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#I'm not even gonna go into how eowyn is denethor's most pertinent narrative parallel I WILL NOY
lesbiansforboromir · 3 years
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I was thinking about Faramir and his whole attitude towards "lesser men." I find your writing on that topic so interesting and different from most stuff I see about Faramir! (I still love him but...well). And I was thinking about how he later marries Eowyn, the rustic illiterate of those very "lesser" folk, and what, if anything, that implies about his character arc. I wondered if you have thoughts about that? I tried searching your blog but the search function has been wonky lately. Thank you!
Well firstly thanks very much :) glad you find it interesting. 
SO. I've tended to avoid talking too deeply about farawyn because I am aware I am not precisely... UNBIASED... when it comes to this ship. I've said this before but Eowyn's marrying a man was the first #lesbianidentifyingBETRAYAL I ever experienced and it has emotionally stuck with me. So I restrain myself from throwing my numerous thoughts onto the dash because I can't be sure they come from a COMPLETELY honest place and also like... I dO try to not yuck anybody's yum and people seem so attached to Farawyn... BUT if you come to ask me directly-
It's a quite common thing with characters in LoTR that they dont really HAVE arcs in the books. Many characters do not change in any big or definable way throughout the course of the tale and what you actually feel is that like... the book's tale and it's eventual ending with Sauron's defeat essentially releases them TOO grow. Character growth often feels like it happens offscreen. Faramir is one of these characters.
I think Faramir justified his attraction and growing feelings for Eowyn as due to her 'uniqueness'. He placed her on a pedastal above her people because of her own dunadain heritage and royal status. The rohirrim are not usually tall like Eowyn or grey-eyed but, due to her amrothian grandmother, Eowyn does have those features. And, more than that, it's known that the household of Rohan's Kings often don't know how to speak Rohirric but can speak Sindarin (because Thengel lived most of his life in Gondor rather than Rohan and only returned upon his father’s death). So even Theoden's behaviour reinforces the idea that the royal line of the rohirrim 'aren't like the rest'.
So not only does Faramir internally say 'she's not like those OTHER girls rohirrim', he also entirely believes that's what Eowyn thinks of herself too. He thinks she would agree with him! “Yes, the Rohirrim are men of the twilight but I am of a different and higher state.” And I'm afraid Eowyn likes the way he treats her because of this! Faramir's attention and admiration is quite heady and Eowyn's at the end of five years of muting her own personhood, having someone treat her as special and unique is very soothing and gratifying.
LIKE... god I could talk a lot about how much her epilogue frustrates me, how much this whole ‘she learned to live in peace’ doesn’t WORK when she’s immediately married off to the Steward of a land that is not her own BUT... to keep my mind on task... This state of affairs couldn’t have held up long term, obviously. Eventually Eowyn would realise that Faramir’s view of her people was not the fair-minded criticism that she hoped it was. 
And they would have a fight! And... this is where I lose my general ability to predict endings and possible threads. Because in canon they have a loving marriage that lasts their whole lives, so this fight must have an end that includes Faramir’s growth and realisation that he has been wrong about the ‘men of the twilight’. And one would hope so since Aragorn reclaims all of Harondor so the people there are now Faramir’s closest neighbours! 
BUT I JUST... I do not know how this happens. I expect it’s a combination of Eowyn’s impressive ability to form a point into incredibly cutting metaphors, plus the general fear Faramir must have of losing Eowyn’s favour. BUT... BUT... I just wish he could have come to that decision by himself, and without that his ‘growth’ feels quite hollow to me. Like Boromir was there his whole life verbally and passionately advocating for the Rohirrim, Denethor speaks to Theoden through letter as not just an equal but with a tone that’s respectful and thoughtful. And then there’s his “let all who fight the Enemy in their fashion be at one” line too. Imrahil weeps open tears at the sight of Theoden’s body! Imrahil!! Lord of Elf Fuckers City Central!! Like... why was Faramir the only one out of this family who went SO blood purist and faux traditionalist? What about Eowyn convinced Faramir finally? That he loves her? Did he not love his family? IF IT WAS INSPIRED BY HORNINESS IT DOESN’T COUNT. There I said it. 
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