|
|
|
|
|
ThodenIn J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Thoden was the seventeenth King of Rohan, and last of the Second Line. Thoden was the oldest son of Thengel, and became king after the death of his father in T.A. 2980. Thoden spoke Sindarin and Westron rather than Rohirric, and in his youth spent time in Gondor. His sister Thodwyn lived with him in Edoras, and after she and her husband both died he adopted her children omer and owyn as his own. He had a son Thodred, whose mother Elfhild died in childbirth. By the time of the War of the Ring Thoden had been king for nearly 30 years, and was getting old and tired. He was increasingly misled by his chief advisor Grma (or Wormtongue as most others in the Mark called him), who was secretly in the employ of Saruman. Grma may even have been poisoning his lord. In the last years before the War Thoden let his rule slip out of his hands, and Grma became increasingly powerful. Rohan was troubled again by Orcs and Dunlendings, who operated under the will of Saruman, ruling from Isengard. When Thoden's son Thodred was mortally wounded at a battle at the Fords of Isen in battle with the Orcs of Saruman, his nephew omer became his heir. omer was out of favor with Wormtongue and was eventually arrested. When Gandalf and Aragorn appeared before him, Thoden initially rebuffed Gandalf's advice to ride out against Saruman, but after being healed by him he restored his nephew, took up his sword, and led the Riders of Rohan into battle at Helm's Deep. After this he became known as Thoden Ednew, the Renewed, because he had thrown off the yoke of Saruman. He led the Rohirrim to the aid of Gondor at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. In that battle he challenged the Witch-King of the Nine Ringwraiths, and died when his horse Snowmane fell upon him after being frightened by the Ringwraith's fell beast. He was immediately avenged by his niece owyn and the Hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck, both of whom had ridden to war in secret. In Tolkien's fictional etymology, the name Thoden is a translation of the original Rohirric Trac, an old word for King showing influence from the Elvish stem tur-, power/mastery, also present in Turgon and related names. The name Thoden is probably taken from the Anglo-Saxon word "eoden", meaning "lord". It is related to the Old Norse word jann, meaning "leader of the people" (i.e. "King"). Thoden's sword was called Herugrim.
In the 1981 BBC Radio 4 version of The Lord of the Rings, Thoden's death is described in song rather than dramatized conventionally, which tends to lessen its impact. Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) deviates from Tolkien's story by having Thoden (played by Bernard Hill) actually possessed by Saruman rather than simply deceived by Grma. He then goes to Helm's Deep to take his people to safety rather than to make a stand against the enemy. The movie also has Thoden aware of owyn's presence at his death, whereas in the book he says his farewells to Merry and does not know that owyn is also there.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|