[Diamond18]

Yesterday, as I was pondering the fates of some characters in a story of mine, it got me to thinking about Éowyn and Faramir. Tolkien says in his Letters that Faramr was a surprise to him, and that he just kind of walked into the story almost without Tolkien planning on him. But Tolkien had established Éowyn as a character before that, and I'm just wondering (idly, I'll admit it) what kind of fate Tolkien had in mind for her before he came up with Faramir.

Since Éowyn's happy ending revolves around Faramir, it makes me quite curious as to what Tolkien was planning otherwise. Did he plan on her dying? Did he entertain thoughts of Aragorn actually marrying her instead of Arwen? Or didn't he have a premeditated plan for the outcome of her character? I do realize that sometimes it's best just to let a story develop and grow while you're writing it (and Tolkien certainly did that at times, Faramir being a prime example).

All right, I can hear you saying, "Gee, Diamond, how are we supposed to know?" I'm not phrasing it as a question that needs answering, I just thought it would make for an interesting speculative discussion. Since we do know that Faramir was a surprise to the author himself, we know that he didn't create Éowyn with that exact resolution for her conflict in mind.

So what are your thoughts on the matter? I guess that being a writer myself, Tolkien's creative thought process really intrigues me.

(And if you're curious about the fates of my characters, that makes two of us! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] )