Ferthu Theoden Hal! - Page 2
© Michael Martinez
The Lords of Eastfold probably experienced uneven fortunes through the years. Many if not all of them may have been Marshals of the Mark. We know that Eomund himself became a Marshal, as did Eomer many years later. Although the Rohirrim's early foes were the Balchoth and Dunlendings, Eastfold was Eorl's home. He undoubtedly selected the region in part to help ensure the defense of Gondor, but also because it was more secure than the northern vales.
As the generations passed the Easterlings became less of a threat but the Dunlendings, many of whom were descended from Gwathuirim of Calenardhon whom the Rohirrim had displaced, became increasingly hostile and threatening to Rohan. There was some intermarriage between the Rohirrim and the Gwathuirim who lived around the river Adorn, the tributary which flowed into the Isen river from the south. Freawine, the fifth king, probably had a younger son who colonized the region, and from that son would have been descended Freca, the rebellious lord whom Helm slew, and the father of Wulf the Usurper.
Hence, Eastfold languished, or at least did not serve the purpose of a buffer state. When Easterlings invaded Rohan to help Wulf usurp the throne Eastfold may have suffered along with other regions of Rohan, but it wasn't a strategic necessity for Wulf to achieve full control of the region. Frealaf had retreated to Dunharrow and was a much more immediate threat to Edoras.
However, centuries later, when Sauron declared himself openly in Mordor, he attempted to buy horses from Rohan, though Rohan refused to sell them according to Eomer. Eomer doesn't say when Sauron made the overture, but it seems certain that events began heating up after Fengel died in 2953. Saruman declared himself Lord of Isengard in 2953 and began to help Rohan's enemies from this time onward.
Appendix A says that Thengel left Rohan when he "came to manhood" because he didn't get along well with his father, Fengel. Thengel probably left Rohan sometime between 2925 and 2930 (he was born in 2905). He married Morwen of Lossarnach, who had been born in 2922, in the year 2943. Morwen was a lady of high Numenorean descent, whose father had moved to Lossarnach from Belfalas, and they were originally descended from the Princes of Belfalas (the Lords of Dol Amroth).
Thengel therefore lived in Gondor during the years that Turgon, son of Turin II, was Ruling Steward of Gondor. Sauron reclaimed Mordor in the year 2951 and Ithilien was finally deserted by the last of its people. By this time Thengel and Morwen had had at least two children (Theoden was their second child and only son; one other daughter was born in Gondor, and two more daughters were born in Rohan).
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