#forth eorlingas!

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Forth Eorlingas!

"A sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"

Artist: Filipe Pagliuso TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[art-of-mtg]

Forth Eorlingas! (Tales of Middle-earth Commander) - Filipe Pagliuso

More cards with art by Filipe Pagliuso on Scryfall

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Hi! I've been following you for a while and I love your account! I wanted to ask, where does your love for Rohan come from? Did you simply watch the movies/read the books and decided it was your favorite place to be or was there a deeper reason/is it a place you gradually fell in love with? I'd love to read more about your headcanons, they're all so interesting!

Aw, thank you! That’s such a lovely thing to say. I know a lot of your own characters and interests are set in the Gondor context, and I love my Oath of Eorl buddies!

I basically always loved Rohan from the first time I was exposed to LOTR as a reader. I grew up around horses, so that was hugely significant to the younger me. Rohan also had the most substantial female character in the story (Galadriel was cool but kind of scared me!), so I was very attached both to Éowyn and her land.

As I got older, I got (a little!) more nuanced in my feelings. Some of the things I like best about Rohan now are:

–Their culture seems to develop and value free thinkers. We repeatedly see Rohirrim break or bend rules and customs in order to promote what they think is a just and fair outcome – Éomer, Háma, Éowyn, Elfhelm (and presumably all 100+ guys in Elfhelm’s company), Dúnhere and others all do this at various points – and everyone who isn’t being actively manipulated by Saruman seems to accept that as a normal/good thing.

–When a book or movie positions one group of people as good but somehow inferior or subservient to another group, I often find myself attracted more to the alleged inferiors. So when Tolkien set up his hierarchy of humans and put the Gondorians/heirs of Númenor at the top and Rohan a rung below them, I just naturally gravitate to the Rohirrim, who (in my eyes) accomplish just as much and display equal honor and valor while also having the limitations of being so-called “middle men.” I like an underdog!

–Some of the big Rohan characters evolve quite a bit during the story, which doesn’t happen for everyone. Faramir was apparently born a fully actualized person, for example, and (Book) Aragorn has a pretty solid grasp on himself and how the world works. But the Rohirrim are always learning. Éowyn’s arc is huge and impactful. Éomer is constantly taking in new info and adjusting the way he looks at the world (like when Gandalf explains the concept of patriarchy to him in ROTK!). And I appreciate that about them.

–The movies absolutely played right into my preferences. The Rohan score, the scenery, the overall aesthetic (warm colors and carved wood vs. Minas Tirith’s stone and monochromes), the armor, the Karl Urban, the 6,000 people screaming “Death”. All 100% my vibe.

Thank you for asking!

[almostlookedhuman]

[tolkienillustrations]

Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, for the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and the darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.

The Ride of the Rohirrim

[princeimrahils]

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

[taavicleric]

[geniusincombatboots]

Well, I have officially fallen back into the LOTR fandom

When trying to beat a red light, or avoid another idiot driver, I have started internally screaming “DEATH!!!!”