Theoden, 17th king of Rohan
Thengel the 16th king of Rohan had two children a daughter named Theodwyn and son Theoden. Theoden became the 16th king of Rohan after Thengel.
Theoden’s sister Theodwyn had two children Eomer and Eowyn that Theoden adopted after the death of Theodwyn and her husband. Theoden had his own son Theodred.
Theoden was 71 years old and ruled Rohan during the timepoint of the War of the Ring and when the remnants of the Fellowship of the Ring arrived at Rohan.
Theoden was a fair king, however by the plot of Saruman and Theoden’s advisor Grima Wormtongue Rohan was put into great danger.
Ties between Theoden and Aragorn
In the movie Lord of the Rings, Theoden was polite to Aragorn but Theoden was a bit sensitive to Aragorn’s advice reminding him that Theoden himself was the king of Rohan.
Theoden was 71 years old while Aragorn was 87 years old at this timepoint. Aragorn already served Theoden’s father Thengel and both of them met when Theoden was a child.
As remarked before, Aragorn’s bloodline was inherited from Numenor, that was considered a legend in the movie of the Lord of the Rings.
Numenoreans were blessed with longer life and were stronger than ordinary men. Thus Theoden respected Aragorn and acted polite to him as an elder as well.
As remarked before, Aragorn’s bloodline was inherited from Numenor, that was considered a legend in the movie of the Lord of the Rings. Numenoreans were blessed with longer life and were stronger than ordinary men. Thus Theoden respected Aragorn and acted polite to him as an elder as well.
Grima Wormtongue and Saruman’s corruption of Theoden
Grima Wormtongue became a secret spy for Saruman as Saruman promised the lands of Rohan and Theoden’s nephew Eowyn as a prize. Grima Wormtongue secretly longed for Eowyn and accepted Saruman’s offer and started to poison king Theoden’s remedy.
Grima Wormtongue would become a chief advisor of king Theoden manipulating king Theoden by his will as if he were the king of Rohan. Saruman was able to infiltrate into the minds of Theoden and mind controlled him that led Rohan into a crisis.
Theoden’s conflict with Theodred and Eomer
By the plot of Grima Wormtongue and Saruman, Theoden was out of his mind and he thought his son Theodred was too weak to claim the throne of Rohan while his nephew Eomer was ambitious and planning to rebel and claim the throne.
Eomer and Theodred attempted to bring back Theoden to sanity, however Grima Wormtongue was able to intercept all attempts.
The forces of Isengard started to pillage and plunge the westfold of Rohan so Theodred was occupied defending the lands of Rohan against Saruman’s forces.
In the novel, Eomer stayed at Edoras and even evacuated to Hornburg Castle while Erkenbrand relieved the Hornburg Castle along with Gandalf at Helm’s Deep. In the movie adaptation, Eomer was exiled by Grima wormtongue.
Military of Rohan and Marshals of Rohan
The Rohirrim or the Eorlingas were all experts at horse riding. The standing army of Rohan mostly resided at Edoras as the king’s guard and the army of Rohan were mostly militia but still all people of Rohan were experts at cavalry.
Villages or certain regions were able to form an Eored, a company of military personnel. A fully mobilized Eored would be 120 men.
The high-ranking officers of the mobilized military of the riders of Rohan were the marshals. There were distinctions among the marshals, however it isn’t clear in the movie of the Lord of the Rings. Marshals were referred to as Marshals of the Riddermark(Riddermark is the country name that the Rohirrim called themselves)
Theodred was one of the marshals and commanded the westfold, the western region of Rohan. Eomer was also a marshal and commanded the east-mark.
Elfhelm was a marshal that was placed at Edoras with Hama as the captain of the royal king’s guard. Erkenbrand was a notable lord in the westfold that came back from retirement and led the armies of Rohan after Theodred was severely wounded. Grimbold was also a notable captain of Rohan.
Battles of the Fords of Isen – Theodred’s fatal wounds
The Fords of Isen was a strategic location where massive armies could cross the Isen River. Saruman had to secure the Fords of Isen for a massive invasion to Rohan.
Theodred was also aware of this and the forces of Isengard and Rohan clashed at the Fords of Isen. This was the first major battle between the military forces of Rohan and Isengard.
The Rohirrim mobilized by Theodred of the westfold held a great fight, however the Dunlendings, orcs, wargs, uruk hai of Saruman were able to make consecutive attacks on the forces of Rohan defending the Fords of Isen.
Theodred was severely wounded at the first battle and despite the efforts of the Rohirrim Rohan riders, Saruman claimed the Fords of Isen. After Saruman secured the Fords of Isen, Saruman receives news of Rohan’s retreat to the Hornburg Castle at Helm’s Deep.
Orc’s threat on Merry and Pippin
The Uruk-Hai and the orcs that kidnapped Merry and Pippin have constantly moved east from Amon Hen where they’ve picked up Merry (Meriadoc Brandybuck) and Pippin(Peregrin Took). The orcs and the Uruk-Hai take camp near the Fangorn Forest.
In them movie, the orcs and the uruk-hai fight each other over Merry and Pippin as the orcs of Mordor wanted to cut off the legs of Merry and Pippin for food while the uruk-hai refused as the hobbits needed to be intact by Saruman’s order.
Ugluk, the captain of the uruk-hai band slays an orc attempting to slice the legs of Merry and Pippin. In the original novel, Grishnakh, the captain of the orcs of Mordor tried to secretly search Merry and Pippin for the One Ring by Sauron’s order.
The presence of Ugluk the uruk-hai captain prevented Grishnakh from searching the hobbits by Saruman’s orders.
Sauron and Saruman’s misunderstanding of the One Ring’s whereabouts – Merry and Pippin
Sauron and Saruman had limited information and at this time point, both didn’t know that there were two hobbits Sam and Frodo that were secretly heading to Mordor with the One Ring.
Sauron and Saruman both thought that the hobbits that the uruk-hai kidnapped Merry and Pippin wielded the One Ring with them. Thus, the kidnap of Merry and Pippin caused a great diversion to both Sauron and Saruman.
Massacre of the Uruk-Hai Camp - Eomer's atttack & Merry and Pippin's escape
Right before Merry and Pippin were put in danger, the Eored, a Rohan Rider company led by Eomer ambushed the camp of the orcs and the uruk-hai.
During all the chaos, Merry and Pippin fled inside the Fangorn Forest. Merry and Pippin realized that the Fangorn Forest was unusually thick and silent without knowing that the men of Rohan, Gondor or the orcs feared the Fangorn Forest.
