THE MEN OF THE WEST
Men were the younger children if Iluvatar. "The Atani they were named by the Eldar, the Second People; but they were also called Hildor, the Followers, and many other names: Ap nonar, the Afterborn, Engwar, the Sickly, and Firimar, Mortals". [1]
Like the Eldar they split into several clans, some of which remained in the East of Middle-earth where they had first beheld the young Sun, some went South or North, and the rest moved Westwards to the lands of the Grey-Elves. Later on, after the fall of Beleriand and the War of Wrath (see The Silmarillion) those of the Men who remained faithful and devoted to the Powers of Arda and the Eldar were given a rich reward. A land, a beautiful isle was raised out of the Sea for the Edain - the Elf-friends - to dwell in. They called it Andor, the Land of Gift, Elenna, the Starwards, Anadûne, the Westernesse and also Númenorë in the High Eldarian tongue. The race, dwelling in the isle, was of great power, tall and fair of face. These were the Númenoreans, mariners of renown and lords of many ships, whom the Elves called Dúnedain. The Dúnedain spoke not only their own language, the Adûnaic, but also Sindarin, which was the tongue of lore, and their men of wisdom knew the High-elven Quenya. All the royal names of Gondor, such as Elendil, Isildur, Anarion and Elessar 'Elfstone' are of Quenya origin. Many of the Númenoreans sailed Eastwards and maintained their forts and havens upon the shores of Middle-earth. Thus the Adûnaic was spoken there and, mingled with many words of the languages of lesser men it became a Common Speech that spread thence along the coasts among all that had dealings with Westernesse. After the Downfall of Númenor, the faithful Dúnedain landed in Middle-earth where they dwelt among other folk using the Common Speech as a daily language. But they never forgot the Elven-tongues, enriching their vocabulary with many words of Sindarin and Quenya. That is why the language of Gondor - the Southern kingdom of the Dúnedain - sounds much more refined and noble in comparison with the Common Speech.
Apart from the Dúnedain many other clans inhabited Middle-earth, and they spoke mostly their native tongues. The north-western mannish peoples descended from the Three branches of the Edain of the First Age or from their close kin. Of these were the Beornings and the Woodmen of Western Mirkwood, the Men of the Long Lake and of Dale, the Rohirrim or the Eorlings as they called themselves, or the Men of the Riddermark. They still kept to their ancestral tongue but spoke the Common Speech freely as well. The Men of Bree, whose lands had become a part of the North Kingdom of Arnor, had also adopted the Common Speech as their mother tongue.
Wholly alien was the speech of the Wild Men of Druadan Forest. Alien too, or just remotely akin, was the language of the Dunlendings. In Dunland people held to their old speech and traditions, a harsh, cruel folk, hating the Dúnedain and the Rohirrim. The only name belonging to this tribe that can be found in the book is Forgoil related to the Rohirrim. It means Strawheads for the Eorlings were mostly fair-haired. And in their turn the latter called the dwellers of the Mountains Dunlendings for it was a swarthly and dark-haired folk.
Due to its etymology the language of the Rohirrim is extremely interesting to anyone who studies European tongues. John Tinkler, the author of an article 'Old English in Rohan'[6], writes that the name of a character in a book often tells the reader something about him. Thus a great many names of people, things and places have Old English roots.
A number of words in the Rohan language begins with eo,which corresponds to the OE eoh 'horse'. The earliest name for the Rohirrim is Eotheod - OE 'nation, people'. 'Horse people' is a fitting name for the men of Rohan. Eored in Rohan - a mounted regiment - means 'cavalry' according to the OE root. This can be applied to the most names of people as well. The name of the first lord of the Mark was Eorl, that corresponds to the OE eorl 'prince'.
Eomund, the chief Marshal of the Mark, was a great lover of horses and hater of Orcs. 'Mund' means 'hand' or metaphorically 'protector'.
The name of Eomer, Eomund's son seems to be particularly suitable, as he is the Third Marshal of Riddermark, since mere in OE stands for 'mare' and a related word meark means 'horse' or 'steed'.
His sister is named Eowyn, 'delight in horses', where wyn means 'joy, pleasure'.
The lord of the Mark, who lead his cavalry to glorious victory and was slain in the Great Battle for Gondor also had a 'speaking' name. Theoden corresponds to the OE eoden 'king'. His sister, wife of Eomund, was callled Theodwyn, 'joy of princes' and their father's name Thengel corresponds to the OE engel 'a prince'.
Gandalf is called by Eomer Greyhame, which is a modernization of the OE græghama 'grey covering'.
The name the Rohirrim give to their country, the Riddermark, seems to be related to the OE ridda 'horseman' and meark 'boundary'.
Hornburg, the mountain fortress, can be analized as horn 'pinnacle' and burg 'fortified place'.
Edoras, the name of the courts of Theoden, seems to come from OE edor 'dwelling house'.
The name in Rohan for Lorien is Dwimordene where dwimor means 'delusion, apparition', and dene 'valley, dale'.
We find OE roots in the names of the most noble and great horses as well. Shadowfax is the name of the horse Gandalf rides. In the language of Rohan it was probably Sceadufeax - OE sceadu 'shadow' and feax 'hair of head'. The ancestor of all the great horses of the Kings of the Mark was called Felarof: OE fela 'very' and rof 'strong, valiant'.
There are several phrases in the language of Rohan represented in the book. Thus during the feast Eomer cries, "Westu Theoden hal! " that means 'Be thou healthy, Theoden!' And Eowyn, passing her cup to her lord greets him, "Ferthu, Theoden hal! " - 'Go thou, Theoden, healthy!'
The language of Rohan not only resembles Old English, it is Old English. T.A.Shippey observes that social backgrounds of the Rohirrim have much in common with those of Anglo-Saxons when doorguards and gatewards are concerned. "They resemble those of the characters of Beowulf down to minute detail". [12]
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