Why did Éowyn ask Faramir if he'd rather have a "woman of the race of Númenor"? by Quente  

Why did Éowyn ask Faramir if he'd rather have a "woman of the race of Númenor"?

~

Then Faramir laughed merrily. ‘That is well,’ he said; ‘for I am not a king. Yet I will wed with the White Lady of Rohan, if it be her will. And if she will, then let us cross the River and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden. All things will grow with joy there, if the White Lady comes.’

‘Then must I leave my own people, man of Gondor?’ she said. ‘And would you have your proud folk say of you: “There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! Was there no woman of the race of Númenor to choose?”’

‘I would,’ said Faramir.

~

For most of my life, when reading Lord of the Rings, I read it through the perspective of Gandalf's words about Éowyn, that she'd spent years trapped as a caregiver, watching the realm she loved fall from honor into disgrace.

Gandalf perceives Éowyn thus: "Think you that Wormtongue had poison only for Théoden's ears? Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among their dogs? Have you not heard those words before? Saruman spoke them, the teacher of Wormtongue. Though I do not doubt that Wormtongue at home wrapped their meaning in terms more cunning. My lord, if your sister's love for you, and her will still bent to her duty, had not restrained her lips; you might have heard even such things as these escape them."

I always pondered that Éowyn had lingering shame about Rohan leading up to the year of the quest, because while Rohan's king was clearly being misled by the treachery of Wormtongue, Denethor's own festering rot at the center of Gondor was much harder to perceive, because it was the result of the Palantir. If you recall, Gandalf asked that no one tell Faramir about his father's final days or why he was mad while Faramir was recovering in the halls of healing, so not even Faramir would know to share this with Éowyn.

But after reading the chapter, "CIRION AND EORL AND THE FRIENDSHIP OF GONDOR AND ROHAN," from Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, I realized that there is a deeper political reason behind Éowyn's question that taps into the long history between the two kingdoms.

Númenor and Race

In Lord of the Rings, we all know from Boromir that Gondor was founded by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion, refugees from the sinking of Númenor. Boromir tells this to us at the Council of Elrond: "Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of Númenor is spent, nor all its pride and dignity forgotten."

Faramir too name-drops Númenor when he speaks to Frodo about war. This is actually my favorite quotation from Lord of the Rings, and I want it as a tattoo:

"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Númenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom."

Why is Éowyn's question about race so important? Racial purity means something very specific -- and not portrayed by Tolkien as positive -- to the people of Gondor who were once of Númenor.

Short history of the urge for an Elven lifespan

Elros Tar-Minyatur, brother of Elrond and founder of the entire line of the kings of Númenor, lived for 500 years. The men who fought with him, who became the people of Númenor, were similarly blessed by the Valar because of their deeds to help defeat Morgoth in the War of Wrath. Elros could have chosen to be more Elf-like and live without aging like his brother Elrond, but he did not; he chose instead to lead men to the Isle of Gift, and found his great city there.

As time wore on, the Númenoreans became obsessed with long life and agelessness -- in part because the island of Númenor was within sight of Tol Eressëa, the island dwelling of the Teleri Elves. Sure the folk of Númenor were long-lived and full of wisdom, but why couldn't they live practically forever, like the Elves, in unaging beauty? As time wore on and the kings of Númenor became sea-faring, they encountered more of the Elves of Middle-earth, and their jealousy only grew.

By the twentieth king of Númenor, Ar-Adûnakhôr, the jealousy was so strong that they (1) Stopped using the Quenya title "Tar" and used the Adûnaic "Ar" instead, and (2) persecuted people who spoke Elvish, to the point where the Elves stopped taking boats over to visit them. This king died at age 253, a steep decline from the roughly 400 year lifespan of Númenorean kings 1-15.

(There's a cool chart at Zarkanya.net showing the lifespans of each king as the generations decline.)

Of course, weird and creepy things went into keeping the lives of Númenorean kings longer. For example, they speculated that unmingled blood from Elros's line was what kept the kings powerful -- and therefore, Ar-Gimilzôr married his niece to keep the blood of Elros in the family.

Of course, Tolkien never thought that blood alone kept people powerful. Elendil, who was not in direct lineage of the kings of Númenor, but was instead one of the "Faithful" who were lords of the Westward-looking Númenorean city of Andúnië, far surpassed the ages of many of the declining kings, and lived until 322 years old.

Fast-forward to Gondor, where the original blessing of the Valar upon the people of Númenor had dwindled even further. Instead of ruling for hundreds of years, they ruled for closer to 60-80 years, and lived into their 100s. This was still considered better than most men, so people spoke approvingly of the blood of Númenor keeping the people of Gondor and Arnor so long of life.

Gondor and the Éothéod

Where, then, do the people of Rohan come from, and why are they considered a different "race" than the men of Númenor?

Know, o fine reader who is somehow still with me, that the people of Númenor came from the three original tribes of men who passed West over the Ered Luin and into Beleriand in the first age. Know also that some of their kin who stayed on the Middle-earth side of the Ered Luin are the folk of Rhovanion, who became the "Éothéod", or Horse-people.

Basically. Tolkien wanted us to know that they are from the same stock, but the ones who remained on the Middle-earth side were not blessed by the Valar with long life and wisdom, because they did not fight in the War of Wrath.

"Rohirrim" was originally an Exonym -- a name given to the Éothéod by the son of Cirion, Steward of Gondor -- kind of like the way in which "Halfling" is what people who are not Hobbits call Hobbits. It's a word that squishes Roh (horse) with -rim (people) in Sindarin Elvish; but the Éothéod soon appropriated it for themselves.

Anyway. So the cousins of the Númenoreans that stayed in Middle-earth lived far north in Rhovanion near Hobbit-country, actually, which is why "Holbytla" and "Hobbit" sound etymologically so close -- it's because they are.

But the people of Gondor often needed these Northern men from Rhovanion to assist them.

During the realm of King Rómendacil II in Third-Age 1300-ish, tension with Sauron came to a head. "Wainriders" invaded from the East. Wainriders were Easterlings who rode in great wagons and war chariots, and were lured to invade by emissaries of Sauron, who goaded them into it with the usual lies and promises.

Valacar, son of Rómendacil II, went to learn the ways of these Northmen from their king, Vidugavia. And while there, he fell in love with the Horse-lord's daughter, Vidumavi.

Vidumavi bore him a son, Eldacar, who soon succeeded his father to the throne. But because Eldacar was considered to be someone MIXED WITH THE BLOOD OF LESSER MEN, the time of Gondorian Kin-strife immediately followed. Gondorians considered Eldacar a "half breed" with no right to rule, and Eldacar's second-cousin Castamir raised the coastal Gondorians of Umbar and Pelargir against him.

[Incidentally, this is why the great Gondorian city of Osgiliath fell -- it wasn't due to Sauron or orcs, it was because Castamir waged war against Eldacar in Osgiliath, and left it in flames.]

Castamir was king for a little while, but was "cruel and ungenerous," and soon lost popularity. A good summary of these days is here.

Eldacar went to Rhovanion to his mother's people and gathered up both the Horse-people and Dúnedain under his banner, and eventually won back power and the rule of Gondor. He slew Castamir, but because Eldacar was not really a sea-faring king, Castamir's sons took to the water and fled to Umbar.

Umbar was never friends with Gondor after that, and this is why the Corsairs of Umbar were at war with Gondor, even up until Aragorn's day in the third age.

Bringing it back around

But it is clear that Éowyn knew her history. "There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! Was there no woman of the race of Númenor to choose?" Éowyn asked Faramir, knowing full well that the racists of Gondor could and did ignite an entire schism within the Gondorian dynasty because of their deeply embedded belief in the purity of Númenorean blood.

"I would," replies Faramir, the very best man in Lord of the Rings, because he does not care about blood purity or the possibility of Kin-strife or losing the support of certain factions of Gondorians, because he wants to marry Éowyn since she is an amazing human in her own right.

P.S.

Eventually [lightly skimming hundreds of years of Third Age history] Cirion, Steward of Gondor, needed help. He sent a message up to Eorl, Lord of the Éothéod of Rhovanion, asking him to come assist in fighting a resurgence of orcs and men affiliated with Sauron.

In response to the red arrow sent by Cirion, at a battle just south of Lothlorien in the Field of Celebrant, Eorl and many thousands of horsemen rode up through a mist conveniently provided by Galadriel to hide them from foes, and saved the day.

In thanks, Cirion took Eorl up to a hallowed place, the Halifirien -- a high hill where Elendil's body rested for a time before he moved permanently back to the City of the Dead of Gondor -- and asked him if he'd mind swearing an oath of eternal friendship. In exchange, Cirion would give him the land to the West of Gondor, called Calenardhon, a land of rolling hills between the Anduin and the Isen rivers.

This land would later become known for its people -- Rohan.

Eorl swore this oath of friendship, as did Cirion, who called upon Eru Iluvatar himself to witness it -- a very potent oath, as the Sons of Fëanor could tell you -- and that is why Théoden was so affected when he received the Red Arrow from Gondor asking for his aid. Eorl swore that all of his descendants would answer, if Gondor called, and be cursed eternally if they did not.

Théoden answered the call.

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