book!Aragorn is much more fun if you embrace him and enjoy him as the diva princess; who, despite being a hero of Man and the one true king, somehow still manages to have a way too good opinion of himself, that he is.

For a guy with such an impressive track record, it'd be quite a feat to be too full of himself, to give himself too much credit, but book!Aragorn manages it.

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my images...

This interaction is really quite interesting.

Eowyn's personal will is something that is a point of conflict between Aragorn and Eowyn. When Aragorn instructs Eowyn to stay, Eowyn asks why she may not do with her life as she wills it, to which Aragorn responds few are able to do so, and includes himself in that.

However, Eowyn turns the tables on him by pointing out how his situation as a man is different to hers as a woman.

She points out that as a woman, her will is never her own. Whereas need dictates what Aragorn does, how he responds to that need is for him to determine. His voice matters, his guidance is asked for, his cooperation is required. Plans are not made for him, as they are Eowyn. And while there are times a person has to be chosen to do something against their will, for Eowyn, that is her life.

Notably here, Aragorn cannot make a re-buttle. He has to shift the conversation towards Eowyn's fears, because he cannot tell her that her situation, the denial of her will, doesn't hinge upon her sex, as is proven by Aragorn himself later in the chapter.

He feels he needs Eomer's permission as well as Theoden's to let Eowyn ride with him. Theoden at least is Eowyn's king, she is hid subject and therefore owed authority over her, as with everyone else. Yet Eomer is not Eowyn's king, nor is she under his command as a member of his forces. In Aragorn's eyes, she is his sister, therefore she is his to command.

Despite Aragorn's efforts, despite Eomer and Theoden's lack of permission, Eowyn resolves to do as she will, and rides to battle, and she takes Merry with her, as she tells Merry;

These words are repeated by Theoden, after she and Merry defeated the Witch King, to the good of all. Eowyn embraced her will, and because of that, a great good was achieved.

Faramir doesn't need schooling as to the importance of Eowyn's will.

Where they go, the life they will live, hinges on Eowyn's will.

Eowyn herself we see take charge of her life.

She has chosen life over death, she will no longer seek death in battle or look for happiness only in war, but she will become a healer and help rebuild the world. None of this is contingent on anyone else giving her permission.

No one gives her the order to leave Gondor, to leave Rohan, to return to Gondor, to return to Rohan. She is stating, without room for disagreement, where she is going and what she is going for, and on what terms she can return.

"I will" "I will" "I will". An insignificant phrase in itself, but for Eowyn, who has been told all her life "you will", to be saying "I will" at least is a significant shift in the power dynamics between herself and others.

Eomer is part of that shift.

Eomer, Eowyn's king and head of her family, does not speak of their marriage as something Faramir asked him for, and that he granted permission for. Eowyn granted it "full willing", Eowyn agrees, and "therefore" they shall be married.

But Aragorn doesn't seem to be in on the memo, hence the quote above. Here, he rather reduces Eowyn to an object, a gift, a fair treasure to be passed from one kingdom to the other. He calls her a thing, and comments on Eomer's generosity to "give" Eowyn away, when Eomer himself only spoke of the match in terms of Eowyn agreeing to marry Faramir.

Eowyn's response is friendly, but it's also direct, and in her response she makes a demand of Aragorn.

Rather a departure from the last time she asked something of him.

On her knees, begging, using terms of intimacy that he will not return. Desperate pleading met with dispassionate refusal. A use of "thee" met with a cold sounding "lady".

At her troth plighting, she looks him in the eye, making no show of submission or deference to him. She addresses him respectfully and with warmth, as her future liege-lord and as the man who healed her, but she isn't backing down or taking a submissive stance. She doesn't ask Aragorn to wish her joy, there is no "please", no "will you". She tells him, she instructs him, what to say, what to give to her.

She is centring herself, she is instructing Aragorn to direct his comments at her. Once more, she brooks no refusal.

It is direct, it is confrontational in manner, it is an order.

Eowyn gets what she asked for. Aragorn wishes her joy, and he uses "thee". Double win.

get in loser we’re living past the end of our myth

Faramir @ Eowyn in the houses of healing

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Tolkientober #6: meals

(AO3 link to follow) (unedited)

"Go on. Have a bite."

Faramir stared at the spoon for a second too long before Éowyn huffed in annoyance.

"You are afraid, are you not?"

Embarrassed at being caught, he lowered the spoon and looked at her apologetically.

It was autumn, and they had been sitting in the shade of a large maple tree, its yellow and red leaves celebrating the fruitfulness of the harvests this year. The couple had been exploring the woods of Emyn Arnen and when the sun had gone well past its peak, they had agreed to have a rest and a meal.

To Faramir's surprise, Éowyn had offered to take care of their lunch, though she had not waited for his agreement and had set to work immediately. Not once since they had gotten to know each other in the Houses of Healing had she cooked in his presence.

An hour later, they each had their bowls full of the stew she had made.

Éowyn smiled lightly. "You have heard others talk about my cooking skills and now you fear for your health."

"No, I do not fear for anything," replied he. His denial came too quick and even if she could not read minds like he could, she knew very well the source of his hesitance.

"Go on, then," she urged, gesturing with her hand.

After a long moment, the Steward bravely took a mouthful and swallowed. Then he sat up, his eyes wide in bewilderment.

"You look so taken aback, Faramir," Éowyn said before taking a spoonful herself, "was it not the flavour you expected?"

Not knowing how to reply without offending her, he filled his mouth with a few more bites. Éowyn laughed with her lips pressed together to stop herself from spilling her food.

"I will readily admit that there was a time that I thought myself to be a better cook than I truly was," she slowly said while stirring her stew, "but you must realize that - after my unintented assassination attempt on the Heir of Elendil -"

Faramir chuckled and shook his head, his dark wavy hair bobbing along in the motion.

" - I have been in the extended company of Meriadoc Brandybuck. How could I not be learned in the art of cooking, travelling and recuperating alongside such an avid lover of food?"

"Milady, you have my heartfelt apologies for ever doubting you," said Faramir and he caught her hand in his, a twinkle in his eye. Then he brought it to his lips and kissed it firmly.

She allowed him to dote upon her as she watched him with a soft smile. Then her hand slipped out of his to rest against his cheek.

Shifting closer to him, she frowned. "Faramir."

"Yes, dearest Éowyn?"

"I may have learned how to cook, but I rather enjoy my reputation of being a bad chef."

"Is that so?" He looked at her with his brows raised, curious to hear more.

"Why Faramir, it is a clever sword to wield at court," she explained, feeling all too proud of herself, "if Lord or Lady so-and-so bother me too much with their arrogance or self-importance, all I have to do is invite them over to our residence for a home-cooked meal -"

He quickly put his bowl aside before bursting into a fit of laughter. "And they leave you alone? Is that why Lady Arradel and Lord Gwerion postponed their visit to Ithilien?"

Éowyn tilted her head meaningfully and grinned.

Faramir *after meeting Eowyn*: Once I figure out how to undoom her from the narrative, the wedding is back on!

Realistically, the Witch-King’s mace is Cursed As Fuck and should be melted down and then the slag cast safely into the sea.

However, to me, it hangs in the great hall of whatever seat the new Prince and Princess of Ithilien build for themselves, and sometimes visitors praise Faramir for such a mighty war-prize, and every time, he grins like Beren reborn and says, “Thank you—my lady wife won it!”

If the person stays for supper, supper is always followed by a minstrel playing one of the many songs about Eowyn’s defeat of the Witch-King. If the lord & lady of the house feel basically benevolent toward this person, it’s one of the classic, classy ones, like the epic Gondorin “The Fair Maid and the Dark King” or the stirring Rohirric “The Loyal Shieldmaiden.”

If this person is really a jerk, rather than just ignorant and a little sexist, they get all 50+ verses (endlessly improvised) of “How Lady Eowyn Kicked the Witch-King’s Ass”, a drinking song composed by a mix of Riders and Rangers with assistance from Merry and Pippin.

There's a gallery in Emyn Arnen with a wall covered in a tapestry telling Eowyn's life story. Every time someone comes to visit, Faramir insists on showing them the tapestry and walking them through everything leading to her victory over the Witch King, and their wedding.

Eowyn has given up trying to stop him, and has advised their guests just to go with it if they want it over sooner.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING 2003 | dir. Peter Jackson

I do love that you can see the influence of Tolkien meaning for Eowyn to die throughout her arc. That girl just screams "doomed by the narrative". She's set up for this grand yet tragic death, and wants for nothing else than a grand exit and a glorious end to all things.

But having her live is so much more interesting. And having her live to find happiness especially. She seems like a tragic character. She thinks herself a tragic character. She is overwhelmed by a sense of doom and helplessness. Her narrative is overwhelmed by a sense of doom and helplessness.

But she isn't doomed.

Turns out, decent healthcare, clued in and concerned family members, and a decent support base, go a long towards towards un-dooming her narrative.

Hope is a theme that runs throughout the story of The Lord of the Rings. You can no more remove Tolkien's themes and ideas about Hope than you could remove the Ring itself. It is always there, echoing silently at the edge of words, shimmering faintly in the darkness; and when it is absent a point is made to emphasize that very fact.

In the two "sections" of the book - one that focuses on Frodo and Sam and one that focuses on everybody else - we see the different ways that Hope is addressed. The story of Frodo and Sam shows what happens when Hope slowly ebbs away, leaving nothing but sheer, raw, heartbreaking determination behind - or in the case of Frodo, a person so broken that nothing can heal him.

But in the other section - the one that focuses on the rest of the Company and on Rohan and Gondor - Hope takes a slightly different form. Instead of being a story of the loss of Hope, it is the story of the restoration of Hope. Or more specifically, the Hope that certain characters can and do bring to the story, and to the people around them. And tragically, what will happen when certain characters cannot and will not Hope, and instead give way to Despair. And that's the Hope that I want to talk about.

In Sindarin there are two words for Hope: Estel, which is Hope based on Faith, and Amdir, which is Hope based on Proof. Aragorn, the heir of Kings, is undoubtedly the personification of Estel in the story. That is literally one of his many, many, many names. And I argue that Faramir, the heir of Stewards, is the personification of Amdir. Yes there are other characters that also embody Estel and Amdir - Gandalf and Imrahil spring to mind, but I mainly want to focus on Aragorn and Faramir. And I want to focus on how Estel vs Amdir has a profound impact on Despair.

Almost from the moment that Gandalf falls, Aragorn steps into his role as Estel. It is explicitly stated time and time again in the text that Aragorn brings hope with him wherever he goes. But the Hope of Aragorn is the one that you must have faith in, which means that it is a Hope that cannot always be physically there. To all appearances, Hope must abandon the people who need it most in order to shine out bright and triumphantly when most needed. And so Estel departs, and the people must have faith that Hope will return or give in to Despair.

Faramir, on the other hand, is a different kind of Hope. Gondor has been at war with Sauron for centuries. There is no single man, woman, or child in Gondor who has ever known peace without the threat of war and violence looming within sight of their very city. They are a people who can no longer afford to have faith in Hope. Their Hope must be based on Proof, and that is exactly what they have in Faramir, and is likely a role shared by Boromir before he departed and fell. So Faramir proves himself, day in and day out. He proves himself a man of wisdom, a man of courage, a man who all his people can depend on. He proves himself to be willing to ride against a flying Nazgul on the off chance he can help his men - and the Hope he inspires is so great that even his horse will not turn aside when that is his purpose. And yet, when the situation is at its most dire, Amdir falls. And now the People have nothing.

And Despair, as the antithesis of Hope, is an important element in a discussion about Hope. So first let's talk about the antithesis of Estel: Denethor.

Denethor, who in a sense is the personification of his people, has been leading a steadily weakening people for years, fighting a war that has been going on for centuries. He does not have the luxury to Hope, and he certainly doesn't have the luxury for a Hope that you have to have faith in. Faith died long ago, and all that is left is what meager Hope can be pulled from the daily grind, from the blood and sweat and tears of the men who fight in this war. All that is left is Amdir - and Denethor's relationship with Amdir is famously strained.

But Denethor struggles on. He continues on when Boromir falls, despair beginning to cloud his judgement as he is overwhelmed by grief. But it is only when Faramir falls in battle - when Amdir is seemingly lost, that he has no Hope left. And so in Despair he turns to the Palantir and is literally given a glimpse of Estel. But Faith died long ago, so he doesn't see the Hope that he must have Faith to see. And thus his Despair gives way to madness.

And in his madness, he nearly destroys what remains of Amdir.

But Estel has come, even if Denethor did not have the necessary Faith to see it. And what it is that can restore Hope when there is no longer any proof for it? What can restore Amdir? Who can restore Faramir? Estel can - the healing hands of the King.

Estel and Amdir, the King and his Steward - the two go hand in hand. The people of Gondor want to believe in their King, but they do believe in the Stewards that have ruled them for centuries. So is it a wonder that the people's ability to have faith in Hope is only restored when Estel restores Amdir?

But there is one other character, intrinsically linked with Faramir and Aragorn, to whom the themes Hope and Despair are poignantly evident: Eowyn.

Like Denethor, Estel is what pushes her over the edge and into a desire for death. When Estel cannot manage to give her any hope for a future and leaves her behind to a bleak present, she loses all hope. But unlike Denethor, Estel was the only hope she had. So when she lost her faith in Hope she had nothing to fall back on to. When she lost her faith in Hope, she did not have years and years of Hope based on proof to depend on. Instead she is pushed to the same level of desperation that led to Denethor's despair and madness.

Like Denethor, Eowyn sought to die - possibly with those she loved beside her, although that is not made explicit. Like Denethor, the intervention of Hobbits saved her life. Unlike Denethor, she did not get the chance to try again. And now, after failing even at her own death, with Estel saying that he cannot restore her from her Despair, (literally saying that he can recall her from the dark valley, but if she awakes to despair she will die unless some other healing comes that he cannot bring), Eowyn finally meets Amdir. She finally meets the kind of Hope that her bitter, depressed, desperate soul can depend on. And Faramir, with the Hope of Amdir, is able to heal her the way Estel could not.

And once Estel restores Amdir, Amdir can bring about the kind of healing that Estel cannot. After all, Hope that you must have faith in is only powerful when people have Faith. And sometimes that is not possible. Sometimes Hope needs to prove itself to a person before they can accept the nebulousness of Faith.

When Estel restores Amdir and Amdir, in turn, restores Faith - the people now have the faith needed for Estel's true return.

After their engagement, before Aragorn and the host's return, Faramir knew that while Eowyn loved him and genuinely wanted to marry him, she still had a fangirlish crush on Aragorn, that wasn't distressing to him (because yeah, who wouldn't) but he knew was a source of anxiety for her, because she was worried about how she was going to face him after everything that had gone down between them.

To help Eowyn overcome her dread (and romanticise Aragorn just a little less) he showed Eowyn the crown of Gondor, which Aragorn would be crowned with.

Eowyn was suddenly a lot less worried, and sure enough, when she saw Aragorn again, with the crown on his head, she found it much easier to look him in the eye.

Eomer, upon seeing the dead body of his uncle, the King: Alright, we will fight in his honour, and defeat our foes. Everyone, form ranks!

Eomer, seeing the (seemingly) dead body of his sister moments later: FUCK IT WE BALL!!!!!

My “Couples of Middle Earth” illustration series! Which couple is your favorite??

Tolkien: "I think you misunderstand Faramir."

I think you misunderstand Faramir. He was daunted by his father: not only in the ordinary way of a family with a stern proud father of great force of character, but as a Númenórean before the chief of the one surviving Númenórean state. He was motherless and sisterless (Eowyn was also motherless), and had a 'bossy' brother. He had been accustomed to giving way and not giving his own opinions air, while retaining a power of command among men, such as a man may obtain who is evidently personally courageous and decisive, but also modest, fair-minded and scrupulously just, and very merciful.

I think he understood Eowyn very well. Also to be Prince of Ithilien, the greatest noble after Dol Amroth in the revived Númenórean state of Gondor, soon to be of imperial power and prestige, was not a 'market-garden job' as you term it. Until much had been done by the restored King, the P. of Ithilien would be the resident march-warden of Gondor, in its main eastward outpost - and also would have many duties in rehabilitating the lost the dreadful vale of Minas Ithil (Morgul).

I did not, naturally, go into territory, and clearing it of outlaws and orc-remnants, not to speak of details about the way in which Aragorn, as King of Gondor, would govern the realm. But it was made clear that there was much fighting, and in the earlier years of A.'s reign expeditions against enemies in the East. The chief commanders, under the King, would be Faramir and Imrahil; and one of these would normally remain a military commander at home in the King's absence.

A Númenórean King was monarch, with the power of unquestioned decision in debate; but he governed the realm with the frame of ancient law, of which he was administrator (and interpreter) but not the maker. In all debatable matters of importance domestic, or external, however, even Denethor had a Council, and a least listened to what the Lords of the Fiefs and the Captains of the Forces had to say. Aragorn re-established the Great Council of Gondor, and in that Faramir, who remained by inheritance the Steward (or representative of the King during his absence abroad, or sickness, or between his death and the accession of his heir) would [be] the chief counsellor.

why the people of Rohan probably thought Legolas was together with Aragorn and not Gimli: a short essay

So I know the movies changed many things from the books but this is very funny to me.

Firstly, Eowyn is supposed to be in love with Aragorn right, and when she sees the necklace Aragorn has, she asks him who the woman who gave it to him was. He then takes a really long time to think and tells that she is “sailing to the Undying Lands with what’s left of her kin”. So Eowyn rightfully thinks Aragorn’s lover is an elf. 

Secondly, when Aragorn falls off that cliff and “dies” Theoden and his men see Legolas sadly take his necklace from the orc and generally not accept Aragorn’s death while looking really fucking distraught.

Thirdly, when Aragorn arrives in Helm’s Deep he runs into Legolas outside the main chamber while Eowyn sees their exchange. This is where Eowyn sees Legolas give Aragorn back the necklace that’s from his lover, while Aragorn is holding him close by the shoulder. During this whole exchange they also stand really close to each other and look at the other for long periods of time. Eowyn’s face reflects that she thinks that Aragorn’s elf lover is actually Legolas and he made up a story about the Undying Lands.

And lastly, before the battle of the Hornburg, Legolas and Aragorn talk in Elvish, a special language in the eyes of most men there and after their argument Gimli says “let him go, lad”. The argument and the subsequent comment would make the men around them think that Legolas and Aragorn are together, because honestly it does seem like a lovers’ spat. 

This is why I think the people around the three hunters, especially Theoden and Eowyn, would think that Legolas is in a relationship with Aragorn, but to make this even funnier, Legolas was probably together with Gimli and just really concerned for his friend and not wanting to lose yet another person close to him. and I think is the reason why people didn’t notice the closeness of Gimli and Legolas.

I have added links to all my points so you can see this for yourself.

Men of Númenor - headcanon

Headcanon that Faramir looks a lot like Isildur, to the point where Elrond, arriving in Minas Tirith for his daughter’s wedding, has to do a double take upon meeting him for the first time.

And there’s the parallel between the two of them: both had the chance to take the Ring when it mattered the most. One took it, the other didn’t.

Faramir dreams of the Fall of Númenor, Isildur survived it. Faramir ends up ruling Ithilien, the land of the moon, perhaps named after Isildur himself (Elendil was such a dork he literally named his sons after the sun and the moon).

Aragorn might be Isildur’s heir, but Faramir is the man Isildur should have been.

But just…imagine Faramir, the scholar, going up to Elrond like ‘hey! You’re like…one of my favorite people ever’ and Elrond just jumps out of his fucking skin.

Their grandchildren laugh about it at feasts.

But also, imagine:

some doodles of Faramir and Eowyn and Legolas and Gimli ❤