[Keneldil the Polka-dot]

I going to borrow your quote Belin.

Were I to go where my heart dwells, far in the North I would now be wandering in the fair valley of Rivendell.

Aragorn is pretty much telling Eowyn straight out that he is in love with someone else. I don't think that is taking the quote out of context. They are speaking of choosing paths, but Aragorn is saying his heart is not his own anymore.

While I was reading that part of the story between Aragorn and Eowyn I ran across something else that casts a slightly different light on Eowyn's position than has been mentioned so far:

'What do you fear, lady?' he asked.
'A cage,' she said. 'To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.'

Eowyn may have seen Aragorn as a means of escape from the cage she mentions. She is looking for affirmation from someone she sees as having more authority than she does. Someone other than her father or her brother, who are each partially responsible for her feeling trapped. People who call Tolkien's writing sexist irritate me to no end. In Eowyn Tokien embodies women of all kinds who have wanted to do and be more than the men in their lives have allowed them.

Hmm...as usual I wander off the track. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]