Eorl the Young: Founder of Rohan | Tolkien Explained

today we're picking up with part two on the eothaide people and the story of how they became the rohirrim nearly 400 years after the time of fram the dragon slayer leod is lord of the aeothe he is known as a great horseman and during his rule he captures a white foal who is both wild and proud when the horse is full grown layout attempts to break the horse but is thrown off his head strikes a rock and he is killed at the age of 42. the lordship passes to his son ayoro who is just 16 years old at the time aorel swears to avenge his father he hunts down the horse demanding the horse give up his freedom in payment for the death of his father the horse who could understand the speech of men agrees earl names his horse fedorov the first of the meras and ancestor of shadowfax nine years later in 2510 lord kirion the ruling steward of gondor receives word that hosts of men are mustering along the southern edge of mirkwood with plans to invade gondor lord kirian sends six volunteer writers to attempt the 950-mile journey through kalinadron over the undeep's and past the shadow of dolgodur to ask their friends of old the ayothe for aid of the six only a single gondorian writer manages to make it all the way to framsburg the writer boron dear presents lord aoral with the red arrow and the seal of the stewards this is the first mention of the red arrow the method which gondor would use to summon its allies in times of need borondir informs errol that the weakened realm of gondor now kingless for nearly 500 years has been attacked by the balkhoff a fierce group of easterlings errol takes boron deer as a guide and assembles a great aoger an aeothaid term meaning a full muster of their armed riders they make their way from framsburg through the eastern vales of anduin and as they approach the southern portion of mirkwood they keep as far to the west as possible to avoid the darkness of dolgodur as they proceed a mysterious mist comes from the west we find more of this story in unfinished tales where it says errol did not halt right on he commanded there is no other way to take after so long a road shall we be held back from battle by a river mist as they drew near they saw that the white mist was driving back the glooms of dolgodor and soon they passed into it writing slowly at first and warily but under its canopy all things were lit with a clear and shadowless light while to the left and right they were guarded as it were by white walls of secrecy the lady of the golden wood is on our side it seems said barandir maybe said errol but at least i will trust the wisdom of fellaroff he sense no evil his heart is high and his weariness is healed he strains to be given his head so be it for never have i had more need of secrecy and speed then fellarov sprang forward and all the hosts behind followed like a great wind but in a strange silence as if their hooves did not beat upon the ground so they rode on as fresh and eager as on the morning of their setting out during that day in the next but at dawn of the third day they rose from their rest and suddenly the mist was gone and they saw that they were far out in the open lands it goes on to say that they had reached there with a speed beyond hope indeed barandir was correct in his assessment galadriel herself had conjured the mist allowing them to pass through the land with speed avoiding the shadow of dulgaldur as the aeothed made their way from framsburg the balcoth who were under the sway of dolgodur had crossed the anduin river with the assistance of orcs from the misty mountains they invade gondor's minimally populated northern realm of kalinaradan because this area had been mostly abandoned long before the balkhoff met little resistance by the time the northern army of gondor appears from the fortresses of isengard aglerond and other fortresses in the white mountains most of the balcoth army had already crossed into the wold the northeastern part of calinardon just east of fangorn forest the north army led by kirion counter attacks and is driven into the world cut off from later reinforcements by the balkoth army by the time gondor's southern army appears the north army is under attack by a band of orcs from the misty mountains the gondorians are now backed against the river in a hopeless situation at this time surprising both friend and foe lord errol appears bringing with him 7 000 fully armed riders and 700 horsed archers the aeothade cross the anduin at the undeeps of the river and break upon the rear guard of the balkoff the balcoth army is nearly completely destroyed and the gondorian armies are saved the aothead continue making their way into northern gondor scattering and destroying all the balcoth in calinardon before parting kirion asks errol to meet him in three months upon the banks of the maring stream farewell now erol son of leod i will return to my home where much needs to be set in order kalinadan i commit to your care for this time if you are not in haste to return to your own realm in three months time i will meet you here again and then we will take counsel together i will come errol answered and so they parted when they meet again three months later kirian had cleared the overgrown path up amon anwar and the two men with their parties ascend the hill before they reached the top kirian reveals his resolution i will now declare what i have resolved with the authority of the stewards of kings to offer errol son of laod lord of the aeoth aid in recognition of the valor of his people and of the help beyond hope that he brought to gondor in a time of dire need to arrow i will give in free gift all the great land of kalinardon from anduin to isen there if he will he shall be kind and his heirs after him and his people shall dwell in freedom while the authority of the stewards endures until the great king returns no bond shall be laid upon them other than their own laws and will save in this only they shall live in perpetual friendship with gondor and its enemies shall be their enemies while both realms endure but the same bond shall be laid also on the people of gondor then errol stood up but remained for some time silent for he was amazed by the great generosity of the gift and the noble terms in which it had been offered and he saw the wisdom of kirian both on his own behalf as ruler of gondor seeking to protect what remained of his realm and as a friend of the aeothade of whose needs he was aware for they were now grown to a people too numerous for their land in the north and longed to return south to their former home but they were restrained by the fear of dolgodur but in calinardon they would have room beyond hope and yet be far from the shadows of merkwood yet beyond wisdom and policy both kirian and ero were moved at the time by the great friendship that bound their people together and by the love that was between them as true men on the part of kirian the love was that of a wise father old in the cares of the world for a son in the strength and hope of his youth while in kirion errol saw the highest and noblest man of the world that he knew and the wisest on whom set the majesty of the kings of men of long ago at last when ero had swiftly passed all these things through his thought he spoke saying lord steward of the great king the gift that you offer i accept for myself and my people it far exceeds any reward that our deeds could have earned if they had not themselves been a free gift of friendship but now i will seal that friendship with an oath that shall not be forgotten then let us go now to the high place said kirion and before these witnesses take such oaths as seem fitting the group continues their climb and upon reaching the summit kirian reveals the tomb of a lindyl the tomb of olendo was built by a seal door at the beginning of the third age and had been kept secret for well over two thousand years only the kings and stewards of gondor knew of its location and had the right to approach it before his son halas the prince of dal amroth and two other councillors of gondor as witnesses kirion pledges his bond with errol in return ero swears what would become known as the oath of ero here now all peoples who bow not to the shadow in the east by the gift of the lord of mundberg we will come to dwell in the land that he names kalinardon and therefore i vow in my own name and on behalf of the ayoth aid of the north that between us and the great people of the west there shall be friendship forever their enemies shall be our enemies their needs shall be our need and whatsoever evil or threat or assault may come upon them we will aid them to the utmost end of our strength this vow shall descend to my heirs all such as may come after me in our new land and let them keep it in faith unbroken lest the shadow fall upon them and they become accursed thus errol becomes the first king of rohan kirian speaks an invocation in kuenya and the common speech calling the valar and aru to witness the oaths that were taken this oath shall stand in memory of the glory of the land of the star and of the faith of elendil the faithful in the keeping of those who sit upon the thrones of the west and of the one who is above all thrones forever errol leaves half his army behind and takes the other half north to eofade bringing those who had stayed behind to their new home in calinardon ero builds the first capital of rohan aldberg in the region known as the fold he has one son brego a name which peter jackson borrowed for his adaptations his name is brego he was my cousin's horse even in his older years errol never loses his yellow hair this combined with his ascension to lordship at such a young age would forever give him the nickname ero the young he dies in battle against the easterlings in 2545 in the wold and is buried in the first royal mound outside the gate of edoras his steed fellaroff who also died in the battle was buried with him brego becomes king of rohan and goes on to defend the borders of rohan against their enemies drives the remaining orcs and the balkhoff off the wall and oversees the further migration of the aothead to calenardon he builds the golden hall of meduseld in 2569 and makes eterest the capital of rohan his lordship of aldberg passes to brego's youngest son eofour it would pass through his line to the time of the war of the ring when eomer son of almond nephew of king theoden dwelt there as third marshal of the ritter mark until his own ascension to the throne of rohan thanks so much for watching be sure to hit subscribe if you enjoyed this video i want to say a huge thank you to my patreon patrons including my first wizard level supporter tom debombadil19 go to patreon.com nerd of the rings to find out how you can not only support the channel but also get some exclusive perks thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time on nerd of the rings

Channel: Nerd of the Rings

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Keywords: tolkien, lord of the rings, lotr, hobbit, the hobbit, nerd of the rings, silmarillion, rohan, rohan lotr, founding rohan, rohan founded, eorl, eorl the young, cirion, steward of gondor, shadowfax, gandalf, rohirrim, eotheod, riders of rohan, charge of the rohirrim, king of rohan, theoden, eomer, brego, brego horse, aragorn horse, men of the west, history of middle earth, unfinished tales, numenor, gondor, balchoth, easterlings, red arrow, red arrow gondor, red arrow rohan

Id: c2EHaA44CRw

Length: 11min 56sec (716 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 09 2020