Éothéod

The Éothéod are a Northmen people in J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium, best known as the ancestors of the Rohirrim and the founders of the kingdom of Rohan. Their homeland lay to the north of the Misty Mountains and east of the Anduin, in the upland valleys that would later be known as Calenardhon.

The Éothéod were renowned as horse-lords, a culture centered on skilled horsemanship, mobility, and a martial code that valued loyalty and kinship. They spoke a Northern Men’s tongue and maintained a strong cavalry tradition that shaped their military reputation throughout their history.

According to the lore, the Éothéod rose to prominence under Eorl the Young, who became their first king after they moved south from their northern homeland. When Balchoth horse-lords invaded the lands near Gondor, the Éothéod came to Gondor’s aid. In gratitude, the Steward Cirion granted them Calenardhon with the condition that they defend it. The land was renamed Rohan, and the Éothéod established a new realm with Edoras as its capital. Thus the Éothéod became the ruling line of the Éorlingas, the kings who led Rohan.

In the Third Age, their descendants—the Rohirrim—carried forward the Éothéod tradition. They fought alongside Gondor in the War of the Ring, marching to Minas Tirith and contributing forces to battles such as Helm’s Deep and the Pelennor Fields. The legacy of the Éothéod endures in the Rohirrim and in the cultural imprint they left on Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

Overall, the Éothéod occupy a pivotal place as the northern origin of Rohan’s horse-oriented culture and its royal line within Tolkien’s narrative framework.