What We Learn from EOWYN (and why other 'strong' women characters are boring)

In The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Eowyn’s battle against the Ring Wraith leader, the Witch King of Angmar, portrayed a powerful moment. Tolkien wrote a great character, then Peter Jackson created a great scene.

Why did this moment work?
Why do other “Strong Women” moments from other films feel awkward and inauthentic?

It seems The Rings of Power is going to make the same mistake with Galadriel that other movies and shows did with their “Strong Women.”

Perhaps we should learn how the feminine and the masculine are different…

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#Eowyn #lordoftherings #ringsofpower #tolkien #videoessay

0:00 Introduction
0:10 Why Does Eowyn's Triumphant Moment Work?
1:09 What is Masculine Strength?
2:05 What is Feminine Strength?
2:16 Nurturing Transformation
2:54 Guidance/Path Correction
5:05 The Rejection of Feminine Truth
8:22 The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
10:24 I am NO Man
12:31 The Turning of the Tide

[jaredwilliams]

It wasn’t just her going into battle. She was literally one of the few people that stuck around with her uncle while he was poisoned. She stayed strong for him and her people. She had so much love and bravery

[LuckyStar]

As a woman, I’ve been trying to tell people that one of the most true feminine hero is Eowyn. No one really believes me, but I’m glad that you see it. Thanks!

[GeekOwtLowd]

She was vulnerable.
Her bravery meant something because she was literally terrified, but fought anyway.
Bravery is interesting, because people think it's an antonym of "fear"... but it's not. Fear and courage are corelated.
Someone who is never afraid needs no courage. In fact, having no fear is the result of one of 2 things. If your lack of fear is rational, then it's just confidence. If your lack of fear is irrational, then you are either delusional or you have a neurological disorder or something.

[alaia-awakened]

Her bravery was in service of the people she loved, not in service of her own self grandiosity. That's the difference; service to other vs. narcissism.

[scott]

It was not just the nurturing and support that Eowyn gave to Merry that was so influential…if she hadn’t looked after Theoden when he was weak, and then inspired him to reclaim his honour, Rohan would not have ridden to Gondor’s aid. It was no accident his last words were to her.

[KevinOnEarth_]

DUDE, this is exactly the video I was looking for. After the disgrace that is rings of power and the poorly written Guyladriel (including a slew of other “strong women” recently), I kept being reminded of how much I loved Eowyn in Peter Jackson’s films. I actively searched YouTube for a comparison to explain why and here we are. This video is criminally under-watched and I will be spreading it around to everyone I know. Thanks for such a beautiful breakdown.

[BBassistChrist]

This is why Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite strong female characters in fiction. People always complain about how "motherly" and "hopeful" and "inspirational" she is, but those are all traits of her feminine strength. That feminine strength pushes her forward to the point of being able to challenge strong men who are objectively stronger than her, not caring that she "cannot win this fight", and it is also the motivation for her to face one of the most powerful villains in the show, despite being highly underpowered, because she needs to save her friend, and in that fight, she doesn't overpower her opponent, but rather out smarts her opponent (who is also a strong female character, but strong with masculine strength).
Beyond herself, she is also always strengthening her surrounding cast, literally with healing magic to refresh them, but also with wisdom, council, compassion, and inspiration. In the end, Aang had to face the Fire Lord by himself, but he would not have been nearly ready if it wasn't for Katara always by his side, encouraging him, strengthening him, edifying him, correcting him, and challenging him in ways he needed to grow. She wasn't there to help him in his fight, but by being there the entire time building up to that fight, she made him into the man he needed to be to face the tyrant. And although the war was won by various men, Katara could be argued as the single-most important character in the war.

[TheGeekMonster]

In the video above, I love so much that the speaker addresses that it was Eowyn's feminine, nurturing strength that resulted in Merry even being present on the battlefield that day. She saw his valor, his potential, his courage, and she made the way for him to ride into battle with her. Without him, no one would have stabbed the Witch-King with an ancient elven blade and weakened him for her to make the final, lethal blow. Victory happened, not with traditional, masculine muscle power, but one brave, loving woman who was not stronger than her adversaries, and a little hobbit who was also not stronger than his adversaries, and the trust, love, and courage they carried onto the battlefield together. That's just beautiful.

[laurazaetz]

A little thing I want to touch on: Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman in her first solo movie. One thing I loved about her was that even though she was strong, you never forgot she was wholely feminine. She was compassionate, empathetic, driven to fix things and to protect. And the adversity she faced and the expectations on women that were established in the film made the moment where she marched on No Man's Land feel earned.

[MichaelDG]

You make me think of how awkward and ungainly I felt learning choreography in my first musical theater performance. This was made all the worse by my first dance partner who struggled against me for control until I became flustered and increasingly apologetic. I just wanted to give up. That is until I met my next dance partner, a gentle, reassuring young woman who smiled calmly at me and reassured me that I could trust her and we were in it together.

I didn’t immediately show grace, indeed I have often felt apprehension learning choreography, but she made me feel safe and strong and thereby more capable of leading.

For me it speaks very clearly of the ability of feminine strength to nurture and activate masculine agency.

[dramaticwords]

Surprised you didn't point out that Eowyn's aim in that fight was not so much to destroy the Witch-King, but to protect her uncle Theoden from being killed and fed to the Wyvern. She begins the fight not by threatening to kill the Witch-King but by telling him not to touch Theoden.
Of course, you might also mention that she was a character who until then could not find her place in the world. Her betrothed had died. She rejected Wormtongue and was rejected by Aragorn. She wanted to be a soldier (to be useful in some way) but was denied the opportunity. She didn't feel at home among the women. She was not the domestic type. She had no family apart from a brother who she didn't seem close to and her uncle, who was the only person who seemed to care for her. Wormtongue was not lying when he painted a bleak view of her future. So in this moment, she fought to protect the only thing she loved.

[Blakmagic]

As a woman… I’m so happy I found this video. Excellent break down!

[CLBOO]

Exactly, I was actually looking forward to see Galadriel as a mother and how she nurtures her daughter and even as a yoda-like teacher to elrond. I really thought they would explore that, not “I have seen what I’ve seen” line to Elrond.

[buzzzam]

courage make Eowin become strong women not have to be masculine. Mother who give birth, raise child while helping her husband in term of cash by working but still taking care their child is a strong women. Even be a house wife need courage knowing anything can happen. We need each other, men and women build differently and we complete each other.

[Falconlibrary]

Really good analysis and it helps prove that Tolkien fans do NOT have a "problem" accepting strong women or women warriors. Tolkien fans LOVE the portrayal of Eowyn and Arwen (played by Liv Tyler) in the original trilogy. The Nazgûl demanded that Arwen turn over Frodo to them and Arwen responded by drawing her sword and saying: "If you want him, come and claim him." Which is elven for "over my dead body, suckers." But Arwen also had feminine vulnerability, as shown in her romance with Aragorn, and was clever, besides, luring the Nazgûl into a trap in the waters of Bruinen, which she caused to rise so that they swept away the Ringwraiths.

[provenx]

Aragon nurtures and trains the hobbits also, its what friends and good people do, not just women. Guyladriel teaches nothing only beating down nonbelievers like a cruel monster

[piotrekmajewski]

Great video. Especially the conclusion made my day. Men and women need to boost each other by feedback - that cooperation can generate infinite powers.

[idiotengineer]

My favorite thing about eowyn is that she shows visible fear and overcomes it to protect her friends and family. When she sees the witch king stand the look in her eyes is so relatable

[annafife]

If the current rejection of femininity is because it is seen as lesser/ weaker/ passive, then this trilogy asserts femininity's power.

Three scenes I love all include mighty warriors who have always been stoic (as they must be in war) become vulnerable, emotional, gentle, or ecstatic because of a woman.

Eomir's broken grief on discovering his sister in the battlefield.

Theoden's peaceful gratitude for his niece's protection.

Aragon's joyful, ecstatic reunion with his beloved.

We have seen these men go through every trial and pain. We know their public faces of composure. But their intimate, private, and vulnerable emotions are reserved for women alone. That is powerful.

By the way, your commentary on Merry blew my mind! I have never heard of this before. Thank you

[bebbization]

I also wish more movies could show femininity for men. LOTR had this, showing Aragorn to be nurturing (as someone else commented), and Boromir being drawn to the hobbits. Tolkien was very focused on mercy, and it was pointed out that Frodo sparing Gollum was one of the most important actions, even though nobody would celebrate and sing about that.

As someone who's been mostly a tomboy, I do like seeing more active female characters, as opposed to the stereotypical sidelined one. It's nice to see more women as main characters, and more women with other interests than makeup (don't get me wrong, I love legally blonde and don't mind girly girls, I just also want to see someone more like me on screen). Maybe my main problem is how femininity has often been portrayed as just a sidelined female supporter, whose only existence is to give motivation to the main character and to look pretty, without being allowed to have a character development of her own. Still it is a problem that both masculine and feminine female characters are often lacking this development, the essential thing to make them grow and to make them human.

Maybe it was a bit clumsy written, but I miss seeing femininity on screen, especially for men, but also to make feminine women on screen more interesting (like Eowin was awesome!). From my understanding of masculinity and femininity, every character should have some of both, as active characters are moving the plot and caring characters just give them more soul. But femininity is probably harder to write, so they just avoid it too much.