Rohan

Rohan, originally Rochand, is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Description

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.

Related Topics:
Edoras - White Mountains

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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.

Related Topics:
Dunharrow - Hornburg - Helm's Deep

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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).

Related Topics:
Isen - Saruman - Isengard - Adorn - Dunlendings - Entwash - Limlight - Tributary - Anduin

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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.

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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".

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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.

Related Topics:
Edain - First Age - Beleriand - Númenor - Valar - Éothéod

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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 éoreds. 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.

Related Topics:
Breeder - Mearas - Arda - Shadowfax - Cavalry - éored - Bodyguard

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It was because of this close affiliation with horses, both in war and peace, that they received their now famous name. Rohirrim (or more properly Rochirrim)is Sindarin for "Horse-lords," and Rohan (or Rochand) meant "Land of the Horse-lords." These names were devised by Hallas, son of Cirion the Steward.

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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.

Related Topics:
Men - Adûnaic - Mark - Eorl

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In the original Rohirric the name for their land is Lôgrad, with the element "lô-"/"loh-" corresponding to Anglo-Saxon "éo", horse.

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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. Tolkien was a philologist, with a special interest in Germanic languages.

Related Topics:
Names - Old English - Philologist - Germanic languages

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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.

Related Topics:
Hobbit - Shire - Anduin

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