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Aug 23, 2024 · The Map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor is an unnamed map reproduced in The Return of the King and in one-volume editions of The Lord of the Rings.
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- Letter 161
- Overview
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- Behind the scenes
- Notable Rohirrim
- In adaptations
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The Rohan, also called the Kingdom of Rohan and the Riddermark (Rohanese), was a great kingdom of Men located in the land once known as Calenardhon, situated in the plains between the Misty Mountains and the White Mountains. The land of Rohan extended from the banks of the River Isen in the west, up to the East Wall of Rohan and shores of the River Anduin in the east. The forest of Fangorn lay on its border, and the Elven forest of Lothlórien lay north of the River Limlight.
The land was known as "Rohan" to the Men of Gondor, and its people the Rohirrim, meaning 'the Horse-lords', but the people of Rohan called themselves the Eorlingas, sons of Eorl the Young, first King of Rohan. The province of Calenardhon was given in gift to Eorl and his people by Cirion, Steward of Gondor, in thanks for their service to Gondor in battle against the Balchoth. Eorl swore an oath of friendship, and of aid when summoned, to the Lords of Gondor, and thus the Rohirrim became the greatest ally of the Men of Gondor from the later part of the Third Age and beyond. They were known for their cavalry and horse mastery, which was crucial in battles such as the Battle of the Hornburg and at the Pelennor Fields.
Descent from the Northmen
In the 13th century of the Third Age, the Kings of Gondor made alliances with the Northmen of Rhovanion, a people thought to be distantly descended from the Edain, those peoples of Men who crossed into Beleriand in the First Age and later settled in Númenor. The Men who would become the Rohirrim were in fact more closely akin to the Beornings and the Men of Dale, and were accounted as Middle Men, who, while not directly descended from the Men of Númenor, never served the will of Sauron. In The Two Towers, Aragorn describes the Rohirrim: "They are proud and wilful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and in deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years [...]. It was in forgotten years long ago that Eorl the Young brought them out of the North, and their kinship is rather with the Bardings of Dale, and with the Beornings of the Wood, among whom may still be seen many men tall and fair, as are the Riders of Rohan." —The Two Towers, Book Three, The Riders of Rohan, pg. 41 Early in the Third Age, such men occupied a part of Rhovanion, the lands east of Greenwood the Great, west of the inland Sea of Rhûn, and south of the Celduin. While never united under one single king, the Men of Rhovanion nonetheless were allies of Gondor, and many of the great Princes of Rhovanion and their kin served in the armies of Gondor. In this way was the ruling House of Gondor mingled with the Northmen during the reign of King Eldacar, and some Northmen intermarried with the Dúnedain of the South and were eventually reckoned Men of Gondor. In the late 19th century of the Third Age, one such population of Northmen, dwelling in the eaves of Mirkwood, became a separate people under the lordship of Marhari, a descendant of Vidugavia, one of the most powerful princes of Rhovanion. Fighting alongside King Narmacil II of Gondor, his people were defeated by the Wainriders, invaders from the east, and the Northmen were either scattered or enslaved. Marhwini, son of Marhari, took up the lordship of his father and, retreating west and north with a remnant of his people, became the first Lord of the Éothéod, the people who would become the Rohirrim. Settling first in the Vales of Anduin between the Carrock and Gladden Fields, his people began to slowly recover their strength, and became known as the Éothéod, the horse peoples. Marhwini, and later his son Forthwini, continued their alliance with Gondor, fighting the Wainriders and other eastern invaders alongside Kings Calimehtar and Ondoher. Although the Éothéod won a victory over their Wainrider foes while allied to Gondor, their settlements remained near the Anduin.
The Éothéod
In the 1970's of the Third Age, after the downfall of the Witch-king and his Kingdom of Angmar, their need for larger lands and the growing menace of Dol Guldur, forced Frumgar (called Frungor in some texts), Lord of the Éothéod, to lead his people north along the eastern banks of Anduin. They settled near the sources of Anduin, south of the Grey Mountains. Their chief settlement became Framsburg, which lay in a vale between the rivers Langwell and Greylin. During their time in the far north, the Éothéod and their horses multiplied, and they drove the remaining Hill-men and Orcs of Angmar out of their lands. Fram, son of Frumgar, slew the dragon Scatha, last of the Great Worms of the Grey Mountains save for Smaug; thus he won great wealth from the horde of Scatha, as well as renown for the deed. He also earned the hatred of the Dwarves of that region, for they claimed the treasure of Scatha. Fram infuriated the Dwarves by sending them the teeth of Scatha, strung as a necklace, and denying them the rest of the hoard. Some say that for this insult the Dwarves slew Fram, for whom the settlement of Framsburg was named; for that reason there was no great love between the Rohirrim and Dwarves. Five centuries of relative prosperity followed for the Éothéod in the north, and they became a numerous people with many farms and horses. In 2501, their chieftain Léod captured a white foal in the wilds; this foal would grow to great stature, but remain wild, and was not tamed by any man. When Léod decided to mount the horse, it bore him away from his stables and eventually threw him, whereupon Léod's head struck a rock, killing him. Eorl, son of Léod, took up the lordship of the Éothéod at sixteen years of age, and was resolved to find this white horse. Upon a time, Eorl found and confronted the stallion, but rather than slay him, Eorl commanded that the horse give up his freedom as a weregild for the killing of Léod. This horse understood the speech of men, and submitted to Eorl, and was named anew Felaróf.
The Gift of Calenardhon and the Oath of Eorl
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. Cirion committed the guardianship of Calenardhon to Eorl and his men for three months, during which time the Steward took counsel to determine what reward he could present to the Éothéod for their heroic arrival on the Field of Celebrant. At the end of the three months, he rode north with his son Hallas and his counsellors, and led Eorl and some of his guard to the hidden tomb of Elendil upon Amon Anwar (Hill of Awe), which was later renamed Halifirien (the Holy Mountain) in Rohanese. Cirion realised that the Éothéod as a people needed more room to flourish, and that they would make for a strong ally to Gondor against the growing threat of Sauron and the continued harassment of the Easterlings. Therefore, upon Amon Anwar he told Eorl that in reward for their aid in battle, he would grant the land of Calenardhon to the Éothéod to dwell in. Eorl was so impressed and grateful for Cirion's gift that he swore to the Steward the Oath of Eorl; of everlasting friendship to Gondor, and aid to the South-kingdom in war. Eorl thus became the first King of Rohan, and his army sent north for their wives and kin. Coming into the land of Calenardhon the Éothéod were named anew the Rohirrim in Gondor, and named their new realm the Mark of the Riders, and themselves the Eorlingas.
Important places and the borders of Rohan Climate and countryside
The countryside of Rohan is described as a land of pastures and lush tall grassland. It looks a lot like the Central Asian steppe or North American Great Plains, as does its climate. The lands of Rohan are frequently described as appearing like "seas of grass".
Rohanese
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. Rohanese bears a similar relationship to the Common Speech of Middle-earth as that of Old English to modern English, and so Tolkien renders Rohanese names and phrases into Old English (Anglo-Saxon), just as the Common Speech is translated into English. Examples include words such as Mearas (Old English for horses) and éored. Tolkien was a philologist, with a special interest in Germanic languages. 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 names are also translations of the original Westron Kuduk (Hobbit) and Rohanese kûd-dûkan (hole dweller).
Alliance with Gondor
The alliance between Rohan and Gondor came into existence in TA 2510 with the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. Afterwards Cirion, Steward of Gondor granted the land of Calenardhon to Rohan and Eorl swore a perpetual Oath, binding his heirs to a perpetual and mutual alliance with Gondor. Since that time Gondor aided Rohan in TA 2759 and Rohan repaid the debt in TA 2885, resulting in the deaths of King Folcwine's twin sons at the Battle of the Crossings of Poros. After the War of the Ring the Oath of Eorl was sworn again by Éomer and the gift of Cirion confirmed by King Elessar.
War with the Dunlendings
To the west of Rohan lived the Dunlendings, a native people who had been colonising the mostly abandoned Calenardhon and were driven out by the newly arrived Rohirrim. The Dunlending Wulf briefly was a usurper of the throne of Rohan during the Long Winter. The Dunlendings allied with Saruman in the Great War of the Ring and after their defeat at the Battle of the Hornburg they were pardoned and allowed to return home after swearing oaths not to attack Rohan again.
Rumours of tributes paid to Sauron
During the early days of the Great War of the Ring, rumours were spread that the Rohirrim supplied Sauron's armies with horses. Many, including Boromir of Gondor, angrily decried these rumors as false, declaring that the Rohirrim were honorable allies of Gondor and would never aid Sauron, even by way of tribute. Aragorn likewise agreed that the Rohirrim valued their horses as dearly as their own kin, and would never part with them voluntarily. Éomer explained that Sauron had offered to purchase horses from Rohan for his armies, at exorbitant prices, but the Rohirrim refused, knowing the evil uses he made of all animals. The unfortunate outcome of this refusal was that Sauron sent Orcs on raids into Rohan to steal black horses (the only kind Sauron's armies used) instead of buying them. This gave rise to the rumors that Rohan was paying tribute to Sauron, but in fact this theft only hardened their resolve to resist Mordor and honor their alliance with Gondor.
Etymology
is derived from Sindarin rochallor - roch means 'horse', but the meaning of the second element is unspecified.
Inspiration
Language Tolkien rendered Rohanese as Old English, but also included Scandinavian names, such as Westfold. Even words and phrases that were printed in Modern English showed a strong Anglo-Saxon influence. Rohanese nouns were pluralized with the suffix "-as", as were Old English nouns of the strong-masculine declension. The Rohirrim used the Old English patronymic "-ing". They called themselves the Eorlingas, and Beorn’s people were the Beorningas; Scyld's people were the Scyldingas in Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythology. 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. Many Rohanese names appear to be derived from Old English words. These include: •Éothéod: from "eoh" ("war-horse") and "þeod" ("folk", "people", "nation") •Gríma: possibly from "grima" ("mask", "helmet", "ghost")or from gríma, the icelandic word for mask. •Eorl: from "eorl" ("nobleman") •Théodred: from "þeod" ("folk", "people", "nation") and "ræd" ("counsel")
Names
Rochann The name comes from the elvish translation of horse-land into Rochand, the word later developed into Rochann.
In The Lord of the Rings Online, Rohan is split into two major halves: Eastern Rohan, added in the 2012 Riders of Rohan expansion, and Western Rohan (which includes Eastfold), added in the Helm's Deep expansion a year later, with a smaller "Wildermore" area added in between. Other than those mentioned in Tolkien's works, in-game Rohan features many other towns and villages. Each is ruled by a hereditary Thane, who answer to regional Reeves, who in turn respond to either Aldor Harding of the Eastemnet or King Théoden directly. Outside the borders of Rohan proper, a large fortified town of Stangard on the northern shore of river Limlight guards Rohan from the Brown Lands. At the center of each settlement is a grand mead hall, which serves as the seat of the local Thane, the place for communal gatherings and the most defensible position in case of an attack. In the War of the Ring, almost all Rohanese settlements came under attack; most were either destroyed or at least abandoned.
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Saruman launches a full-scale invasion of Rohan, with many successes before defeat at the Battle of the Hornburg, in which the Huorns come to the aid of the Rohirrim. On the heels of this victory, Théoden rides with an army to Minas Tirith and help break its siege in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, where he is slain. Éomer, his nephew, then succeeds to the throne. Éomer rides with the army of Gondor to the gates of Mordor and takes part in the final battle with the forces of Sauron, who is defeated when the One Ring is destroyed.
1.Unfinished Tales The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, "The Boundaries of Lorien"
Rohan is a kingdom of Men in the plains between the Misty and White Mountains, founded by Eorl the Young in TA 2510. Learn about its history, geography, culture, politics, and role in the War of the Ring.
Explore the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth with this high resolution map. You can show events, places and character movements related to the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. It is a grassland realm with horsemen, inspired by Anglo-Saxon tradition and language, and plays a critical role in the War of the Ring.
Jun 16, 2012 · A collection of maps of Rohan, a region in Middle-earth, from various sources and media. See maps of Rohan's geography, history, and culture, as well as its relation to other lands.
Aug 24, 2024 · Rohan was a Mannish kingdom on the northern borders of Gondor, founded by the Éothéod in the 2510s of the Third Age. It was known for its horses, cavalry and grasslands, and fought against Dunlendings, Orcs and Saruman.
Mar 18, 2020 · A description, history, and map of Rohan in Middle-earth from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
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