Etheswitha was born in the town of Snowbourn within the bounds of the Eastemnet. Her father, Athelstan, was a travelling trader who would often flit from village to village to sell his wares across Rohan, coming back home occasionally to provide his family with the fruits of his hard-earned work. The mother, Elfwitha for whom Etheswitha was named, spent her days as the Housewife of a family of three; Father, mother, and daughter.
Some days afore the end of the year 2997 of the Third Age, Elfwitha received word of her husband's disappearance up the northern boundaries of Rohan. Elfwitha knew her husband to be a curious man of sorts, and fearing the worst, took her daughter with her to the closest village near the site of her beloved's disappearance. The Maegisterwigend of the patrolling Eored who discovered Athelstan's abandoned and upturned cart eventually came to the conclusion that Athelstan had been taken by the Elves of the feared Dwimordene.
Elfwitha would grieve in the months to come, and tried as best as she could to lessen the impact her husband's presumed death would have on Etheswitha. Therefore she told Etheswitha old childhood tales of the Dwimordene and the Witch of the Golden Wood, intending her to frighten her enough so as to avoid a repetition of the tragic past.
Etheswitha, however, paid little attention to her mother's ramblings, and developed a rebellious streak that came from the rambicious children living in their new home. She took to sneaking out of the house and slacking off with chores, often neglecting goats the goats in the process, and took great joy in tricking the local herdsmen into thinking Outlaws had stolen prized livestock from the pens and grazing plains, and often annoying the watchmen at the gates by repetitively asking them questions and telling them stories.
Etheswitha missed her father and loved him dearly but would not let his death take control of her emotions as it had done with Elfwitha. However one day as she saw a cart and trading caravan while out on one of her sneak-trips, she was overcome with joy and hope, thinking he had returned. She snuck into the Caravan, intending to surprise whoever came inside, but in her waiting, she fell asleep.
As she woke up and heard the men yelling, she knew she was in trouble. Etheswitha was then set outside the gates of Bree-town, where she cursed the Knife-eared fiends for working their Elf-magic upon her and causing the same plight which had cost her her father.