I re-read J.R.R. Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings trilogy quite frequently. His character of
Eowyn captured my imagination when I was about 5 years old. I
actually wrote an entry about the influence of this
character in my life in my blog geared to those who love sci-fi and
fantasy works.
I have spoken with a few
people on this character and many do compare her to St. Joan of Arc.
But there is one scene, the scene that I re-enacted as a child that I
wonder now as an adult if I was mimicking a different maid. It never
came to my attention until I was listening to an audiobook and the
narrative brought to my mind this scene on The Battle of Pelennor
Fields.
Suddenly
the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was
foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon
Eowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.
Still she
did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but
as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt,
skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she cloved asunder, and
the heawn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge
shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth;
and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her,
and her hair shone in the sunrise.
When
I heard the story this time, I was reminded of the Catena that the
Legion of Mary recites.
Who
is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon,
bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?
This
refers to Mary's appearance in Revelations 12:1
And
a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars
Mary
the humble handmaid of the Lord, who crushes Satan (who has been
depicted as the snake in Genesis and the dragon in Revelations) with
her foot.
What
a heroine for a little girl to look up to as a role model. Our Lady
is humble not timid. She crushes the head of the snake with her
foot! I don't mind little garden snakes, but I would not have enough
courage to face a dangerous snake let alone use the vulnerable part of my bare foot to crush its head! It appears to weak sinner's minds that God made it so that Our Lady is in
danger when she squashes the serpent with her foot, since that is a
vulnerable spot of a person's body. But Satan is the vulnerable one
because it is Mary's humility that is responsible for squashing him. The serpent is crushed.
The dragon is slain. And the maid shines with the light of the
morning rising.
