Editing Rohan, Middle-earth (section)

== Culture ==
{{further|Beowulf in Middle-earth#Rohan}}

=== People ===
[[File:Uffington-White-Horse-sat.jpg<!--File:Uffington White Horse layout.png-->|thumb|left|The [[Uffington White Horse]], from where according to the Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] the [[Heraldry of Middle-earth#Men|emblem of the House of Éorl]] – a "white horse upon green" – is derived.<ref name="Shippey banner">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|p=150}}</ref>]]

The Rohirrim are distantly related to the [[Dúnedain]] of [[Gondor]], having descended from the same place. Unlike the inhabitants of Gondor, who are portrayed as enlightened and highly civilized, the Rohirrim are shown as being at a lower level of enlightenment.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Mythology of Middle-earth |first=Ruth S. |last=Noel |page=81 |year=1977 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |isbn=978-0-39525-006-8}}</ref>

The names and many details of Rohirric culture are derived from Germanic cultures, particularly that of the [[Anglo-Saxons]] and their Old English language, towards which Tolkien felt a strong affinity. Anglo-Saxon England was defeated by the cavalry of the Normans at the [[Battle of Hastings]], and some Tolkien scholars have suggested that the Rohirrim are Tolkien's wishful version of an Anglo-Saxon society that retained a "rider culture", and would have been able to resist such an invasion.<ref name="Honegger 2011">{{cite book |last1=Honegger |first1=Thomas |author1-link=Thomas Honegger |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=Jason |editor-link=Jason Fisher |chapter=The Rohirrim: 'Anglo-Saxons on Horseback'? An inquiry into Tolkien's use of sources |title=Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays |date=2011 |pages=116–132 |url=https://www.academia.edu/12236274 |publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]]}}</ref> The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] notes that Tolkien derived the [[Heraldry of Middle-earth#Men|emblem of the House of Éorl]], a "white horse upon green", from the [[Uffington White Horse]] carved into the grass of the [[chalk]] downs in England.<ref name="Shippey banner"/>

[[File:Bayeux Tapestry Scene 52 (infantry and cavalry styles).png|thumb|upright=1.35<!--format for low image-->|Tolkien stated that the styles of the [[Bayeux Tapestry]], showing horsemen fighting with spears and swords, and armoured with mail shirts and iron helmets, fitted the Rohirrim "well enough".<ref name="Letter 211" group=T/>]]

While Tolkien represents the Rohirrim with Anglo-Saxon culture and language, their ancestors are given Gothic attributes. The names of Rhovanion's royal family, (the ancestors of the Rohirrim), include such names as Vidugavia, Vidumavi and Vinitharya, which are of [[Gothic language|Gothic]] origin. Vidugavia specifically has been seen as an synonym for [[Vitiges]], king of the [[Ostrogoths]] in Italy from 536 to 540.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jane |last=Chance |author-link=Jane Chance |title=Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader |title-link=Tolkien and the Invention of Myth |pages=107–108 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8131-2301-1}}</ref> Tolkien saw this as a parallel with the real-world relationship between Old English and [[Gothic language|Gothic]].<ref>{{harvnb|Solopova|2009|p=51}}</ref>

In response to a query about clothing styles in [[Middle-earth]], Tolkien wrote:

{{blockquote|The Rohirrim were not "medieval", in our sense. The styles of the [[Bayeux Tapestry]] (made in England) fit them well enough, if one remembers that the kind of tennis-nets [the] soldiers seem to have on are only a clumsy conventional sign for [[Mail (armour)|chainmail]] of small rings.<ref name="Letter 211" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=No. 211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958 }}</ref>}}

=== Horses and warfare ===
[[File:91e6dd9c06a36603214fcbe787c1169b--anglo-saxon-chain-mail.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Anglo-Saxon arms and [[chainmail]] armour]]

The armies of Rohan were largely horsemen. The basic tactical unit was the ''éored'', Old English for "a unit of cavalry, a troop",<ref name="eored">{{harvnb|Bosworth|Toller|1898}}: [http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/009509 eóred], troop [of cavalry]</ref> which at the time of the [[War of the Ring]] had a nominal strength of 120 riders.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Unfinished Tales|loc=n. 26|p=326|ref={{harvid|Tolkien|1980}}}}</ref>

{{anchor|Warning beacons of Gondor}}
In time of war, every able man was obliged to join the Muster of Rohan. Rohan was bound by the Oath of Éorl to help [[Gondor]] in times of peril, and the latter asked for their aid through the giving of the [[Red Arrow (Middle-earth)|Red Arrow]]. This has a historical antecedent in the Old English poem ''[[Elene (poem)|Elene]]'', in which [[Constantine the Great]] summoned an army of mounted [[Visigoths]] to his aid against the [[Huns]] by sending an arrow as a "token of war".<ref>{{cite web |last=Howard |first=Scott |title=Recreating Beowulf's 'Pregnant Moment of Poise': Pagan Doom and Christian Eucatastrophe Made Incarnate in the Dark Age Setting of The Lord of the Rings |publisher=University of Montana |url=https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1824&context=etd |date=21 March 2008}}</ref> Gondor could also call the Rohirrim in need by lighting the [[Beacon (signal fire)|warning beacons]] of Gondor<!--redirects here-->, seven  signal fires along the White Mountains from [[Minas Tirith]] to the Rohan border: ''Amon Dîn'', ''Eilenach'', ''Nardol'', ''Erelas'', ''Min-Rimmon'', ''Calenhad'' and ''Halifirien''.<ref name="Beacon-Hills" group=T>{{cite web |last1=Tolkien |first1=J. R. R. |last2=Hostetter |first2=Carl F. |author2-link=Carl F. Hostetter |last3=Tolkien |first3=Christopher |author3-link=Christopher Tolkien |title=The Rivers and Beacon - hills of Gondor |url=https://epdf.pub/the-rivers-and-beacon-hills-of-gondor105fd73767942352604c470bca4fe66679457.html |publisher=EPDF |date=2001}}<!--Part was published in ''[[Vinyar Tengwar]]'', No. 42, July 2001.--></ref>

[[File:Beacon Hill, Leicestershire.jpg|thumb|[[Beacon#For defensive communications|Signal beacons]] like those between Gondor and Rohan were once used in England, as at [[Beacon Hill, Leicestershire]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |chapter=Beacon |title=[[National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge|The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge]] |volume=III |year=1847 |publisher=[[Charles Knight (publisher)|Charles Knight]] |location=London |page=25}}</ref>]]

At the start of the [[War of the Ring]] a Full Muster would have been over 12,000 riders.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Unfinished Tales|p=315|ref={{harvid|Tolkien|1980}}}}: "a Full Muster would probably have produced many more than twelve thousand riders"</ref> Among the horses of the Rohirrim were the famed ''mearas'', the noblest and fastest horses that ever roamed [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]]. It was because of the close affiliation with horses, both in war and peace, that they received their name.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Unfinished Tales|loc=part 3 ch. 2(iii)|p=307|ref={{harvid|Tolkien|1980}}}}</ref>

=== Language ===
{{further|Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings}}

Tolkien generally called the language simply "the language of Rohan" or "of the Rohirrim". The adjectival form "Rohirric" is common; Tolkien once also used "Rohanese".<ref name="Beacon-Hills" group=T/> Like many languages of [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]], it is akin to [[Adûnaic]], the language of [[Númenóreans]], and therefore to the [[Westron]] or Common Speech.{{sfn|Solopova|2009|p=84}}

[[File:Linguistic Map of Middle-Earth.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Tolkien invented parts of [[Middle-earth]] to resolve the linguistic puzzle he had accidentally created by using different European languages for those of peoples in his legendarium, [[Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings|pretending that he had translated the Middle-earth languages]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131–133}}<ref name="Letters Languages" group=T>''[[Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'', #144, to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 25 April 1954</ref>]]

The Rohirrim called their homeland the ''Riddermark,'' a modernization by Tolkien of Old English ''Riddena-mearc'', meaning, according to the Index to ''The Lord of the Rings'', "the border country of the knights"; also ''Éo-marc'', the ''Horse-mark'', or simply the ''[[Marches|Mark]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Bosworth|Toller|1898}}: [http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/022482 mearc]</ref> They call themselves the ''Éorlingas'', the Sons of Éorl. Tolkien rendered the language of the Riders of Rohan, [[Rohirric]], as the [[Mercian dialect]] of Old English. Even words and phrases that were printed in [[English language|modern English]] showed a strong Old English influence.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Return of the King|loc=Appendix F, On Translation|ref={{harvid|Tolkien|1955}}}}</ref> This solution occurred to Tolkien <!--in 1942--> when he was searching for an explanation of the [[Edda]]ic names of the dwarves already published in ''[[The Hobbit]]''.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131–133}} Tolkien, a [[philologist]], with a special interest in [[Germanic languages]], [[Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings|pretended that the names and phrases of Old English were translated]] from Rohirric, just as the English used in [[The Shire]] was supposedly translated from Middle-earth's [[Westron|Westron or Common Speech]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131–133}}<ref name="Letters Languages" group=T/> Examples include ''éored''<ref name="eored"/> and ''mearas''.<ref name="mearas">{{harvnb|Bosworth|Toller|1898}}: [http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/022508 mearh], horse, cf. modern English "mare".</ref> The Riders' names for the cunningly-built tower of Isengard, Orthanc, and for the Ents, the tree-giants of Fangorn forest, are similarly Old English, both being found in the phrase ''orþanc enta geweorc'', "cunning work of giants" in the poem ''[[The Ruin]]'',{{sfn|Cusack|2011|page=172}} though Shippey suggests that Tolkien may have chosen to read the phrase also as "Orthanc, the Ent's fortress".{{sfn|Shippey|2001|p=88}}

{{anchor|The Wanderer}}
In ''[[The Two Towers]]'', chapter 6, the Riders of Rohan are introduced before they are seen, by [[Aragorn]], who chants in the language of the Rohirrim words "in a slow tongue unknown to the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elf]] and the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarf]]", a ''[[Lai (poetic form)|lai]]'' that [[Legolas]] senses "is laden with the sadness of Mortal [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]]". The song is called the ''Lament of the Rohirrim''. To achieve a resonant sense of the lost past, the now-legendary time of a peaceful alliance of the Horse-lords with the realm of [[Gondor]], Tolkien adapted the short ''[[Ubi sunt]]'' ("Where are they?") passage of the Old English poem ''[[The Wanderer (Old English poem)|The Wanderer]]''.<ref name="Shippey Wanderer">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|pages=139–149}}</ref>{{sfn|Sipahi|2016|pages=43–46}}{{sfn|Lee|Solopova|2005|pages=47–48, 195–196}}{{sfn|Lee|2009|page=203}}{{Clear}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|+ Tolkien adapted the ''[[Ubi sunt]]'' passage of the [[Old English]] poem ''The Wanderer'' to create a song of Rohan.<ref name="Shippey Wanderer"/>
|-
! ''[[The Wanderer (Old English poem)|The Wanderer]]''<br/>92–96 !! ''The Wanderer''<br/>in modern English !! ''Lament of the Rohirrim''<br/>by J. R. R. Tolkien<ref name="Lament" group=T>{{harvnb|Two Towers|loc=ch. 6|ref={{harvid|Tolkien|1954}}}}</ref>
|-
| ''Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom mago?<br/>Hwær cwom maþþumgyfa?<br/>Hwær cwom symbla gesetu?	<br/>Hwær sindon seledreamas?<br/>Eala beorht bune!<br/>Eala byrnwiga!<br/>Eala þeodnes þrym!<br/>Hu seo þrag gewat,<br/>genap under nihthelm,<br/>swa heo no wære.''
| Where is the horse? where the rider?<br/>Where the giver of treasure?<br/>Where are the seats at the feast?<br/>Where are the revels in the hall?<br/>Alas for the bright cup!<br/>Alas for the mailed warrior!<br/>Alas for the splendour of the prince!<br/>How that time has passed away,<br/>dark under the cover of night,<br/>as if it had never been. 
| Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?<br/>Where is the [[Middle-earth weapons and armour#Helmets|helm]] and the [[hauberk]], and the bright hair flowing?<br/>Where is the hand on the harp-string, and the red fire glowing?<br/>Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall [[Wheat|corn]] growing?<br/>They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;<br/>The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.<br/>Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning?<br/>Or behold the flowing years from [[Belegaer|the Sea]] returning?
|}

"Thus spoke a forgotten poet long ago in Rohan, recalling how tall and fair was Eorl the Young, who rode down out of the North," Aragorn explains, after singing the ''Lament''.<ref name="Lament" group=T/>