & in medical tents down the ages.

Between these two stands Faramir. Warrior he may be

He looked at her, and being a man whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to him that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was one whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle.

but unlike her, he does not love war - for him it is a necessary evil, not a way out of one’s personal problems. Eowyn tells him she does not desire healing, but clearly she does - she just doesn’t realise it, because she doesn’t understand what form her healing will take. Faramir quickly realises that she needs time, to be gently disabused of her plan to go to the battle. He does this, basically, by telling her that if she rests she will be in a better position to fight, In short, he doesn’t belittle her desire but speaks to her in terms that she will understand & accept. Unlike all the men she has so far encountered he doesn’t tell here her place is in the home, looking after the menfolk. This is possibly the first time a man has treated her as an adult & more importantly as an equal. The result of this is interesting:

She did not answer, but as he looked at her it seemed to him that something in her softened, as though a bitter frost were yielding at the first faint presage of Spring. A tear sprang in her eye and fell down her cheek, like a glistening rain-drop. Her proud head drooped a little.

The first time she doesn’t have to ‘pretend’, to be a ‘warrior’, or an untouchable ‘Queen’, to gain respect, she doesn’t know how to respond, Its clear that for all this time she hasn’t been truly herself. Now that she can be, she doesn’t know what to do, because she doesn’t really know who she is.

The description of the mantle Faramir gives her:

They were clad in warm raiment and heavy cloaks, and over all the lady Eowyn wore a great blue mantle of the colour of deep summer-night, and it was set with silver stars about hem and throat.

made me think of the description of her healing:

hen, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power of Westernesse, or whether it was but his words of the Lady Eowyn that wrought on them, as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam.

An made me wonder if there might be a connection.

But still, for all Faramir’s efforts, she is full of fear & despair. She is still drawn to the darkness, but no longer willingly. She has looked into the void for so long that she cannot turn away. Still, she is beginning to think there may be light somewhere:

Let us not speak at all! I stand upon some dreadful brink, and it is utterly dark in the abyss before my feet, but whether there is any light behind me I cannot tell. For I cannot turn yet. I wait for some stroke of doom.'

Faramir understands - he has often dreamt of Numenor.

'It reminds me of Numenor,' said Faramir, and wondered to hear himself speak.
'Of Numenor?' said Eowyn.
'Yes,' said Faramir, 'of the land of Westernesse that foundered, and of the great dark wave Climbing over the green lands and above the hills, and coming on, darkness unescapable. I often dream of it.'

This may simply be a result of his Heritage - but it doesn’t seem to be a common dream among those of Numenorean descent. Both of them are haunted by the idea of a great desroying force, waiting for them, or actively pursuing them. Strangely, it is at this very moment that things change - at first it is no more than a feeling but this feeling is confirmed by the appearance of the eagle. Shippey has pointed out the similarity of the eagle’s song to the psalms of the Authorised Version of the Bible.

Some readers feel that the relationship between Faramir & Eowyn is not convincing - that it all happens too quickly, & is too much like a tying up of loose ends, I think Tolkien commented that in such despereate times people don’t have the luxury of playing games, that all acting & pretense are cast aside in the face of impending doom & individuals are more honest than they would be if they felt that they had all the time in the world. I suspect he is right, but then I was never unconvinced by the relationship of Faramir & Eowyn. They are perfect for one another. He needs her as much as she needs him. His proposal & her acceptance are the final stage in her healing. No longer lost in fantasies of being a warrior, she ‘awakens’

‘I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun,' she said; 'and behold! the Shadow has departed! I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.'

She can even tease her future husband:

'Then must I leave my own people, man of Gondor?' she said. 'And would you have your proud folk say of you: "There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! Was there no woman of the race of Numenor to choose?" '

This is the first time we have seen this side of Eowyn. This is the real Eowyn, Dernhelm has finally been laid to rest.

Faramir, too, is finally able to be himself. He is no longer in the shadows of his brother & his father. He has known much grief, losing mother, brother & finally father. He has no-one till he meets Eowyn. She heals him as much as he heals her.

I’ll come back to The King later.....

[Lalwendë]

It was the day before Midsummer when messengers came from Amon Din to the City, and they said that there was a riding of fair folk out of the North, and they drew near now to the walls of the Pelennor. And the King said: 'At last they have come. Let all the City be made ready!'

Upon the very Eve of Midsummer, when the sky was blue as sapphire and white stars opened in the East, but the West was still golden, and the air was cool and fragrant, the riders came down the North-way to the gates of Minas Tirith. First rode Elrohir and Elladan with a banner of silver, and then came Glorfindel and Erestor and all the household of Rivendell, and after them came the Lady Galadriel and Celeborn, Lord of Lothlorien, riding upon white steeds and with them many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with white gems in their hair; and last came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, bearing the sceptre of Annuminas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people.

And Frodo when he saw her come glimmering in the evening, with stars on her brow and a sweet fragrance about her, was moved with great wonder, and he said to Gandalf: 'At last I understand why we have waited! This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away!'

Then the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted; and Elrond surrendered his sceptre, and laid the hand of his daughter in the hand of the King, and together they went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky. And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undomiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment.

This to me is one of the most fairytale and the most faerie of moments in LotR. Fairytale in that we have the fair maiden, the princess, brought by her retinue to her wedding to her love, a handsome and brave King. Faerie because this is like those tales where the faeries decide to ride in procession to the world of Men; it is a significant date in the calendar, Midsummer, when betrothals made on May Day are turned into marriages. Aragorn is going to marry the Faery Queen. She travels with no less than her entire household, the heads of Lothlorien and many of their household also. On the one hand she could be seen as something of a diva for not travelling lightly , but this is Arwen, the last high born Elf to be born in Middle-earth, and her marriage is also an incredible sacrifice for her kin. Marrying Aragorn she will never see her family again, not even after death, as the Elves are bound to the world, while she, as a mortal, will go with Aragorn beyond its boundaries. You could expect no less than such a retinue for this marriage.

This makes a a nice contrast to the ballad Tam Lin where the Faery Queen rides in procession with her court and Tam Lin himself, held under a bewitchment; the human maiden, Janet, has to wrestle him from his horse and keep him from the Queen. But here the faeries are benign, their procession is grand, but they are instead giving up one of their own rather than taking one of humankind.

But even Aragorn is revealed in this chapter as something out of the ordinary. Eomer remarks:

Since the day when you rose before me out of the green grass of the downs I have loved you

But when Aragorn arose all that beheld him gazed in silence, for it seemed to them that he was revealed to them now for the first time. Tall as the sea-kings of old, he stood above all that were near; ancient of days he seemed and yet in the flower of manhood; and wisdom sat upon his brow, and strength and healing were in his hands, and a light was about him.

Eomer views Aragorn not only as a friend and ally but as a remnant of legend or history; he rises out of the very earth itself. The impression he got when he first met Aragorn has not been forgotten; Aragorn's reputation is already legendary even amongst his close friends, which bodes well for his kingship. When he is crowned, this seemingly ordinary man is revealed for who he really is. He even shines with light.

The obvious pairing to compare this couple with are Faramir and Eowyn, utterly extraordinary in themselves yet very ordinary in their hopes for the future, to live in peace and "dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden". Tolkien holds this contrasting couple up as equally noble, equally worthy. We see them at the beginning of their relationship so we see the passions in contrast to the ceremony that is shown with Aragorn and Arwen, yet even here we see a hint of their own love in "the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment". The fiery and active Aragorn marries the peaceful and cool Arwen, while the quiet and thoughtful Faramir marries the passionate and imaginative Eowyn.

I also find it touching that both women have been incredibly vulnerable and yet have won through. Arwen has known that she can never marry the man she loves unless he becomes King, a seemingly impossible task the fate of which has hung on the fate of the Ring; and through marriage she has also known that she will lose her father and family. Eowyn has been living an increasingly desperate life and after an equally desperate love for an unobtainable man she has, at a basic level, finally taken extreme action to do something about the frustration she feels. Eowyn has been given the opportunity for freedom while she is in the Houses of Healing and has had time to truly think about herself. I don't think either of them have 'given up' by accepting marriage. Arwen has made a brave and very final choice, while Eowyn has found peace and someone who accepts her for who she really is.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The description of Aragorn at his crowning brings to mind the passage from Appendix A that tells of his death:

Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there looked on him in wonder; for they saw that the grace of his youth, and the valour of his manhood, and the wisdom and majesty of his age were blended together. And long there he lay, an image of the splendour of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world.

They don't make them like that anymore... *sigh*

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

OK, I'll be the one to say it:

I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer and love all things that grow and are not barren.' And again she looked at Faramir. 'No longer do I desire to be a queen,' she said.

Then Faramir laughed merrily. 'That is well,' he said; 'for I am not a king. Yet I will wed with the White Lady of Rohan, if it be her will. And if she will, then let us cross the River and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden. All things will grow with joy there, if the White Lady comes.'

I've always foudn that this moment -- and, truth be told, this chapter -- strikes something of a discordant note with me. It's obvioulsy the 'feminine' pairing of the previous more 'masculine' chapter: the 'home front' and those who got left behind as the others marched out to war. The previous chapter celebrated the men who saved the world, this chapter celebrates the women who helpe them along the way. Certainly, that's too simplistic a split, but there's enough truth in it that I think it sticks.

This is the chapter with the 'most' women in a way: Eowyn marries Faramir, and Arwen marries Aragorn and in each case you have a woman who is forsaking her previous identity for the sake of a man. And in each case you have a woman who is becoming lesser in a way. Don't get me wrong, you could do a lot worse than to marry Faramir or Aragorn, and I have no doubt that Eowyn and Arwen are happy and the better for it, but I find it disenchanting how the women have to give up so much to marry, while the men gain everything they've always wanted (and deserved).

I find this most distressing with Eowyn, insofar as what she gives up is the very character and dynamic presence that has made her so interesting in the story. I think it's safe to say that Eowyn is a favourite with most of the book's readers, and I daresay that what they -- like I -- like about her is her tragic and impassioned outcry against the constraints that are thrown about women in her world...and yet here at the end she gives up that tragic and impassioned outcry and happily adopts that constrained identity. It is just too jarring.

I think the aspect of this moment that I find the most difficult to accept is Eowyn's clear belief that to give up on her desire to be a queen is the equivalent of forsaking any desire to have power other than a very traditionally 'feminine' sort (healing, etc). It's almost as though she is saying that her desire for 'masculine' modes of power and action (agency) are as innappropriate as her desire to become queen -- that her desire to move in a male realm of action is a kind of usurpation of a role that is not hers by rights.

And I still remember quite vividly my thundering shock when Arwen arrives and Aragorn marries her -- I had no idea from the text that they were engaged. In subsequent readings I see that there are clues, but Tolkien's decision to relegate the love story to the Appendix confounds me. It is a rare case in which -- I think -- his art fails.

That's what I find so disappointing in this chapter: I don't mind a more conservative view of women -- I read a lot of very old books and I'm familiar with it, and that alone certainly does not make me react to a story negatively. What does jar with me so much in this chapter is that Tolkien's own view of women is such that even though his story seems to be leading him one way (that is, giving his women characters more space and agency) the narrative goes against that (that is, puts them 'back in their place'). It's almost as though the story began to get away from him somewhat, and he had to 'force' it back into the shape that he found the only one acceptable: an Eowyn who does not give up her martial heroism is something that he could not imagine (even though it would have made perfect sense in the story); an Arwen who is Aragorn's equal in the story is something that can be acknowleged only in the Appendix.

So I'm not 'bashing' Tolkien for his views of women -- I do disagree with them, but it is his story and he can portray them in any way he likes (just as I can reject that portrayal). But I do fault him for the unrealistic characterisation in regard to Eowyn ("Oh, I shall be the Lady in White! Why? Not sure, I just will be!") and the sloppy narrative in regard to Arwen ("Here comes Arwen!" "Who?" "Arargon's one true love!" "Never heard him mention her...").

[Aiwendil]

Fordim: I half agree with you.

About Eowyn: I am also unsettled by the way in which this chapter seems to "put Eowyn back in her place". I go back and forth on whether this is a flaw, though. A few points that I think might be made in defense of Eowyn's development here:

1. Her transformation is not altogether distinct from the post-war transformation that affects all the characters - male and female. With the war over, it is not only Eowyn that will be putting away her arms.

2. I think that to some extent her change here may be seen not as forsaking her earlier ideals, but rather as coming to terms with the establishment. Like so many young radicals, she has come to a point in her life where she has decided that there are things she'd rather do than lash out against society's inequitites. Whether this is the acquisition of wisdom or the betrayal of idealism is an open question.

3. Whether Eowyn's change is a good thing or a bad, it is believable. The portrayal of sexism, or of sexist attitudes, need not be sexist itself; and often it is in fact necessary for the sake of believability, since such attitudes do actually exist.

But none of these is a compelling argument, for Eowyn's transformation is indeed portrayed as a good thing.

About Arwen: Here I disagree. I'm glad that Tolkien didn't spend any more time of the Aragorn/Arwen story. I think there's a danger in writing of trying to make each character's motivations and inner feelings as evident as possible; this can, counter-intuitively, make characters less deep, less interesting, because it gives the reader the impression that he or she knows the character thoroughly. Too much emphasis on his romance with Arwen would have made Aragorn's character too transparent, in my opinion.

Also, as Tolkien's love stories go, I must say that I've always found the Aragorn/Arwen story fairly dull. If it were of the caliber of Beren/Luthien or Turin/Finduilas or Aredhel/Eol I think spending more time on it would be justified. But in my view it's not substantial enough to sustain much more development.