Cross-Cultural Marriages Among the Race of Men

It’s completely possible, and was even written about a few times. Keeping in mind that Tolkien wrote almost exclusively about ruling families, I don’t have any information specific to traders (though I’m sure that they married people from other cultures as well), but there are plenty of “noble” examples. Below I’ve listed just a few…

Saruman and Orthanc

So, for those who don’t know, Orthanc/Isengard was built long before Saruman arrived in Middle Earth. It was originally built by the Numenoreans (or, more accurately, the early men of Gondor) as a western watch tower (more on that in this post.) When Gondor gave the region of Calenardhon (now called Rohan) to their allies…

Marshals of the Riddermark

Traditionally, Rohan’s army had three chief commanders: the First, Second, and Third Marshals of the Riddermark, in descending rank. The First Marshal was always in charge of the military based in Edoras. The Second and Third Marshals were assigned territory depending on the situation (so, for example, during the war with Saruman, the Second Marshal…

I heard somewhere that Gondor had authority over Rohan. Could Aragorn technically order Eomer to do something when they were both Kings.

Woah, let me stop you right there – Gondor did not have authority over Rohan. Were they longstanding allies, and so have a certain amount of influence over Rohan? Sure. Were they generally considered to be a more powerful nation, and so theoretically have the ability to force Rohan to do what they want? Sure.…

I recently seen just how long The Long Winter was in the third age and I have to say I was slightly shocked because that’s how long regular winters are here in Canada, so my question is would Middle Earth’s sun be closer to them then our sun is to Earth?

My condolences, first of all. That sounds… unpleasant. The problem with the Long Winter (which lasted from November to March, and left Rohan buried in snow for 5 straight months) wasn’t that it was crazy polar conditions or anything, just that it was an abnormally long and severe winter within the context of the average…

For dotonbori-robo-dtr, who asked “Merry Christmas you rocking person! I check your blog every day and I’ve said this before but it absolutely astonishes me the amazing work you do. You’re awesome! Since tis the season, here’s a question: what’s the closest thing Middle-earth has to Christmas? Perhaps a hobbit winter festival or something… Stay awesome!”

SOURCES: LotR Appendices, The Histories of Middle Earth vol. 12, The Book of Lost Tales

Settlements in Rohan and Gondor

Okay, so we know the names of some town and cities in Rohan and Gondor. I say some because I’m convinced that there must be more towns that simply don’t show up in Tolkien’s writings or maps – especially when it comes to Rohan.  But, here’s what we know for sure: Rohan only has four…

Boromir: “I saw him ride over seven streams”

For those of you who haven’t actually read Lord of the Rings, you may not know about the Lament for Boromir. It was a song that Aragorn and Legolas sang after Boromir’s death (you can read the lyrics here, or you can listen to my favorite rendition by Adele McAllister here.) In the song, Aragorn…

Did the Rohirrim canonically have other names for Gondor?

Yep – they called it Stoningland. Which makes sense, since Gondor is Sindarin for “stone-land.” You’ll also see the Rohirrim refer to Gondor as the “South Kingdom” – not a reference to Gondor’s location in relation to Rohan, but rather an old name for Gondor from back when it was the southern kingdom, and Arnor…

The Fellowship and the Gap of Rohan

This was, of course, the route that Boromir suggested to the fellowship (especially after the Redhorn Pass proved unmanageable), saying “If we cannot cross the mountains, let us journey southwards, until we come to the Gap of Rohan, where men are friendly to my people, taking the road that I followed on my way hither.” However, it…