The Lord of the Rings: The Houses of Healing (Part Two)

‘Now as the sun went down Aragorn and Eomer and Imrahil drew near the City with their captains and knights; and when the came before the Gate Aragorn said: ‘Behold the Sun setting in a great fire! It is a sign of the end and fall of many things, and a change in the tides of the world.’

He declares he will not enter Minas Tirith just yet. It has been in the rule of the Stewards for many years and to enter it unbidden might seem like a challenge, and cause upheaval among the people at this time of trouble. He’ll camp outside until welcomed in.

Eomer says that he’s already risen the standard of Elendil and the kings; will he let that be humbled? But Imrahil says he is wise; Denethor (whom he still believes is alive) is proud but old and set in his ways, and he’s been acting odd since Faramir was stricken down. ‘Yet I would not have you remain like a beggar at the door.’

‘Not a beggar,’ said Aragorn. ‘Say a Captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone.’ He has his banner furled and takes off the Star of the North-kingdom and gives it to Elladan and Elrohir to keep for him.

But Eomer and Imrahil go into the City and go up to the Citadel, looking for the Steward to report and confer with. But when they come to the Hall of the tower his chair is empty, and before it is the body of Theoden, covered in a cloth of gold, laid in state with sword and shield and guarded by twelve knights of Rohan and twelve knights of Gondor. The peace of death is upon him, and he seems young, and wise beyond the reach of youth.

Imrahil asks of a guard for the Steward and is told he is in the Houses of Healing. And Eomer asks about Eowyn. Shouldn’t she be lying here with Theoden, in no less honor? Imrahil answers that she was still alive when they bore her in; didn’t Eomer know?

‘Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to Eomer’s heart, and with it the bite of care and fear renewed, that he said no more, but turned and went swiftly from the hall; and the Prince followed him.’ It is evening outside, and stars shine in the darkness above. Outside the Houses of Healing they meet Gandalf and ‘one cloaked in grey.’ They ask for the Steward; has he been hurt? And what of the Lady Eowyn?

Gandalf says she is inside, but near death. And the Steward is the wounded Faramir, for Denethor is now dead and his house in ashes. ‘And they were filled with grief and wonder at the tale he told.’ Imrahil says it is a sad day when both Rohan and Gondor lose their rulers. Eomer is new King of Rohan; with Faramir in peril, shouldn’t they now send for Aragorn?

‘And the cloaked man spoke and said: ‘He is come.’ He throws back his hood and it is Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lorien, his only token the green stone Galadriel gave him. Gandalf has begged him to come. He is here not as king, though, but only as Captain of the Dunedain of the North. He says by his counsel Imrahil, as the Steward’s near kinsman, should rule until Faramir awakes, but that all their actions should be ruled by Gandalf in their ‘dealings with the Enemy.’ And Eomer and Imrahil agree.

‘Then Gandalf said: ‘Let us not stay at the door, for the time is urgent. For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.’

Notes

“The peace and youthfulness of the dead often represent a transition from earthly suffering to a state of calm, eternal rest, as described in literature and spiritual, as well as scientific, contexts. This state is frequently characterized by a release from fear, shame, and physical limitations, creating a "marble sleep" or serene, unchanging, and youthful stillness.” – AI summation.

Aragorn is very careful not to enter as merely a conquering hero, lest he seem too high-handed. All his claims to the kingdom must be established and proved first; he is not merely a victorious warrior; he is rightful king. His humility seems a little wry when says to tell people he is shy and not used to such high falutin’ stone buildings.

Ioreth seems to be a name that simply means old woman. That the hands of a king have the power to heal is an old medieval idea; the power was supposed to descend on them when they were sacramentally anointed. It is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where Edward the Confessor is mentioned as having the power. It is a form of laying on of hands, called the Royal (or King’s) Touch, and was said to cure the King’s Evil (scrofula, a tubercular infection). The last monarch of England to perform the Royal Touch was Queen Anne in the early 1700’s. The infant Samuel Johnson was among the people she touched, to indifferent results.