Evidence for the Absence of Evidence

[Darren Grey]

Corey brought up the important fact that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", which is a lovely phrase. And it got me thinking that on the subject of women in these tales we specifically have evidence not of their absence, but evidence for the absence of evidence. Ie. Tolkien tells us why the tales don't tell of women. This quote from Aldarion and Erendis is what I refer to:

"They [men] would be craftsmen and loremasters and heroes all at once; and women to them are but fires on the hearth – for others to tend, until they are tired of play in the evening. All things were made for their service: hills are for quarries, rivers to furnish water or to turn wheels, trees for boards, women for their body’s need, or if fair to adorn their table and hearth; and children are to be teased when nothing else is to do – but they would as soon play with their hounds’ whelps. To all they are gracious and kind, merry as larks in the morning (if the sun shines); for they are never wrathful if they can avoid it. Men should be gay, they hold, generous as the rich, giving away what they do not need. Anger they show only when they become aware, suddenly, that there are other wills in the world beside their own. Then they will be as ruthless as the seawind if anything dare to withstand them.

"Thus it is, Ancalime, and we cannot alter it. For men fashioned Numenor: men, those heroes of old that they sing of – of their women we hear less, save that they wept when their men were slain."

Erendis' biting words here are clearly meant as an extreme view, but also show close thought given by Tolkien to the unseen gender in his stories - the fires on the hearth that are tended out of sight. It shows how stories themselves tend to dwell less on the actions of women, much as Lord of the Rings itself favours stories of men. Indeed, that last point stating "of their women we hear less" seems self-aware and maybe even self-critical, Tolkien himself acknowledging that many of his stories prioritise the heroics of men at the expense of a fuller depiction of society.

So the lack of female rangers, or of many women in general (I'm told there are more named horses than women in LotR), may be symptomatic of this trend Erendis identifies. The text (in its invented textual history, as well as its real history) is written by men, edited by men, published and distributed by men. Men fashioned the story - of their women they speak less.

The other incidence of Tolkien himself giving evidence for the lack of female representation in his stories is about dwarves, where to explain the complete absence of female dwarves he tells in Appendix A of what seems to be an extreme racial difference amongst dwarves - women make up 1/3rd of the species, rarely going abroad, and are easily mistaken for men when they do. Aule failing to share his designs with his wife (as told in the Silmarillion with a slight note of rebuke) might explain this strange imbalance in the race.

 

[Jim Deutch]

In ep. 47 and/or 48 of Exploring the Lord of the Rings Professor Olsen discussed this at length, and I basically agree with him: his main point is that we simply do not know and cannot know whether there were women Rangers (as opposed to ranger women: we can easily conclude that there must have been ranger women because we know there have been many generations of Rangers!). But to me it seems likely, though I would probably have said the opposite once.

I am reminded of the fan-fic movie "Born of Hope". This is a story of Estel's birth and his being sent to Elrond for fostering, and it features a woman Ranger. The first time I saw it, I was somewhat bothered by that because there is no evidence in Tolkien's writing that any such existed. But over time I've become fond of the idea because it makes sense: it's a definite human thing for gender roles to be overcome and subverted by exceptional individuals. Also because it's a pretty good movie! (BTW I also can recommend "The Hunt for Gollum", another fan-fic movie.) How was the tradition of shieldmaiden established, and in what cultures did it hold sway?

It is interesting that Helm Hammerhand's eldest son was named Haleth -- the same name as the woman who led the Men of Brethil back in the First Age. It hardly seems likely that this name passed down through so many years to the Rohirrim, but it hardly seems likely to be a complete coincidence, either. The tradition in Middle Earth of -- unusual, but by no means unique -- rule over men by warrior women goes back at least that far.

As for the shieldmaidens of the Rohirrim, I think there is plenty of textual evidence for this being an actual "thing". Eowyn's transgression was in deserting her post, not in taking up arms. The King had assigned her the task of organizing the retreat to Dunharrow and ruling over the women, boys, and old men there. Taking up the sword and joining battle with the host had to be done secretly, but this was to avoid the notice of Theoden and Eomer, not because it was shocking or unheard-of. The entire company she rode with was "in" on the secret, and none betrayed her. This shows not only their love for Eowyn as King's daughter, but their respect for Eowyn as shieldmaiden, which must have been an established and familar phenomenon, or at least some of them would have been shocked and have betrayed her out of fear and prejudice.

Three times Eowyn declares herself "shieldmaiden", first to Aragorn: "But am I not of the house of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse?" She wishes to "do great deeds". Later, she says to Faramir "Look to me not for healing! I am a shieldmaiden..." and then disparages herself as "a wild shieldmaiden of the north". She seems to feel that the shieldmaiden tradition is not an ancient and respected one of renowned women going back to the First Age, but she at least acknowledges it is a tradition and common practice of her own people.

So, yes: I think there most probably were women Rangers, probably many, over the many centuries of Ranger culture. The example of the Rohirrim would have been enough to inspire them, even if they had never "thought of it themselves".

 

[Darren Grey]

Three times Eowyn declares herself "shieldmaiden", first to Aragorn: "But am I not of the house of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse?" She wishes to "do great deeds". Later, she says to Faramir "Look to me not for healing! I am a shieldmaiden..." and then disparages herself as "a wild shieldmaiden of the north". She seems to feel that the shieldmaiden tradition is not an ancient and respected one of renowned women going back to the First Age, but she at least acknowledges it is a tradition and common practice of her own people.

Corey mentioned the shieldmaiden thing on the podcast, but I didn't find his statement too compelling in the absence of quotes. What you've quoted here makes a pretty watertight case for shieldmaidens being a clear phenomenon in Rohirrim culture, if not more broadly. I guess we get so caught up in Eowyn's struggle to be recognised that we simplify her situation down to a simple matter of gender and make mass cultural assumptions based on that. A close reading of the text shows more nuance.

 

[Jim Deutch]

case for shieldmaidens being a clear phenomenon in Rohirrim culture, if not more broadly.

At least a bit more broadly: the conversations between Eowyn and Faramir show that it was well-known in Gondor, too. Gondorians couldn't mock Faramir for "taming a wild shieldmaiden of the north" if they didn't know what one was already.

It's harder to find other examples, though. Nienor, sister to Turin, "did an Eowyn", dressing up as a warrior and joining Mablung and the march-wards that Thingol sent after Morwen. But that did not go well in the end, and there is no record of her drawing sword, or even having been trained to it. One has to wonder how she got so far with the company before her presence was revealed!

It's a bit of a stretch, but I'd also mention -- of all people -- Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. She had only an umbrella, not a sword, but she stood up to Sharky's brigands and got sent to the lockholes for it. After the Scouring, she may not have been actually well-liked, but she was far more respected than before.

Haleth, leader of the Men of Brethil, remains the best non-Rohirric example I have found.

 

[Lincoln Alpern]

Three times Eowyn declares herself "shieldmaiden", first to Aragorn: "But am I not of the house of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse?" She wishes to "do great deeds". Later, she says to Faramir "Look to me not for healing! I am a shieldmaiden..." and then disparages herself as "a wild shieldmaiden of the north". She seems to feel that the shieldmaiden tradition is not an ancient and respected one of renowned women going back to the First Age, but she at least acknowledges it is a tradition and common practice of her own people.

So, yes: I think there most probably were women Rangers, probably many, over the many centuries of Ranger culture. The example of the Rohirrim would have been enough to inspire them, even if they had never "thought of it themselves".

There is certainly textual evidence for shieldmaidens being an established phenomenon among the Rohirrim, but I think we should be careful about what assumptions we attach to that knowledge.

The impression I always got from the books is that shieldmaidens were traditionally a last line of defense kind of deal, only taking up arms and participating in battle when the home and stronghold are under attack, and the men are all absent or fallen. It still seemed to me like riding out to battle was fairly unprecedented, and that the Gondorian image of warlike shieldmaidens going to battle alongside their men is basically a legend which most Gondorians don't actually believe.

In part, this assumption was based on incidents like the surprise expressed by Prince Imrahil - who's supposed to be a very wise and knowledgeable bloke as I recall - at Rohan sending out its women to Gondor's defense. Also Eomer's response "only one"; since this battle is Gondor's Last Stand, one would think that if shieldmaidens going out to battle were a more accepted practice, Theoden would've whistled up at least a whole platoon of them to ride with him.

In light of recent discussions, I'm less convinced of this interpretation than I used to be, but I don't think there's definitive textual proof to say for sure exactly what the institution of shieldmaidens actually constitutes.

(Also, no matter what Corey says on this point, and believe me, I've heard him explain it many times, I find it massively unfortunate that the *only* female character we meet who takes up warfare in the entire trilogy - and, it's implied, possibly the only woman to participate in any of the battles as a combatant - is depicted as acting primarily out of self-destructive motives, and once she is "cured" of those neurological hang-ups, she happily settles down into a traditionally feminine carer and nurturer role. A role which, admittedly, the books hold in high esteem, but which they also depict as having, at best, a very minor contribution to solving the main problems of the story - as opposed to warfare, which plays a hugely important part in securing the heroes' victory, even if it's not the thing which ultimately defeats Sauron, either.)

This also makes me wonder why we don't see more female warriors - i.e. any - anywhere else in the trilogy.


As for female Rangers, we have less textual evidence to go on, because the books spend less time exploring the culture of the Dunedain than the Rohirrim. I agree with the arguments who and others have given for why it's more likely than not that there are some Rangers who are women, but it's impossible to be sure.

 

[Darren Grey]

(Also, no matter what Corey says on this point, and believe me, I've heard his explaining many times, I find it massively unfortunate that the *only* female character we meet who takes up warfare in the entire trilogy - and, it's implied, possibly the only woman to participate in any of the battles as a combatant - is depicted as acting primarily out of self-destructive motives, and once she is "cured" of those neurological hang-ups, she happily settles down into a traditionally feminine carer and nurturer role.

I find that Corey, like many Tolkien fans, gets a bit defensive when this topic is brought up. Which is a shame, I think. It's possible to apply some cultural criticism of the text (keeping in mind the time it was written) and even say it contains sexist content without that being considered an attack on the author or the text. It's a sensitive and considered topic, but that all the more shows the need for close analysis of the text over any kneejerk reaction to attack or defend the author.

 

[Jim Deutch]

The impression I always got from the books is that shieldmaidens were traditionally a last line of defense kind of deal, only taking up arms and participating in battle when the home and stronghold are under attack, and the men are all absent or fallen. It still seemed to me like riding out to battle was fairly unprecedented, and that the Gondorian image of warlike shieldmaidens going to battle alongside their men is basically a legend which most Gondorians don't actually believe.

Ooh! New evidence has been dredged up showing that Rohan had not mere handfuls, but literally thousands of shieldmaidens, at least in an earlier conception of the story.

In The War of the Ring class, we've seen an early draft where the message came to Rohan from Gondor saying they were in trouble and needed Theoden to send ten thousand spears. This was a bit of a stumper for Theoden, because "we don't have ten thousand spears!". But Eowyn pipes up with "No problem! Arm the shieldmaidens, and it's all good!" [paraphrased ].

In this and a few further drafts, Eowyn clearly rides openly with the Rohirrim -- no need for concealing herself, since Gamling is left in charge back in Rohan and therefore she has not, in this conception, abandoned her assigned post, and she's not by any means the only woman in the host, which apparently now includes literally thousands of shieldmaidens filling out the muster.

In a story where the Rohirrim have thousands of woman warriors, it becomes a whole lot more likely that the Rangers might have them, too!

 

[amysrevenge]

At the very least, it shows that the concept of a society with a significant number of armed women is not foreign to Tolkien, even if it ended up being removed from the final draft.