Changes: Théoden

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"Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"

—The Lord of the Rings, Book V, Chapter 5: The Ride of the Rohirrim

Théoden was the seventeenth King of Rohan, and last of the Second Line of the royal house of Eorl.

Biography

Earlier Years

Théoden was the only son of Thengel, and became king after the death of his father in TA 2980. Théoden spoke Sindarin and Westron more often than Rohirric due to the influence of his father, and spent a part of his youth growing up in the mountain vales of Gondor, his mother's homeland. His name comes from the Anglo-Saxon þéoden meaning "king of a 'þéod or a nation."

His sister Théodwyn lived with him in Edoras, and after she and her husband both died he adopted her children Éomer and Éowyn as his own. He had a son Théodred, whose mother Elfhild died in childbirth. In one of Tolkien's early drafts, Théoden also had a daughter by the name of Idis, but she was eventually removed when her character was eclipsed by that of Éowyn.

War of the Ring

GRIMA ~1 — Grima and Théoden in the Golden Hall of Meduseld.

By the time of the War of the Ring Théoden had been king for nearly 40 years, and was becoming old and tired. He was increasingly misled by his chief adviser Gríma (or Wormtongue as most others in the Mark called him), who was secretly in the employ of Saruman the White. Gríma may even have been poisoning Théoden. In the last years before the War of the Ring, Théoden let his rule slip out of his hands, and Gríma gained an increasingly large hold over him. Rohan was troubled again by Orcs and Dunlendings as well as the new fighting Uruk-hai, who operated under the will of Saruman, ruling from Isengard.

When Théoden's son Théodred was mortally wounded at a battle at the Fords of Isen in skirmish with the Orcs of Saruman, his nephew Éomer became his heir. Éomer fell out of favor with Wormtongue and was eventually banished from Rohan.

When Gandalf the White and Aragorn appeared before him, Théoden initially rebuked Gandalf's advice to resist Saruman, but after being released from the effects of Gríma, he commanded Hama to release his nephew and bring him his sword, and led the Riders of Rohan into battle against Saruman but having found that Saruman's forces had broken through Rohan's outer defenses. Théoden, under advice from Gandalf, retreated and fought against Saruman's hordes at the Battle of Helm's Deep. After this he became known as Théoden 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 bravely charging the legions of Sauron, where he won great glory by defeating "The Black Serpent," a chieftan of the Southrons, in single combat.

"Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a king of old"

—Tolkien's description of Théoden charging the orcs

In that battle he challenged the Witch-king of the Nine Ringwraiths, and was unconscious when his horse Snowmane fell upon him after being spooked by the Ringwraith's fell beast. He was quickly protected by his niece Éowyn and the Hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck both of whom had ridden to war in secret.^[1]^[2]

Before the battle, Théoden had made a favorite of Merry, and expressed great interest in hearing more about the Shire, especially hobbits' lore surrounding pipe-weed. Theoden's wounds were mortal and he perished on the plains of Pelennor. His body was preserved in the Hallows of Minas Tirith until Eomer returned to Rohan, and Theoden was buried in Edoras.

Etymology

The name Théoden is probably taken from the Anglo-Saxon word "þeoden", meaning "lord". It is related to the Old Norse word þjóðann, meaning "leader of the people" (i.e. "King"). Théoden's sword was called Herugrim. He fought with his left hand.

The name Théoden is a translation of the original Rohirric Tûrac, an old word for King showing influence from the Elvish stem tur-, power/mastery, also present in Turgon and related names.^{[citation needed]}

House of Eorl

Eorl the Young

Brego

Baldor

Aldor

Éofor

Fréa

Fréawine

Goldwine

Déor

Gram

Helm
Hammerhand

Hild

Fréaláf Hildeson

Haleth

Brytta Léofa

Háma

Walda

Unnamed
daughter

Folca

Folcwine

Folcred

Fastred

Fengel

Thengel

Morwen
Steelsheen

Elfhild

Théoden

Théodwyn

Éomund

Théodred

Lothíriel

Éomer

Éowyn

Faramir

Elfwine

Elboron

Barahir

Portrayal in adaptations

Radio versions

In the The Lord of the Rings (1956 radio series) he was voiced by Valentine Dyall, and in The Lord of the Rings (1979 radio series) he was voiced by Erik Bauersfeld, and in 1981 BBC Radio 4 version of The Lord of the Rings, Théoden's healing is described in song rather than dramatised conventionally, which tends to lessen its impact. In this adaptation he was voiced by Jack May of the Archers frame.

Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings

Théoden was voiced by Philip Stone. (The Lord of the Rings (1978 film))

Rankin-Bass

Théoden was voiced by Don Messick (The Return of the King (1980 film))

Lord of the Rings film trilogy

Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) deviates from Tolkien's story by having Théoden (played by Bernard Hill) actually possessed by Saruman rather than simply deceived by Gríma. He then goes to Helm's Deep to take his people to safety rather than to make a stand against the enemy.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), when on Pelennor Fields, Théoden is attacked by the Witch-King of Angmar and is tossed to the ground by his Fell Beast, and his own horse, Snowmane, seemingly pins Théoden down to the ground as it lies dead upon him. Shortly after the Witch-King is slain by Éowyn. Eowyn is wounded but healed by Aragorn in the houses of healing. The movie also has Théoden aware of Éowyn's presence before her death, whereas in the book he says his farewells to Merry and does not know that Éowyn is also there. Peter Jackson added a bit more character to the king, making doubt the exodus of Edoras. He gave him a greater look and love towards his people, also. His doubts in Gandalf's plans even turn into almost hopeless despair at the climax of the battle of Helm's Deep.

Online games

Théoden also makes a brief appearance in The Lord of the Rings Online, in the Golden Hall of Edoras.

Voice Dubbing actors

Foreign Language	Voice dubbing artist
Spanish (Latin America)	Rogelio Guerra
Spanish (Spain)	Jesús Díez
Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD)	Carlos Campanile
German	Reinhard Glemnitz
French (France)	Roger Mollien
Japanese	Katsuhiko Sasaki
Czech (Czech Republic)	Jiří Plachý
Hungarian	László Újréti
Italian (Italy)	Stefano De Sando
Turkish	Erhan Abir

Quotes

"Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spears shall be shaken, Shields shall be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! Death! Death! Death! Forth Eorlingas"

—Théoden at the Pelennor Fields, to his great army

"Farewell, my hobbits! May we meet again in my house! There you shall sit beside me and tell me all that your hearts desire: the deeds of your grandsires, as far back as you can reckon them; and we will speak also of Tobold the Old and his herb-lore, Farewell!"

—Théoden departing from the Hobbits at Isengard

"We will have peace, when you and all your works have perished-and the works of your dark master whom you would deliver us. You are a liar, Saruman, and corrupter of men's hearts. You hold out your hand to me, and I perceive only a finger of the claw of Mordor."

—Théoden

"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain... Like wind in the meadow. The days have come down in the west, behind the hills... Into shadow."

—Théoden to Gamling at Helm's Deep

"We shall have peace. We shall have peace when you answer for the burning of the Westfold, and the children that lie dead there. When the lives of the soldiers, whose bodies were hewn even as they lay dead against the Gates of the Hornburg are avenged! When you hang from a gibbet, for the sport of your own crows, we shall have peace."

—Théoden King to Saruman

"I will not end here, taken like an old badger in a trap. When dawn comes, I will bid men sound Helm's horn, and I will ride forth. Will your ride with me, then, son of Arathorn? At least...we may make such an end, as will be worth a song!"

—Théoden

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Théoden. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with The One Wiki to Rule Them All, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.

Preceded by:
Thengel

King of Rohan
TA 2980 - TA 3019

Followed by:
Éomer Éadig

References

External link

Théoden at Tolkien Gateway

[1] The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers

[2] The Complete Guide to Middle-earth

[1]

[2]

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