Éothéod

"Fram Franson" by Donato Giancola
People
Éothéod
General Information
Other names	Men of Éothéod
Origins	Northmen
Locations	near the Vales of Anduin; northern Anduin (Framsburg)
Rivalries	Dwarves of the Grey Mountains
Members	Marhwini, Forthwini, Frumgar, Fram
Gallery	Images of Éothéod

The Éothéod were a race of Northmen who flourished near the Vales of Anduin and later in northern Mirkwood from around T.A. 1856 to 2510. They were faithful allies to Gondor, and eventually were the ancestors of the Rohirrim.

History

After the Battle of the Plains (T.A. 1856), the lands of the Northmen of Rhovanion between Mirkwood and the River Running were occupied by the Wainriders and its people were enslaved. To escape this fate, many of the Northmen fled Rhovanion; some north to Dale, others south to Gondor. Marhwini, son of Marhari, led one such band of refugees north between the eastern bank of the Anduin and the western eaves of Mirkwood. Along the way they were joined by additional fugitives who had fled through the forest. They ended their journey in the Vales of Anduin between the Carrock and the Gladden Fields, where they settled for the most part on the west side of the river. There they became known as the Éothéod.

These migrations happened outside the knowledge of Gondor, who learned about their existence many years later. That was until around 1899, when Marhwini warned Calimehtar that the Wainriders were plotting to raid Calenardhon over the Undeeps. But the enslaved Northmen also prepared a revolt against the Wainriders. Calimehtar therefore provoked the Wainriders out of Ithilien, and his horsemen, joined by a large Éored led by Marhwini, drove the Wainriders back. Meanwhile outlaws and roused slaves from Mirkwood burned many Wainriders settlements. Marhwini retired to his land beside the Anduin, and the Northmen of his race never again returned to their former homes.

In the time of Forthwini, the Éothéod were troubled again by raids into the south of their land, both up the river and through the Narrows of Mirkwood. The Lord of the Éothéod then warned King Ondoher that the Wainriders were recovering. The attack finally came around 1944, and men of the Éothéod fought with Ondoher. Faramir son of Ondoher refused to remain in Minas Tirith and joined a battalion of Éothéod, but was caught with a party of them as they retreated towards the Dead Marshes. The leader of the Éothéod did not manage to save him, and Faramir died in his arms before he found out that he was the Prince. He then went to join Minohtar at the head of the North Road in Ithilien. Eventually, the Wainriders were defeated by Earnil II at the Battle of the Camp.

In T.A. 1975, proud "princes of the Rhovanion" and tall and fair riders with horses from the Vales of Anduin joined the Gondorian forces of King Eärnil II, which were led by his son prince Eärnur as a part of the Host of the West, and fought against the forces of the Witch-king of Angmar in the former lands of Arnor in the Battle of Fornost.

At that time, the Éothéod were well-known to Gondor as a people of good trust that provided Gondor with news about what happened in the region in which they lived.

Migration

Douglas Chaffee - Framsburg.

The Éothéod heard of the defeat of the Witch-king of Angmar and, led by their chieftain Frumgar, moved from the middle vales of Anduin between the Carrock and the Gladden further north to settle near the sources of the Anduin and drove away the remnants of the people of Angmar on the east side of the Misty Mountains in T.A. 1977. Their new land was north of Mirkwood, between the Misty Mountains and the Forest River, and extended southward to the confluence of the two rivers Greylin and Langwell, the sources of the Great River Anduin, near where the Ered Mithrin met the Misty Mountains. They called their land Éothéod. The Éothéod had their only fortified burg (town) at the confluence of the Greylin and the Langwell. It is not known when the burg was established, but it is possible that it already happened during the rule of Frumgar. The Éothéod burg was presumably named Framsburg after his son Fram, the famed slayer of the long-worm Dragon Scatha.

After Fram, nothing is known of the leaders of Éothéod until much later, when Léod was killed trying to tame the horse Felaróf, first of the Mearas of Rohan. His son and successor Eorl the Young tamed the horse, taking it into service as compensation for his father's life.

After Cirion succeeded his father Boromir as the Ruling Steward of Gondor in T.A. 2489, he always thought about the threat of invasion from the North. It was not until the winter of T.A. 2509 was past that he became aware that a great movement against Gondor was being prepared. Gondor faced an attack by the evil Balchoth, and Cirion sent messengers to the capital of Éothéod. King Eorl answered the call for help, and rode out with most of the Éothéod to help their allies of old, leaving only a few hundred warriors behind to protect his people. The Riders arrived just in time to help the army of Gondor to defeat the enemy in a battle at the Field of Celebrant.

The Rohirrim

Three months later, Cirion gave the largely depopulated province of Calenardhon as a gift to Eorl and his people, and Eorl swore his Oath of eternal friendship. Messengers were sent north, and the Éothéod moved from their homes to the plains of Calenardhon.

The Éothéod renamed themselves Eorlingas ("people of Eorl") and named their country the Riddermark ("land of the knights") or simply the Mark, but in Gondor they were called the Rohirrim ("Horse-lords") and their country was called Rohan ("Horse-country") in Sindarin.

Etymology

The name Éothéod is an Old English (Anglo-Saxon) name, which means "Horse-folk", "horse-people" or "Horse-land". It is a translation of the original Rohanese word Lohtûr, which contains the element loho- or lô- ("horse"). The name Éothéod consists of the Old English elements eoh ("horse") and théod ("people" or "land").