[Lyta_Underhill]

"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."

OK, to return to this quote first put forth by Lady of Light in her opening post, I wonder if there is one consideration that has not been touched upon, but may have been implicitly understood by Aragorn. The men of the House of Eorl could certainly fight and die, but if they did die, who would be left to carry on the royal house of Eorl and rule over the Kingdom of Rohan? Certainly there is always the shadow that hangs over any military riding out. If Theoden rides, he risks death. Eomer risks death as well. What hope for the House of Eorl if all are lost? Eowyn, of course!

Heren Istarion's quote:

She distinguishes herself from other women on the basis of being of the house of Eorl, not on the basis ‘we woman have equal right to fight in the war’. Why naming servant-woman, as a counterweight and not simply servant, than?

It is precisely because she is of the Ruling House that she has the responsibility to her people, to rule over them, as Theoden bade her do as he rode off to Pelennor. Her exercise of what she calls her "right to fight" is actually a shirking of her responsibility as the last member of the ruling House to maintain the Kingdom in its order and prevent its disintegration should worse come to worst and the Rohirrim fail to win the day. If both Theoden and Eomer had fallen and Eowyn sat in the ruling seat at Edoras, she would have taken up sovereignty of Rohan.

My view of Eowyn's mood at this point is that she has lost hope for not only herself but also her realm. She does not seek even glory in battle; she seeks death. In a way, taking up the rule of Rohan would appear to her to be yet another manifestation of this cage she seeks to escape, where she is trapped in a decaying realm bereft of a future. The poison of Wormtongue penetrated deeply into her soul in this way. It is no wonder the songs of rejoicing affected her the way they did. All was not lost for Gondor, for Rohan and for Middle Earth. When she finally realized Rohan was not a dying realm, she was healed.

As for your other symbolism, HI, the brain reels, and I haven't yet considered it fully. Interesting though!

Cheers!
Lyta

P.S. A final thought on HI's point #2:

Dying in battle defending the house when no man is left to do it is more glorious exactly because there is no one to praise it.

This is precisely the character of the struggle that Frodo undergoes as he watches the Morgul Host marching out to engage the Men of the West. He watches them and loses all hope, falling into a profound despair because he feels that his task would be wasted because everyone for whom the task was undertaken would be dead. No one would know of what he did. Then, he overcomes this momentary weakness and realizes that the task is necessary in itself, even if no one ever knows, even if he is the last living being.