#also faramir is cirion's heir and i think that would be ... not the uppermost concern

[anghraine]

I do sometimes wonder about Éomer’s first response to hearing of Éowyn’s betrothal to Faramir. I’ve seen takes where he’s opposed to it and I’m definitely a hard no on that, but it must seem pretty odd from his perspective?

Like, he has his epiphany (led by Aragorn and Gandalf) that Éowyn’s despair wasn’t really about Aragorn, but about her desire for greatness and escape from her life in Rohan. And she’s ambivalent at best when he leaves her for the Black Gate.

And then they have their great victory, Sauron is gone etc, and Éomer’s like ... Éowyn should come join the party! It’d be good for her! But she keeps sticking around in Minas Tirith for no apparent reason. And then it turns out that she’s agreed to marry the Steward of Gondor (!!!). 

And when he meets Faramir ... well, I don’t get the impression that they’ve much interacted, so it’s got to be pretty odd to meet Éowyn’s betrothed and find himself facing someone who’s going to seem like Aragorn Lite—physically very much the same type, though young, and with a similar demeanour and air.

Also, Tolkien says that Éowyn can tell immediately that none of the Rohirrim could defeat Faramir because she was raised among men of war, which would be at least equally the case with Éomer. So, on the one hand, it looks like Éowyn went and found herself this milder, younger, scaled-down version of Aragorn (um?), and on the other, he would quickly realize that Faramir—gentle mannerisms aside—is a hardcore warrior whom Éomer himself probably could not defeat. 

And it’s like ... we know Éomer is gracious and supportive about the match by the time he announces it, and I don’t imagine he’d be opposed or anything like that. But his initial feelings are probably complicated!

#anghraine babbles #legendarium blogging #éomer #faramir #éowyn #also faramir is cirion's heir and i think that would be ... not the uppermost concern #but /a/ concern—he and éowyn are going to be among the most powerful people in middle-earth #which is one of the things that éowyn wanted all along! #and the betrothal does end up getting announced as if it were some kind of political alliance #i think at absolute best it would be somewhat bittersweet—éomer would be happy for éowyn once everything was clear #as indeed he ends up being in the text #but also he couldn't possibly have predicted that éowyn was choosing a life away from rohan even as the celebrations were going on #otp: and the sun shone #oh and i didn't get into it bc so much is unclear in canon #but whatever éomer's feelings about éowyn marrying a powerful dúnadan kinsman of his bff the prince of dol amroth #they become 100x more hilarious when he ends up marrying lothíriel #esp in my headcanon but even in canon i assume he has no clue that he'll be marrying faramir's first cousin at that point