Abstract |
The Lord of the Rings has always been one of my favorite books. I decided to write an essay that would allow me to dive into both the extensive history that Tolkien created as well as the life of Tolkien himself. The resources I used included an essay comparing Èowyn to a World War Two war bride, an essay identifying the various stages of grief she went through, as well as two biographies of Tolkien; one by Daniel Grotta and one by Humphrey Carpenter. The goal of the essay to try and understand the character of Èowyn as Tolkien would have understood her, and to show that he didn’t write Èowyn to just be a throwaway hero to be forgotten. I believe that she is one of the most vital characters to the novel, as she shows some of the most character development of anybody in the book. This is important to today’s students because she shows that even women in a high fantasy setting from a novel written on the eve of World War 2 can be three dimensional, believable characters. She is a hero, and deserves to be studied with any other literary woman.
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Joel Coblentz is majoring in English at Kent State Stark. After graduating, he hopes to work in editing. In his off time, he enjoys reading books of all kinds, craft beer, and playing overly complicated board games with friends.