Rogue; Faramir and Eowyn

I chose this segment because Tolkien is the master. Obviously. In the Lord of the Rings, he didn't devote a lot of time to romance. We just catch brief snatches between Aragorn and Arwen, Faramir and Eowyn, (Legolas and Gimli, heh heh) and those few passages are enough to melt my cynical, sarcastic exterior and bring out the wretched romantic in me. The chapter he devotes to Faramir and Eowyn, in which they meet, comfort one another, fall in love, and get engaged, is one of the most beautiful examples of romance in all of fiction. I could go on and on, I could write an essay about this, but I will shut myself up here and just say: Fly, my people. Fly away and have yourselves a love like Faramir and Eowyn.

~Rogue

***

Faramir looked at her, and it seemed to him that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew that here was one whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle.

'What do you wish?' he said again. 'If it lies in my power, I will do it.'

'I do not desire healing,' she said. 'I wish to ride to war like my brother Éomer, or better like Théoden the king, for he died and has both honour and peace.'

'It is too late, lady, to follow the Captains, even if you had the strength,' said Faramir. 'But death in battle may come to us all yet, willing or unwilling. You and I, we must endure with patience the hours of waiting.'

She did not answer, but as he looked at her it seemed to him that something in her softened. A tear sprang in her eye and fell down her cheek, like a glistening rain-drop. Her proud head drooped a little.

Faramir smiled, though his heart was filled with pity. 'If you will stay in this house in our care, lady, and take your rest, then you shall walk in this garden in the sun, as you will; and you shall look east, whither all our hopes have gone. And here you will find me, walking and waiting, and also looking east. It would ease my care, if you would speak to me, or walk at whiles with me.'

Then she raised her head and looked him in the eyes again; and a colour came in her pale face. 'How should I ease your care, my lord?' she said.

'Would you have my plain answer?' he said.

'I would.'

'Then, Éowyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful. In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I seen till now in Gondor so lovely, and so sorrowful. It would ease my heart, if while the Sun yet shines, I could see you still. For you and I have both passed under the wings of the Shadow, and the same hand drew us back.'

'Alas, not me, lord!' she said. 'Shadow lies on me still. Look not to me for healing! I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is ungentle. But I thank you for this at least, that I need not keep to my chamber.' And she did him a courtesy and walked back to the house. But Faramir for a long while walked alone in the garden, and his glance now strayed rather to the house than to the eastward walls.

In the morning, as Faramir came from the Houses, he saw her, as she stood upon the walls; and she was clad all in white, and gleamed in the sun. And he called to her, and she came down, and they walked on the grass or sat under a green tree together, now in silence, now in speech. And each day after they did likewise.

And they said no more; and as they stood so, their hands met and clasped, though they did not know it.

And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell.

~Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien