Éowyn

Éowyn is a fictional character in Tolkien's legendarium who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who is described as a shieldmaiden.

Literature

In The Two Towers, Éowyn, a daughter of the House of Eorl and the niece of King Théoden of Rohan, is introduced in Meduseld, the king's hall at Edoras. She was the daughter of Théodwyn (Théoden's sister) and Éomund and the sister of Éomer. When she was only seven years old, her father was killed fighting orcs and her mother died of grief. Éowyn and Éomer were raised in her uncle's household as if they were his own children.

Tolkien writes that she longed to win renown in battle—especially since she was royal—but being female, her duties were reckoned to be at Edoras. When Théoden's mind was poisoned by his adviser Gríma Wormtongue, Éowyn was obliged to care for her uncle, and his deterioration pained her deeply. To make matters worse, she was constantly harassed by Gríma, who lusted after her. However, when Gandalf arrived, he freed Théoden from Wormtongue's influence.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel written by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is the best-selling novel ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

The title of the novel refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who had in an earlier age created the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth. From quiet beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land not unlike the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the course of the War of the Ring through the eyes of its characters, the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took, but also the hobbits' chief allies and travelling companions: the Men Aragorn son of Arathorn, a Ranger of the North, and Boromir, a Captain of Gondor; Gimli son of Glóin, a Dwarf warrior; Legolas Greenleaf, an Elven prince; and Gandalf, a Wizard.

The Two Towers (disambiguation)

The Two Towers is the second part of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Two Towers may also refer to:

See also

The Two Towers

The Two Towers is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It is preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring and followed by The Return of the King.

Title

The Lord of the Rings is composed of 6 "books", aside from an introduction, a prologue and 6 appendices. The novel was originally published as 3 separate volumes due to post-World War II paper shortages and size and price considerations.The Two Towers covers Books III and IV.

Tolkien wrote, "The Two Towers gets as near as possible to finding a title to cover the widely divergent Books 3 & 4; and can be left ambiguous." At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The proposed title for Book III was The Treason of Isengard. Book IV was titled The Journey of the Ringbearers or The Ring Goes East. The titles The Treason of Isengard and The Ring Goes East were used in the Millennium edition.

In letters to Rayner Unwin Tolkien considered naming the two as Orthanc and Barad-dûr, Minas Tirith and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol. However, a month later he wrote a note published at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and later drew a cover illustration, both of which identified the pair as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. In the illustration, Orthanc is shown as a black tower, three-horned, with the sign of the White Hand beside it; Minas Morgul is a white tower, with a thin waning moon above it, in reference to its original name, Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Rising Moon. Between the two towers a Nazgûl flies.