after him and called to him. He turned and saw her as a glimmer in the
night, for she was clad in white; but her eyes were on fire.
     ‘Aragorn,’ she said, ‘why will you go on this deadly road?’
     ‘Because I must,’ he said. ‘Only so can I see any hope of doing my
part in the war against Sauron. I do not choose paths of peril, ?owyn.
Were I to go where my heart dwells, far in the North I would now be
wandering in the fair valley of Rivendell.’
     For a while she was silent, as if pondering what this might mean. Then
suddenly she laid her hand on his arm. ‘You are a stern lord and
resolute,’ she said; ‘and thus do men win renown.’ She paused. ‘Lord.’
she said, ‘if you must go, then let me ride in your following. For I
am weary of skulking in the hills, and wish to face peril and battle.’
     ‘Your duty is with your people,’ he answered.
     ‘Too often have I heard of duty,’ she cried. ‘But am I not of the
House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse? I have waited on
faltering feet long enough. Since they falter no longer, it seems, may
I not now spend my life as I will?’
     ‘Few may do that with honour,’ he answered. ‘But as for you, lady: did
you not accept the charge to govern the people until their lord’s
return? If you had not been chosen, then some marshal or captain would