Éothéod was the name of the ancestors of the Rohirrim and it was also the name of the land at the source of the Anduin where they dwelled. The name Éothéod means "horse people" or "horse land" from the Old English eoh meaning "horse" and théod meaning both "land" and "people."
The Long Winter began in November of 2758 and lasted five months until March of 2759. The Rohirrim were starving and desperate, besieged in their strongholds. Helm's son Hama died on a sortie from Helm's Deep, and Helm himself froze to death on Helm's Dike.
When spring came, Frealaf led a force from Dunharrow and reclaimed Edoras. Frealaf slew Wulf and the Rohirrim drove the Dunlendings out of Rohan. The melting snow caused flooding around the Mouths of the Entwash, and the invaders from the East withdrew. Gondor was at last able to send aid to Rohan. That same year Beren, the Steward of Gondor, gave the stronghold of Isengard to Saruman, believing that the Wizard's presence would help protect Rohan against invasion in the future.
Frealaf, son of Helm's sister Hild, was the first of the Second Line of Kings of Rohan. Saruman attended his coronation and brought many gifts. Rohan began to slowly recover from the effects of the war and the Long Winter.
Frealaf's son Brytta succeeded him in 2798. Brytta was a popular king and was known as Leofa, the Beloved. He was generous and helpful to those in need. During his reign, Rohan was troubled by Orcs who had fled to the White Mountains from the Misty Mountains after the Battle of Azanulbizar against the Dwarves. When Brytta died in 2842, it was thought that the Orcs had been routed from the White Mountains, but Brytta's son Walda was killed by Orcs near Dunharrow only nine years later in 2851.
Walda was succeeded by Folca, who continued to hunt Orcs in the White Mountains until the last of them were cleared out in 2864. After he completed his task, Folca hunted boar in the Firien Wood. He slew the Great Boar of Everholt but was wounded by its tusks and died.
During the reign of Folca's son Folcwine, Rohan finally recovered its full strength and prosperity. Folcwine reclaimed the west-march between the Rivers Adorn and Isen from the Dunlendings.
Under King Folcwine, Rohan's military forces were reorganized. The full muster of the Rohirrim - called the eohere - was reckoned to consist of 100 companies. Each company - or eored - had at least 120 Riders. Thus the full strength of the eohere was at least 12,000 Riders at this time.
In 2885, Folcwine fulfilled the Oath of Eorl by sending troops to help Gondor fight an invading army of Haradrim. The combined forces of Gondor and Rohan were victorious, but Folcwine's twin sons Folcred and Fastred were killed. They were buried together in a single mound on the shores of the River Poros in Ithilien, and Turin II, the Steward of Gondor, sent gold to Folcwine as a compensation for their sacrifice.
The people of Rohan were called the Rohirrim meaning "horse lords" from the Sindarin roch meaning "horse" and hîr meaning "lord" and the ending rim meaning "great number, host." The proper spelling was actually Rochirrim.
The Rohirrim:
The new land of the Eotheod came to be called Rohan - meaning "Land of Horses" - and the people were called the Rohirrim - meaning "Horse-lords." They called themselves the Eorlingas in honor of Eorl, and they called their land the Mark of the Riders or the Riddermark or simply the Mark.
Eorl was the first King of the Mark. He ruled for 35 years, from 2510 to 2545. Eorl chose the hill at the entrance to the valley of Harrowdale in the White Mountains as the site for the capital city of Edoras. But the Golden Hall of Meduseld was not built in his lifetime, and he dwelled at Aldburg in the Folde.
The Easterlings launched a series of attacks along the Anduin and in the Emyn Muil on Rohan's eastern border. In 2545, Eorl was killed in battle with the Easterlings in the Wold. He was buried in a mound at the foot of the hill where Edoras stood.
Eorl was succeeded by his son Brego. Brego drove the Easterlings out of the Wold. He also began to push back the Dunlendings - a race of Men from west of the Misty Mountains who had infiltrated Rohan over the River Isen.
Meduseld was built during Brego's reign. The great hall was completed in 2569. At the celebratory feast, Brego's son Baldor announced that he intended to enter the Paths of the Dead. Brego and Baldor had found the Dark Door while exploring Harrowdale, and they had met an old man who told them that the tunnels beyond were haunted by the Dead. Baldor entered the Paths of the Dead in 2570 and never returned. Brego died of grief shortly afterwards.
Brego's second son Aldor became King. He was known as Aldor the Old, and he had the longest reign of any King of Rohan - 75 years from 2570 to 2645. Aldor drove out the last of the Dunlendings, who came to hate the Rohirrim. During Aldor's reign, the population of Rohan increased and the Rohirrim settled in the valleys of the White Mountains including Harrowdale.
Aldor's son Frea was old when he became King and he ruled only 14 years until 2659. Frea was followed by his son Freawine, who in turn was succeeded by his son Goldwine. Rohan was peaceful and prosperous during this time.
Deor, son of Goldwine, became king in 2699. During his reign, the Dunlendings began to raid the Westfold to steal horses. Many came across the River Isen, but it soon became apparent some Dunlendings had made settlements in the northern part of the Westfold near Fangorn and Isengard. In 2710, Deor led a force to the northern Westfold and defeated an army of Dunlendings.
Deor proceeded to Isengard and found that it was occupied by Dunlendings. The stronghold belonged to Gondor, but over time the Gondorian chieftains who guarded it had died out and had been succeeded by chieftains of mixed blood who were friendly to the Dunlendings. The few remaining guards had been killed, and the Dunlendings occupied the Ring of Isengard. Deor sent to Gondor for aid, but no help could be spared. The Rohirrim did not have the resources to retake Isengard, so Deor set up a guard of Riders to keep watch in the northern Westfold. Deor was succeeded by his son Gram in 2718.
Helm, son of Gram, became King of Rohan in 2741. Rohan was invaded by the Dunlendings during his reign. A Man of Rohan named Freca, who had Dunlendish blood, began to expand his own domain on the border between Rohan and Dunland in defiance of the King's rule. At a council meeting in 2754, Freca sought a marriage between his son Wulf and King Helm's daughter. Helm refused, and when Freca became enraged and insulted the King, Helm slew him with one blow from his mighty fist. Thus he became known as Helm Hammerhand.
Freca's son Wulf led the Dunlendings to invade Rohan four years later in 2758. The Dunlendings were aided by the Corsairs, who had launched a massive assault against Gondor at the same time. Rohan was also invaded by enemies from the East.
The Dunlendings overran Rohan and captured Edoras. Helm's son Haleth died defending the doors of Meduseld, and Wulf sat on the throne in the Golden Hall. Helm was driven back from the Crossings of the Isen to the stronghold in the Deeping-coomb that became known as Helm's Deep. Many other Rohirrim took refuge there and in other valleys of the White Mountains, including Harrowdale where Helm's nephew Frealaf defended the stronghold of Dunharrow.
History of Middle Earth The People of Eotheod Relocate:
The Rohirrim called their own land the Mark of the Riders or the Riddermark or simply the Mark for short. The word Mark is from the Old English mearc meaning "borderland."
The Eotheod:
After the decimation of the Northmen, Marhari's son Marhwini led a group of survivors to live along the Anduin between the Gladden River and the Carrock, mainly on the western bank of the river. They called themselves the Eotheod, meaning "Horse-people."
The Eotheod renewed their friendship with Gondor. In 1899, Marhwini and the Eotheod helped King Calimehtar thwart another invasion by the Wainriders. Marhwini also tried to help the Northmen who were still enslaved by the Wainriders free themselves, but the revolt was unsuccessful.
In the next century, the Eotheod were again troubled by the Wainriders, who conducted raids up the Anduin from the south and through Mirkwood from the east. Marhwini's son Forthwini warned King Ondoher of Gondor that the Wainriders were regrouping. When the invasion came, Riders of the Eotheod joined the Gondorians in battle against the Wainriders. King Ondoher was slain, but Earnil defeated the Wainriders in the Battle of the Camp and became King of Gondor.
In 1977, the people of the Eotheod decided to relocate. They needed more room for their growing population of people and horses, and they were troubled by the evil presence in Dol Guldur in Mirkwood where, unknown to them, Sauron dwelled. Frumgar led the Eotheod northward to a new home.
The new land of the Eotheod was at the source of the Anduin. The Langwell and Greylin which fed the Anduin formed the southern border of their land. On the west side were the Misty Mountains and on the east side was the Forest River. Northward were the Grey Mountains. The fortified burg named Framsburg was at the juncture of the Langwell and Greylin.
Although the Witch-king of Angmar had been defeated in 1975, remnants of his forces still lurked east of the Misty Mountains, and the Eotheod killed them or drove them away. Frumgar's son Fram slew Scatha the Worm in the Grey Mountains, and the land had peace from Dragons for many years afterward. But Fram took the Dragon's treasure, which angered the Dwarves, and there was enmity between the two peoples.
Around 2501, Leod, the leader of the Eotheod, captured a wild horse, but he was killed when he tried to ride it. Leod's son Eorl tamed the horse and named it Felarof. From Felarof were descended the magnificent horses called the mearas which were the steeds of Eorl's descendants.
Eorl was only 16 when he succeeded his father as leader of the Eotheod. By that time, the population of both people and horses had multiplied. The Eotheod needed more land, but they had nowhere to expand or move.
On March 25, 2510, an errand-rider named Borondir arrived bringing a message to Eorl from Cirion, the Steward of Gondor. Cirion asked the Eotheod to come to Gondor's aid against an imminent invasion by a hostile race of Men from Rhun called the Balchoth. Eorl agreed, because he knew that if Gondor fell, all of Middle-earth would soon be conquered.
Eorl summoned his council of Elders and prepared to ride to war. A few hundred soldiers were left to guard the land of the Eotheod and the women, children, and elderly who remained behind. Eorl then assembled a great eohere - or cavalry - of 7,000 fully armed Riders and several hundred mounted archers. They set out on April 6 and began the 500-mile journey southward.
When the eohere passed Dol Guldur where Sauron dwelled, a white mist came from the woods of Lothlorien on the opposite side of the Anduin. The mist drove back the shadow of Dol Guldur and hid the Riders from any enemy forces in the area. Borondir speculated that Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien, was helping the Eotheod.
On April 15, the Riders of the Eotheod arrived at the Field of Celebrant, between Lothlorien and the River Limlight, and found the northern army of Gondor in trouble. The Balchoth had invaded Calenardhon south of the Limlight and the Gondorians had been defeated in the Wold. The Gondorians retreated across the Limlight to the Field of Celebrant, where they were surprised by an army of Orcs from the Misty Mountains.
Eorl and his Riders arrived just in time and turned the tide of the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. They attacked the enemy forces from the rear and drove them back over the Limlight. The Riders of the Eotheod pursued them across the fields of Calenardhon until all were slain or driven out.
After the battle, Eorl met with Cirion on Halifirien, the Hill of Awe, in the Firien Wood on the border between Calenardhon and Gondor. As a reward for their great service, Cirion gave the Eotheod the land of Calenardhon, which had become unpopulated due to Plague, emigration, and war. In return, Eorl swore an oath to remain Gondor's ally and come to their aid in time of need. The Gift of Cirion and the Oath of Eorl were to remain in effect until the return of the King of Gondor.
Eorl returned to the North to gather the people and possessions that had been left behind and he led them to their new homeland.
Calenardhon was the name of the region that became Rohan when it was still a part of Gondor. The name means "The Green Province" from calen meaning "green" and ardh meaning "realm."
The Northmen:
The people of Rohan were descended from the Northmen. The Northmen in turn were descended from the same ancient race of Men as the Edain. But while the fathers of the Edain moved to Beleriand and later gave rise to the Numenoreans, the Northmen settled in Wilderland. The Northmen lived mainly on the eastern edge of Mirkwood and raised large herds of horses on the wide plain between the forest and the River Running.
After Gondor was founded by the survivors of Numenor in 3320 of the Second Age, the Northmen became their allies, in part because of their distant kinship. Around 1250 of the Third Age, Valacar, the son of King Romendacil II of Gondor married Vidumavi, the daughter of Vidugavia, the most powerful leader of the Northmen. Their son Eldacar became King of Gondor, but some Gondorians objected to his mixed heritage, and the result was the civil war called the Kin-strife. Eldacar was deposed for ten years before he finally regained the throne in 1447 and renewed ties with the Northmen.
In the winter of 1635, the Great Plague came out of the East, and many Northmen and horses died. The Plague spread to Gondor in 1636 and decimated the population. In the part of Gondor called Calenardhon - which later became Rohan - many people died and many others moved away.
In 1851, a hostile race of Men from the East called the Wainriders attacked the Northmen and Gondor. Marhari, a descendant of Vidugavia, led the Northmen to join forces with Gondor against the Wainriders in the Battle of the Plains in 1856. But the Gondorians were forced to retreat and the Northmen were slain, enslaved, or scattered.
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