Ruling with Humanity

And [Eowyn] answered: ‘All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more."
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This week we read "The Passing of the Grey Company," which I think is an odd chapter.  The Grey Company is a group of Dúnedain, a specific race of humans of which Aragorn is a part of.  With them are Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond's two sons.  They appear into the narrative without much explanation (They claim to have been summoned, but no one can say by whom), have many conversations with Aragorn that are hidden to us (either because the dialogue is in riddles or 'off-screen') and by the end of the chapter they (with Aragorn and Gimli and Legolas) ride into the mountains to summon a cursed army.

The whole chapter at once gives the feel of a much larger world at play but also is an overwhelming amount of new information in the final book of our series.  Worse yet, we on repeat reads know that these characters don't do much in the rest of the book.  Unlike Denethor, who becomes a central character in the coming chapters, their leader Halbarad appears in the narrative again only to announce Aragorn's arrival in Gondor.  He is later listed among the dead in a battle with Sauron's forces.  As I said, it's odd.

But the Grey Company is not what I wish to discuss this week.  Before Aragorn leaves with them he rides with Theoden back to Edoras, the Rohan capitol, where Eowyn has been dutifully awaiting the return of the men.  She had been charged with protecting the women and children who did not ride out to Helm's Deep.

Aragorn tells her he must leave to go walk the Paths of the Dead.  She says it's dangerous.

‘If you must go, then let me ride in your following. For I am weary of skulking in
the hills, and wish to face peril and battle.’

‘Your duty is with your people,’ he answered.

‘Too often have I heard of duty,’ she cried. ‘But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden
and not a dry-nurse? I have waited on faltering feet long enough. Since they falter no longer, it
seems, may I not now spend my life as I will?’

‘Few may do that with honour,’ he answered. ‘But as for you, lady: did you not accept the charge
to govern the people until their lord’s return? If you had not been chosen, then some marshal or
captain would have been set in the same place, and he could not ride away from his
charge, were he weary of it or no.’

‘Shall I always be chosen?’ she said bitterly.

I've already discussed Tolkien's sexism at length.  But here we see something a little different.  Aragorn, usually the text's voice of reason, is entirely unhelpful.  Rather than listen to Eowyn's particular needs, he appeals to general expectations.  Eowyn, as a woman, is expected to care for the people.  Sure, Eowyn doesn't want this life, but who gets to spend their life as they like anyway?  And anyway, if you won't do this, someone else will, and then they are the ones stuck.  It is worth noting his hypothetical 'marshal or captain' is a male.  Aragorn seems to imply it is worse for a man to be trapped by duty than a woman.

Eowyn, as highlighted at the top, is pushed to the breaking point.  She sees her duty as a barrier to what she really wants, which is to join the men in battle.  Her duty will keep her inside, and the best she can hope for is when the war is over and she is burned to death in the house.  That's the closest she can hope to getting a warrior's funeral pyre.

We modern people understand Eowyn's frustration quite easily.  While she gets shut down very directly (Which seems like the text is repudiating feminism), it is of course worth noting Tolkien could have had her personality align with her duty, thus preventing this conflict entirely.  So at least he gives feminism a voice, even if it is defeated.

Empathizing with Eowyn here is easy.  So let's look at things from Aragorn's point of view.  He's just had a group of kinsmen show up and tell him he must walk the Paths of the Dead.  When they arrive, Elrohir says:

‘I bring word to you from my father: The days are short.

If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.’

‘Always my days have seemed to me too short to achieve my desire,’

answered Aragorn. ‘But great indeed will be my haste ere I take that road.’

Aragorn does not want to take the Paths of the Dead.  However, he must.  The Dúnedain have come both to tell him the time has come and ensure that he does it.  Aragorn is compelled by the duty of his birth, for only a descendant of the kings of Gondor can summon the cursed army.

Aragorn is wracked with grief by this duty.  He is in no mood to compromise.  When Eowyn confronts him, he holds her to the same standard he holds himself.  This seems noble, if unkind.  Double standards are indeed unfair, and one destined to be king must be fair.  We can excuse Aragorn's obstinance, given his position.

We can, but we should not.  Rules do not enforce themselves.  They should be interpreted, and occasionally bent.  Aragorn is destined to be king.  With great power comes great responsibility.  Eowyn is the niece to a lesser king.  There's no reason Eowyn's duty should be as binding as Aragorn, especially as someone else could do it.  As Aragorn said, if Eowyn did not stay behind, someone else would need to.  But if Aragorn shirks his duty, there is no one else.  Their situations are unalike, and they should be treated that way.

It is easy to enforce rules with a single standard.  You either meet expectations, or you do not.  It is more challenging to enforce rules with nuance.  Sure, everyone should keep their noise level relatively low during a plane ride, but you should react differently to a teenager being too loud than an infant being too loud than an adult being too loud.  Just because you're able to get up in the morning and exercise doesn't mean everyone else who doesn't is simply choosing not to.  People are different.

Understanding and accounting for these differences improves our rules, rather than degrades them.  Mercy strengthens justice by saying those do receive harsh judgments deserve them.  Rules do not enforce themselves, nor do they exist by themselves.  They are created by us to support the kind of community we want to live in.  If we let our rules dictate our community, we have lost sight as to why they were made in the first place.

Sometimes, we must be willing to bend the rules.  Occasionally, we need to replace them entirely.  Community is not a static thing.  Rules should not be, either.  Otherwise, they become a prison of the past.

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