Parallel Between Eowyn and Faramir (Son of 👑King Ondoher)

[Eljorahir]

Faramir #1 felt compelled to go to war to such a degree that he put aside his assigned duty and went to war in disguise. Eleven centuries later Eowyn does the same thing and eventually gets together with... ... ...Faramir #2. "What a coincidence!", Eljorahir sarcastically typed.

If you have any thoughts about the larger meaning of this symmetry or parallel (or whatever it should be called) I'd be quite interested to hear about it. What did Tolkien have in mind here?

The relevant citation:
In the Chapter about Cirion and Eorl we learn about King Ondoher of Gondor and his second son Faramir...
"...Ondoher's second son Faramir was ordered to remain in Minas Tirith as regent, for it was not permitted by the law that both his sons should go into battle at the same time...But Faramir did not do so; he went to the war in disguise, and was slain...it seems that Faramir joined the Eotheod and was caught with a party of them as they retreated towards the Dead Marshes. The leader of the Eotheod...came to their rescue, but Faramir died in his arms, and it was only when he searched his body that he found tokens that showed that he was the Prince."

 

[Halasían]

I remember making note of this very thing over on TORc back in '00. Thanks for reminding me of this. I would be curious which story Tolkien came up with 1st. Did the history-building summary of the 1944 III battles in the appendix get written before the concept was used for Éowyn in Lord of the Rings?

 

[Valandil]

Interesting. I never thought of this.

Halasian - I suspect the LOTR story came first, and the detailed notes that became the UT entry followed later.