Abstract
The global popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings following Peter Jackson’s film adaptations led some English-language authors to adaptively retell Hindu religio-mythological epic narratives like the Ramayana in a Tolkienian fantasy vein. Ashok K. Banker’s eight-volumed Ramayana series, published from 2003 to 2012, is the first such fantasy series that displays a marked ‘Tolkienization’ of the Ramayana story. Both Tolkien’s and Banker’s respective fantasy series further left their discernable trace in Amish Tripathi’s four-volumed Ram Chandra Series, published from 2015 to 2022. This presentation focuses on the trajectory of a Tolkienian transformation of the Ramayana story’s figure of Sita in Banker’s and Tripathi’s respective fantasy series. I follow this trajectory by first offering glimpses of how the Ramayana tradition has generally depicted Sita, focusing our attention chiefly on Valmiki’s Ramayana and a few other women-centric versions. Against such a textual backdrop, I then foreground Banker’s mapping of some of Éowyn’s well-known character traits onto his own version of Sita. I also highlight how Tripathi’s series further reinforces Banker’s ‘Éowynization’ of Sita. I conclude by outlining the socio-political context of Banker’s and Tripathi’s ‘Éowynized’ Sitas.
Recommended Citation
Chunodkar, Sonali A.
(2026)
"On the ‘Éowynization’ of Sita in Ashok Banker’s and Amish Tripathi’s Ramayana-based Fantasies,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 24:
Iss.
3, Article 12.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol24/iss3/12
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Comments
This is an expanded, revised version of the paper presented at the 2026 Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) as part of the panel on “Evolutions and Transformations of Tolkien’s Female Characters” on October 15, 2026.