Editing Rohan, Middle-earth (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:ClissonNotreDameRoncierVitrail.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Tolkien stated that there was no link between Rohan and the noble family of Brittany, though he borrowed the name.<ref name="Tolkien Brittany" group=T/> [[Stained-glass window]] depicting [[House of Rohan|Marguerite de Rohan]] (c.&nbsp;1330–1406)<!-- and her husband the Constable of [[Clisson]]--> ]]

Tolkien's own account, in an unsent letter, gives both the fictional and the actual etymologies of Rohan:

{{blockquote|''Rohan'' is stated (III 391, 394) to be a later softened form of ''Rochand''. It is derived from Elvish ''*rokkō'' ‘swift horse for riding’ ([[Quenya|Q[uenya]]] ''rocco'', [[Sindarin|S[indarin]]] ''roch'') + a suffix frequent in names of lands [e.g. [[Beleriand]], [[Ossiriand]]]. ...

''Rohan'' is a famous name, from [[Brittany]], borne by [[House of Rohan|an ancient proud and powerful family]]. I was aware of this, and liked its shape; but I had also (long before) invented the Elvish horse-word, and saw how Rohan could be accommodated to the linguistic situation as a late Sindarin name of the Mark (previously called ''Calenarðon'' 'the (great) green region') after its occupation by horsemen.  Nothing in the history of Brittany will throw any light on the Éorlingas. ...<ref name="Tolkien Brittany" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#297 to Mr Rang, August 1967 }}</ref>}}