Lady of Rohan

I’m showing off a new pattern today! Meet the Lady of Rohan:

This shawl is for Wooly Wonka’s Heroines shawl club. I chose Eowyn as the inspiration for my design. The pattern is exclusive to the club. If you want to be notified when the pattern is available to the public please sign up for my newsletter. You can favorite and queue this pattern on Ravelry.

Eowyn is a vital character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I feel the movie skipped over her key roll in defeating the Nazgul.
In fact I’m a little bitter about this. Eowyn rides into battle disguised as a man because (in spite of being a sheildmaiden of Rohan) she is told to stay behind.
It is written that the Nazgul King can not be killed by any son of man. As the battle is going badly he is confronted by Eowyn in disguise, he says she cannot kill him and she replies:

“But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”

Without Eowyn the city of Minas Tirith would have fallen. Even if Frodo and Sam had destroyed the ring, the cities of men would have been destroyed and they’d have nothing to which to return.

After the gore of battle, and almost dying herself, Eowyn swears off violence. She becomes a healer, she meets Faramir as they are both in the house of the healing. Eventually marries him, and becomes a ruler of men.

“and behold! The Shadow has departed! I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.”**

Eowyn grows and matures throughout the final book. She is a warrior, a healer, and a just ruler. I mirror the changes in her life through this shawl. The center depicts the idealistic sheildmaiden. It is a sparkly, creamy white with hoofprints galloping across the center line. The open, circular birdseye lace represents the healer within Eowyn: open, giving, and selfless. The final, rich chestnut brown symbolizes her status as a ruler of men with a plaited trim denoting her early life among the horses of Rohan.

* The Return of the King, pg 141.
** The Return of the King, pg 300.