Eorl the Young First King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2485 Deceased: Third Age 2545 (at the age of 60) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2510 - 2545 (35 years)

Father: Léod Son: Brego Horse: Felaróf

Eorl became the last Lord of the Éothéod in 2485 at the age of sixteen when his father was thrown from a horse he was training, struck his head, and died. Vowing to avenge his father, Eorl sought the white stallion and upon finding him Eorl said: ‘Felaróf I name you...But now you owe me a great weregild, and you shall surrender your freedom to me until your life’s end.” At that Eorl mounted Felaróf and the horse submitted. It was said that Felaróf could understand the speech of Men and it was from Felaróf that the line of the mearas were born, ridden only by the Kings of the Mark or their descendents. In 2510, Gondor was threatened simultaneously by a host of wild men from the North-east, and Orcs down from the Mountains. Cirion, twelfth Ruling Steward of Gondor, eventually sent word to the Éothéod with news of their need. With no time to spare, Eorl assembled a great host and rode to Gondor’s aid. They passed unchallenged and with great speed, assisted by a white mist that Galadriel sent out as a token of good will. At the eleventh hour, seven thousand riders and several hundred horse archers arrived unlooked for upon the Field of Celebrant, breaking upon the rear of the advancing Orc-host. The enemy scattered in fear as Eorl and his men pursued them over the plains of Calenardhon. In gratitude, Cirion gave over the Northern land of Calenardhon to the leadership of Eorl. Upon his oath to the Steward, Eorl the Young became King of the Mark of Riders. Eorl, called ‘the Young’ for his youth at the time of his succession and the fact that he remained ‘yellow-haired and ruddy to the end of his days,” established his capital at Aldburg in the Folde. He had begun construction of Meduseld before his untimely death in battle defending the Wold from Easterling attacks. Eorl and Felaróf were laid to rest together in the first mound at Barrowfield. The Rohirrim have since called themselves Eorlingas, the Sons of Eorl. Eorl was succeeded by his son Brego.

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Brego Second King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2512 Deceased: Third Age 2570 (at the age of 58) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2545 - 2570 (25 years)

Father: Eorl the Young Sons: Baldor, Aldor and Eofor

Brego, son of Eorl the Young, became the second King of the Mark at the age of thirty-three in the year 2545 of the Third Age. He had three sons, Baldor, Aldor, and Eofor. With the aid of his second son, Aldor, the last of the Dunlendings were rooted out of the Wold in 2546. They were driven out away beyond the Isen, leaving the Fords of the Isen, gateway to the Riddermark and the lands beyond, to the guardianship of the Rohirrim. Thus was established the long standing hatred of the Dunlendings for the Men of the Mark. For many years thereafter the grassy plains of Rohan saw peace. During this time Brego had the Golden Hall of Meduseld completed at Edoras. Upon completion of the hall he removed his household to the capital city. His former home of Aldburg in the Folde then passed into the hands of his third son, Eofor, whom Éomund, father of Éomer, claimed decent. In 2569, a great celebration was held in the newly completed Meduseld. During the festivities, Brego’s eldest son Baldor rashly vowed to traverse the ‘Paths of the Dead.’ Baldor never returned from the Dwimorberg. Brego passed a year later in 2570, at the age of 58, grieving the loss of his son. Baldor’s fate remained unknown until many years later when Aragorn took the paths of the dead and found his remains still clad in his gilded hauberk.

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Aldor the Old Third King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2544 Deceased: Third Age 2645 (at the age of 102) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2570- 2645 (70 years)

Father: Brego Brothers: Baldor and Eofor Son: Fréa Daughters: Aldor had three daughters (all unnamed by Tolkien)

During the festivities celebrating the completion of the Golden Hall of Meduseld, Aldor’s older brother Baldor rashly vowed to traverse the ’Paths of the Dead.’ Baldor never returned from the Dwimorberg. Brego passed a year later in 2570, and Aldor, Brego’s second son, became the third King of Rohan at the age of twenty-six. Born in 2544, he fathered at least four children, three unnamed daughters and one son, Fréa. During Aldor’s reign the last of the Dunlendings that lingered east of the Isen were driven out and their lands into Enedwaith and raided by way of reprisal. During this time the Rohirrim flourished, Harrowdale and the mountain valleys of the Ered Nimrais were settled, and Dunharrow was first established as a refuge-fort. Under Aldor’s rule, Rohan saw the beginnings of an age of peace and prosperity that would span the reign of four Kings of the Mark. He was often referred to as ’Aldor the Old’ due his great age, as he reached the age of one hundred and two before his death in 2645. His reign lasted seventy-five years, the longest in the history of the Mark.

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Fréa Fourth King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2570 Deceased: Third Age 2659 (at the age of 89) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2645 (14 years)

Father: Aldor Son: Frëawine Sisters: Aldor had three daughters (all unnamed by Tolkien)

Fréa, great-grandson of Eorl and the fourth King of the Mark, succeeded his father, Aldor the Old in 2645. Due to the length of his father’s reign, he was already well advanced in age, at seventy-five, when he ascended the throne. Born in 2570, Fréa was the fourth child born to Aldor and the only son. His fourteen-year reign was marked only for the peace and prosperity the people of Rohan enjoyed. Fréa passed his title to his son Frëawine upon his death in 2659.

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Frëawine Fifth King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2594 Deceased: Third Age 2680 (at the age of 86) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2659 - 2680 (21 years)

Father: Fréa Son: Goldwine

Frëawine, the fifth king of Rohan, ruled during the height of the peace and quiet established by Aldor the Old, and there was very little conflict between the Mark and the Dunlendings at that time. Fréa literally means ’lord’ or ’king’, but the reference in Frëawine’s name is more likely to his father, whose name happened to be ’Fréa’. The notion of Frëawine being his father’s ’friend’ or ’companion’ may not be accidental - Fréa’s father Aldor enjoyed an incredibly long reign. This meant that, for the period between Frëawine’s birth in III 2594 and Aldor’s death in III 2645, Fréa and Frëawine were heirs-in-waiting together for a total of fifty-one years. Even more remarkably, Frëawine’s own son Goldwine, and Goldwine’s son Déor, were all born within Aldor’s reign. At one point, between III 2644 and III 2645, five generations of the royal house of Rohan were existing at the same time. When old Aldor died, his young great-great-grandson Déor was about one year old. Frëawine was the son of Fréa and grandson of Aldor the Old. On account of his grandfather’s immensely long reign, Frëawine, like his father before him, became Rohan’s King in his old age, when he was already more than sixty years old. Little is said of his twenty-one years as King, except that it was a time of peace and plenty in the Mark. Frëawine was succeeded by his son Goldwine.

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Goldwine Sixth King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2619 Deceased: Third Age 2699 (at the age of 80) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2680 - 2699 (19 years)

Father: Frëawine Son: Déor

Goldwine, the sixth Lord of the Mark, inherited the throne from his father Fréawine. Of his life and reign almost nothing is known, apart from a general note that Rohan had peace and prosperity during his nineteen years as King. Goldwine was the last of Rohan’s Kings to enjoy a peaceful reign for many years. He was succeeded by his son Déor, in whose time the Dunlendings driven out by Goldwine’s great-grandfather Aldor began to reappear in the northern marches. They would trouble the Rohirrim for many generations. The implications of Goldwine’s name aren’t entirely certain. He may have been a ’gold-friend’ in the sense that he loved riches, or in the sense that he bought the friendship of his nobles with gold. Given that Rohan was known to have been both peaceful and prosperous during his reign, the latter might seem the more likely.

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Déor Seventh King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2644 Deceased: Third Age 2718 (at the age of 74) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2699 - 2718 (19 years)

Father: Goldwine Son: Gram

Déor was the direct descendant of Eorl the Young, who inherited the Kingship of Rohan from his father Goldwine. Déor’s great-great-grandfather, Aldor the Old, had hunted out the Dunlendings that had harried the eastern borders of Rohan, and his successors Fréa, Fréawine and Goldwine had enjoyed peaceful reigns because of their ancestor’s enterprises. In Déor’s time, this peace came to an end. It was later discovered that the Dunlendings had secretly been moving back into the northwestern uplands of Rohan throughout the reigns of Déor’s predecessors. By Déor’s own time, a powerful Dunlendish force had been established, and the King was forced to ride northward from Edoras, ultimately to defeat his enemies. The victory was a bitter one, though, for he discovered that the Dunlendings had also captured the Ring of Isengard, which Déor had no possible means of recapturing. So Déor’s reign saw the beginning of a danger from the north that would reach a crisis nearly fifty years later, when the Dunlendings were to come close to destroying Rohan altogether. In III.2710. Rohan was often raided by Dunlendings who came across the river Isen from Dunland and in 2710 the Dunlendings occupied the deserted ring of Isengard. In Déor’s reign from III 2699 to 2718, the trouble began to return. The Dunlendings began to creep into the territory of the Mark once more and in particular they gained the Ring of Isen and they became too strong for the forces of Rohan to push them out. Déor’s turbulent reign lasted nineteen years. He was succeeded as King by his son, Gram.

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Gram Eighth King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2668 Deceased: Third Age 2747 (at the age of 73) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2718 - 2747 (29 years)

Father: Déor Son: Helm Hammerhand

Gram, the son of Déor and father of Helm Hammerhand, who ruled Rohan as the eighth Lord of the Mark. His reign was a time of warfare with the Dunlendings, who had occupied Isengard during his father’s time, and continued to raid and harass the Rohirrim. During this time the Dunlendings pushed the borders of the Mark even further back and Rohan was close to being overrun.

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Helm Hammerhand Ninth King of Rohan

Born: Third Age 2691 Deceased: Third Age 2759 (at the age of 78) Reigned as King of Rohan: Third Age 2741 to Third Age 2759 (18 years)

Father: Gram Son: Two: Haleth, who was slain in the Third Age 2758 while defending the doors of Meduseld against its assailant, Wulf and Háma, who perished in the Third Age 2759 while on a foraying mission from the Hornburg.

Gram, the son of Déor and father of Helm Hammerhand, who ruled Rohan as the eighth Lord of the Mark. His reign was a time of warfare with the Dunlendings, who had occupied Isengard during his father’s time, and continued to raid and harass the Rohirrim. During this time the Dunlendings pushed the borders of the Mark even further back and Rohan was close to being overrun.

Abbreviated by Anka For the full essay, go >here<

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