In the spring of 2995, Eowyn, daughter of Eomund, was born. Her father, Eomund, was the chief Marshal of the Mark, and her mother was Theodwyn, the sister of King Theoden, and they lived in Aldburg in the Eastfold. Her father, a fearless and impulsive man, was pursuing a group of orcs into the Emyn Muil when he was ambushed and slain. Shortly after that, her mother became ill, possibly from grief, and died. Eowyn was only seven years of age when she and her brother went to Medusled to live with her uncle Theoden the King and his son, Theodred.

Eowyn grew up to be a tall and beautiful maiden, with long, golden hair and grey eyes. When she was nineteen, Theoden fell ill and began to follow the ill advice of his councillor Grima son of Galmod, who was secretly an agent of Saruman. Threats loomed on all sides of Rohan, but there was naught Eowyn could do but stay in the Golden Hall and tend to her uncle in his premature dotage. She was helpless, trapped by love, duty and situation, unable to help either her uncle or her country. Grima was very skilled in the use of words to crush the hopes of the heart, and this and his desire for her only heightened her despair.

In early March of 3019, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli arrived in Edoras, and Gandalf had brought encouragement and lifted the King's heart up out of despair. Eowyn met Aragorn and fell in love with him, for she admired the nobility, power and strength that he possessed. After the Battle of Helm's Deep, she had hoped that he would fight with her people when they rode east to come to the aid of Gondor, but he had told her that he had an errand in the south that required him to take the Paths of the Dead. This was a mission leading to sure death in her eyes and she had begged him not to go. When he could not be dissuaded, told him she would go with him, but he refused to take her, telling her that her duties were with her people. She had looked to him for hope, for acceptance, to be considered for her abilities to fight as well as any man, but he merely pitied her and her sadness.

She decided to seek death in battle and disguised herself as a man called Dernhelm. The hobbit Merry Brandybuck also wished to fight with the Riders but his requests were denied. Eowyn took him with her, hiding him behind her cloak, but never revealed to him her true identity. Elfhelm, her commander, knew of the hobbit's presence but had instructed his men to ignore him at Eowyn's request.

At the Battle of Pelennor Fields, Theoden's horse, Snowmane, was shot by a black dart. The horse reared up in fear and pain and fell down upon her uncle. The fell beast of the Nazgul descended, landing upon the horse's body. Eowyn and Merry were thrown off their horse, Windfola, who fled from the presence of the Witch-King. Faithful beyond fear, Eowyn defended her dying uncle by challenging the Witch-King of Angmar. After a brief verbal sparring round in which the Nazgul boasted that no living man could hinder him, she tore off her helm and revealed to him that she was not a living man, but a woman.

(Eowyn's story departs from the book here and takes a new direction for the Second Darkness roleplaying game and creative writing project.)

She swung at the fell beast's head, but her stroke went awry. Angered, the Nazgul jumped off his fell beast and struck her down with his mace, shattering her shield and breaking her arm. At that moment, he noticed the presence of a small enemy bearing a very dangerous sword - a Blade of Westernsee, which glowed in the wraith world like a firebrand. The Witch-King then took out his fear and fury upon Merry and drove him into the ground with his mace. Eowyn, though in bitter pain from her broken arm, struggled to her feet and tried to come to her comrade's aid, but she was too late, and easily overtaken.

The Witch-King cut off her uncle's head, leaving his body for the fell beast to devour. The Nazgul then took both Eowyn and the head of Theoden back to the Dark Tower as trophies. The Witch-King went into the topmost levels of the tower, to present the head of King Theoden to Sauron and tell the dark deity of the capture of the King's niece. Upon arrival in the dreaded place of evil, Eowyn's dagger and her halberk of mail were roughly taken from her by an orc. She was then taken to a cell and chained by her right hand to the wall, where she dangled in a state of unconsciousness.

Eowyn woke up and heard the sound of Angmar's return. Becoming terrified, she frantically tried to pull her wrist out of the manacle, but to no avail. When Angmar went into her cell, he was enraged at the orc for breaking his orders that the shieldmaiden was not to be spoiled, for the manacle had dug into her wrist, causing it to bleed. Angmar ordered the orc to unchain her and then proceeded to freeze the flesh off the orc in front of Eowyn as she looked on in horror.

Angmar then took the terrified shieldmaiden before Sauron. The very sight of him was a black terror in her mind and she had averted her gaze, but he quickly compelled her to look into his fiery eyes. All barriers of mind and will were painfully and cruelly broken down, as though struck savagely by battering rams, until her soul was naked before him, and he saw the innermost elements of her spirit and the deepest recesses of her heart. Knowing that her mind was already troubled and sorrow lay heavy about her, he then bombarded her with all of his malice and his hate, showing no mercy and telling her that she was an utterly worthless, useless creature, as her mind, heart and body writhed in bitter agony of consuming flames.

The Dark Lord then cursed her and all her house forever. It was all that she could do to keep from begging for mercy for herself and submitting completely to his will in her pain. She did, however, plead with Sauron to release her family from the curse, and curse her alone, since she was the one who challenged Angmar, but her pleas were ignored. She soon fell into a deathlike swoon from the pain in her mind, heart and body and was taken back to her cell. Sauron then gave her to Angmar to do with as he pleased.

After some time had passed, Angmar returned to her cell and spoke honeyed words to her, and gave her several potions enchanted with powerful spells of love and binding. She felt strong feelings of love and affection, yet some small part of her mind reeled in horror as she changed from Eowyn, proud, fearless and graceful lady of Rohan, to Angmar's fawning thrall. He took her to his chambers, healed her broken arm and gave her even more potions of love and binding. Ashgaz the hobbit wraithling called upon the name of Elbereth in an attempt to come to Eowyn's aid, but this action enraged Angmar and he cast Ashgaz into a pit of fiery serpents. The shieldmaiden was utterly helpless and alone in the dreadful tower of evil, and all hope fails beyond the eastern eaves of the Mountains of Shadow...

A few days later, Angmar removed the spells of love which he had cast upon Eowyn. He mocked her and cruelly taunted her, and she seethed in hatred, shame and fury. More days passed and she was forced to drink yet another potion of enchantment. This time, she forgot who she was or anything that had ever happened to her, and thought Angmar looked like Aragorn. Angmar told her that her name was Maltriel, that she was his betrothed, and that she had lost her memory when a man of the West tried to poison her. Having no knowledge of her past, Eowyn was like a small child, completely dependent upon Angmar, and he filled her head with poisoned lies. He also gave her draughts made from the poppy plants of the East, and she quickly became addicted.

Near the end of April, Eowyn set off with Angmar and the Army as a shieldmaiden of Mordor. Ashgaz was named as her page, and instructed to give her the poppy-draughts whenever she asked for them, which was often. She spent most of her time riding in a stupor, often falling off her own horse, or lounging around the camp, barely comprehending anything that was going on around her. Ashgaz was supposed to make sure she would die by the hands of her own people. The guilt became too much for Ashgaz, and he deserted a month later.

On June 2nd, Eowyn rode into Rohan's lines with a group of Easterling cavalry scouts. When confronted by the Rohirrim, the Easterlings quickly scattered, leaving a confused and bewildered Eowyn behind. She was captured by her own people and taken to Edoras. There, she met her brother again after almost four months, but she did not recognize him. She and the few civilians who remained in Edoras were taken to Dunharrow. On the night of June 9, two Nazgul flew by and inflicted many of the refugees with the Black Shadow. Eowyn, already weak from poppy-draught withdrawal and pining for Angmar, was one of those inflicted by the shadow. Gandalf and Aragorn arrived in the mountain refuge the next morning, and Aragorn healed Eowyn of the shadow just as she was about to die. Gandalf then broke the enchantment upon her, but the spells of binding were very strong and the act of wrenching her will from Angmar's command was a bitter shock to Eowyn's mind, heart and body.

Eowyn could remember very little of what had happened since March, but friends told her all about the war, and what they heard had befallen her. She had vague memories of fawning upon the enemy who caused her and her uncle so much grief and disgrace. She was also aware of a newfound duality in her mind.... she felt both intense hatred and feelings of love for the Dread King. After drinking a large quantity of mead at a funeral feast on June 12 for riders that had fallen in an ambush in the Harrowdale Valley, a fey mood came over Eowyn. She decided to disguise herself as a man once more and ride into battle, this time taking Pippin with her.

Both the shieldmaiden and the hobbit had a daring ride through the Harrowdale Valley upon Dushtala, the black horse which had borne Eowyn from Mordor. At that time, Edoras had been taken and the northern part of the valley was patrolled by enemy forces. Sometimes Eowyn impersonated one of the Nazgul, sometimes an Easterling cavalryman, and sometimes she charged into her enemy headlong with the fury of a demon. On the 14th, they encountered a group of Rohirrim who were scouting and fell in with them. That evening, Angmar flew by on his fell beast and frightened away the other riders, leaving Eowyn and Pippin alone. Angmar mocked her and then flew away, sending her into a black fury. By nightfall, Eowyn and Pippin arrived at the camp of the Riders of Rohan.

Eowyn and Pippin rode out the next day with the Riders to the second battle of Helm's Deep to fight against the forces of Mordor. During the battle, she broke away from the other riders and charged recklessly into a group of orcs after having flashbacks of the Battle of Pelennor Fields and her enchantment, possibly brought on by the Nazgul which wildly circled over the fortress. She was knocked off her horse by an orc with a halberd and her right shoulder was wounded badly. After the battle, she was taken to the Hornburg, where she was treated by the master healer, Forweg, and spent several weeks recovering.

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