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How did Tolkien actually portray the Rohirrim? - Page 10

© Michael Martinez

These numbers thus show clearly that the Rohirrim were able to raise large forces in a reasonably short period of time. Necessarily, the men had to be quartered or living close to their commanders in order to answer those summonses. Whereas Theoden or Erkenbrand could each raise 1,000 men in the space of several hours, it required several days to assemble the larger Muster of Rohan, and in that event Theoden left sooner than he intended, taking only 6,000 Riders with him (but Unfinished Tales indicates Erkenbrand was left in command of a substantial force to defend Rohan). When Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn followed Ugluk's Orcs through the Emyn Muil (the range of hills in eastern Rohan bordering the lake between Rauros and Sarn Gebir) Legolas asked, "Do any folk dwell in these hills?" Aragorn replied, "No, the Rohirrim seldom come here, and it is far from Minas Tirith." When Eomer and Aragorn exchanged news and identified themselves to each each other, Eomer said, "The East-mark is my charge, the ward of the Third Marshal, and I have removed all our herds and herdfolk, withdrawing them beyond Entwash, and leaving none here but guards and swift scouts." It has been suggested that Eomer spoke of the removal of a permanent (nomadic) population. A nomadic people live in tents and derive most if not all of their sustenance from their herds. There is no mention of such people in any of the passages which detail the travels of Gandalf and the Fellowship through Rohan. We see the houses in the walled city of Edoras, the houses of the villages of Upbourn and Underharrow, and the burning homesteads of Westfold. As Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ride south from Fangorn to Edoras, there is no mention of herds and herdsfolk. They may have been prudently removed to the southern lands altogether, but there is nothing to indicate any of the Rohirrim ever led a nomadic life. Certainly none of their ancestors were nomads. The army gathered in Harrowdale when Theoden arrived from Helm's Deep was using tents, but armies have long used tents in the field, and there is no indication the tents served any other purpose than to house the soldiers. Furthermore, if the herdsfolk were nomads, who owned the herds? Why would Tolkien place the Riders of Rohan in towns and (small) cities if he intended to convey a nomadic life for them? Unless the herdsfolk Eomer spoke of were simply specialized workers, like the cowhands who roved the American west, Argentina's pampas, the grasslands of southern France (Cowboys and Vaqueros, Gauchos, etc.). Theoden lived in a hall but he seems to have possessed herds of horses. Someone watched over those herds for him. Tolkien does in fact mention such workers in "The Battles of the Fords of Isen": "...[Theodred] therefore manned the approaches, east and west, to the Fords with sturdy men on foot from the levies of Westfold. Leaving three companies of Riders, together with horse-herds and spare mounts, on the east bank." So the profession of "horse-herd" is attested, albeit only in the context of the Muster of Rohan. If the "horse-herds" lived with their families in the field, they may indeed have been nomadic in lifestyle, but they would not have been representative of Rohan's people or culture.

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