1.1 See also

Timeline of Arda

2 Description

2.1 Important places and the borders of Rohan

The capital of Rohan is the hill fort of Edoras which lies on the slopes of the White Mountains. Another large city is Aldburg, capital city of the Westfold and original city of Eorl the Young. Other cities must have existed but are not named.

A known recluse is Dunharrow, even deeper in the White Mountains. One of the most impressive places in Rohan is the Hornburg, a great fortress which is part of a chain of fortifications at Helm's Deep.

The borders of Rohan are: the river Isen (in the west, bordering Saruman's Isengard); the river Adorn (a tributary of Isen, also in the west, forming the border with the unfriendly Dunlendings); the White Mountains (in the south); the Mering Stream (in the southeast, the border between Rohan and Gondor); the Mouths of Entwash (in the east); and the Limlight (a tributary of the Anduin, the northern border).

At the time of the War of the Ring, Rohan was roughly a third the size of Gondor, whose borders had slowly been shrinking for decades.

2.2 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, so does its climate. The lands of Rohan are frequently described as appearing like "seas of grass".

2.3 The Rohirrim and their horses

The Rohirrim are descendants of the Edain of the First Age. They didn't go to Beleriand like the Edain who were later rewarded with the island of Númenor by the Valar. The ancestors of the Rohirrim were known as the Éothéod and were given the province of Calenardhon by Gondor after the afore-mentioned Battle of the Field of Celebrant.
The Rohirrim are famous as skilled horsemen, masters and breeders. Among the horses of the Rohirrim are the famed Mearas, the noblest and fastest horses who have ever roamed Arda; Shadowfax was the greatest of all Mearas. There were very few Mearas left in Middle-earth at this point, but there were enough that a breeding population was present. The armies of Rohan are almost exclusively cavalry, divided into irregular units termed éored s. Rohan's armies were more of a very well trained militia called upon in times of war, with the actual standing army relatively small. The professional career-soldiers of Rohan may have been limited to the royal bodyguard at Edoras.

2.4 Rohirric

Rohirric is like the languages of all Men akin to Adûnaic, the language of the Edain. The Rohirrim call their homeland the Ridenna-mearc, the Riddermark or Éo-marc, the Horse-mark, also simply the Mark and call themselves the Eorlingas, the Sons of Eorl. In the original Rohirric the name for their land is Lôgrad, with the element "lô-"/"loh-" corresponding to Anglo-Saxon "éo", horse.

Rohirric bears a similar relationship to the Common Speech of Middle-earth as that of Old English to modern English, and so Tolkien renders Rohirric 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.

Many archaic Hobbit names bear similarities to Rohirric, 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 Rohirric Holbytlan (hole builders). These names are also translations of the original Westron Kuduk (Hobbit) and Rohirric kûd-dûkan (hole dweller), of course.

Note: Tolkien was an expert on languages, especially Old English.

3 Politics

3.1 Alliance with Gondor

The alliance between Rohan and Gondor came into existence in the year 2510 of the Third Age. In that year the Easterlings launched a massive invasion of Gondor. The army of Gondor was defeated and trapped between the Limlight and the Celebrant. Gondor, which had always been on friendly terms with the different tribes of the Northmen, sent messengers to the closest tribe, the Éothéod. Although it was unlikely that the message calling for aid would come through, it did. Then Eorl the Young and his fierce Éothéod Riders unexpectedly took the field during the Battle of Celebrant and turned the tide in the favour of Gondor. As a reward Cirion, the Steward of Gondor, gave Eorl the depopulated province of Calenardhon for his people to settle, while fulfilling Gondor's need for a strong ally. The Oath of Eorl was sworn by both Cirion and Eorl. Neither nation has ever broken the alliance ever since. Rohan has gone through great lengths to fulfil their part of the treaty including sacrificing two of its heirs when Gondor was under threat from the Haradrim in 2885, when Fastred and Folcred , the twin sons of King Folcwine, were killed during the Battle of Crossings of Poros. King Théoden once again honoured the alliance in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

3.2 War with the Dunlendings

To the west of Rohan lived the Dunlendings, a native people who had been hostile against the Free Peoples for a long time. The Dunlending Wulf briefly was an usurper of the throne of Rohan during the long winter.

3.3 Rumours of tributes paid to Sauron

During the early days of the War of the Ring, rumours were spread that the Rohirrim supplied Sauron's armies with horses. These rumours were obviously false: the Rohirrim valued their horses more than anything, and would never send them away, even as tribute. Still these rumours had some effect, in that they obscured the fact it was Saruman who had fallen, rather than Rohan. The basis of the rumour was that Sauron's Orcs on raids into Rohan stole their horses for use in Mordor's army, but this was outright theft that angered the Rohirrim against Sauron.

3.4 Wormtongue

When king Théoden began to grow old, he took as an advisor Gríma, later called Wormtongue. Gríma quickly became Théoden's chief advisor, but unknown to all he was secretly working for Saruman. Gríma played on Théoden's fears to further weaken the strength of the king and all of Rohan, always advising retreat where an attack was needed. He may have also begun poisoning the king at this time. This nearly proved disastrous for Rohan, and also for Gondor, by robbing them of their strongest ally in the north. Gríma Wormtongue's plans were not revealed until Gandalf arrived in Edoras during the War of the Ring.

4 Important Rohirrim

• Eorl the Young
• Helm Hammerhand
• Théoden
• Théodred
• Éomer
• Éowyn
• Various participants in the final wars.
• Gríma Wormtongue

Realms of Middle-earth Fictional countries

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