Vidugavia
| Vidugavia | |
|---|---|
| Northman | |
 | |
| "Vidugavia" by Liz Danforth | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Titles | King of Rhovanion |
| Location | Rhovanion |
| Rule | 13th century, Third Age |
| Family | |
| Children | Vidumavi; apparently other children too (considering Marhari is the descendant of Vidugavia)[1] |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Gallery | Images of Vidugavia |
Vidugavia was a prince of the Northmen who called himself "King of Rhovanion" and ruled a realm that was located between Mirkwood and the River Running.[2]
History[edit | edit source]
Vidugaiva was an ally of Gondor's King Rómendacil II and had helped him in the war against the Easterlings. In T.A. 1250 Prince Valacar was sent by his father, King Rómendacil II, to the court of Vidugavia as an ambassador to learn the language, manners and policies of the Northmen. Valacar eventually loved the Northern lands and people and married Vidugavia's daughter Vidumavi.[2]
Vidugavia was apparently the father of other children, since he was also an ancestor of Marhari.[1]
Etymology[edit | edit source]
Christopher Tolkien suggests that Vidugavia is the latinized spelling of the Gothic name Widugauja, which means "wood-dweller".[3]
Jim Allan proposes that the name is a combination of the elements vidu ("forest") and gavia ("someone from a disctrict"). The element gavi means district, so gavia could mean "lord" (in the sense of lord of a disctrict) or simply "man" (in the sense of a man from the country). So the name could be translated as "Lord of the Forest" or "Man of the Forest". The name appears in the forms Witugouwo, Witicho, Witege or Wittich in german literature as the name of a son of Weland Smith.[4]
The Gothic name Widugauja does not appear in historical records, but Vidigabius was the name of a king of the Alamanni from the fourth century and according to Jordanes, an Eastern Roman writer from the sixth century who is believed to be of Gothic descent, Vidigoia was the name of an old hero of the Goths.[5]
Genealogy[edit | edit source]
| VIDUGAVIA unknown | Rómendacil II 1126 - 1366 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| children unknown | Vidumavi d. 1332 | Valacar 1194 - 1432 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldacar 1255 - 1490 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marhari d. 1856† | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kings of Rohan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "Notes", Note 5, p. 311
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for King Minalcar who took the name Rómendacil (II), p. 1046
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "Notes", Note 6, p. 311
- ↑ Jim Allan (1978), An Introduction to Elvish, pp. 189-190
- ↑ Arden R. Smith, Tolkienian Gothic, in Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder, p. 268
