Éomer
| Éomer | |
|---|---|
| Tolkien character | |
| In-universe information | |
| Aliases | Third Marshal of the Riddermark, the King of Rohan |
| Race | Men of Rohan |
| Book(s) | The Two Towers (1954) The Return of the King (1955) |
Éomer is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. He appears in The Lord of the Rings as a leader of the Riders of Rohan who serve as cavalry to the army of Rohan, fighting against Mordor.
The name Éomer, meaning "Horse-famous" in Old English, is from Beowulf, a work that Tolkien had studied extensively. Despite the evident Old English connection, Tolkien denied that Éomer and the Riders of Rohan directly represented the Anglo-Saxons. Scholars have noted that while in a book the imagery remains ambiguous, and can combine suggestions of Gothic as well as Anglo-Saxon origins, film such as Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy inevitably has to choose. When Éomer appears in a helmet recalling the Sutton Hoo helmet, he is plainly Anglo-Saxon.