Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Appendix A, II The House of Eorl

By -
A black, white, and dark blue striped header image with the text Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Appendix A, II The House of Eorl

With “I The Númenórean Kings” completed, Appendix A shifted focus to a different group of Men. “II The House of Eorl” covered similar territory to “(iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion” but with the stories told in the perspective of Eorlingas, the “translation” of the name that people from the House of Eorl called themselves. Men of Gondor called them Rohirrim, which meant “Horse-Lords” in their variant of Sindarin. In the real-world, the House of Rohan was a Breton family who lived in Brittany, France and claimed descent from the hero Conan Meriadoc. This legendary founder of Brittany will receive plenty of future commentary for his familiar-sounding name. Today, Musée du Château des Rohan de Saverne [Rohan Castle Museum in Saverne] allows visitors to learn about the family, along with viewing exhibits on nearby archaeological finds, art and history, and the life of a local female journalist.

During The Two Towers, Aragorn noted that the Rohirrim were “wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs”. How then did this written portion find itself in the Thain’s Book? Since the preceding section contained excerpts from The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, and the “Note on the Shire Record” describe Barahir the grandson of Faramir as the writer of that tale, Barahir might have transcribed stories from his grandmother, Eowyn.

Old English and the Rohirrim

Much of the original work connecting the language of Old English to J.R.R. Tolkien’s portrayal of Rohirrim was shown through the essay, “Old English in Rohan” by John Tinkler in the 1968 edition of Understanding The Lord of the Rings. He asserted that Rohirrim were literally Anglo-Saxon, speakers of Old English. However, thanks to the plethora of materials published after Tolkien’s death, especially “IX. The Making of Appendix A (iii) The House of Eorl” in The Peoples of Middle-earth, modern readers learned that the language of Rohan was “translated” as Old English.

In fact, many languages were “translated”. Most readers knew Westron was “translated” as a wide range of English dialects across Western history. Tolkien used the Early Modern English heard in the time of Shakespeare and the King James Bible as the “fair” speech of powerful people found throughout Middle-earth. Everyday language from early to mid-20th century English, the time of writing and publication, was spoken by the Hobbits. This mass “translation” to English and related languages explained why some Dwarves have “translated” Norse or Viking names, like Thorin after the god Thor. The native language of the Men of Dale was from the same language group as Westron and “translated” into Norse. Since the Dwarves of Erebor were allies to these Men, many of their known names reflected that language.

For future reference, I will mention Understanding The Lord of the Rings throughout this essay series, as the book laid a lot of ground work for… just what the title said. Experts in the field discussed the trilogy as being the tale of good versus evil, life versus death, a modern fairytale, a quest narrative, a medieval-style romance, hero worship and idealized friendship, a pagan Anglo-Saxon framework, a Christian framework, a Norse mythology framework, and an allegory on alienation. Another source of this information that I will use frequently, especially with translations, is The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion by husband-and-wife Tolkien scholar team Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. This massive commentary on the trilogy stretches almost 900 pages and while it serves as an excellent reference, it also serves as a warning to what this blog could become if I do not have restraint.

So Many Names

While the Rohirrim apparently did not keep the same genealogies as the Gondorians, this section still contains a large number of names, all of which came from Old English. Luckily for me, between Tinkler, Hammond & Scull, and the online name dictionary Behind the Name, I have learned the etymology for all names. Now you will, too, along with what each character did. Particularly interesting characters will receive the motif-index treatment in upcoming sections.

Rohirrim and Beornings

The Rohirrim were apparently related to the shape-shifting Beornings, a family of Men who shape-shifted into bears. Their patriarch, Beorn, befriended Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves during “VII Queer Lodgings” in The Hobbit, and he later fought at the Battle of the Five Armies. Shape-shifting was commonly found throughout Anglo-Saxon and Norse mythology. Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index had a pair of matching motifs: “Transformation: man to bear” (D113.2) to cover all people changing into a bear, and “Wer-bear” (D113.2.1) indicating a frequent or regular changing into a bear. The Rohirrim were never mentioned as having the ability to change into animals, but I imagine they would have been thrilled to become horses (D131).

In Norse mythology, Bödvar Bjarki was a warrior hero who shapeshifted into a bear. His name even meant “Warlike Little-Bear”. He appeared as a side character in several tales written in Old Norse or Medieval Latin, but Tolkien’s favorite version seemed to be Hrólfs saga kraka [Saga of King Rolf Kraki]. His student, Stella M. Mills, dedicated her English translation to her teacher in 1933, while Tolkien expert Tom Shippey identified that iteration of Bjarki as most similar to Beorn.

The Mark

Eldacar, also called Vinitharya, was the son of Valacar of Gondor and Vidumavi daughter of Vidugavia of Rohan. During his reign as king of Gondor, his distant cousin Castamir temporarily usurped the throne, then fled to Umbar to form the Corsairs, who continued to attack both Gondor and Rohan even after the deaths of Castamir and his family members. Eorlingas “drove away the remnants of the people of Angmar” (The Return of the King, 379) the followers of the Witch-King.

In T.A. 2510, Gondor was saved by Eorlingas when “wild men” and Orcs attacked them. The text contained ambiguity over whether these paired attacks were by “chance or design” (Return, 379). While Orcs were Servants of the Shadow by design, having been raised by Sauron and forced to do his bidding, the “wild men” may not have allied with the Necromancer. Examining this passage through a postcolonial lens, the “wild men” may have been Indigenous people seeking to regain their ancestral territory from colonizers arriving from the West and used the weakened Gondorian defenses as an opportunity to do so. The nationality of these “wild men” was not identified, only that they came from the North-east and used rafts on the Anduin River for transportation, in contrast with the Wainriders who came from the East but rode in carts.

No matter the origins of the “wild men”, they could not overcome the united forces of Gondor and Rohan. Cirion the Steward gifted Calenardhon to Eorlingas, which they renamed the Mark of the Riders. In The Road to Middle-earth, Tom Shippey shared that medieval central England was called Mercia, Mierce, or Mearc depending on who was talking (Road, 111), while Hammond & Scull supported this theory (Understanding, 249). Back in Middle-earth, the two countries stood “in perpetual alliance” (Return, 380), which was called “the Oath of Eorl” in Gondor (Return, 366).

Dragon Slaying & Bad Dwarves

Fram son of Frumgar slew the dragon Scatha but was killed by Dwarves over the hoard, causing Eorlingas to hate Dwarves ever since. The text did not specify which line of Dwarves killed Fram; apparently, Eorlingas believed all Dwarves were the same, so specification was not necessary. The motifs appearing in this story fell into two categories: dragon motifs, and dwarf motifs. Dragons (B11) received their own subsection within the “Mythical beasts and hybrids” subcategory (B10). Scatha was like a “dragon of enormous size” (B11.2.12), and a “dragon guard[ing] treasure” (B11.6.2) who represented the “power of evil” (B11.9) and died after a “fight with dragon” (B11.11).

Much more on Dwarves is to come, but this was their first in-person appearance in the Appendixes, after mentions of dwarf-mines in the mountains (Return, 351) and war between Dwarves and Orcs (Return, 367). They were not shown in a positive light, as the section was told from an Eorlingas perspective. The Motif-Index used the traditional spelling “dwarfs” rather than the Tolkien spelling “Dwarves”, but the sentiments shown primarily in category F451 “Dwarf (Underground Spirit)” were similar. Dwarves were “small” (F451.2.1.1), “malevolent” (F451.5.2), “ungrateful” that Fram slew the dragon (F451.5.2.1), and “treacherous” (K2277). Dwarves “bec[a]me angry” (F451.6.8) when they requested to have treasure from the hoard, which likely included the personal belongings of their ancestors, but Fram sent them dragon’s teeth in mockery. They sought to “punish” him (F451.5.2.6) for his disrespect and did come to “possess treasure” (F451.7.1) after killing Fram. Eorlingas viewed these actions as supporting the stereotype “Dwarfs steal from human beings” (F451.5.2.2), although from a scientific perspective, I would argue that the Races of Tolkien are all human beings, or people from the genus homo, making “Dwarves steal from Men” a more accurate phrase. To take the interpretation on step farther, Dwarves may have been violently repatriating their stolen belongings from a Man unwilling to negotiate.

Horses and Tamers

This section contained one of my favorite stories in the Appendix, but it began on a sad note. When Eorl, the great patriarch of the Eorlingas, was sixteen years old, his father Léod died at age forty-two after Mansbane, a “devastating horse” (B16.1.3), threw him. Losing a parent is a tragedy for anyone, especially a teenager, but at least Léod was the reasonable age of twenty-six when his son was born, something that could not be said for Arathorn father of Aragorn (fifty-six) and Drogo father of Frodo (sixty). Eorl tracked down the horse, but instead of shooting it in revenge, he tamed it with his voice and named it Felaróf. The animal was possibly a “magic horse” (B184.1), as Eorl believed it “understood all that men said” (Return, 380), just like Mr. Ed, and was “as long lived as Men, and so were his descendants” (Return, 380). These horses were called mearas, literally meaning “horses” in Old English. Gandalf’s horse Shadowfax, whom he received as a gift from the Rohirrim, was one of the mearas. Finally, the ancestor of Felaróf was thought to be the stallion of Béma, called Oromë by the Elves and Araw by the Valar. He was the Valar who hunted kine or ancient cows by the Sea of Rhûn as mentioned back in “(ii) The Realms in Exile”.

If motifs and intratextual references were not enough, you are in luck. This story also had a real-world history equivalent. According to legend, Alexander the Great tamed his horse Bucephalus as an arrogant ten-year-old in 346 BC. He realized the horse was afraid of shadows and had the horse face the sun before mounting him. The horse stayed with Alexander for the rest of its life, dying of old age in 326 BC, so the emperor named a city in its honor.

Nicknames and Motifs

Helm Hammerhand had a literal sobriquet, as one punch from his mighty fist led to the death of his enemies. The only named victim was Freca, a wealthy Dunlendish-Eorlingas man who proposed a marriage between his son Wulf and Helm’s unnamed daughter. From my perspective, this request did not seem unreasonable, particularly when Freca was implied to have land and liquid assets — both useful to a feudal lord like Helm — and only lacked a titled family member to cement his power. Perhaps Helm was unhappy that Freca “paid little heed to the king” (Return, 381), but having Wulf swear fealty to Helm before the marriage may have improved that situation. The only block to the union from a political perspective was that Helm thought full-blooded Eorlingas were superior to those with Dunlendish ancestors, reinforcing the complex ethnically and racially based caste system found throughout the Legendarium. Freca should have held his tongue after Helm rudely called him “fat” during their meeting, but his treasonous remark, “Old kings that refuse a proffered staff may fall on their knees” (Return, 381) could be read as a prophecy.

Helm’s name reminded me of Charles Martel, a Frankish leader who won the Battle of Tours in Brittany, France in AD 732, successfully routing soldiers from the Umayyad Caliphate, which operated a Muslim army out of Damascus, Syria. He was considered a “savior of Christendom” and given the sobriquet of “Martel” meaning “the Hammer” for his decisive leadership and strategic expertise rather than punching ability.

Several bleak motifs appeared later in Helm’s story. In T.A. 2758, he lost his throne to Freca’s vengeful son Wulf and was forced to hide in a ravine during the Long Winter, later named Helm’s Deep in his honor. During this time, both older son Haleth and younger son Hama died. Helm began killing enemies with his bare hands, and Dunlendings believed he cannibalized the victims. This action linked to the motifs “transformation: normal man to cannibal” (D91), although one could argue that Helm was never normal, and “person becomes cannibal” (G30). Each day, Helm sounded his “magic horn (musical)” (D1222) to echo through Helm’s Deep before leaving for another round of killings. He died standing up, perhaps frozen to death, but his wraith continued to sound a horn and “kill men with fear” (Return, 382), in line with the motif “ghost returns to slay enemies” (E232.4). Upon his death, Helm was interred in the ninth mound in a row of barrows at Hornburg, the burial ground of kings in Rohan. White simbelmynë or symbelmynë flowers covered his grave so thickly that it appeared white like the snow he died in. The name of the flower, which was identified as similar to an anemone or white buttercup growing across Europe, came from Old English and literally meant “evermind”, implying that those lying in the graves would never be forgotten.

Conclusion

I appreciated the inclusion of this appendix, as it gave an alternative view to the events in Middle-earth. Up until this point, the Appendix had followed the opinions of Men of Gondor. While the entire in-universe text was implied to have been heavily edited in Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, at least one person of Eorlingas-Gondorian ancestry — Barahir, grandson of Faramir and Eowyn — was involved in the compilation process, lending credibility to this source. Even with this second perspective, the text still lacked many voices. Dwarves and Dunlendings had no opportunity to explain the actions of their ancestors and were vilified as “lesser” people. This should not be mistaken for an opinion of Tolkien, the real-world author, who set himself up as the “translator” of the book. While some material in the Legendarium can be viewed as “problematic” by twenty-first century standards, I do not see those issues in this section. Even without a clear Dunlending perspective in the text, their fear of a serial killer who eats his victims can be read empathetically, and the glorification of Helm after his death was hero worship at its worst.

The stories of Eorl taming Felaróf and the increasingly horrific exploits of Helm and his relatives deserve a place in the hypothetical animated musical. A brief explanation of Eorl and his horse breaking talents, along with the magical attributes of Felaróf, might be narrated by Gandalf in a flashback as the wizard brags about his new horse, Shadowfax. The entire story of Helm might run during the first mention of Helm’s Deep, while its short sequel about his nephew Fréaláf becoming king, allying with Beren the Steward of Gondor, and befriending Saruman, could appear as the splintered Fellowship approaches Isengard to confront Saruman. The story served as an explanation on why the wizard lived in that fortress.

Finally, the Long Winter was mentioned once again. It first appeared during “1 Concerning Hobbits” and included a subsequent Famine, also called the Days of Death, during Shire Reckoning 1158 through 1160. This event may have turned Hobbit culture into one heavily focused on food preparation and eating. It next appeared during “(iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion” as a time of “misery and death in Eriador and Rohan”, although “less evil” in Gondor (Return, 366). The latest iteration alluded to famine, and the Dunderlings believed it drove Helm to cannibalism. With Hobbits and Men of Gondor present during the attempt to climb Caradhras during heavy snowfall, the first two versions might be presented. In contrast, the Rohirrim did not appear until the second and third parts of the trilogy. Eowyn, princess of Rohan, was described as being cold like winter due to her hopelessness and depression. An allusion to the worst year for her ancestors could be a meaningful comparison to the ongoing tragedies in her own life.


Read past installments of Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical