Notice! Spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim ahead!
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim is essentially a prequel to Rohan, which meant a perfect opportunity to redefine Éowyn's role within her kingdom. Set just under 200 years before The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, War of the Rohirrim focuses on the conflict between King Helm Hammerhand and the Dunlendings. However, the legendary Rohirrim leader is not the main protagonist of the 2024 film. Instead, Helm's daughter Héra takes center stage, creating a unique opportunity to War of the Rohirrim to skillfully reconstruct Éowyn's Lord of the Rings history.
Éowyn was the most prominent female character in Tolkien's story. The Lord of the Rings. She was known for being beautiful and passionate, and after seeing Rohan suffer under Saruman (and Sauron, by extension), Éowyn became determined to defend her home. She dressed like a man and rode into battle in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and defeated the Witch-King of Angmar, fulfilling the prophecy that “no man“could kill the specter. Now, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim introduced a similar character in Héra, who, like Éowyn, became a squire of Rohan.
Éowyn is Rohan's shieldmaiden in The Lord of the Rings
Rohan had at least one shieldmaiden centuries after the Rohirrim war
In Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersÉowyn tells Aragorn that she is a shieldmaiden of Rohan. She says this to inform the man that she is capable with a sword because she has been trained in combat since childhood. It is for this reason that Éowyn was so well equipped to face the Witch-King of Angmar and emerge victorious (with the help of the Hobbit Merry, of course).
Although Éowyn's status as Shieldmaiden is clarified in the Lord of the Rings books, much time was never spent explaining what this actually meant. Éowyn was trained to fight, but she was not actually expected or allowed to do so.– that's why she had to dress as a man and sneak onto the battlefield. It is implied that the Shieldmaidens occupy a symbolic position, but War of the Rohirrim provided more context for Rohan's female fighters.
War of the Rohirrim Retcons The Story of the Shieldmaidens of Rohan
The new Lord of the Rings movie explains where Rohan's shieldmaidens come from
Éowyn's role as Shieldmaiden has become even more intriguing now that War of the Rohirrim created a more detailed story for these women. At the beginning of the film, it is revealed that the Shieldmaidens were Rohirrim women who fought bravely to defend their homes after the men were lost in battle.. This was years before Héra was born, and most of the original Shieldmaidens had died – with the exception of Olwyn. As Rohan's population of men and boys was restored, there was no need to train more Shieldmaidens to protect the kingdom, so the role was essentially forgotten.
Despite this, it is clear from War of the Rohirrim that Olwyn, who swore to serve Helm Hammerhand and his daughter, trained Héra in the way of the Shieldmaidens. Then, when no one was left to fight Wulf and the Dunlending army, Héra stood before them with a sword and a shield. If not for her, Rohan would be lost and Wulf would have claimed rule of the kingdom. The implication here is that Héra brought back the legacy of the Shieldmaidenswhich is why, almost two centuries later, Éowyn bore the title. It is an effective and poetic retelling of the story of this Lady of Rohan.
What Tolkien had to say about the role of shieldmaidens
Tolkien was inspired by Norse mythology
Tolkien didn't provide much explanation as to what Éowyn's role as Shieldmaiden actually meant, but the legendary author didn't invent this concept either. Shieldmaidens, or Shield-maidens, are a feature of Scandinavian folklore. They are trained warriors, and several legends tell of women who stood up when they were needed. Additionally, Shieldmaidens are often associated with Norse Valkyriesfemale warrior beings who guide souls to Valhalla. Since Rohan and his people are heavily based on the Anglo-Saxons, this makes a lot of sense for their characters.
The new 2024 Lord of the Rings film made a powerful choice, putting Héra in the same league.
It's fitting that characters like Éowyn are associated with powerful mythical beings like the Valkyries. Likewise, the new Lord of the Rings the film made a powerful choice, placing Héra in the same league. It is evident from both this and Tolkien's central trilogy that the Shieldmaidens are a woefully forgotten group. They are not expected to fight and important figures like Héra are completely forgotten. However, as Éowyn tells the story of a fellow Shieldmaiden in The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimit is clear that The legacies of these brave women, from Olwyn to Héra and beyond, live on.