have been set in the same place, and he could not ride away from his
charge, were he weary of it or no.’
     ‘Shall I always be chosen?’ she said bitterly. ‘Shall I always be left
behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win
renown, and find food and beds when they return?’
     ‘A time may come soon,’ said he, ‘when none will return. Then there
will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the
deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds
will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.’
     And she answered: ‘All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and
your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and
honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will
need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a
serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either
pain or death.’
     ‘What do you fear, lady?’ he asked.
     ‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept
them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or
desire.’
     ‘And yet you counselled me not to adventure on the road that I had