Editing Rohan, Middle-earth (section)

=== 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>}}