Preface: The following work is what I have personally compiled from trawling through the Lord of the Rings and Unfinished Tales books. With great help from the Tolkien's Gateway wiki (well worth looking at!). I have done my upmost to keep the information which follows entirely canon. Its purpose is to be purely educational for anyone wishing to roleplay or know more about the Rohirrim, and is something I wrote specifically to help out my kin, the Riders of the Riddermark.

This is also the first of two chronicles or essays which deal with the history of the people of Rohan. Please enjoy.

http://laurelinarchives.org/node/31962 Part two, RoR-Resource: History of the Eorlingas.

 

History of the Éothéod.

 

The roots of the Rohirrim at the time of events detailed in The Lord Of The Rings can be traced back to the Northmen of Rhovanion. They followed no single king or chief, instead they were of many tribes and kingdoms which included the Woodsmen of Mirkwood, the shapeshifting Beornings, Dorwinions who made fine wines and lived on the North western shores of the Inland sea of Rhûn, the Lake Men, Bardings otherwise known as the Men of Dale. Amongst them were a people who would become known as the Éothéod.

In the 1635 year of the Third Age, the Great Plague arrived and decimated the Northmen of Rhovanion. Whilst the plague went on to kill thousands in Gonder and amongst the Easterlings, it hit the Northmen hard, in part due to their lack of medicinal knowledge and that it arrived in winter. A time when the Northmen were crowded with their animals under their roofs. The kingdoms and tribes of Rhovanion lost half of their people as well as the majority of their livestock to the plague.

It took decades for the Northmen to regain their numbers after the Great Plague such was their losses.

 By 1851 the Northmen had finally recovered from the Great Plague. It was not unusual for Northmen of Rhovanion to fight alongside the armies of Gondor at the time. Calenardhon was a province of Gondor with a slowly dwindling population. Thus in the year 1851 many Northmen  fought at the behest of their chiefs and kings under King Narmacil II against the Wainriders but were defeated at the Battle of The Plains.

In the aftermath of the battle many Northmen fled either to Dale or into Gondor. A sizeable contingent of refugees under the leadership of Marhwini son of Marhari a noble lord amongst the Northmen, wandered Rhovanion until they crossed the Anduin. Here they settled in the vales between the Eastern bank of the Anduin and the western edge of Mirkwood. Like many of the peoples of southern Rhovanion they were forced into servitude by the Wainriders.

In 1894, forty three years had passed since the Battle of the Plains, Marhwini who was now known as the Lord of the Éothéod, sent word to Gondor that the Wainriders planned to raid into the province Calenardhon, crossing at the Undeeps. Not only did he send word to warn Gondor, but he also told them that the Northmen would revolt given the chance.

Marhwini  had not been idle in the intervening years and had organised the Northmen to revolt against their Wainrider overlords when the opportunity arose.

Thus the Gondorian king, Calimehtar provoked the Wainriders out of Ithilien and their northern territories. The Wainriders who had been preparing to invade came down with all the strength they could spare. Calimehtar retreated in the face of the Wainrider hosts, drawing them ever south, away from their homes.

Whilst Calimehtar was drawing the main Wainrider host south, he sent his own horsemen across the undeep from Calenardhon. There they joined with the Éored of Marhwini and together they drove the Wainriders from their homes and back into the East, beyond the River Celduin, thus freeing the Northmen of Rhovanion from their oppression. However this was not without cost as the Wainriders but up a bitter resistance as almost all of their peoples were taught how to fight.

By the year 1975 Gondor had grown accustomed to having the Éothéod as a northern ally whom it could rely on when dealing with the threat posed by the Easterling peoples. This changed with the destruction of Angmar.

 

Founding of Framsburg

Throughout this time the lands surrounding the Anduin had become increasingly dangerous with foul creatures of the Necromancer of Dol Guldur attacking the Éothéod.

The destruction of Angmar freed up land to in the north of Rhovanion.

Frumgar who was the grandson of Marhwini and now lord of the Éothéod led them north to the Grey Mountains in 1977.

Between the Greylin which flowed from the Grey Mountains and the Langwell of the Misty Mountains they built a city which came to be known as Framsburg after his son Fram. Frumgar found these lands to be suitably expansive and fertile to support his people as their numbers grew. Though they ever faced a threat from the remnants of the Angmarim people to the west and from Orcs and Dragons to the north.

Fram son of Frumgar succeeded his father as the fifth lord of the Éothéod.

Sometime at the turn of the 2100's Fram slew the great dragon Scatha which had dwelt within the Grey Mountains and claimed the dragons hoard, much to the ire of the dwarves of the Grey Mountains who claimed it as theirs. It is said Fram sent the Dwarves the following message, "Jewels such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by." Little is known of what fate Fram met, but it is rumoured that the Dwaves killed him.

The Éothéod prospered in their northern kingdom and remained in contact with the men of Gondor throughout the passing years, though the distance between them was great and filled with perils.

In 2501 Léod a great horseman and Lord of the Éothéod came across a white foal which was described as being wild and proud. He captured the foal and once it reached an age sought to break him. Instead he was thrown off, hitting his head upon a rock and died.

His son, Eorl sixteen at the time succeeded him as Lord of the Éothéod. The young Eorl swore to avenge his father and extract a weregild from the horse.

Eorl hunted the white horse, finally finding it. He demanded of the horse that it give up its freedom in payment for the death of his father. The horse agreed, for it understood the language of the Éothéod and took the name Eorl gave him, Felaróf.

Felaróf became the father of the Mearas. The mearas would only allow the lords of the Éothéod and their descendants the kings of the Rohan.

 

Ride of the Éothéod

Nine years later in 2510, Cirion the Steward of Gondor was facing a grave threat in the form of Easterlings and the Balchoth who were the successors of the Wainriders of old, who were threatening an invasion of Gondor.

Cirion sent out six brave and highly skilled riders in pairs a day apart with the task of carrying his message and seal to the lord of the Éothéod in the north of Rhovanion.

Of the first pair only Borondir Udalprah reached Framsburg. On his ride north he and his companion came under attack many times until his companion was shot by Orcs near Dol Guldur.

He came at last to the Éothéod after fifteen days of hard riding, the last two without food. He was so spent that he could scarce speak his message.

Borondir  presented to Eorl the Young two items along with a message learned by heart. The first of the two items was a stone incised with the letters R . ND . R surmounted by three stars. This was the seal of the Steward of Gondor. The second was a red arrow, likely one of the Orc arrows which had felled his companion.

Eorl after hearing the message took counsel with himself in silence, but not for long. Soon he rose and took Borondir's hand in a token of promise to come to Gondor's aid. Eorl then called his council of Elders and began to prepare for the great riding. However this took many days to gather and muster the Éothéod. He also had to look to the defence of his people as while they were not at war there was a chance they would be attacked if others learnt that Eorl had ridden south with the majority of their might.

Eorl the Young rode south with Borondir at his side to guide them as he had so recently ridden the path they must take and the Great Éoherë of the Éothéod at his back. Their long journey south was unhindered until they reached the land which lay between the Golden Woods of Lorien and the eaves under Dol Guldur.

There they saw a great darkness ever expanding out from Dol Guldur, which faded into white mists in the west.

Borondir led them through the strange mists in which there was a great silence where they could not hear the thunder of their hooves. The strangeness of the mists hid their passing from anyone, though the Éothéod were distrustful of it.

 

Battle of Celebrant Fields and its aftermath

Eorl arrived at the Field of Celebrant on April 15th.

The Northern army of Gondor had been defeated by Balchoth in The Wold and driven across the Limlight. They were then suddenly assaulted by an army of Orcs which came streaming down out of the Misty Mountains. Assailed anew they were pressed towards the Anduin. Cut off from reinforcements from the south and facing an unexpected foe, all hope seemed lost.

It was then that with the call of war-horns the Riders of the Éothéod came like a wave over the hills behind the Orcs, breaking upon their rear the fortunes of the battle swiftly turned.

The Battle of Celebrant Fields soon turned into a slaughter with the Éothéod riding down the Orcs before turning to cross the Limlight and take the battle to the Balchoth who were already thrown into disarray and panic by the appearance of the horsemen of the North. The Éothéod hunted the Balchoth down across the plains of Calenardhon.

In the aftermath of the battle Cirion and the dminished army of Gondor made their way south accompanied by Eorl and an éored of riders.

When they came to the Mering Stream Cirion turned to Eorl and gave Calenardhon into his care for the next three months at which time they would meet again in the same place.

Three months passed and Eorl and Cirion met as agreed by the Mering Stream. Cirion led Eorl up the slopes of Amon Anwar, where he offered Eorl and the Éothéod people the lands of Calenardhon to hold and rule as their own. Eorl accepted this gift and also swore that Rohan would remain in perpetual friendship with Gondor and its enemies would also be their enemies.  Cirion then repeated much the same oath to Eorl.

From this day forth, Eorl the Young was known as Lord of the Éothéod and king of Calenardhon.