[Lhunardawen]

Aragorn's behavior towards Hama and the will of Theoden is surely unlikeable. But we fail to notice the thing involved - rather, the thing that started the whole argument in the first place. It was no mere sword; it was Anduril. And a sword is always a symbol of power and authority. Did Aragorn think that surrendering Anduril meant giving up on his claim as the King and making himself subordinate to Theoden? That could have been his primary thought and the reason for his disobedience.

Originally Posted by davem

Grima has become like Satan in the 'garden' of Rohan, & Gandalf appears in the role of Eru to cast him onto his belly & drive him forth.

But where does Saruman come in? I think Grima here is only a "lesser demon" whereas Saruman is Satan. As demons can be cast out, so was Grima. But they return to their master, ready to do another thing at his bidding. The real battle is between Gandalf and Saruman, and eventually the former brings the latter down and strips him of all power and authority which comes from the side of good. Oops.

Finally, you're becoming more and more respectable in my sight, Fordim. First we agree on swooning over Aragorn, and now this!

But on to that other far more interesting topic: Éowyn. I am sure that I am not alone in having been waiting for this!! What other character generates more interest and opinion than the Lady of Rohan, except perhaps Gollum…or Boromir…?

You gave very interesting observations on Eowyn. This particularly caught me:

The centrality of women in Meduseld is then made even more concretely visible in our first glimpse of Theoden. Standing behind the throne is Éowyn while Gríma is crouched before it. The situation of the King is manifestly one in which he is ‘trapped’ between these two people: Gríma the lying man and tool of Saruman, and Éowyn the faithful Lady of Rohan. It’s almost a mythic moment in which we see the King as poised between femininity (tradition? Memory? Duty?) and masculinity.

Grima is crouched before Theoden. He seems to be just a servant of Theoden, yet we see that this is merely an illusion. Eowyn, on the other hand, stood behind the king. This says two things: one, that Eowyn will stand behind the king and support him despite the circumstances and his faulty decisions; and two, she has a greater authority in Rohan than Grima thinks he does. She might not be on the throne herself, but she is seen higher (literally and figuratively) than the counselor. But Fordim's right, Theoden is a little trapped. At this point I don't think he is certain who weighs more in his heart.