Abby Epplett, Historian

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 unlearne...

Continuing with my close read and historical comparison of the Prologue in Lord of the Rings: Part One, The Fellowship of the Ring , I move on to “3 Of the Ordering of the Shire”. This section begins by listing the parts of the Shire: North, South, East and West Farthings; Tookland; the East and West Marches of semiautonomous Buckland; and “the Westmarch added to the Shire in S.R. 1462” ( Fellowship , 10), offering the first piece of foreshadowing for the section. The rest of the section describes the lack of government and laissez-faire attitude of the nobility, the economy and rudimentary police force, and the postal service. Through this information provided in the text, I compare the culture of the Shire to other cultures in Western Europe to determine what equivalent time in history is the 15 th century of Shire Reckoning (S.R.) when the main story is set. Let’s Talk About Feudalism The Took family with its Fallohide ancestry and connection to the high king of Fo...