#theodwyn

Whoever you end up drawing, I love that you’re doing this! ♥️

Here's Théodwyn! - and for @camille-lachenille

She was so fun to draw!! I made a whole new pattern just for her!

Théodwyn, Lady of Aldburg, sees in her dreams that the child she carries within her will grow to be a hero of great renown, to the pride and joy of her people. When a girl is born, only her big brother is sensible enough not to be disappointed.

It's hard to say without really knowing much of their personalities, other than Theodwyn was fair and really in love with Eomund, and Eomund was a hot head.

I think letting Grima near Eowyn would set Eomund off, even aside from any affection Eomund feels for Eowyn, that's something that would flag up as a "failure to guard her honour", so it would infuriating to Eomund for cultural and honour related reasons as well as personal, and once Theoden is restored and his honour is restored, then that's all fine and dandy.

Apart from that, the sad truth is that Theoden's neglect of Eowyn is very gendered. The expectation that she tend to all his domestic/personal/emotional needs without receiving barely any true gratitude, that she live her life for his comfort and not expect any reward or honour, that Theoden doesn't even recognise her as a true member of their house because she's a woman and only half counts, is standard stuff. That's just what's expected of women. So while Eomund and Theodwyn themselves might be more attentive of Eowyn (we hope) apart from coming under Grima's influence, which as family they might just choose to blame on Grima, Theoden's attitude of benign neglect wouldn't necessary guarantee any censure from Theodwyn and Eomund.

Tolkien's women dying of grief because their husbands have died and their husbands are their only cause for living is his version of "dying in childbirth".

Tolkien might write a variety of excellent, strong and fascinating women (not as many as male characters, of course, let's not be crazy here) but the opinions reflected in his personal writing that most women are defined by men, and usually one man, that their abilities almost hinge on how much a man can inspire and interest them, that on falling in love she loses grip of everything else, does show up in his fictional writing too, which just how prevalent the "husband dies because of combination of the plot and his own personality" and "woman dies because husband dies" trope is in his writing.

And it's like, Eowyn has a speech about this. She rages to the heavens that women are told "you're place is in the home, and after the men are dead you can be burned in the home, because the men don't need it anymore". He has Eowyn literally call out this phenomena that a woman becomes dispensable after her husband dies, that it the husband, loving the husband, tending the husband, responding to the husband, that gives her life meaning, and with him gone there's nothing left for her to do but die. But then his writing of women is filled with that very same principle, with even Eowyn's mother "dying of grief" after Eomund's death.

And that's particularly irritating because Theodwyn wasn't even an elf, for whom grief was genuinely fatal. She was a mortal woman who just "died of grief".

Like, how? Did she kill herself? Starve herself? Was she already unwell and the loss of Eomund caused her to give up receiving treatment? It doesn't matter, the specifics don't matter because the specifics would mean Theodwyn made actual choices, it would mean showing how Theodwyn took steps to bring about her death, it would mean that maybe Theodwyn could have lived after Eomund's death, that Eomund's loss did not inevitable mean her own demise, it would mean she could have chosen otherwise, but didn't.

Elerrian ( late Queen of Mirkwood, Noldorin princess and mother of Legolas. She was also a descendant of Feanor and a talented inventor. She died saving her people and especially Legolas from orc attacks when Legolas was very young )

Celebrian ( daughter of Galadriel and Celebrian, mother of Arwen. She was a seafarer who was captured by orcs, barely survived, and exiled in Valinor )

Lady Theodwyn ( younger sister of King Theoden, mother of Eomer and Eowyn. A talented healer who died being slain by orcs, like her husband Eomond did )

I do indeed! I’ve been working on fleshing out Éowyn’s aunts for a WIP, and International Women’s Day seems like a good a day for sharing these.

Théodburga (born in 2946) was Thengel and Morwen's eldest child and daughter. She took after Thengel in appearance and Morwen in personality. She held greater love toward Rohan than her father did, and during her youth in Gondor, she would often ask her father for stories of Rohan, to which he would (usually begrudgingly) indulge her. She was often more successful if she asked Morwen, who had learned all that she could from the libraries of Lossarnach of the stories and culture of Rohan during her courtship with Thengel. As she grew up, she came to appreciate both sides of her ancestry.

Théodburga married Éoforheard (uncle of Éomund), lord of Aldburg, in 2970 and had three daughters with him (who, though Éowyn grew up in Aldburg with them, had such a gap in ages from her that she never was able to befriend them, and all were married and settled by the time Éowyn was taken to Edoras, leaving her without cousins to ask to come with her and keep her company). After Éoforheard’s death, Théodburga took up rulership of Aldburg until Éomund came of age and she relinquished the rulership to him. She was held by all the people of Aldburg as a greater ruler than her husband had been.

Despite their differences in age and personality, she grew close with Théodwyn after they had both reached adulthood, and she grieved greatly at her sister’s death, wracked with guilt at not being able to draw Théodwyn from either her illness or the depression she had fallen into after Éomund’s death.

Trewred (born in 2952) was the second daughter and took after Morwen in appearance, inheriting her dark hair. Having been under a year old at the time their family moved to Rohan, she had no memory of Gondor, and as a child often begrudged the people of Edoras for speaking ceaselessly of her Gondorian looks, when she herself felt little connection to Gondor.

She applied herself to learning the history of Rohan and often kept company with Gléowine, the court minstrel, learning the songs and tales of Rohan, and spent much time in the company of the older men and women of the court and city, who were held as elders and sages. She became known as a wite, or wise woman, and the people of Edoras often came to her for counsel.

In 2977, the lord of Hytbold in the Eastemnet visited Edoras, and Trewred married him a year later, seizing the chance to escape Edoras, where she felt she could never fully shake off her Gondorian ancestry, however much she immersed herself in the history and lore of Rohan. She and her husband were never able to bear children, and he died only a few years after they married. She never remarried and chose to remain in Hytbold, where she became greatly esteemed among her people for her wisdom.

Trewhild (born in 2956) was the third daughter, and like Trewred, she took after Morwen in appearance. As children, she and Trewred were the closest of the sisters, since Trewred was too young to have any memory of Gondor and Trewhild was born after their family moved to Rohan. That they both visibly reflected their Gondorian ancestry the most of their siblings and yet had the least connection with Gondor bound them all the closer. Trewhild loved (and was greatly skilled at) sparring and feats of arms and often joined Théoden as he trained with the men of his father’s Éored.

Trewhild never married (and as the fourth child felt little obligation to produce an heir) and instead chose to relinquish her title and duty. She stayed often in Hytbold with Trewred, and during the spring and summer would join the nomadic Rohirrim in the Wold, who named her a shield maiden, and protected their herds from Orc raids. It was Trewhild who first inspired Éowyn to want to become a shield maiden.

As a child, Théodwyn was greatly curious about her Gondorian heritage and the land that had been home to all of her siblings but her and Trewred, and often begged Morwen to tell her of her youth in Gondor and to describe for her the flowering vales of Lossarnach. She harbored some resentment over never having seen Gondor and couldn’t understand Trewred and Trewhild’s desire to distance themselves from their Gondorian ancestry. For this Thengel loved her dearest of all his children.

Théodwyn was closest with Théoden, often following at his heels as he went about his duties. When he returned from patrols and from hunting Orc raiding parties, he often brought her little gifts—a wooden horse he had carved while sitting on watch, an Orc arrowhead he had collected after a battle, a bundle of sweet cakes he had bartered from the Éored’s cook—and Théodwyn cherished these.

All of Théodwyn’s sisters were still alive at the time of her death, and though Théodburga would gladly have taken in Éomer and Éowyn, she knew how deeply Théoden had loved Théodwyn and did not want to rob him of the last memory he would have of her, and so she did not counter his offer to raise Éomer and Éowyn.

The general consensus from most fans seems to be either that the three unnamed sisters had died by the time of Théoden’s death and had left no sons who could lay claim to the throne of Rohan (or those sons had died), or that they had moved back to Gondor and married there and thus effectively removed any potential children they might have had from the succession. I don’t personally care for all of Théoden’s sisters and their children having died before the time of his death. It seems implausible to me that absolutely everyone would have died by then, and thus my headcanon about only Théodburga having children.

Modern setting.

Ok so Theodwyn hated the royal life. The press, the lack of freedom, the rigid expectations, all made worse by the sexism she faced from the court and the public alike, made her drop the royal life at first chance by marrying against her parents' wishes to a divorced soldier, resulting in her dropping her title.

She becomes Mrs Theodwyn Aldburg, wife of Captain Eomund Aldburg, and they spend their married life travelling from army base to army base. Although the scandal is remembered, by the time Theodwyn is forty, barely anyone recognises her as the former princess of Rohan. When Theoden becomes king, he offers to reinstate her title, but she refuses as she likes the private life.

Eomer and Eowyn do get to know Theoden and Theodred, but only in private, domestic settings, and Theodwyn insists they aren't told about their royal heritage until they're adults, especially Eowyn, who she wants to shield from the experiences she went through.

Eomer is told when he's eighteen, but agrees to keep it from Eowyn. Having lived their lives on army bases, they're fully enmeshed in that world, and both of them plan to go into the army, Eomer following their father's footsteps, and Eowyn as an airforce search and rescue medic. So when Eomer finds out he's technically royalty, it's weird, but it's so removed from real life that it doesn't overwhelm him.

Then the year Eowyn turns sixteen, Eomund and Theodred both die on campaign. Theodwyn, who has always struggled with her mental health, doesn't die but goes off the rails and disappears (she's later found living in a commune in Lossenarch), leaving Eomer Theoden's heir, and Eowyn under Theoden's guardianship.

Now Eomer has had his heart set on following his father's footsteps, but after Theodred's loss and due to the lack of heirs, parliament want to keep him from serving on the front lines or doing anything too dangerous. Cue a big blow up, and Eomer, desperate to honour his father's legacy, agrees to forfeit his right to the throne.

This leaves Eowyn, semi-orphaned, abandoned by her mother, the last heir to the throne of Rohan. As she is not yet eighteen, she falls under Theoden's guardianship, and cannot legally renounce her claim to the throne until she is an adult, leaving her the heir by default.

The only other heirs are distant cousins who for various reasons Theoden and Parliament do not want on the throne, (being unsuitable for the throne personality wise, or having lived all their lives in Gondor).

Cue Princess Diaries plot, with former tomboy army brat having to adjust to life in the palace, living under the media spotlight, being groomed for leadership, all the while trying to decide if she wants to renounce her claim on reaching the age of majority, or becoming Rohan's first ruling queen.

Morwen Steelsheen

The mother of Théoden, and of two daughters (one older than him and one younger). She was from Lossarnach in Gondor, and was seventeen years younger than her husband Thengel.

Éowyn was slender and tall, with a grace and pride that came to her out of the South from Morwen of Lossarnach, whom the Rohirrim had called Steelsheen.

Théodwyn