Rohan: The Places of Middle Earth

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Rohan is one of my favorite places in Middle Earth, mostly because of how detailed and realistic it is. Today, we're discussing Tolkien's love for English history, movie Behind the Scenes and Anglo-Saxon architecture!
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[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

During this holiday season, get up to 50% off a MasterClass subscription. Head over masterclass.yt.link/OJyGDcQ for the current offer!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Were there any specific points made in Jemisin’s Master Class that you particularly enjoyed or took interest in?

[@chrisvickers7928]

I don't know if you follow the archeology show Time Team at all but they are currently involved in a series of digs in other parts of the Sutton Hoo site and are following a group who are constructing a replica of the ship.

[@legoguyiguess3279]

You need to make a video about the new movie

[@EricaFiore]

Jess of the Shire. have you looked or learned the lore of Skyrim, I think Skyrim would interest you. It is very deep in human history and lore. There are tons of Vids on KZbin.

[@rikhuravidansker]

@EricaFiore Skyrim seems like a ripoff of LOTR.

[@MorgothsBalrog]

Edoras is the most impressive set in the movies, in my opinion. The fact they spent months building it and only shot there for 8 days and tore it all down boggles my mind. That dedication is not something that filmmakers do anymore.

[@steve4729]

I would say it’s between that or Moria. The models the built are insanely large and detailed.

[@Olfan]

They should have left it standing, it would have become a pilgrimage destination just like Hobbiton.

[@flamencoprof]

@@Olfan It's a nature reserve. Pilgrims and their infrastructure would cause destruction, not preservation. Hobbiton is just in an area of similar commercial farmland. It is already a deeply altered landscape due to European farming techniques.

[@theimaginariumnetwork5621]

Happens all the time....

[@Olfan]

@@flamencoprof Oh, I see. In this case, the no traces approach was the better one.

[@jasonknight8581]

Rohan has Walmarts, Gondor has Targets. Rohan has supper, Gondor has dinner. Rohan has cellars, Gondor has basements. The Shire on the other hand can't be bothered and just enjoys their gardens and many breakfasts.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

that's oddly...quite accurate

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Yep!

[@vaudevillian7]

Weirdly supper and cellars would probably be the other way round in British English / culture. We’d probably say tea for Rohan and dinner for Gondor, but having supper, which is really a separate later light meal, is more of a middle class thing. And a cellar over a basement might imply that the former has wine in it. Basement isn’t a commonly used word though, nor really a common thing.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Gondor has no Burger King, Gondor needs no Burger King.

[@Dowlphin]

@@dungeonsanddobbers2683 Rohan banished Burger King after a big meat type scandal.

[@bsa45acp]

One bit of Anglo-Saxon culture that was in the movie was éowyn's singing at the funeral of her brother Théodred. That was Anglo-Saxon she was singing. Loved your video! I must also add that I have hiked to the top of Mt. Sunday and there is not a single shred or blemish caused by the construction of the set.

[@BodaciousBeaversEaters]

Whites are just the best aren't we

[@pyroxon]

cousin* Théodred

[@isaacfletcher3067]

6 months for like a 2 week or 2-day shoot or something ridiculous like that. As a Kiwi can't overstate the amount of love and time that went into these films.

[@SirBolsón]

"My body is broken. I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed." - King Théoden, King of Rohan, Lord of the Mark, Horsemaster, Father of Horse-men.

[@Bryan-d8j]

“Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day’s rising he rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing. Hope he rekindled, and in hope ended; over death, over dread, over doom lifted out of loss, out of life, unto long glory.”

[@ericvanvlandren8987]

One simple fact tells us so much about the nature of Rohan. It’s people, the Rohirrim, called their land The Riddermark - The Land of the Knights, for that is how they saw themselves.

[@stevenguy-gibbens4253]

I love seeing this reimagined version of the Saxons, I work at an old Saxon town fort, and have previously worked recording and processing Anglo-Saxon material culture but like you say it’s so elusive, we see glimpses but to see that world brought to life and visualised on such a grand scale is beautiful and helps my imagination fly!

[@williampalmer8052]

I've always been a big fan of the Anglo Saxon aesthetic, epsecially their jewelry and cloisonne work. To me, the Rohirrim of the movies also had the best sword designs, and I especially like the one Eowyn used to dispatch the Witch King. I even have two replicas of it - one of which is real steel, and the other is a foam version, safe for use in mock battle.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Awesome!

[@RingsLoreMaster]

I suppose Eowyn is one of your favorite characters. Wormtongue's lustful desire for her was, II thought, the best portrayal of a relationship within the first movie. It was the one Jackson additive I did not mind in the least. It was the only detail I sort of wished Tolkien had included. Of course, it was not the type of thing he would have included.

[@MiLikesVids]

@@RingsLoreMaster He did. Gandalf makes the accusation in 'The King of the Golden Hall' and Eomer confirms it saying he was ready to kill Wormtongue himself in spite of Theoden's law.

[@cliveshergold9467]

All that, and ... Bernard Hill as Théoden. Brilliantly unforgettable.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

Theoden, King!

[@zsoltkovacs7656]

Fascinating. As a Hungarian I always felt that Rohan at least a little was inspired by my ancestors - the Hungarians, the Huns and the Scythians. The importance of horses, the Golden hall, the landscape all resemble these cultures and how they lived in ancient times. + 2 fun facts: 1. Rohan in Hungarian means Runs (for example time runs = rohan az idő. Or "to run" ´= rohanni). 2. Theoden's charge in Helms Deep resembles the last stand of a Hungarian hero, Miklós Zrínyi who during the defense of Szigetvár charged out with his remaining soldiers to face the overwhelming enemy. Check out the painting Zrínyi's charge. :) ... and Thank you, your videos are amazing!

[@kispankum]

Very good point. Anglo-Saxon culture mixed with a Scythian, Hungarian, Hunnic livestyle.

[@honoriswithin]

The Sythian are the common ancestors. We are all cousins, tribes from the same ancient stock.

[@alicelund147]

I thought about the Goths. Also horsemen of the open plains, but with a Germanic language and aesthetics.

[@alanbeaumont4848]

They were blond ergo they're Scandinavian.

[@kispankum]

@@alanbeaumont4848 this looks like a very American comment to me. Don't even know where to start...

[@blob22201]

I've always loved Rohan more than anything else in LOTR. My favourite scene from the books is Gandalf healing Theoden in Meduseld, I just love the hopeful message and the setting of a King's hall set above the hill in a wide plain.

[@SteveJubs]

Same! And that score doesn’t hurt either.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

There are a lot of scenes that us nerds like to point to as the ones that make us emotional when watching these films, and for me it's the funeral for Theoden's son. The dirge and Theoden breaking down get to me more than anything else in these films.

[@blob22201]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 I'm not too fond of the scene in the film. They turned the triumph of an old man's hope into a fistfight and a weird posession thing.

[@HS-su3cf]

Visited Sutton Hoo this summer. And also West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. At West Stow they have a Hobbit Hole, but no hobbit was there when I visited.

[@Yandarval]

The Hobbit's would have been on a epic journey, to find the legendary "High Cream Tea of England". Otherwise they would have been at home, to greet you visiting.🤫

[@imperialinquisition6006]

West Stow has a Lord of the Rings event sometimes. Very fitting I think.

[@TLowGrrreen]

He must have nipped out for a pint at the Green Dragon.😊

[@rikhuravidansker]

A hobbit hole?

[@Yandarval]

@@rikhuravidansker Hobbit house. Built into a hill.

[@hammondpickle]

My sister is a professional archaeologist and had the privilege of working at Sutton Hoo for while a decade or three ago. To me the parallels between Rohan and Anglo-Saxon England seem most trivially obvious in the names of the leading characters. So many Æ's everywhere.

[@charmvoid7416]

Rohans cavalry charge at Gondor was based on the greatest cavalry charge in history at the siege of Vienna led by Polish King Jan Sobieski and his famous Winged Hussars. That was main Tolkien's inspiration for the charge but it gives more room for speculation

[@ishmaelforester9825]

I'll admit, it's the poem Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing? Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow; The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?

[@ishmaelforester9825]

That is so good. That poem alone is Rohan.

[@ishmaelforester9825]

Tolkien was a great poet on his ground and that's probably his best.

[@kiaradoesart9682]

A well timed video! The War of the Rohirrim came out this week in New Zealand and I just saw it earlier today! I quite liked it, I was steeling myself for disappointment but I found it interesting how they sewed the themes of Eowyn's story into that time period in Rohan's history. Tolkien never naming or writing about Helm's daughter was very convenient for those coming after 🤭My only real criticism is that the moving characters were not drawn nearly as beautifully as the scenery, just was a bit jarring even if I can understand why. I was SO happy to see Miranda Otto and Billy Boyd's names in the credits, as well as them still crediting Alan Lee and John Howe for their designs and Howard Shore for the music they adapted. Weird to hear and see such echoes from LOTR almost verbatim, and probably won't help the film escape direct comparisons but I thought it was well entertaining enough.

[@BodaciousBeaversEaters]

So it's not tolkien at all poor little panties

[@brianpreval5602]

Merry Christmas, as an Englishman listening to your tales was very interesting, I will keep my eye out for more!

[@snooderblade315]

Amazing video! Rohan has always been the most interesting land of middle earth to me and I adore the Sutton Hoo boat mound so seeing both in one video is even better:D One extra intersting detail regarding the helmet is the cloisonné style garnet inlays on the eyes. Generally with cloisonné inlays you put gold foil behind the garnets, this makes the gems glow when hit by light (similar to how car lights light up with the mirrors inside). The Sutton Hoo helmet is unqiue in that it only has gold foil on one of the eyes so when the garnets would reflect the light from within the mead hall the wearer of the helmet would appear one eyed. The ruling dynasty of East Anglia (the Wuffingas) that the helmet likely belonged to were also said to be direclty decended from the god Wodan, the Anglo-Saxon name for Odin, making the helmet a possible depiction of the one eyed god!

[@honoriswithin]

Yes, well said!

[@differous01]

"Hwær cwom mearg? Where is the horse? Hwær cwom mago? Where is the young man? Hwær cwom maþþumgyfa? Where the gift-giver? Hwær cwom symbla gesetu? Where the house of feast? Hwær sindon seledreamas? Where the hall's uproar? Eala beorht bune! Alas, bright cup! Eala byrnwiga! Alas, burnished fighter! Eala þeodnes þrym! Alas, proud prince! Hu seo þrag gewat, How that time has passed, Genap under nihthelm, Dark under night sky, Swa heo no wære. As if it never had been." [OE poem Earþ-stepper - The Wanderer] Tolkien drew from this poem, not just for Rohan: without the "maþþumgyfa" there'd be no Mathom House at Michel Delving.

[@flamencoprof]

Thanks for your scholarship. I always liked the Tolkien reading of Mathom as gifts re-given for generations.

[@mikelovett2677]

Don’t know and haven’t checked if it’s still available but the Penguin Classics ‘The earliest English Poems’ features The Wanderer and other wonderful poems such as ‘The Ruin’. Worth acquiring and not hard to see where Tolkien found some inspiration. ‘The Ruin’ in particular is quite evocative.

[@differous01]

@ "Meriadoc... wrote a treatise on 'Old Words and Names in The Shire', showing special interest in the kinship with the language of the Rohirrim of such 'Shire-words' as mathom..." [Prologue to LotR]

[@Dowlphin]

'high, not gross' - Such a profound choice, considering the alternative of the easy way to grab attention through lowly themes, which as we know can be quite the crowd-pleaser, too.

[@pendragon2012]

Rohan is a fascinating culture. I had always kind of thought of it as more modeled on the Norse, but given its more landlocked process, the Anglo-Saxon "angle" (see what I did there) makes a lot of sense. Great video as always, Jess!

[@antonyreyn]

Cool but when have the AS been landlocked? When they came from Jutland they had the North Sea one side and the Baltic the other, and Britain is an Island.

[@rikhuravidansker]

@@antonyreyn I think he means much of England is farmland, whilst most Scandinavians live near the sea because of the mountains and forests.

[@theGhostofRoberttheBruce]

The largest cavalry unit in Cumbria was approximately 1,000 strong. It was known as the Ala Petriana and came from the nearest Continental country, Gaul (ie France and possibly Belgium). It was stationed at Stanwix, Carlisle, in command of Hadrian's Wall, from 130 AD and for nearly 300 years thereafter. It was a "crack regiment" in modern terms, heavily decorated for bravery in battle. It consisted of 24 troops of 32 cavalry, nearly 800 men.

[@timelordvictorious]

I like how Rohan is like the Anglo Saxons was an interesting time lost in British history

[@GummeeH3]

The Rohirrim always struck me as vikings placed in the plains. Horses rather than boats for transportation

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Tolkien made some truly beautiful parallels there

[@imperialinquisition6006]

@@GummeeH3 They seem more to be based on the early Anglo-Saxons/Beowulf than the later Vikings, though their culture was probably very similar. The names certainly though are basically straight out of Beowulf, as well as a lot of the iconography and ideas, e.g. the Meduseld the Golden Hall is very Heorot like.

[@michaelsommers2356]

@@GummeeH3 But the Rohirrim were not traders and raiders, as the Vikings were. They did not go a-viking.

[@alicelund147]

@@imperialinquisition6006 But the story in Beowulf takes place in Denmark and Southern Sweden. The hall is in Denmark not in England.

[@allisongliot]

I love your point about how Tolkien masterfully uses stories to help us see historical cultures we might otherwise look down (like Anglo-Saxon culture) on in a totally new light. Just because there aren’t that many surviving artifacts doesn’t mean past civilizations didn’t have thriving cultures! Also agree that Rohan’s music in LOTR is the best!!! (Totally not biased as a strings player 😉)

[@kispankum]

It's fascinating how you come up with new hair styles and smooth commercial breaks in every video =) love both

[@Tisbutascratch930]

When explaining LOTR lore to my girlfriend, I told her that Rohan is easily my favorite part of Tolkien’s story. As a grand tribute to Germanic/Anglo Saxon culture, It perfectly encapsulates what I love about Middle Earth. In fact, I’m trying to convince my girlfriend to one day name our son Theoden xD

[@dementiasorrow]

It's a great name. I hope you get your dream realized and little Theoden grows to be an honorable man like his namesake.

[@Tisbutascratch930]

@@dementiasorrowthank you, friend! :)

[@sjins1poolboy698]

Awesome video as always, thanks Jess! Saw War of the Rohirrim last night and while it's not perfect, I really enjoyed it! The visuals were mostly excellent, the music phenomenal, and the characters are pretty engaging. Brian Cox does a great job voicing Helm and he has an epic presence. All in all it very much felt like a return to Rohan and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Middle Earth on the big screen again.

[@justindevoe9556]

I saw the movie last night, and as someone obsessed with Rohan i absolutely loved it. The animation cut some corners but the story and acting was great

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Given how The War of the Rohirrim just came out, I must say that the timing of this video is excellent and I hope that the algorithm gods bless you! BTW Michalina Malisz did an awesome cover of ‘The Riders of Rohan’ a while back and I think that you might really enjoy it (she’s also in a great band called LYRRE who deserve more love and attention). Seeing as you’ve repeatedly proven yourself to be a very talented vocalist, I actually think that it would be really cool if the two of you collaborated at some point down the line!

[@SirBolsón]

I think the hate for that series is overdone most definitely.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@SirBoggins Any Tolkien adaptation is going to get hated on by gatekeepers even if they haven't seen it. Besides, these are the kind of people who claim to be experts but are far, far from that, so we shouldn't pay them any mind and enjoy media that isn't harming anyone.

[@SirBolsón]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 Agreed.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@SirBoggins 👍

[@totallynuts7595]

@SirBoggins Won't talk about the film itself because I've not seen it, but I hate the narrative around it: "Hera, a character neglected by Tolkien, is now given the spotlight" or things to that effect. When she wasn't a character in Tolkien's work. She didn't exist. He wrote that Helm Hammerhand had a daughter and that's that. Why the hell are the articles going "Tolkien mistreated her, she was an afterthought"? Nevermind the fact that I question the quality of the film as an adaptation given that they basically inserted their OC in Tolkien's work. I have no interest in the film, likely won't watch it, but if I did, I'd approach it very skeptically.

[@Polosebastian14]

Oxford parks. He lived in headington and would travel certain paths into town. There is a certain park just before Magdalen college. An influence

[@stardust1837]

when we speak about the human soul art and music are far more important than anything else but love. thank you for these indepth programs

[@SirBolsón]

I'm in the midst of going through my second reading of The Hobbit and (when I am finally done with such a magnificent tale) I shall go on forward to The Lord of the Rings book trilogy, so this video is well-done and well-timed!!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Have fun!

[@SirBolsón]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 Thnx!

[@SirBolsón]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 I shall!!!!

[@SirBolsón]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 Gracias!

[@SirBolsón]

"Rohan, if being a hero is having the courage to resist using power arbitrarily, then you are a hero, beloved." Merry Christmas to all men and women of the west and Arda!

[@davidioanhedges]

I went to Sutton Hoo earlier this year .. the landscape is still reminiscent ... and the artefacts are wonderful

[@_daboi]

Not sure if anyone here would agree, but I have a theory that Rohan was also the basis for Whiterun in Skyrim. They have very similar geography (big open plains), their capital city is built on a large hill, they both use the colour green and images of horses in their heraldry, even in their rulers (Balgruuf looks so much like Theoden in the movies). It's something that's always stuck out to me.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

🤔

[@veritanuda]

Yup, I thought that too.

[@electricelephant7471]

It was definitely 100% the basis

[@jhsams]

thats pretty spot on and

[@alfieingrouille1528]

This isn't even a theory this is a basic fact?

[@RupertMarsh]

Always good stuff, but YES do Sutton Hoo! Would love to see your take on that and the influence on fantasy

[@MrTValleyguy]

I'm reminded of something I read somewhere about the mead hall being a point of light, warmth and fellowship in the howling wilderness.

[@arlindhox7007]

Great rendition of the concept. Also looking very 'Rohanian' :) The Scythian, horse-riders of the Russian Steppe I believe are an inspiration too

[@honoriswithin]

Yes, the Scythians are the common ancestors of European peoples. The horse masters that spread culture from India to the British isles.

[@rksnj6797]

Thank you for this video. The Meduseld set always interested me. I thought it and the surrounding village were so realistic.

[@mathieuguillet4036]

The Rohan seem to blend elements of central Germanic and Viking/Norse culture in Tolkien's universe.

[@Brunavargen]

Great video about my favourite Middle-Earth culture! I just got back from watching War of the Rohirrim and I really enjoyed it! It is a shame that there is so much negativity surrounding it, because to me it is a genuinly good adaptation that builds on what Tolkien and the Jackson movies created. It felt like the creators had done their homework, invoking the flawed heroes and villains of the old sagas. Cannot recommend it enough! 😃

[@Ren_Brands]

Great Video very insightful. My favourite visuals for a Nation in the lotr Movies, i just love the look they created for the Buildings and costumes.

[@MosBaked]

Lovely video, really enjoyed learning about Anglo Saxon art

[@RigelDeneb172]

Fascinating! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and erudition.

[@davidbentley1114]

England comes from Angleland. Not Anglo. The Angles arrived in SE Britain, the Acute Angles headed north, whilst the Obtuse Angles headed west.😊

[@Echo_Mike]

Glad I found your videos, refreshing

[@infraRedRidingHood]

Yorkshire here right about where Middle earth would have been my grandad was from Scotland so my accent has ended up exactly same as Hobbits and Dwarves I like your channel and energy subscribed

[@tobias-holub]

I looooved War of the Rohirrim, hope you all get to see it soon! And hope we‘ll get a review video hahaah

[@kaiser5910]

Thank you, Miss Jess. Another story well told :)

[@ianmacmurray7294]

I love that the Riders of the Mark didn’t have the breeding or the resources of Gondor so they did it all with heart. It’s an example I’ve tried to carry with me since meeting them in the books.

[@derbline]

Following a visit to the land of my ancestors in Moss, Norway last year and finding the long boat museum in Oslo closed until 2027 I was looking to visit Sutton Hoo at some point this year, just as a coincidence when looking in to accomodation I discovered Secret Meadows Glamping about 5 miles away, you may want to look at their Horsebox Hideaway when you book your own visit if you fancy a Hobbity stay.

[@rjhayward1]

Thank you, love Rohan.

[@robertmassie4903]

I live in BedfordSHIRE.We have a Saxon castle 3 miles away.No buildings as they rotted away hundreds of years ago.But we have a mound on a hill with ditches around it.All over grown but still visible.Britain still has hundreds of these castles.You need to check out the Ordnance Survey maps to find them.Many villages have moats but no other sign of the castle or hall.🇬🇧

[@davidcauley9400]

Your hair is ON POINT!

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

It always is!

[@ilikemandalorians9861]

Now I await your opinion video on WotR! I just walked out of the cinema 30 min ago and thoroughly enjoyed it (it was all the more special for me because I had not seen a M-E film on the big screen before) 23:30 it may not be live action but it’s still PJ-inspired 😅 I think they’re supposed to be part of the same cinematic universe thingy

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

My dad and I have talked about seeing it tomorrow. Miranda Otto served as the narrator and the trailer opened with the long shots from The Two Towers, so it's 100% in the same cinematic universe.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Yeah, unfortunately the influence of Peter Jackson seems inescapable lol

[@ilikemandalorians9861]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire personally, I like the familiar and distrust the unfamiliar so I do not object to sticking with the same visual language 😅

[@ilikemandalorians9861]

@@sebastianevangelista4921 I do like that the film feels like a bedtime story Eowyn would tell. It keeps that historical chronicle/oral history vibe of the Appendices

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@ilikemandalorians9861 Indeed

[@kadymiddleton6699]

I look forward to seeing you do more videos on the histories that inspired Tolkien

[@SirBolsón]

Tolkien himself is said to have wanted to make Middle-Earth and Arda at first as a national epic for England, so he hit his stride when he constructed the nation of Rohan. As a Brit of roughly 25-30% Anglosaxon stock, I find it charming that he helped give our peoples something to greatly appreciate even decades after his finished works. Hilariously (and unsurprisingly) enough, Tolkien also claimed that the most catastrophic event in England's history was when the Anglosaxons were overthrown and conquered by the Normans (i.e. French) which may also be the reason that the culture and legacy of the Anglosaxons is more diminished now than it was at the time due to the centuries long occupation by the French. Ironically enough, the equally barbarian Viking Norse (who had already been conquering and subjugating the English and other Britons for the past two centuries) were more favoured as rulers during the Viking rule of the Danelaw.

[@michael3088]

I'd just like to state that dna is by no where near an accurate measure of one's ethnicity, you have to remember that prior to migration from the continent germanic and 'Celtic' people's were mixing well before and people's get absorbed by more dominant tribes over time so the percentage doesn't matter so much as just it being present and after migration and founding of England celtic people's being assimilated over time and celtic women being married into a germanic patriarchal society become Saxons themselves by the 3rd 4rth or 5rth generation the old culture wanes out of living memory. So Saxons are still Saxons regardless of other genetic influence, ethnic identity and tribal affiliation is a more nuanced topic then just looking at dna percentage.

[@tarmaque]

@@michael3088 Indeed, we're all mutts. Consider also the Roman occupation of the Island. Roman soldiers running around all over the place, and they came from all over the Roman empire. Gauls and North Africans and Balkans and Greeks etc. You name it, they probably spread their seed on the shores of Great Brittan.

[@sulljoh1]

Of course he did lol

[@sulljoh1]

@michal3088 I think people interpret those DNA tests too literally. They are just statistical associations based on existing records and flags in your DNA. It becomes a matter of interpretation at some point.

[@SirBolsón]

@michael3088 Yup! I also take pride in my Celtic ancestry such as my Welsh, Scots, Irish and Ulster Scots blood!

[@kevinsullivan3448]

I see some Mongol Horse nomad influence in the Rohirim. There are challenges of being horse nomads that the Anglo-Saxons did not have.

[@davidbarrass]

During the migration period there were plenty of germanic horse warrior peoples, the Goths for example. Although I do agree that the Anglo-Saxons didn't seem to be mounted people

[@Tar-Elenion]

The Rohirrim were not nomads. Tom Shippey notes that the Rohirrim are not the Anglo-Saxons of history, but rather the Anglo-Saxons of poetry. See _The Road to Middle-earth_

[@glassisland]

I managed to see 'War of the Rohirrim' in the theatre with two of my daughters - I even got the super-cheesy Helm Hammerhand hammer. We really liked the movie, and would love to see more like it. Very curious to hear what you thought!

[@daveperryman291]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@Kane-BOT]

Your outfits are always really cool

[@brendankennedy7831]

Edoras set is partly why 2 towers if my favorite of the trilogy.

[@chad1413-i9i]

An older Rohan origin story was that Tolkien lamented the near total disappearance of Anglo-Saxon literature and lore, lost by the Normanisation of the culture. Wondering what would have been retained if the Anglo-Saxons had a calvary at the Battle of Hastings, he merged the horse with Anglo-Saxon culture & language to create Rohan. Anglo-Saxon-style lore reappears in The Simarillion with various monsters, dragons, heroes, tales, etc.

[@johnboro]

As much the Christianisation of the A/S culture as the advent of the Normans…

[@flamencoprof]

NZer here. Thx for a thoughtful presentation. I signed to an agency ASAP when I heard LOTR was to be filmed here. No call :-( I read LOTR in 1964 when a friend told me the school had a whole 3-volume sequel to The Hobbit, which a teacher read to us a year or two earlier. Sutton Hoo was not in my knowledge sphere. I imagined the Rohirrim as sort of vikings with horses instead of ships. I have since realised how little I knew at that age, that "viking" is a verb, and the Rohirrim were too settled to do that.

[@michael3088]

Being made from organic material its sad not alot of Saxon structures are still around. We can only imagine how beautifully they would have been carved and decorated

[@jonhowarth9911]

The discovery at Sutton Hoo was made into a film The Dig (2021) following the work of Edith Pretty and archaeologist Basil Brown

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

I'll have to check this out! Sounds very neat

[@jonhowarth9911]

@ Previously a book by John Preston

[@the98themperoroftheholybri33]

Middle earth in the third age is basically the British isles during the invasion of the great heathen army of Danes. The Dunedain are the Celtic Bytonnic people, the Gondorians and Arnorians are the Anglo Saxons, ancestors who came from across the sea to settle onto that land, and the Numernorians are the Romans, a once great empire who fell to their own pride and corruption. Think about the similarities, an invasion by savage strangers who seemingly kill and loot without rhyme or reason, while a lone king must unite all the kingdoms of men to fight this great evil, Aragorn is essentially King Alfred the great

[@moniquetroth]

If you haven't already discovered him, may I recommend The Welsh Viking here on YT? He talks in great depth about the North People, their doings in the various parts of the current UK & in their original homelands. Plus, Jimmy's just tons of fun in general.

[@matthewschwoebel8247]

To me, Rohan is a mix of Anglo-Saxon with Alan horse culture.

[@SirBolsón]

Yes, the Indo-Iranian Alans who now live in the Caucasus as the Ossetians.

[@matthewschwoebel8247]

@SirBoggins They get under-represented in most end of Rome history, because they were scattered in groups like eastern Brittany/Orleans area.

[@SirBolsón]

@@matthewschwoebel8247 As well as the plains of central Iberia. It would have been pretty interesting to have them conquer either Gaul or Iberia, lol!!!!

[@matthewschwoebel8247]

@SirBoggins Agreed! The Alans were at most of the major battles of that age - Goths vs. East Romans in 378, Vandals vs. Romans in 439, Aetius vs. Attila in 451, even Clovis vs. Visigoths in 507.

[@SirBolsón]

@matthewschwoebel8247 Mhm.

[@antinn7448]

very nice essay.

[@MrTValleyguy]

I'm going to make one more comment than I will be still. I've had times of binge watching Time Team. Anglo-Saxon digs were challenging because they used materials that tended to rot so they might find portholes but no posts. I'm shutting up now.

[@MaximusGrattan]

I come from Pembrokeshire not far from Monmouthshire where Lord of the Rings was written, beautiful landscape 🎉

[@charlesmarlowstanfield]

Great video. Thank you.

[@hmmm6317]

What a coincidence! Im currently researching Anglo Saxon archaeology for a Rohirrim kit!

[@pamelatarajcak5634]

This is so coincidental as I'm rewatching Two Towers tomorrow! Lol

[@thegreatermysteries4134]

Excellent video!

[@svenbeowulfsson641]

J.R.R. Tolkien was immensely taken with the national epics of the Finns with their Kalevala, the German Ring Saga about Siegfried and the Icelandic Sagas. The Beowulf saga is actually a Danish saga, but it has been preserved in Old English and thus became the Anglo-Saxon saga of England. But Tolkien knew that it was not a creation of the Anglo-Saxons of England and wanted to create his own Anglo-Saxon epic in England and for England with his epic “The Lord of the Rings”. Sven

[@Josh-jr5oi]

Just watched the new Rohan movie and i really enjoyed it

[@johna4371]

Been teaching English for 25 years, and I used to cover Beowulf often. I still remember some kid complaining that the whole first part of the story was just a bunch of guys fighting to defend their favorite bar. Clearly I didn't adequately convey the importance of the mead hall...

[@tabularasa7350]

Numenor allegory touches two cultures: the Atlanteans and the Normands, the Normands composed the English noble bloodlines after their conquest, starting the Plantagenet from which all Noble Roses 🌹 come from to the Tudor Dinasty. also the Normans conquered many other Kingdoms of Europe including parts of Italy and Sicily.

[@adventussaxonum448]

England's first Plantagenet king was Henry II. His mother was directly descended from Aelfred the Great.

[@tabularasa7350]

yes and The Plantagenet also were Normans and lived in Normandy.

[@tylerrissell9837]

That purple and pink snake on the Dune book looks great.

[@michaellarson938]

The Anglo-Saxons were a literat people. It was from them that we got the Anglo-Saxon chronicles. At first they wrote in Anglo-Saxon runes which Tolkien used in his books... And later just before being conquered by The Duke William Northumbrian runes.

[@BodaciousBeaversEaters]

And the affectations

[@jamesmaybrick2001]

Just a few extra details. Eomer was a name Tolkien borrowed from Beowulf/history. The possibly mythical Eomer was allegedly father of a Mercian King. Wiki tells me that the prof used other Mercian names (although i doesnt say which). I find this fun and certainly wont be a random pick. As a man who grew up in Birmigham (the area is Brum now, im not sure if it was counted as in Brum 100 years ago) he was certainly a man from the Midlands. Mercia was the Anglo Saxon kingdom that covered what is known as the Midands now. Tolkein would have know this. He could have picked any name, but he chose one (more if Wiki is true) from his (and mine also) home. To put it another way? Peaky Blinders is set in modern day Rohan. Sadly, Saruman won after all. :( Sarehole Mill is still there. Its weird, i have been meaning to go for 40 years now. I just never quite get around to it. 2025 will be the year!

[@meinermeinungnach4797]

Not sure it's relevant but Schwerpunkt made such great content on Anglo-Saxon warfare, I'd love to see a coop/interview on it or something

[@F6blue]

Tolkien stated that the Rohirrim were based on the Early English. The Golden Hall is adapted directly from Beowulf.

[@Ren_Brands]

Would love a Video about the Anglo Saxons or multiple

[@mennorach]

Good analysis on the topic. I went to see the movie. It was good in the same way that the original trilogy is good, just a more modern take on the legendarium. It also has the same kind of problems that the originals had that a history nerd is going to pick up on. Overall a very enjoyable experience.

[@Jacob-W-5570]

I did see War of the Rohirrim, and I must say it is a worthy movie to follow up on the LotR.

[@TempestFirestrike]

There is a lot of connection to the Jutes Hengest and Horsa who lead the Anglo Saxon invasion of Britain as well all the horse related imagery is reminiscent of Hengest and Horsa and their kingdom of Kent...

[@GravesRWFiA]

Part of the reason it was called the 'dark ages' was that it came after the fall of the roman empire and marked a loss of the trade and such given by the pax romana AND it was noted by viking raids that caused no end of problems. This is so marked that the dark ages are noted as ending in 1066- the norman conquest and the defeat of the vikings at Stamford Bridge by harold Godwinson that was so decisive it marked the end of viking depredations.

[@greghackenberg1209]

If there was on single part of the movies I would screen for Tolkien, it would be Rohan. Heck, any historian or archeologist working the period who dig post holes and beam slots, maybe charcoal from a hearth on a good day.

[@Ian-Saxon]

Forth Eorlingas!

[@poull.sivebaekjensen4058]

@Jess_of_the_Shire As always Jessica you have mesmerizing way of deducing a story, the lovely nerdiness and care is astonishing... Thank you! As the original meaning of England - in Danish "Eng" is a type of 'meadow' and "land" is 'land', so it means 'land of the meadows' or 'meadowland'... 😉 - I know some scullers of old told it the other way but it might be a stretch of 'aengel' - whilst the other plausible explanation is more likely and direct ...😊😊 And it wasn't because they didn't have the cgi to make it life-like however cgi will always feel a little off to our eyes... It is the same today as then... But we tend to ignore it for the sake of the story... 🎉🎉🎉

[@Nick-hi9gx]

Funny enough, Rohan isn't actually aesthetically based on the Angles or the Saxons, but the Jutes, the third group of people who went over to England alongside the Angles and Saxons. They were by far the smallest, but it was their architecture that was adopted by the Saxons, and through them brought to England. The Jutes came from northern Jutland, essentially Denmark now, where the Saxons were from a bit further south. Most of what is now Germany had architecture that was far more influenced by the La Tienne cultures, the "Celts", including their style of settlement and Late Antiquity Romans. The Jutland style fits better with the weather they got up in northern Jutland, and in the rest of Scandinavia, which is structured more like a castle. Settlements were built around a major hall, but that would often be used as a secondary redoubt, a proto-keep, that would eventually become the long halls of the "vikings". Where the Saxons in Saxony and the Angles who stayed in Germany continued to adopt culture and aesthetic, especially architecture, from the Frankish courts the Anglo-Saxons adopted the Jute style both of settlement and of housing and building because it works much better for the stupid amounts of rain in Britain, just like it does for the stupid amounts of snow in most of Scandinavia. And while the difference seems small and nitpicky, they would eventually snowball into English burghs, the small towns of Medieval England, becoming fortified towns rather than simply a town around a fortified castle, added many centuries later. When the Angles and Saxons took most of England, the Jutes remained in East Anglia and the North, and later much of this would become the Danelaw (many centuries later) and get a second infusion of Nordic architecture. Gondor, conversely, is based on the Celtic style settlement, both Minas' circular structure with concentric rings, mixed with the Greek style of building on an outcropping of rock or hill to make an acropolis. Culturally, Gondor seems to be just kind of "generic mixed Celtic peoples," with "generic mixed Low Germanic High Medieval peoples".

[@adventussaxonum448]

The Jutes were kings of Kent. They also settled the Isle of Wight and southern Hampshire. East Anglia was home to Angles, though the ruling house may have had some connections to Sweden.

[@Nick-hi9gx]

@@adventussaxonum448 The Jutes were not the kings of Kent beyond the first century of migration. The Angles controlled northern Kent, taking it through marriage, while the Saxons took control of southern Kent. The Jutes were the first ones there, but were replaced by the far more numerous Angles and Saxons, and were also the first ones in northern Anglia and the North. Literally where my family is from. We are in the Domesday Book. And they have nothing to do with Sweden...do you know where Jutland is?

[@devildante9]

Some people ask why Tolkien never wrote a paper or thesis on anglo-saxons. Well, it's all in the book, he poured all his knowledge and skill into the Rohirrim and their land.

[@ZealouswolfNZ]

Luckily for me, the filming location for Edoras is only a couple hours drive from my house 😁😁

[@RABartlett]

The 2004 video game LORD OF THE RINGS: THE THIRD AGE, which hardcore Tolkienites consider blasphemous and hardcore gamers find half-baked, is reasonably fun to walk through as a tour of Middle Earth, and Rohan was always my favorite stop. It's even vaguely festive for this time of year (even if it half on fire.) I've always been kind obessessed with the sort of visual contrast shorthand between Rohan and Gondor (Though, I think if Lord of the Rings were "real", the two kingdoms would probably have a little more of a gradient simililarity). As mentioned, wood vs stone, lurid organic colors vs cool mineral, mail vs plate, horses vs birds/etc. etc. Whenever those "after the end" scenarios where America is reduced to a medieval level, I sort of imagine the Mid-Atlantic as Gondor and the Midwest/Plains area as Rohan.

[@MrTValleyguy]

I love the Rohirrim. They're my favorite people group of LoTR