The Lord of the Rings: The Passing of the Grey Company (Part Four)

The Tale

‘And while Theoden went by slow paths in the hills, the Grey Company passed swiftly over the plain, and on the next day in the afternoon they came to Edoras; and there they halted only briefly, ere they passed up the valley, and so came to Dunharrow as darkness fell.’

They are greeted by Eowyn, who is glad to see such mighty men, but most of her attention seems to be on Aragorn. She hears the full tale of Helm’s Deep; as she hears of the great slaughter of the enemy and of the heroic charge of Theoden and his knights, her eyes shine. She says they will find Aragorn and his company places to rest for the night, and better beds tomorrow night.

But Aragorn reveals that they must leave tomorrow morning on a most urgent errand. Eowyn smiles and says it was kind of him to go out of his way and visit her in her loneliness, but her face blanches and she goes silent when he says it is on his way to take the Paths of the Dead. Does he seek death? For the dead do not suffer the living to pass on that Path.

’They may suffer me to pass,’ said Aragorn; but at the least I shall adventure it. No other road will serve.’

That is madness, replies Eowyn. And he would lead all these warriors to their doom when they are needed in the upcoming war! But this is his appointed path, and whoever does so, does of his own free will. The others can stay here; but he himself must go, alone if necessary.

They speak no more but finishing eating, but Eowyn’s eyes are on Aragorn and she seems in torment. When they are done and go to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas’ ‘booth’ (tent or temporary hut) to sleep, she comes and stops him before he can follow the other two in. She is a slim white figure in the night.

She asks him one last time if he must go. Aragorn replies it is the only he sees of doing his part in the war against Sauron. He doesn’t choose it because he wants to. If he did what his heart wanted to, he’d be in Rivendell. When Eowyn sees that Aragorn is ‘a stern lord and resolute,’ she has one last plea. Let her go with him. She is tired of hiding in the hills and wants to face danger and battle.

When Aragorn tells her that she has a duty to lead her people, and she cries out that she’s heard about duty too often. ‘But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse?’ Too long she’s spent caring for the faltering Theoden, and since he falters no longer, ‘may I not now spend my life as I will?’

‘Few may do that with honor,’ he answered.’ She has accepted the charge to care for the people. If any other captain or marshal had taken the duty, to leave it would be desertion. And so it is with her.

Will she always be chosen to mind the house while warriors win fame in battle, and to feed and house them when they return? But, says Aragorn, a time may be coming when none return, and deeds without fame but no less valiant must be done in defense of their homes. Eowyn says that just means ‘You are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honor, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more.’ But she can ride and wield a sword and fears neither pain nor death.

What does she fear, Aragorn asks. ‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use or old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’ And yet she tried to dissuade him from taking the Paths of the Dead. But she did not tell him to flee from peril; just do not throw away something ‘high and excellent’ needlessly. And that’s what he’s asking her; to stay, and not throw her life away. She has no errand to the South.

‘Neither have those that go with thee. They go only because they would not be parted from thee – because they love thee.’ She turns and vanishes into the night.

 

The next day, when it is light, but the sun hasn’t even risen over the eastern ridges, Aragorn and the Grey Company prepare to ride. But before he mounts, Eowyn comes out to bid him goodbye, bearing a cup of farewell. She takes a sip, wishes them good speed, and hands to cup to Aragorn. He bids her farewell, and drinks to her fortune, and of her House, and of all her people. He asks her to tell Eomer they might meet yet, beyond all shadows. Legolas and Gimli are nearby and can see her weeping ‘and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous.’

Eowyn asks one more time, but Aragorn will go, and he will not take her with him. He can’t without Theoden and Eomer’s consent and they won’t be there until tomorrow, and he needs every minute now. She falls on her knees and begs him, He raises her, kisses her hand, springs into the saddle and rides away. But those near him see the pain he bears.

Eowyn stands still as stone until they pass into the shadows of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, where are the Paths of the Dead. Then she stumbles blindly back to her lodging. But none of her people see her; they have hidden in fear of the reckless strangers who would ride such a way.

‘And some said: ‘They are Elvish wights. Let them go where they belong, into to dark places, and never return. The times are evil enough.’

Bits and Bobs

Eowyn is glad to hear about the battle exploits of the Rohirrim; she had feared that the House of Eorl would end in ignominy with the weakening of Theoden. It stirs her valiant heart; she is a shield maiden (a female warrior, of a type mentioned in Norse folklore and mythology; two famous shield-maidens are Hervor and the ever-popular Brynhildr, or Brunnhilde) and no longer need be a dry-nurse (a wet-nurse takes care of infant, feeding them with breast milk; a dry nurse takes care of anybody, in other words, just what we’d call a nurse).

Aragorn says that the Dead may ‘suffer’ (tolerate, allow) him to pass; at any rate he will ‘adventure’ (venture, try without guarantee of success) it. He gently hints at his heart being with another, Arwen, far away in Rivendell. Eowyn still wants to go. In early drafts of the story, Eowyn was going to be Aragorn’s love interest and Queen.

But she still wants to go and fight, now that she doesn’t have to care for Theoden, she wants to ‘spend her life as she will’, but Aragorn she still has a duty to her people to remain, where she may still have valiant deeds to do. Her bitter complaint about being burned in the house after all the warriors are gone is a fate that happened all too often in the Norse sagas: many valiant Vikings did not hesitate to burn their enemies’ halls, with the women and children and elderly; if they did not surrender. (see the terrible Njal’s Saga.)

Eventually Eowyn starts using the more intimate ‘thee’ with Aragorn, while he continues using the formal ‘you,’ to keep her at a distance. She provides him with a ‘stirrup cup’, a parting cup given to departing guest, when their feet are ‘in the stirrup,’ so to say, and they are ready to leave. For her to go on her knees to beg to go is an extravagant gesture for a noble lady.

The Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, is translated in Old English from dwimor (ghost, phantom, illusion, deception, delusion) and beorg (mountain). Compare Eowyn’s name for the Lord of the Nazgul dwimmerlaik (work of necromancy, spector) and Dwimordene (haunted or enchanted valley), the Rohirric name for Lothlorien. The Rohirrim, in general, considered all ‘sketchy’ uncanny things in the same superstitious light; it’s no wonder they referred to the Grey Company as ‘Elvish wights’; uncanny beings perhaps not quite human, and better off far away.