Northwoman, shieldmaiden of Rohan. At the time of the War of the Ring, Éowyn was the beautiful, golden-haired niece of King Theoden of Rohan and sister of Prince Éomer. During the War of the Ring, Éowyn fell in love with Aragorn. Despairing at his assuming death, and frustrated by her inability to fight for her people, Éowyn disguised herself as a warrior called Dernhelm, and rode with the Rohirrim in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. There she won the greatest fame of any warrior by standing over the mortally wounded King Théoden and fighting the Witch-king, the lord of the Ringwraiths. Protected by the prophecy that he could not be slain by the hand of a Man, Éowyn revealed that she was a shieldmaiden, and with her sword killed the Winged Beast on which he rode. Then - with the help of the Hobbit, Meridoc Brandybuck - she slew the Witch-king himself. In that struggle, however, Éowyn was overcome by the poison "Black Breath" of the Ringwraith, and fell into a death-like sleep. She was eventually brought out of this coma by Aragorn, using the magical herb called Athelas.

After the War of the Ring, Éowyn recovered from both the evil spell of the Witch-king and her infatuation with Aragorn. She married Faramir, the Steward of Gondor and Prince of Ithilien.

Source: Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia by David Day
Copyright 1991 by Mitchell Beazley Publishers