Theoden

Theoden was born in 2948 of the Third Age in Gondor , where his father, the king of Rohan Tengel , and his mother, Morven from Lossarnach, lived then . Theoden was not their only child: he had four sisters, one of whom was Theodwin.

Theoden's wife Elfhilda died in childbirth in 2978 T.E. , having produced the only son of Theoden - Theodred . After the death of his wife, Theoden did not remarry.

In 2980, Theoden succeeded his father on the throne of Rohan.

In 3002 T.E. Eomund died, the husband of the king’s beloved sister, Theodwin. Soon she died. Theoden was very sad about her and took into his house his nephews, the children of Eomund and Theodwin - Eomer and Eowyn , whom he raised as their own children.

Theoden's closest adviser during the days described in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was a certain Grima Wormstone , who at the same time secretly served the Theoden’s neighbor, the magician Saruman , who secretly surrendered to Darkness. In 3014, T.E., when Theoden was sixty-six, his health began to deteriorate. On the one hand, this could be caused by natural causes (although the Rohirrim lived on average up to eighty years, and one of Theoden's ancestors, known as Aldor the Old, survived a century). On the other hand, the disease could provoke or strengthen the slowly acting poisons that Grim gave him. In any case, Theoden was very weak and completely dependent on his adviser. He, in turn, tried to quarrel the king with his son Theodred and nephew Eomer, whose active actions prevented Saruman from capturing Rohan.

As a Privy Councilor, Grima managed to command the Rohan forces in such a way that, eventually, shortly before the appearance of the Army Ring in Rohan, the Rohirrim had to repel the heavy blows of Saruman’s troops from different directions. It got to the point that the units of the orcs from Isengard freely moved along the Rohan steppe, while the Rohan troops could not interfere with them, shackled by orders given by Grima on behalf of Theoden. (In this way, an orc detachment under the command of Ugluk managed to unhinderedly capture two hobbits from the Brotherhood of the Ring and almost managed to deliver them to Saruman). On top of everything, King Theodred's son fell at the battle of izensky fords . The latter event finally threw Theoden into apathy, so that the fate of Rohan hung in the balance.

However, Gandalf's intervention confused Saruman's plans. Firstly, the Gray Wanderer cured Theoden of senile weakness, and he, at the head of the Rohan militia, went to the fortress of Hornburg , where the Rohirrim won (though not without the help of the Ents ) victory over the stronger army of Saruman. After that, Theoden in the company of Gandalf, Aragorn , Legolas and Gimli went to Isengard to negotiate with the aggressor Saruman. When he, using his sorcerous abilities, tried to seduce Theoden by offering him peace, the king refused, which caused the genuine fury of the former Light magician.

Also at Isengard, Theoden for the first time in his life met with the hobbits (whom he had previously known only from the legends of his people), captured by the orcs of Saruman. One of them - Meriadoc Brandyback - became his squire and followed him, even against the will of the overlord , until his death.

Ending the threat of Saruman, Theoden fulfilled the Oath of Eorl, at the head of the 6 thousandth rohirrim army, speaking to the aid of Gondor. At a decisive moment, he opened the ring of blockade around Minas Tirith and took part in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields on March 15, 3019 T.E. He personally defeated the leader of the army of Harad , but he himself was defeated by the Witch-king . Before his death, Theoden managed to say goodbye to his hobbit squire and transferred royal power to Eomer.

After the battle, Theoden's body was taken to Minas Tirith, where it rested on Rat Dinen Street among the tombs of the kings of Gondor until the end of the Ring War. On July 19 of the same year, Theoden's body was sent with great honor to Rohan, where they buried Rohirrim under a high mound according to custom.

In the absence of heirs, Theoden's place on the throne of Rohan was taken by his nephew Eomer, who became the ancestor of the new branch of the Eorle dynasty.

The name Theoden ( Eng. Théoden ) comes from the Old English word þēoden , which translates as "prince" or "king" ^{[1] [2]} . According to the etymology of Middle-earth, this word is a translation into the Old English language of the Rohan name Tûrac ^[3] .

The nickname Ednew is mentioned in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings. This term also has an Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the adjective ednēowe ( dr. “Updated”) ^[4] .

In the image of Theoden, there are references to Jordan 's information about the Battle of the Catalan Fields . Both battles take place between the civilizations of the "East" and "West", and the death of the kings - Theodoric I in the Catalun fields and Theoden in Pelennor occurred under similar circumstances. Jordan reports that Theodorich was discarded by his horse and trampled by his own horsemen, whom he led into the attack. Theoden also rallied his warriors shortly before he fell and was crushed by a horse. Like Theodoric, Theoden was carried away from the battlefield by the knights, while the battle was still ongoing ^{[5] [6]} .

In the early drafts of Tolkien, Theoden had a daughter, Idis ( Eng. Idis , from other English ides - “woman”, “lady”) ^[7] .

• Several actors claimed the role of Theoden before the role went to Bernard Hill .
• Theoden is left-handed, this is first seen in the scene of the battle with the wargs . He also writes with his left hand (the scene when Aragorn rushes into Edoras's hall to announce that Gondor needs help).
• Unlike the book, Eowyn leaned before the dying Theoden, and not the hobbit Meriadoc.

• Hammond, WG, Scull, C. The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion. - London: HarperCollins, 2005 .-- 894 p. - ISBN 0-00-720907-X .
• Solopova, E. Languages, Myths and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of JRR Tolkien's Fiction. - New York City: North Landing Books, 2009 .-- 107 p. - ISBN 0-9816607-1-1 .
• Tolkien J.R. R. Lord of the Rings . Book II. Two Towers = The Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers / Per. from English M. Kamenkovich, V. Carrick. - St. Petersburg : ABC , 1999 .-- 574 p. - 7000 copies. - ISBN 5-7684-0748-0 .
• Tolkien J.R. R. Lord of the Rings . Book III. The Return of the King = The Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King / Per. from English M. Kamenkovich, V. Carrick. - St. Petersburg : ABC , 1999 .-- 734 p. - 7000 copies. - ISBN 5-7684-0749-9 .