Éowyn

The shieldmaiden of Rohan who slew the Witch-king.

Éowyn is a noblewoman of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings, a self-described shieldmaiden who rides to war in secret and, with the hobbit Merry Brandybuck, kills the Witch-king of Angmar at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Quick Facts

Series: Middle-earth
Also known as: Dernhelm
Race: Rohirrim
Spouse: Faramir

Facts from the source article.

Background

Daughter of Éomund and Théoden's sister Théodwyn, she and her brother Éomer were raised by their uncle the king after their father was killed by orcs and their mother died of grief. She longs for renown in battle, but her duties keep her in Edoras, nursing Théoden as Gríma Wormtongue poisons his mind and harasses her. She falls in love with Aragorn, who respects her but is betrothed to Arwen.

Disguised as a man called Dernhelm, from the Old English for secret, she rides with the Rohirrim on her horse Windfola, carrying Merry, who had also been told to stay behind. When Théoden falls, she faces the Lord of the Nazgûl, who boasts that no living man may hinder him; she beheads his flying steed, and after he shatters her shield and arm, Merry's barrow-blade behind his knee lets her strike the killing blow. She is carried near death to the Houses of Healing.

Scholars read her brief courtship by Faramir in the light of Tolkien's First World War experience and count her among the story's few strong female characters. Miranda Otto plays her, more romantically than Tolkien wrote her, in Peter Jackson's films.