How did Tolkien actually portray the Rohirrim? - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
The Kingdom of Rhovanion is attested from the middle of the 13th century in the Third Age (Vidugavia's time) until the middle of the 19th century. Unfinished Tales says the people of this kingdom were "a numerous and powerful confederation of peoples...great breeders of horses and riders renownded for their skill and endurance, though their settled homes were in the eaves of the Forest...." The Great Plague of 1636 killed more than half the Northmen of Rhovanion and initiated their decline.
In the year 1851 the Wainriders began to attack Gondor and they did not spare Rhovanion. After the Battle of the Plains in 1856, the Northman kingdom was overrun and its people were mostly slain or enslaved. Some fled north up the Celduin and others fled west into the Forest. This event is highly reminiscent of the demise of the Gothic lands when the Huns invaded Europe. Many of the Goths passed into the Roman Empire, seeking refuge, and yet many others were conquered by the Huns and forced to join their confederation of tribes. Generations later Goths would fight Goths when Aetius turned back the Huns in Gaul. It is perhaps significant that Tolkien used the Gothic language to provide names for Vidugavia (an Latinized form of widugauja, "wood-dweller"), his daughter (Vidumavi, Latinized from widumawi, "wood-maiden"), and her son, Vinitharya (later King Eldacar of Gondor). Tolkien continued to use Gothic in this fashion for the names of the early chieftains of the Eotheod.
Marhari, a descendant of Vidugavia (and probably the last king of Rhovanion), led the rearguard of the combined forces of Rhovanion and Gondor in the Battle of the Plains. He fell and his son Marhwini (Gothic "horse" + "friend", marh + wini) gathered a remnant of their people and fled west and then north around the Forest to the Vales of Anduin. He established a settlement between the Carrock and the Gladden fields, east of Anduin and close to the Forest. Tolkien tells us "this was the beginning of the Eotheod" (Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl", section {i}).
Marhwini still led his exiled people in 1899 when King Calimehtar of Gondor (son of Narmacil II, who had fallen in the Battle of the Plains) inflicted a great defeat on the Wainriders. Marhwini's people arranged for a rebellion to erupt in Rhovanion while the greater part of the Wainriders' warriors were engaged with Gondor's army (which Marhwini's cavalry assisted). The rebellion came off as planned but most of the slaves were slain or recaptured. Marhwini's people, only a small remnant of their once great nation, thus retreated to the Vales of Anduin again and gave up hope of returning to their former homes.
Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The copyright of the article How did Tolkien actually portray the Rohirrim? - Page 7 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish How did Tolkien actually portray the Rohirrim? - Page 7 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Michael Martinez's J.R.R. Tolkien topic, please visit the Discussions page.