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The Rohirrim preparing to charge the Orcs of Mordor and the armies of Minas Morgul at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields

The armies of Rohan were largely horsemen. The basic tactical unit was the éored, Old English for "a unit of cavalry, a troop", [14] which at the time of the War of the Ring had a nominal strength of 120 riders. [T 16] Rohanese was, like the languages of all Men, akin to Adûnaic, the language of the Edain. The Rohirrim called their homeland the Ridenna-mearc, the Riddermark or Éo-marc, the Horse-mark, also simply the Mark and called themselves the Eorlingas, the Sons of Eorl. In the original Rohanese the name for their land is Lôgrad, with the element "lô-"/"loh-" corresponding to Anglo-Saxon "éo", horse.Jane Ciabattari writes on BBC Culture that Lady Éowyn's fear of being caged rather than "doing great deeds" by riding to battle with the Rohirrim resonated with 1960s feminists, contributing to the success of Lord of the Rings at that time. [32] Portrayal in adaptations [ edit ] Edoras in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

Théoden was referred to as "Théoden King", rather than "King Théoden", just as Anglo-Saxon kings had the word "cyning" ("king") added after their names, rather than before. Upstream from Edoras, deeper into Harrowdale, are the hamlets of Upbourn and Underharrow. At the head of Dunharrow (from Old English Dûnhaerg, "the heathen fane on the hillside" [8]) is a refuge, Firienfeld, in the White Mountains. [T 7] Aldburg, capital of the Eastfold, is the original settlement of Eorl the Young. The Hornburg, a major fortress guarding the western region, is in Helm's Deep, a valley in the White Mountains. [T 8] Regions [ edit ] Fonstad, Karen Wynn (1994). The Atlas of Tolkien's Middle-earth. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-261-10277-X. The philologist and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey notes that the Riders of Rohan are, despite Tolkien's protestations, much like the ancient English (the Anglo-Saxons), but that they differed from the ancient English in having a culture based on horses. They use many Old English words related to horses; their name for themselves is Éotheod, horse-people, and the names of riders like Éomund, Éomer, and Éowyn begin with the word for "horse", eo[h]. [29] In Shippey's view, a defining virtue of the Riders is panache, which he explains means both "the white horsetail on [Éomer's] helm floating in his speed" and "the virtue of sudden onset, the dash that sweeps away resistance." [27] Shippey notes that this allows Tolkien to display Rohan both as English, based on their Old English names and words like éored ("troop of cavalry"), and as "alien, to offer a glimpse of the way land shapes people". [27]Many archaic Hobbit names bear similarities to Rohanese, since the ancestors of the Shire-hobbits lived on the upper reaches of the Anduin, close to the ancestors of the Rohirrim, and there was apparently a good deal of linguistic cross-fertilisation. The name Hobbit itself is believed to be derived from the Rohanese Holbytlan (hole builders). These Fréaláf's son was Brytta Léofa, a beloved king. In his time, however, Orcs fleeing the Misty Mountains after the Battle of Azanulbizar in TA 2799 began to take refuge in the foothills of the White Mountains. Brytta's son Walda reigned for just nine years before he was killed by a group of Orcs. Folca, son of Walda, was a great hunter, and took a vow upon becoming king that he would not hunt beasts again until every Orc had been driven out of Rohan. After destroying the last Orc-hold in Rohan in TA 2864, he journeyed to the Firien wood, to kill the great boar of Everholt that lived there. He slew the boar, but died of the wounds he received in the act of killing it. The reign of Folcwine, son of Folca, saw a return to prosperity for Rohan, as he subdued the West-march, and drove out the Dunlendings. In his reign, the Rohirrim finally recovered from their losses in the war against Wulf. He also came to the aid of Gondor when a great army of the Haradrim came up against the South-kingdom. Persuaded not to go to battle himself, Folcwine sent instead his twin sons, Folcred and Fastred. Although the combined armies of Rohan and Gondor won a great victory at the Battle of the Crossings of Poros on the banks of the River Poros in South Ithilien, the sons of King Folcwine fell side by side in battle. Steward Túrin II of Gondor therefore paid a rich weregild of gold to Folcwine for his sacrifice. The capital of Rohan is the fortified town of Edoras, on a hill in a valley of the White Mountains. [T 6] "Edoras" is Old English for "enclosures". [3] The town of Edoras was built by Rohan's second King, Brego son of Eorl the Young. The hill on which Edoras is built stands in the mouth of the valley of Harrowdale. The river Snowbourn flows past the town on its way east towards the Entwash. The town is protected by a high wall of timber. In Tolkien's works [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] Tolkien stated that there was no link between Rohan and the noble family of Brittany, though he borrowed the name. [T 2] Stained-glass window depicting Marguerite de Rohan (c.1330–1406)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954). The Two Towers. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 1042159111. Unfinished Tales, p.315: "a Full Muster would probably have produced many more than twelve thousand riders" Eorl the Young founded the Kingdom of Rohan in the former Calenardhon; the royal family was known as the House of Eorl. The first line of kings lasted for 249 years, until the ninth king Helm Hammerhand died. His sons had been killed earlier, and his nephew Fréaláf Hildeson began the second line of kings, which lasted until the end of the Third Age. The two lines of kings are buried in two lines of grave mounds below the royal hall at Edoras, [T 23] like those at Gamla Uppsala in Sweden, or Sutton Hoo in England. [26]Return of the King, Book VI Ch. 4, The Field of Cormallen: "white on green, a great horse running free"

Tolkien's own account, in an unsent letter, gives both the fictional and the actual etymologies of Rohan: Rohan is derived from Sindarin rochallor - roch means 'horse', but the meaning of the second element is unspecified. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1967). Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings. reprinted in Hammond, Wayne G.; Scull, Christina (2005), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-720907-X.Rohan is stated (III 391, 394) to be a later softened form of Rochand. It is derived from Elvish *rokkō ‘swift horse for riding’ ( Q[uenya] rocco, S[indarin] roch) + a suffix frequent in names of lands [e.g. Beleriand, Ossiriand]. ... The Dúnedain of Gondor and the Rohirrim are distantly related, having descended from the same place. Unlike the inhabitants of Gondor, who are portrayed as enlightened and highly civilized, the Rohirrim are shown as being at a lower level of enlightenment. [10] Howard, Scott (21 March 2008). "Recreating Beowulf's 'Pregnant Moment of Poise': Pagan Doom and Christian Eucatastrophe Made Incarnate in the Dark Age Setting of The Lord of the Rings". University of Montana. In the year TA 2509, Eorl received summons from Cirion, Steward of Gondor. The Steward pleaded for help from Gondor's old allies; as a large army of Easterling Balchoth had invaded the province of Calenardhon and threatened to overrun it. Eorl surprised even the errand-rider of Gondor by agreeing to come to the aid of Cirion. Though young, Eorl wisely perceived that if Gondor should fall, all the lesser realms of men west of Anduin would eventually fall. He gathered all the Men of the Éothéod that could possibly be spared, some 7000, and, leaving his land at risk of invasion itself, rode south to the aid of Gondor. Despite a prejudice against the Elves that would continue up until the time of the War of the Ring, a protective mist seemed to come out of Lothlórien as the Éothéod journeyed south, rejuvenating horse and rider and shielding their approach from their enemies. Believing that there would be no time for the Éothéod to help his armies, Cirion nonetheless met them in battle on the Field of Celebrant, though Gondor's legions were worsted. All hope seemed lost when an army of Orcs came upon the flank of the army of Gondor, but at that moment Eorl and his cavalry thundered out of the north unlooked for and, smashing into the rear of the Balchoth, completely reversed the fortunes of battle. Gondor's army was saved, and the riders of the Éothéod drove the Balchoth into the Anduin.