- "For you have been deluded by Saruman. Many of you have got death as you trust in him; but had you conquered, little better would your wages have been."
- —Erkenbrand to Saruman's army in The Two Towers
Erkenbrand was a warrior of Rohan during the War of the Ring, and the lord of the Westfold.
Biography
At the time of the War of the Ring, Erkenbrand had retired from service to Théoden, but returned after the death of Théoden's son, Théodred, to command the forces of Rohan in its western regions. He commanded the defence of Westfold, but was defeated at the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen and his forces scattered in the retreat. Fortunately he had left a garrison of 1000 men at the Hornburg and sent most of the inhabitants of Westfold to shelter there.
He was then found by Gandalf, who assisted him in rallying forces sufficient to come to the aid of Théoden at the end of the Battle of the Hornburg when he and the White Wizard led a thousand footmen to reinforce the besieged forces of Rohan. After the War of the Ring, Erkenbrand was granted the title of Marshal of the West-Mark by King Éomer.
Erkenbrand was a warrior of great renown and was a mighty leader. He went into battle with a red shield and bore a horn.[1]
Erkenbrand's Shield, as shown in the Trading Card Game
Erkenbrand from The Lord of the Rings Online
Etymology
Erkenbrand is a name that comes from two Old English words: eorcan (meaning "precious") and brand (meaning "sword").[citation needed]
Portrayal in adaptations
- Erkenbrand does not appear in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Instead, it is Éomer whom Gandalf sets out to find and returns with in the dawn of the final battle at Helm's Deep.
- He appears in the games The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings Online, Decipher's The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, and in mods for The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.
- In The Lord of the Rings Online after Gandalf leaves King Théoden's riders, he recruits the player to aid him in his search for Erkenbrand and Grimbold. After journeying across Westfold, the player eventually finds Grimbold at the Fords of Isen and together they find Erkenbrand and his men to the south. After a brief regrouping, Gandalf then leads them on the march towards the Hornburg.
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ዐርከንብራንድ |
| Arabic | إركينبراند |
| Armenian | Էրկենբրանդ |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Аркенбранд |
| Bengali | এর্কেন্ব্রান্দ |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Еркенбранд |
| Catalan | Érkenbrand |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 鄂肯布蘭德 |
| Georgian | ერქენბრანდი |
| Greek | Ερκενβρανδ |
| Gujarati | ઍર્કેન્બ્રન્દ |
| Hebrew | ירכינבראנד |
| Hindi | एर्केन्ब्रन्द |
| Kannada | ಏರಿಕೆನ್ಬ್ರಾಂಡ್ |
| Kazakh | Еркенбранд (Cyrillic) Erkenbrand (Latin) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Эркэнбранд |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Еркенбранд |
| Marathi | एर्केन्ब्रन्द |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Эркэнбранд |
| Nepalese | एर्केन्ब्रन्द |
| Pashto | ېرکېنبراند |
| Persian | هرکهنبراند |
| Punjabi | ਏਰ੍ਕੇਨ੍ਬ੍ਰਨ੍ਦ |
| Russian | Эркенбранд |
| Sanskrit | एर्केन्ब्रन्द् |
| Serbian | Еркенбранд (Cyrillic) Erkenbrand (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ඒර්කෙන්බ්රඳ් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Еркенбранд |
| Tamil | ஏர்கெந்ப்ரந்த் |
| Telugu | ఏర్కెన్బ్రన్ద |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Еркенбранд |
| Urdu | ارکانبرانڈ |
| Uzbek | Еркенбранд (Cyrillic) Erkenbrand (Latin) |
| Yiddish | ערקענבראַנד |
