Forth Eorlingas!

"A sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"

Forth Eorlingas! (Tales of Middle-earth Commander) - Filipe Pagliuso

Aw, thank you! That’s such a lovely thing to say. I know a lot of your own characters and interests are set in the Gondor context, and I love my Oath of Eorl buddies!

I basically always loved Rohan from the first time I was exposed to LOTR as a reader. I grew up around horses, so that was hugely significant to the younger me. Rohan also had the most substantial female character in the story (Galadriel was cool but kind of scared me!), so I was very attached both to Éowyn and her land.

As I got older, I got (a little!) more nuanced in my feelings. Some of the things I like best about Rohan now are:

–Their culture seems to develop and value free thinkers. We repeatedly see Rohirrim break or bend rules and customs in order to promote what they think is a just and fair outcome – Éomer, Háma, Éowyn, Elfhelm (and presumably all 100+ guys in Elfhelm’s company), Dúnhere and others all do this at various points – and everyone who isn’t being actively manipulated by Saruman seems to accept that as a normal/good thing.

–When a book or movie positions one group of people as good but somehow inferior or subservient to another group, I often find myself attracted more to the alleged inferiors. So when Tolkien set up his hierarchy of humans and put the Gondorians/heirs of Númenor at the top and Rohan a rung below them, I just naturally gravitate to the Rohirrim, who (in my eyes) accomplish just as much and display equal honor and valor while also having the limitations of being so-called “middle men.” I like an underdog!

–Some of the big Rohan characters evolve quite a bit during the story, which doesn’t happen for everyone. Faramir was apparently born a fully actualized person, for example, and (Book) Aragorn has a pretty solid grasp on himself and how the world works. But the Rohirrim are always learning. Éowyn’s arc is huge and impactful. Éomer is constantly taking in new info and adjusting the way he looks at the world (like when Gandalf explains the concept of patriarchy to him in ROTK!). And I appreciate that about them.

–The movies absolutely played right into my preferences. The Rohan score, the scenery, the overall aesthetic (warm colors and carved wood vs. Minas Tirith’s stone and monochromes), the armor, the Karl Urban, the 6,000 people screaming “Death”. All 100% my vibe.