Éoherë

An Éoherë is the full muster of Rohan at any given time. It is made up of one hundred Éored - untis of 120 trained riders plus their captain. A member of the Éoherë can serve a term or on a permanent basis.

HistoryEdit
During the first three hundred-plus years of Rohan's existence, the term "Éored" was used widely to describe any significant number of Riders. Under Folcwine King son of Folca, 14th King of the Mark, the military of Rohan was reordered. Under Folcwine, one Éored was made up of 120 riders including their captain. Each Éored was also supposed to comprise one one-hundredth of the whole Muster of Rohan, not including the household of the King.

An Éored was a group of trained warriors who rode as a unit. Under the military reorganization in the time of KingFolcwine, the size of a full Éored was determined to be at least 120 men. One Éored was one hundreth of the Éoherë - the full muster of Rohan. The Riders of an Éored could serve for a term or on a permanent basis. Each Éored was led by a Captain. In times of war or unrest, the Marshals of the Mark each had a battle-ready Éored as part of his household which he could command at his discretion.

The changes made by Folcwine continued through the time of the War of the Ring. While the Éoherëcommanded by Théoden King son of Thengel at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields did not number much more than half of 12,000 riders, it was possibly the largest riding of the Rohirrim in history. (In Peter Jackson's Film Adaptation of the Lord of the Rings, King Théoden assembled 3,000 men, which weren't half as many as he had hoped for.) Merry Brandybuck and Éowyn - disguised as a Rider named Dernhelm - rode with the Éored commanded byElfhelm to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields on March 15. When the Rohirrim charged onto the battlefield, Éomer led the first Éored in the center while Elfhelm's Éored was on the right flank and Grimbold's was on the left flank and the other companies followed behind. King Theoden rode before them all.

EtymologyEdit
The word Éoherë comes from the Anglo-Saxon Old English (which the tongue of Rohan was modelled after); it is made up of the words eoh meaning "horse" and herë meaning "army." Likewise Éored contains the words 'eoh' and 'rád' (horse, riding or rode).