Éowyn

Éowyn is the most heroic female character in The Lord of the Rings. Éowyn is a daughter of the House of Eorl and the niece of King Théoden of Rohan. Loyally taking care of the king (her uncle), she noted with dismay how Wormtongue (a spy for Saruman) seduced Theoden into acting the dotard. Her spirit was roused by the arrival of Aragorn, and she demonstrated the utmost loyalty to king and country by disguising herself as a man and riding with Merry into battle, where fortuitously she and Merry were able to unseat the leader of the nine Black Riders, turning the tide of the battle.

While some may accuse her of betraying her trust, she could not actually have ridden as an anonymous man since in a battle formation every man must be known to his superior and his comrades. The fact that no one ever spoke aloud to her although she walked freely around the camp shows that her guise was not impenetrable.

• She came to an understanding with Elfhelm about Merry and the Marshal and his Riders ignored the Hobbit's presence. If Elfhelm recognized Dernhelm to be Eowyn, he said nothing about it to the King. Eowyn spoke to no one else in the company. [1]

As such she fought at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. There she confronted the Witch-king of Angmar, leader of the Nazgûl. With the help of the Hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck, she managed to kill the Witch-king. Merry struck the Witch-king with his Dúnedain blade forged for use against the forces of Angmar, which enabled Éowyn to make the fatal stroke. This fits with a thousand year old foretelling, that the Witch-king would not be killed "by the hand of man": Éowyn was a woman, and Merry a Hobbit. During the fight her arm was broken, earning her the title Lady of the Shield-arm.

Éowyn, played by Miranda Otto.

Adaptions

In Peter Jackson's film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, Éowyn is played by the Australian actress Miranda Otto.