The Kingdom of Rohan is a land untamed.
There are few great cities and its people live instead amongst a sea of grass which
conceals hidden pools and windswept pastures.
The darker powers of Middle Earth might judge such lands vulnerable, for there are scarcely
any fortresses or garrisons of a kind common in Gondor.
But any invasion of Rohan would be met by a force for which the land itself was named.
Horse-lords whose men form a living wall, crashing down upon the enemy in a thundering
wave of death.
Perhaps more than any other army, Middle Earth owes its salvation to the Rohirrim, the Riders
of the Mark, the Riders of Rohan.
The bond between the peoples of Rohan and their horses has always been close, both in
times of war and peace.
While their armies include companies of archers and infantry, it is the horsemen that form
the largest contingent of their forces.
The Riders of Rohan represent the Kingdom’s best trained horsemen.
Only a select few serve as professional soldiers, with the majority instead acting as a well
trained militia only mustered in times of war.
Individual riders vary greatly in both appearance and armament, equipped with whatever weaponry
they found most favorable over any kind of standardized arms.
Typically they prefer long spears, swords, axes, round wooden shields, light helms and
mail armour.
The only Rohirrim that might be described as proper Knights are the King’s Riders,
the personal bodyguard of the King of Rohan.
Despite their shortcomings, even the most basic horseman within the Riders of Rohan
is one of the most capable mounted soldiers in Middle Earth, matching or surpassing the
trained armoured Knights of Gondor or any other nation.
Among their already legendary horses are the “mearas”, the most noble and fastest horses
to ever roam the world.
Riders are organized into éored, numbering roughly 120 horsemen.
They patrol across the broad stretches of Rohan, hunting down raiders, bandits or more
foul creatures.
In times of war, a Muster of Rohan is declared, and every able Rider is formed into éored’s
and sent into battle.
For centuries the Riders of Rohan have been bound to the Oath of Eorl, committed to the
defense of neighboring Gondor in times of peril.
Together these Kingdoms routed invasions of Orcs and Dunlending raiders, but when the
power of the Dark Lord crept back into the world, Rohan and Gondor stood divided.
Weakened by the manipulations of Sauron’s servants, King Theoden of Rohan had slipped
into indifference and he remained blind to the threat that grew against his realm.
Any attempt to muster the Rohirrim was thwarted by Chief Advisor to the King, “Wormtongue”.
By the time Theoden had regained his senses and Wormtongue cast out, a legion of brutal
Uruk-Hai marched against Rohan and few of the kingdom’s riders had been called for.
In the fortress known as Helm’s Deep, King Theoden prepared to make his final stand.
The fighting raged throughout the night until some sorcery demolished the bastion’s outer
wall.
As dawn approached, Theoden and his remaining riders led a vicious charge as the Horn of
Helm Hammerhand sounded above them.
Riding into certain death, they were instead joined Gandalf the White, who, along with
Eomer, the Marshal of the Mark and thousands of Riders, carved their way into the Uruk-Hai’s
flank.
In a matter of moments, one of the greatest armies of the enemy had been shattered and
hope was restored to Rohan.
But the work of the Rohirrim remained unfinished, as the armies of Mordor itself threatened
the Kingdom of Gondor and had arrived at the very walls of Minas Tirith.
The beacons were lit, and Rohan answered.
On the Pelennor Fields the greatest mustering of the Riders of Rohan in recent memory charged
straight into the servants of darkness.
Despite tremendous odds, they broke through Mordor’s hordes of Orcs and continued to
fight even in the face of a counter-charge by the
Haradrim and their enormous Mûmakil.
What might have happened if the Rohirrim had not honored their ancient oaths is too terrible
to consider.
When the Men of the West made their last stand at the Gates of Mordor, the Rohirrim were
among them.
In drawing his plans against the free peoples of Middle Earth, Sauron had thought that the
Time of Man was over.
But more than any other force that rose to resist him, the Riders of Rohan, at Helms
Deep, Minas Tirith, and within Mordor itself, proved that strength remained in the hearts
of Men.
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