Eowyn's Cup and Alan Lee - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Hilde Bracegirdle · 07-09-2005, 12:40 PM

I tend to link that connection between Eowyn and Aragorn was a two-sided phenomenon, not fully understood by Eowyn. To me it is not so much a romantic attachment, as an awareness of a path human kind might follow in Middle-earth. We have been told that the Rohirim are very like the men of the First Age, and I believe that Eowyn has her feet well set on the road that led those First Agers to Numenor. In Aragorn she sees an ideal that her people might obtain and she deeply desires it. To me it make sense to have a woman respresent this, as her sex brings with it the notion that it is something that she would foster in her people.

Aragorn on the other hand, perhaps sees in Eowyn the past of his own people, knowing that he cannot go back. Sometimes he seems to regard her in a cold manner, but I always had the impression that he had a ‘soft corner’ for her. Again not necessarily romantic, as implied in the movie, but more as recognition of some other connection. Like she is just starting on the road he has almost finished.

Alan Lee’s work does a wonder job of showing this. And the touch of hands, I think does not indicate marriage in the traditional sense, but the unity of human spirit despite nationalities, bridging the gap created by cultural evolution.

Thanks for the links, Essex and davem! I’m off to explore them more carefully….

07-09-2005, 12:40 PM	#10
Hilde Bracegirdle Relic of Wandering Days Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: You'll See Perpetual Change. Posts: 1,480	I tend to link that connection between Eowyn and Aragorn was a two-sided phenomenon, not fully understood by Eowyn. To me it is not so much a romantic attachment, as an awareness of a path human kind might follow in Middle-earth. We have been told that the Rohirim are very like the men of the First Age, and I believe that Eowyn has her feet well set on the road that led those First Agers to Numenor. In Aragorn she sees an ideal that her people might obtain and she deeply desires it. To me it make sense to have a woman respresent this, as her sex brings with it the notion that it is something that she would foster in her people. Aragorn on the other hand, perhaps sees in Eowyn the past of his own people, knowing that he cannot go back. Sometimes he seems to regard her in a cold manner, but I always had the impression that he had a ‘soft corner’ for her. Again not necessarily romantic, as implied in the movie, but more as recognition of some other connection. Like she is just starting on the road he has almost finished. Alan Lee’s work does a wonder job of showing this. And the touch of hands, I think does not indicate marriage in the traditional sense, but the unity of human spirit despite nationalities, bridging the gap created by cultural evolution. Thanks for the links, Essex and davem! I’m off to explore them more carefully….