| Éomer | |
|---|---|
| Tolkien character | |
| In-universe information | |
| Aliases | Third Marshal of the Riddermark, the King ofRohan |
| Race | Men ofRohan |
| Book(s) | The Two Towers (1954) The Return of the King (1955) |
Éomer is a fictional character inJ. R. R. Tolkien'sMiddle-earth. He appears inThe Lord of the Rings as a leader of theRiders of Rohan who serve as cavalry to the army ofRohan, fighting againstMordor.
The name Éomer, meaning "Horse-famous" inOld English, is fromBeowulf, a work that Tolkien had studied extensively. Despite the evident Old English connection, Tolkien denied that Éomer and the Riders of Rohan directly represented the Anglo-Saxons. Scholars have noted that while in a book theimagery remains ambiguous, and can combine suggestions ofGothic as well as Anglo-Saxon origins, film such asPeter Jackson'sLord of the Rings trilogy inevitably has to choose. When Éomer appears in a helmet recalling theSutton Hoo helmet, he is plainly Anglo-Saxon.
Éomer is the son of Théodwyn and Éomund. After their parents' death Éomer and his sisterÉowyn were adopted by their uncleThéoden, king of theRohirrim. He is the leader of the forces of Rohan who attack and kill theUruk-hai who had kidnapped thehobbitsMerry Brandybuck andPippin Took. Against orders, impressed byAragorn, he helps Aragorn,Gimli andLegolas by lending them horses and guiding them to where the attack had taken place.[T 1]
On his return toEdoras, Éomer reports this meeting to Théoden, and is imprisoned on the orders ofGríma Wormtongue, Théoden's sinister advisor. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas arrive in Edoras with the wizardGandalf, who releases the king from Gríma's spell. Éomer is set free and restored to honour.[T 2] He fights at thebattle of Helm's Deep, where the forces of Rohan drive Saruman's army ofOrcs andDunlendings from the walls of the Hornburg, buying enough time for Gandalf to arrive with Erkenbrand and his men of the Westfold of Rohan.[T 3]
Éomer plays a major role in theBattle of the Pelennor Fields, the pivotal battle ofThe Return of the King against the forces of the Dark LordSauron fromMordor. After leading a successful cavalry charge, he is dismayed to find Théoden mortally wounded. Théoden appoints him King of Rohan with his dying breath. Seeing Éowyn seemingly dead on the battlefield, Éomer throws himself and the remaining Rohirrim at the enemy. Aragorn arrives unexpectedly fromPelargir, and joins forces with Éomer, fulfilling his prediction that they would meet in the midst of their enemies. They rout the Orcs and win the battle.[T 4]
Éomer accompanies Aragorn to the Gates of Mordor for the final stand against Sauron, theBattle of the Morannon.[T 5] This distracts Sauron long enough for theOne Ring to be destroyed inMount Doom, causing his immediate downfall.[T 6] Théoden is taken back to Edoras to be buried, and Éomer becomes King of the Mark.[T 7]
The Appendices toThe Lord of the Rings add a few details. In 3021 of the Third Age, Éomer marries Lothíriel, only daughter ofImrahil, prince ofDol Amroth. She bears him a son, Elfwine the Fair, who becomes King of Rohan after his father.Tolkien fan fiction imagines many alternative lives for Lothíriel.[2]
The name Éomer, meaning "Horse-famous" inOld English,[3] occurs inBeowulf, at line 1959, as that of a king descended fromOffa of Mercia. Tolkien had studiedBeowulf extensively anddrew material from it in writingThe Lord of the Rings.[4][5]
The criticPaul Kocher notes that in his first meeting withAragorn on the plains of Rohan, Éomer is moved by affection more than just by the policy of the Mark, and indeed he risks both his command and his life by assisting Aragorn, contrary to orders.[6]
The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey contrasts Éomer's behaviour with that ofFaramir, son of theRuling Steward ofGondor. In his view, Faramir is courteous, urbane, and civilised where Éomer is "compulsively truculent",[7] in both cases reflecting the character of their nations: Gondor "a kind ofRome",[7] subtle and calculating, Rohan a simple but vigorousAnglo-Saxon society.[7] In his view, Rohan resembles Anglo-Saxon society in every way, except for one: the Anglo-Saxons did not like to fight on horseback.[8]
Shippey writes further that prominent at the critical moment of theBattle of the Pelennor Fields, the decisive charge of the Riders of Rohan, ispanache, which he explains means both "the white horsetail on [Eomer's] helm floating in his speed" and "the virtue of sudden onset, the dash that sweeps away resistance."[9] Shippey notes that this allows Tolkien to display Rohan both as English, based on theirOld English names and words like "eored" (troop of cavalry), and as "alien, to offer a glimpse of the way land shapes people".[9]
In the 1978animated adaptation ofThe Lord of the Rings byRalph Bakshi, Éomer has no lines and is not fully animated.[10]
InPeter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Éomer was played by the New Zealand actorKarl Urban.[11]
The Tolkien scholarMichael Drout states that Jackson's film version of Éomer's helmet is plainly based on theSutton Hoo helmet, "the single most iconic image ofAnglo-Saxon culture".[1] Tolkien, he notes, had denied that the Riders of Rohan were actually the Anglo-Saxons, though he had made them speak theMercian dialect of that language. In a book, Drout states, there can beambiguity about visual images which are always partly in the reader's imagination; but a film inevitably reduces that useful ambiguity. Éomer's crest of horsetail, and the riders' flaxen hair give the impression of "continentalGothic" rather than Anglo-Saxons, but the film collapses that ambiguity. Drout further contrasts Jackson's presentation of Éomer in close-up in his elaborate helmet (scene 11 ofThe Two Towers), with the later scene of anEasterling soldier whose helmet covers his face. Drout writes that this carries the suggestion of "veiling andOrientalism", whereas Éomer's face can be seen between his cheek-guards, making him seem more open and less threatening.[1]
