Fearing the cage

"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 peoply until their lord's return? If you had not been chosen, then some marshal or captain would 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?
(...)
'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, an I do not fear either pain or death.'
'What do you fear, lady?' he asked.
'A cage,' she said. ' To stay behind bars, until ue and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.'

The passing of the Gray Company - The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings
JRR Tolkien